Terms and Conditions

1. Enrolment
Initial enrolment with Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College can be made by email, fax, phone or post, via an accredited agent or in person at the College. Until course payment has been received by the College, no enrolment can be confirmed.

Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College courses are designed and intended for adult learners aged 18 and above, although we accept students of 16 and 17. We do not currently accept students below the age of 16, except when they come as part of a supervised group.

If a student changes the starting date of their enrolment with the School/College on one or more occasions, there will be a charge of £25 for each additional enrolment letter required.

2. Payment
Course payment must be made to Waterloo School of English Ltd at least 14 days before the student's start date in British pounds (GBP) by:

• Banker's draft
• UK bank cheque
• Bank transfer*
• Online credit transfer (Recommended)
• Cash (paid in person at the School)

*You are reminded that payment by bank transfer may take 10 days or more to reach our account: adequate time must be allowed for this.

Payments are required in British pounds (GBP). Students are responsible for all bank charges, both in the country of origin and from England. Our bank details are:

Barclays Bank plc,
Southwark Branch,
29 Borough High Street,
London SE1 1YL
England

Account name: Waterloo School of English Ltd.
Account no. 70420816
Sort code: 20-80-57

SWIFT/BIC BARCGB22
International Bank Transfer (IBAN): GB86 BARC 2080 5770 4208 16

Unless otherwise stated, the course price does not include any of the following: textbooks (which are required for each course level attended), external exam fees, personal or medical insurance, travel costs. Students are recommended to take out their own medical and personal insurance, including insurance to cover possible cancellation. We can advise on this.

In addition to the relevant course or class fees, there is a flat, one-off registration fee of £20 payable for documentation and administrative support. This includes student ID card, bank and other initial support letters.

Tuition fees are only valid for the person specified on the enrolment invoice.

3. Payment in instalments
If you are already in the United Kingdom at the time of enrolment you may pay in instalments. However by doing so you may forfeit the savings advantages of paying for a longer period. If you are a visa national (see point 10, Visas), or require a visa to continue to stay in the UK, we strongly advise you to pay your course fees in full. A decision to pay in instalments may adversely affect your visa application.

4. Refund policy
(a) Visa refusal
On production of the original visa refusal letter, Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College will fully refund the tuition fees, less a standard charge of £50 to cover the initial administration fee, the extra work involved for the School and any bank charges incurred in transferring the money back to the source bank account.

(b) Cancellation prior to course start
If you cancel more than two weeks before your course begins, Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College will refund 80% of the fees you have paid.

If you cancel less than two weeks before your course begins, Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College will refund 50% of the fees you have paid.

If a visa student cancels their course, we are obliged to notify the Home Office of this fact and any student visa issued may be withdrawn.

(c) One-to-One tuition
In the case of one-to-one tuition, a lesson can only be postponed or cancelled if the College is advised two working days in advance. If you arrive late for a lesson, the missing minutes from your class will not be credited.

(d) Transfer of fees
Tuition fees and deposits are not returnable or transferable, either in full or in part. They are only valid for the person specified.

(e) School changes to schedules
Whilst Waterloo School of English/ Waterloo House College will make every attempt to place you in the course of your choice and at the time of your choice, the final decision will be made after you arrive and take our test. If your ideal time is not available, we will always offer another suitable alternative to you, but we cannot guarantee exact schedules. We also reserve the right to cancel, combine or alter the time of a course where the course itself is undersubscribed, before or during a term.

(f) Commitment to study
Please be aware that wherever conflict in schedules arises between hours of studies and work, you must place your studies first; we will not accept taking on a part-time job as reason for requesting a change to your schedule.

(g) Other conditions of non-payment of refunds

No refund will be given in the event of:

• your being asked to leave the College because of gross misconduct (i.e. abusive behaviour) on your part.
• your being asked to leave the country by the British Authorities.
• self-cancellation after course start
• your being refused re-entry if you leave the UK during the course without a covering letter from Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College.
• a refusal by the British Authorities to give you a visa extension because you have not attended a minimum of 80% of the course for which you have been enrolled.

You are advised to take out insurance, so as to avoid loss if you have to cancel or curtail your course.

5. Accommodation
Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College does not provide accommodation for students. Instead we work closely with accommodation agencies that offer halls of residences/hostels and homestay accommodation. All host families are inspected to British Council Guidelines. Each agency’s terms and conditions apply.

If a student changes the starting date of their enrolment with the School/College and has also booked accommodation through the School/College, there will be an extra charge of £25 for each additional accommodation letter needed by the student.

6. Student records
Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College will collect and maintain your personal information lawfully and fairly, in accordance with the 1998 Data Protection Act. This information will be protected against loss and theft or unauthorised access, disclosure, copying or modification. It will not be supplied to third parties, except authorised legal entities in England.

You are responsible for giving the College accurate and up-to-date information about your address, phone numbers, email address and emergency contact details in the UK and your home country whilst you are studying at the College.

7. Course extensions
If you extend your period of study without a break, you will not be required to pay an additional administration fee.

8. Holiday policy
You must give the College Registrar 14 days' notice before you take a holiday and holidays may only be taken in full weeks. The length of permitted holiday during a course is as follows:

9. College holidays 2008-2010
The College will be closed for classes on the following dates:

Students entitled to holiday must use their holiday allowance when the College is closed during the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. There are no fee reductions for when the College is closed on public holidays.

10. Visas
Some students require visas for the UK. You are advised to visit the United Kingdom government website (www.ukvisas.gov.uk) or contact your nearest British embassy, consulate or high commission to check on current visa requirements. Students who are visa nationals are required by the authorities to attend full-time (daytime) courses of a minimum of 15 hours per week.

11. Attendance and Conduct
All students are required to attend their classes regularly and on time. Absence due to sickness or accident is not refundable.

Any student whose attendance level falls below 80% during the course for which he or she is enrolled will receive a written warning and then be dismissed by Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College without any refund of tuition fees if their attendance level continues at below the required minimum. For visa national students, this will affect your legal status in the UK.

The College reserves the right to refuse admission to any student or to dismiss any student in the event of misconduct or unsatisfactory work. In such instances there will be no refund of tuition fees.

School Procedure in the Event of Serious Student Misconduct

The vast majority of students show respect for the school building, its equipment and resources, other students and our staff. Occasionally a student may be guilty of misconduct of some kind.

Examples of serious misconduct

• Verbal or physical abuse to a student or a member of staff. Verbal abuse can include bullying, harassment, threatened violence, damage to personal property, abuse on grounds of physical, racial, sexual, sexual orientation or national differences. Physical abuse includes actual violence or indecent assault.
• Ridicule, embarrassing remarks or jokes, unwelcome comments about dress or appearance towards a teacher or another member of staff or another student
• Deliberate damage or misuse of school resources or vandalism to the school building
• Theft of school resources or another student or member of staff’s personal property
• Repeated refusal to follow the rules of the school
• Behaviour outside the school that could bring the school into disrepute.

Three-stage procedure

Stage 1 will be a meeting with the class teacher to resolve the issue

Stage 2 will be a meeting with the Director of Studies to resolve the issue, if the meeting with teacher has not been able to resolve it to the satisfaction of the complainant and the School

Stage 3 will be a meeting with the Principal to resolve the issue, if the meeting with the Director of Studies has not been able to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the complainant and the School

The Principal’s decision is final.

The student who has been accused of misconduct is entitled to have a friend or other representative present when his or her case is being considered at all stages in the procedure

In the event of an accusation of serious misconduct being upheld by the Principal, the student will be asked to leave the school if we are beyond reasonable doubt that the student has committed the act of serious misconduct. As our Terms and Conditions clearly state, no refund of any course fees paid will be given.

12. Student Handbook
Any additional regulations relating to the safe running of the College are contained in the Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College student handbook, given to each student on the first day of their course. They form part of the Terms & Conditions. All students are expected to read and understand the information in the pack.

You are expected to participate actively in your class, to take progress tests periodically, and to do your homework regularly. For ELT students, you are also obliged to purchase a coursebook.

All students are expected to speak English on the School premises, both in class and outside it.

13. Course allocation and class times
We are unable to allocate you to a specific class before you register at the College. On arrival at the College for registration and before joining a course you will have to do a placement test. For anyone not registering immediately on a course, the cost of this test is £10. The test results will be used immediately to place you in a suitable class for your level of ability. You will be informed of your class times at this stage.

The times of your class will not alter unless authorised formally by the College.

Students cannot change from one course to another without formal approval by the Director of Studies.

14. Certificates
You will automatically be given an attendance certificate if you have achieved an 80% attendance or more for the period for which you have enrolled. Students who attend for less than 80% can request an attendance certificate: this will be provided, stating the actual attendance level that the student achieved.

The College will only provide you with a course completion certificate if you successfully complete the course in question.

15. Special Offers
From time to time, Waterloo School of English and Waterloo House College advertise ‘Special Offers’. These are designed for students who are already resident in the UK and have found the School by their own initiative (i.e. without the assistance of an agent) or to reward the loyalty of a student who wishes to renew their subscription to the School

Special Offers can be withdrawn at anytime by the School (though obviously not after a student has paid the special offer amount in full) and are available purely at the discretion of the college.

If a student has already paid the full price, then we cannot refund it in favour of a special offer price.

16. Publicity
From time to time, the College may take photographs of students for promotional purposes. By enrolling at the College you accept that any photographs taken of you by Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College may be used for promotional purposes.

17. Data protection
You agree that Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College keeps your records on its computerised system. The information we hold about you is confidential and we will not sell, trade or rent it to any other parties of any kind. We will only disclose it outside our College if:

(a) we have to use third parties for certain services, in which case we will always do so in accordance with the applicable law and will take reasonable precautions to ensure that the service provider protects your personal information the law permits or requires it, or
(b) any regulatory or governmental body requests or requires it, even without your consent.

We will use your information for the following purposes:

(a) to process your application for the administration of your course;
(b) to provide you with the best possible service whilst you are a student at our School;
(c) to tell you about our promotions and new products at Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College;
(d) to provide data for statistical analysis.

18. Disabled access
Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College has limited access for disabled students.

19. Liability
Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College and its staff and representatives will not be liable for loss, damage or injury to persons or property however caused, except where such liability is expressly imposed by English law.

The College is not responsible for the safekeeping or delivery of any post or fax sent to you at the College.

20. Force Majeure
Neither Waterloo School of English/Waterloo House College or its representatives are liable for refunds or damages, however they arise, in cases where the College is unable to provide any services to which they are contractually bound because of labour disputes, insufficient demand for courses or for any other reasons that are beyond their control.