You do not need to apply for this award. If you are entitled to the Teesside Advance Credit award you will automatically receive an email once the funds have been issued and your Teesside Advance account is ready for you to log in.

These funds are "credit" funds loaded on to a personal Teesside Advance account that is set up by the University for eligible students.

These funds can be used as a payment method to purchase resources on the Teesside Advance online shop.

Currently there is only one award that can be accessed through the Teesside Advance portal. This is the Advance Credit award which is £100 per progressive academic year, up to a maximum of £300.

Teesside Advance helps you make the very best of your time at University by improving access to the learning tools and supplies you need to support your studies.

Not only can you access and use your funds on the Teesside Advance portal, but there is also access to free online resources that cover a wide range of topics like Study Skills, Money Matters, Wellbeing and Employability. 

Your funds will rollover at the end of each year and will expire at the end of your final year of study. You will need to use your funds before you complete your course (this may be before graduation). The funds will also expire if you leave the University prior to completing your course.

For the exact date this will be please check with the University.

If you are eligible for the Teesside Advance award then an email will be sent to your University email address shortly after your enrolment has been fully completed.

The funds are paid out once per academic year. If a student is on placement or repeating a year or module then no funds will be issued that year.

Full-time Undergraduate students are eligible for the Teesside Advance Credit award.

Students studying part time or on an apprenticeship course are not eligible, and students on placement years will not be issued funds.

If you are on placement or are repeating a year or module then no funds will be issued until you have moved on to the next academic year.

If you believe you are eligible to receive funds via Teesside Advance please contact the University.

It may be that you have not completed enrolment, have outstanding debts or there may have been a delay with the data uploading. The University will be able to look into this and advise you correctly.

If you are eligible for funds through Teesside Advance, you do not need to register or create an account on the Teesside Advance portal.

An account will be created for you automatically when your funds are awarded and an email will be sent to you when the account is ready for you to log in.

If you are not eligible to receive Teesside Advance funds, you will need to register for an account to access the shop and the free resources on the Teesside Advance portal.

If you wish to delete your account, please contact us. Please note if you have an account balance, this will be removed, and any remaining funds or order details will no longer be accessible.

When you first logged into your account you were given the choice to opt in/out of marketing. If you wish to change your preferences, click on 'My Account' and 'Contact Preferences' from the drop-down menu. Make sure to save your changes.

To update personal details on your account, click on 'My Account' and then 'Edit My Details' from the drop-down menu. If you have other details you require to be updated please contact us.

If your account is showing as "not verified" please contact us and we will be happy to look into this for you.

If you are eligible for funds through Teesside Advance, you will be sent an email once your personal account is ready for you to log in.

Your account username will be your university email address (ending @live.tees.ac.uk), and your password will be the same password you use at university to access your email.

If you do not know your university credentials or are struggling to log in, please contact your IT department here: ITHelp@tees.ac.uk

If you are not eligible for Teesside Advance funds, your login details will be the ones you used to set-up your own Teesside Advance account.

Your account balance is displayed on the top right-hand corner of the page once you are logged in. You can check that your balance is correct by going to 'My Account' and clicking on 'Check My Balance' from the drop-down menu.

Your orders can be found by going to "My Account" > "View My Orders"

Once you are there you can open each order and view the order status of the products that you have ordered.

Once logged in, click on 'My Account' and then 'My Transactions' from the drop-down menu.

If you have been awarded funds, this page will show you when those funds were added to your Teesside Advance account, and when any funds were spent, refunded or expired.

The funds currently available via Teesside Advance are not loans and you do not have to pay them back. The funds are provided to you by the University to set you up to succeed and help with the extra costs associated with studying.

Yes, your account can be topped up by yourself, family, or friends. When accounts are topped up, these funds can only be spent in the shop and can't be withdrawn or refunded. To top-up your account, click on 'My Account' and 'Top-Up' from the drop-down menu. You will need to enter your student ID number.

Yes, the university can reclaim or restrict access to funds that they have issued. This may happen if:

• funds were issued in error,
• you are no longer eligible for the award due to a change of course,
• you are suspended pending disciplinary action,
• you interrupt or defer your studies,
• you repeat a year or module,
• you have gone on placement,
• you have left university or graduated.

There may be other reasons not listed above.

These funds are "credit" funds loaded on to a personal Teesside Advance account that is set up by the University for eligible students.

These funds can be used as a payment method to purchase resources on the Teesside Advance online shop.

Your Teesside Advance Credit funds can be used to purchase anything on the Teesside Advance online shop, including but not limited to:

• Art & Design Supplies
• Books & eBooks
• Data storage (e.g. hard drives and memory sticks/cards)
• Headphones (up to a maximum of £50 Advance funds)
• iPad Pencils
• Lab Coats
• Laptops
• Mobile Data
• PC's (e.g. mice and keyboards)
• Stationery
• Stethoscopes
• Wacom Cintiq Tablets

If you don't use your funds before they expire, any remaining balance will be removed and you will no longer be able to use those funds.

Your funds will rollover at the end of each year and will expire at the end of your final year of study. You will need to use your funds before you complete your course (this may be before graduation). The funds will also expire if you leave the University prior to completing your course.

For the exact date this will be please check with the University.

If you are eligible for the Teesside Advance award then an email will be sent to your University email address shortly after your enrolment has been fully completed.

The funds are paid out once per academic year. If a student is on placement or repeating a year or module then no funds will be issued that year.

Your account balance is displayed on the top right-hand corner of the page once you are logged in. You can check that your balance is correct by going to 'My Account' and clicking on 'Check My Balance' from the drop-down menu.

Once logged in, click on 'My Account' and then 'My Transactions' from the drop-down menu.

If you have been awarded funds, this page will show you when those funds were added to your Teesside Advance account, and when any funds were spent, refunded or expired.

Please first check the answer to "What can I spend my funds on?" under the "My Funds" section, and the email that was sent to you when the funds were awarded for any restrictions on what your funds can be used for.

If you can't see any advised restrictions and you believe you should be able purchase the items in your basket with your funds, contact us here.

There are a few reasons that funds may no longer be visible.

• Funds may have been spent or expired, or in some cases the amount awarded is adjusted or removed by the Institution. You can check for these changes by looking at your transaction history under 'My Transactions' on your Teesside Advance account.
• If you have withdrawn, deferred, are currently on placement or redoing a module/year, your account may have been put on stop. This means the funds may not have been removed but access to them has. These changes don't always reflect under 'My Transactions'.

If you are still unclear on why your funds have disappeared, please contact us.

If you are on placement or are repeating a year or module then no funds will be issued until you have moved on to the next academic year.

If you believe you are eligible to receive funds via Teesside Advance please contact the University.

It may be that you have not completed enrolment, have outstanding debts or there may have been a delay with the data uploading. The University will be able to look into this and advise you correctly.

Most orders can't be cancelled. If you no longer want your order and it has not been dispatched, you can request a cancellation by visiting your order page and clicking 'Request Cancellation'. This does not guarantee that your order will be cancelled, but we will do our best.

Some items have restrictions:

• Online courses - Please first check the product page in case there are any specific instructions.
• eBooks - These are non-refundable as these are loaded and available to you immediately.
• eVouchers - These are non-refundable as these are loaded and emailed to you immediately.

You have 14 days from placing the order to request cancellation for the course providing the course has not been accessed.*

*Please note: Language courses cannot be refunded or exchanged once supplied.

We cannot exchange one course for another.

A delivery address change is not usually possible once an order has been placed. We recommend that you double-check the delivery address before you place your order.

If you do need to change the delivery address, please contact us from your account email address with your order reference number and we will do our best to get that updated for you.

We may be able to cancel and refund your order IF the content has not been accessed and you have contacted us within 14 days of the order.

If you have not accessed your Kortext eBook and want to cancel, please request cancellation through your order details.

Teesside Advance online shop has millions of products available to order and our product ranges are regularly reviewed and updated. If the product you are interested in is not currently available we hope you can find a suitable alternative to support you with your course.

Apple Products: We do try our best to get in new releases from Apple as they are very popular. The stock availability for these items can be delayed, so we are unlikely to stock these directly after release dates.

Please continue to regularly check your Teesside Advance portal for new products.

We always welcome suggestions for products that will support your studies. To submit your suggestion, contact us here.

eBooks are designed to be read on electronics only.

You may be able to print a section of the eBook that you have purchased, but you cannot print a full paper copy of the book due copyright. Each eBook has its own quantity of pages that can be printed set by the publisher.

The Teesside Advance online shop is not currently set-up for stock notifications, but this is something that we are looking to develop.

Please note: Stock availability for Apple products is regularly restricted by Apple during the popular Christmas period (November to mid-January). During this time, we do not get estimated times when stock will be arriving with us.

Yes, you will receive a certificate on the completion of your course.

Some of the certifications available through academy+ include CPD, RoSPA, CMA and several others. Which certification you be awarded will depend on the course you have chosen and whether you have fully completed/passed the course.

You will need internet access when you first receive the eBooks as they will need to be downloaded/added to your Kortext account/app. However, once the eBook is downloaded to your app you will be able to read it offline.

More information can be here.

No, if you have been awarded funds provided by your institution and they do not cover the full cost of your order you can add a payment method at checkout to pay the difference.

At various points throughout the year we may have special offers or discounts!

If we have any valid discount codes available, they may be shown on your Teesside Advance Portal, or if you are opted into marketing emails or text messages, these will be sent to you directly.

Our aim is to offer students the best value and the widest choice of products to support your student journey. As we do not buy products in bulk (like Amazon & Curry's do) we are unable to price match.

The courses do not have an expiry date.*

*The course will only expire if the platform is shut down, but there are no known plans to do this.

Teesside Advance online shop uses stock from our own warehouse, as well as external direct delivery suppliers, to fulfil your orders so that we can offer a greater range of products.

This means that you may receive several parcels for your order rather than just one.

We are working to improve visibility on how your order will arrive.

Refunds are issued to the original payment method.

• If you paid by Teesside Advance funds, any refunds would be issued back to your Teesside Advance account which can you access again through the Teesside Advance Portal.
•  If you paid by voucher, then a refund would be issued back to the original voucher code.
• If you paid by bank card, then a refund would be issued to your bank card.
• If you paid part by bank card and part by Teesside Advance funds, then any refund would be issued part to bank card and part to your Teesside Advance account or voucher. (Bank card payment is prioritized to be refunded first, then any remaining amount is refunded to your Teesside Advance account or voucher.)

Once your order has been has been despatched, an email or text is usually sent from the courier to advise that your order is on its way.

We're excited to advise that we are working on automatically including the tracking information on your order details, so tracking is more accessible.

Once your order has been processed, a Kortext account will be automatically set up for you and you will be sent an email with your account login details, a temporary password and a link to Kortext site so you can log in and access your book.

Please note: The Kortext account will be set-up under the email address you use to place your order.

If you already have a Kortext account set-up under your Teesside Advance account email address, then an email will be sent to you once your new eBook has been added to your Kortext Library.

If you already have a personal Kortext account under a different email address and you have placed an order through your Teesside Advance account email address, please contact Kortext and they will be able to merge the accounts.

Once your order has been processed, an welcome email will be sent from the course provider to your Teesside Advance account email address with the course information and login details.

This email is normally sent within 24 hours of the order being placed (Monday-Friday).

• Login with your account details* (We do not currently offer guest checkout).
• Add the products you wish to order to your basket
• Once you've added all the products you wish to order, click on the basket icon in the top right-hand corner of the Teesside Advance portal and follow the instructions to place your order. 

SHIPPING/DELIVERY ADDRESS: Please ensure that you have entered a complete shipping/delivery address. If you are in university accommodation, you will need to include your room/flat number, not just the building name. 

* For more information on whether you need to create an account, please look under the Help & Supports 'Account' section > 'Do I need to register for an account?'

Please see our eBook policy here.

Please visit our Returns Policy. 

Please visit the below links for further information about Kortext:

https://www.kortext.com/university-students/

https://www.kortext.com/help-centre/

Voucher codes that are still valid can be applied to your basket during the checkout process. 

You will have access to your eBook indefinitely as long as you have access to your Kortext account.

This will depend on which product you have ordered.

Some products are 'in stock' and can be shipped immediately or the next working day. Other products may be 'available to order' but are not currently in stock.

This includes products that we normally keep stock of but are 'temporarily out of stock', and products that have to be ordered specifically for your order. 'Out of stock' products can take a few days to a few weeks to ship depending on the product.

PLEASE NOTE: The estimated despatch dates on your order confirmation are an estimate. The product(s) may be despatched before, or after, these dates.

We are working to improve the availability and clarity of stock information.

You can log in to the Kortext app on up to 5 devices.

For more information please visit Kortext's Help Centre.

Please visit our Postage Policy page. 

Click here to find all the information about size guides.

If the product you were trying to buy is no longer on the Teesside Advance shop it is likely that it is currently out of stock and we won't know when it will be available again. In some cases, it may have been replaced by a newer version.

The range of products on the Teesside Advance online shop are updated daily so please do keep checking to see if we've been able to make the product available again.

If you can see your eBook on your Kortext account but are having trouble accessing it, or if there is an issue with the quality please check Kortext's Help Centre.

Please contact support@starskillstraining.co.uk with your account email address and a description of the problem.

If you have placed an order using your bank card instead of using your available Teesside Advance funds, please contact us immediately.

If you are eligible to use your funds to purchase the product(s) you have ordered, we may be able to resolve the issue for you without you needing to cancel the order and place a new one.

Once an order is placed, each item within the order will have an individual status. The status will continue to update until the item has been shipped. It will also update if a product has been returned or lost in transit. 

Order Status Codes:

If you will be losing access to your Teesside Advance account email address please contact Kortext who will be able to advise you further.

It may be that you will need to create a second account with a personal email address and then Kortext will merge the two accounts. However, we would recommend contacting them first to confirm if this is required.

PDF eBooks: These are standard, non-interactive electronic copies of the book.

ePub eBooks: These are more flexible and have an interactive functionality. There is greater ability to adjust how the book displays to suit your needs.

Your order confirmation email and dispatch emails are your proof of purchase. If you specifically need a VAT receipt or a manufacturer requires this as a proof of purchase, please contact us and we will provide you with a PDF proof of purchase once your product(s) have been shipped.

We are working on with our IT team to make a downloadable version available in the future.

Your orders can be found by going to "My Account" > "View My Orders"

Once you are there you can open each order and view the order status of the products that you have ordered.

These can be accessed via the Kortext platform, either online or via the app. The Kortext app is currently available on Mac, iOS, Android and Windows.

For further information on this click here.

Kortext eBooks cannot be used on Kindle or other Amazon owned eReaders.

Please first check the answer to "What can I spend my funds on?" under the "My Funds" section, and the email that was sent to you when the funds were awarded for any restrictions on what your funds can be used for.

If you can't see any advised restrictions and you believe you should be able purchase the items in your basket with your funds, contact us here.

Refunds to your Teesside Advance funds can be found by clicking on 'My Account' and 'My Transactions'. It may be that your funds have since been removed, or you have been refunded and have since spent your funds.

If your refund has not been removed, and your balance is not showing correctly we would recommend following the below steps: 

1. Empty your basket if anything is in it.
2. Log out of your account and close the web page.
3. Open a new internet browser.
4. Clear your cookies via the settings/options section (depending on your browser).
5. Go to the search engine and go to your Teesside Advance Portal
6. Log in to your Teesside Advance account and go to 'My Account' and 'Check My balance'. 

This should resolve the issue and you should then be able to see your correct balance, but if you do not believe this to be correct, please contact us so we can look into this further for you. 

Refunds to bank cards: Please allow up to 5 working days for any refunds to show in your account. If it's still not showing after this period, please contact us and we will be happy to check for you.

Refunds to PayPal: Please allow up to 5 working days for any refunds to show in your account. If it's still not showing after this period, please contact us and we will be happy to check for you.

If you are expecting your PayPal refund to go through to your bank account and it hasn't, check your PayPal transactions before contacting us. If the refund has gone through to your PayPal account but not any further, please contact PayPal.