By registering and paying the AMUSF course registration fee, you agree to the following terms and conditions:
AMUSF Qualification Aims and Objectives
The Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers Limited (AMUSF) (“the Association”) syllabus has been developed to provide students with sufficient knowledge and training in the techniques of upholstery or soft furnishings to make them able to work on their own, and to accomplish tasks relevant to their experience, with a reasonable degree of success. This ability will make them useful to employers who are prepared to offer on-going training.
The training programme is designed to provide workshop experience for students planning a career in the upholstery and soft furnishing sector. The syllabus content therefore reflects the commercial requirements of the employer and their customers.
The AMUSF qualifications are intended to reflect real life in the commercial world of the upholsterer and soft furnisher and are ideal as a steppingstone for those wishing to eventually launch their own business or for those who wish to seek meaningful employment with an existing practitioner.
AMUSF Qualification Courses
Only “Approved Training Centres” https://amusf.org/amusf-approved-training-centres/ may offer The Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers Limited (AMUSF) qualifications.
AMUSF qualifications are intended to give the student knowledge, understanding and experience of the subject in question. While all qualification courses are taught to the appropriate syllabus the AMUSF does not guarantee that any particular student will reach any particular standard or gain any particular award.
Students should be aware that AMUSF qualifications require course work, research and work in the student’s own time to achieve the objectives of the qualification. Students may be required to provide appropriate pieces of furniture and materials for the successful completion of these qualifications. Coursework supporting an item or task is MANDATORY and MUST be presented at the time of assessment and verification. Certification is achieved when a candidate (student) has successfully completed all of the units that make up the award.
Qualification Structure
Both the Upholstery and Soft Furnishing qualifications are progressive eventually leading to a trade specific qualification. Each stage is designed to be delivered over a 12 month period (24 months if delivered as an evening class) with a minimum number of contact hours per stage. Each of the three stages of the diploma or the soft furnishings course are qualifications in their own right and will be certificated accordingly. There is no compulsion for anybody to undertake any more stages than they wish to in order to gain a qualification. A pass will be required at each stage before a student can progress to the next stage. Although the programme of training is spread over a minimum number of hours at each stage, it will be possible to enter the programme at any stage provided relevant approved prior learning can be verified. Students new to the crafts of upholstery and soft furnishings must start their learning at Stage One, the Craft Certificate or the Essential Soft Furnishings course.
Those students wishing to enter at either Stage 2 or 3 of the upholstery diploma course must be able to demonstrate substantial prior learning and experience of all the elements within any stages they wish to miss. They must produce physical evidence to confirm that position. The Approved Training Centre must satisfy themselves of these facts before enrolling a student on this basis. In the event of disagreement, the Association’s Verifier will be asked to adjudicate and will have final approval to agree a student’s Approved Prior Learning or not.
When you have successfully completed the Stage 3 Diploma or the Essential Soft Furnishings course you may refer to yourself as “AMUSF Qualified”. If you only complete up to stages one or two you can refer to yourself as “AMUSF Qualified to Stage ?” (1 or 2 as appropriate).
Qualification Registration
Student Registration together with a non-refundable fee of £60 plus VAT must be made via the AMUSF website within four weeks of the course start date. For accuracy, and to minimise delay in issuing the certificates, the name and spelling used when registering will be the name and spelling used for certification purposes. A £25 plus VAT per replacement certificate fee will be charged where the incorrect name has been furnished to the Association and where a replacement certificate is required. Replacement of lost certificates will be charged at a rate of £25 plus VAT. If you need to amend your details, please email admin@AMUSF.org with the details.
Student Attendance, Registration, Absence and Withdrawal
Regular attendance and punctuality are essential for the success of the qualifications. An attendance register may be kept by the Course Provider. Absence through sickness must be notified to the Course Provider as soon as possible. If a student withdraws or defers from the course for any reason, it is essential to notify the Course Provider and the AMUSF in writing. Payment of any outstanding fees must be made immediately.
Health & Safety
Basic Health and Safety advice should be given by the Course Provider during induction and more detailed advice and guidance as the course progresses. All students agree to familiarise themselves with and follow all health and safety procedures and requirements in order to safeguard themselves and others around them and to follow all instructions given by the Course Provider.
Students are encouraged to disclose any disability, medical or mental health conditions, or any special educational needs that may affect their training.
Assessment & Verification
In all cases the Course Provider’s Tutor/Assessor will assess the student’s work throughout the duration of the course, and make available, to the Association’s Verifier when they visit the Centre, their assessment records for each student.
The Association and the Course Provider will arrange a mutually convenient date for the verification visit. During their visit the Verifier will need to have sight of all practical work, portfolios and project work as described in the qualification syllabus along with the Centre’s Internal Assessment and Tracking forms. If the Verifier’s opinion differs to that of the Course Provider’s Tutor/Assessor, the matter will be discussed with a view to establishing any mitigating circumstances before attempting to reach agreement. If no agreement is reached, the Association’s Verifier’s considered opinion will prevail.
Marking
Marks and grades will be given for each element of the qualification as described in the AMUSF syllabus.
The Practical Assessment Projects and the Written Research Projects and the maintenance of the Student Portfolios are mandatory units.
Certification
Certificates produced by the AMUSF will be awarded to the successful candidate after assessment by the Association’s appointed Verifier at the end of each stage. The Certificates will be issued to the Course Provider for distribution within eight weeks of the completion of the verification process.
Limit of this Agreement
In registering for an AMUSF qualification course you are entering into an agreement with the AMUSF whereby at the end of your course their Verifier will make an assessment of whether you have achieved the necessary standard to be awarded a certificate by the Association and if so, to provide you with such a certificate. Although the Association has provided the Approved Training Centre with the syllabus, guidance and other materials to enable it to provide a satisfactory course leading to an AMUSF qualification, the delivery of the course itself – the teaching, the facilities and materials provided to you, and the cost (apart from the AMUSF registration fee) – are matters between you and the Course Provider. If, therefore, you are dissatisfied with any of these, you should take the matter up directly with the Course Provider in the first instance. The fact that the Association has approved the Course Provider as suitable to run courses leading to an AMUSF qualification does not imply any guarantee by the Association that the services the Course Provider provides will be satisfactory. Therefore, for any redress for unsatisfactory facilities or services provided to you; you must ultimately look to the Course Provider. However, we are of course very concerned that all approved Course Providers maintain satisfactory standards in their teaching and other services to students and will therefore help in resolving difficulties in the way outlined below.
Complaints Procedure
Should a student have concerns about the course they are on or the form of teaching they are receiving they should, in the first instance, discuss these concerns with the Course Provider. The Course Provider will then have 14 days to address these concerns in the hope of finding a suitable solution. Should the student still be dissatisfied with the results of their complaint, they may then refer the matter to The Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers Limited (AMUSF).
For progress to be made in dealing with a complaint by the AMUSF, the Complainant must first lodge the complaint in writing, enclosing as much detailed information as possible, together with photographs and any additional documentation. The AMUSF does not accept instructions of complaints over the telephone. When the AMUSF are in possession of the relevant information they will contact the Course Provider, in writing, enclosing a copy of the original complaint. This is to encourage the Course Provider to submit an explanation in defence of the allegation. When all the relevant facts are before the AMUSF, they will endeavour to find common ground and a way forward. Any final decisions made or actions to be taken are at the AMUSF’s discretion and may not be contested.
Law
These terms and conditions, and any contract concluded between a student and the AMUSF, and any dispute in contract or tort in connection with the services provided by the AMUSF shall be governed by English Law.
The Association of Master Upholsterers & Soft Furnishers Limited
P.O. Box 6026
Marlow Delivery Office
Cromwell Gardens
Marlow
SL7 1AA
(07926) 128899
Email: admin@AMUSF.org