Terms & Conditions

1. Registration

All courses must be booked in advance. Courses can begin on any Monday where appropriate or as stated in the brochure. English in Chester reserves the right to alter or cancel the course programme, change teachers and location and alter dates & fees from those stated in the brochure without prior notice.

Please send your deposit, along with your signed application form and a copy of your passport, at least 4 weeks in advance of your course. Please note the deposit cannot be returned under any circumstances (unless we are unable to accept your booking).

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they have the correct visa type and appropriate leave to remain in the UK. If English in Chester finds that a student does not have the appropriate leave to remain their course will be terminated. In this case tuition fees are non-refundable.

If a student is applying for a General Student Visa under Tier 4 of the Points-based System, English in Chester will issue a CAS only on the understanding that it is the student’s firm intention to study on the course booked and complete the attendance requirements. English in Chester is obliged to inform the Home Office where attendance is unsatisfactory or where a course is curtailed.

If you will be applying for a General Student Visa then please see the separate forms or contact the school for further information.

Students and/or agents and/or parents are reminded of the need to disclose medical information about the student to the school when the application is made.

All students applying to study at English in Chester agree to the disclosure of their data to appropriate bodies, such as the UK Border Agency and the British Council, as required by the Data Protection Act.

Students under the age of 18

On our General English for Adults courses, we normally accept students from the age of 17. Any bookings on these courses are made on the basis that the students on this course may be over or under the age of 18.

Students under the age of 18 are children in British law. All students under 18 are expected to abide by UK laws which relate to the restriction of activities to under 18 year olds: in particular the purchase and consumption of alcohol and tobacco.

If any student under the age of 18 wishes to study on any course at English in Chester, the person or people with parental responsibility for them in their own country should complete a Parents’ Agreement form. This form outlines the rules and conditions that will apply for the school to be able to accept a booking for a student under 18. The form can be obtained from the school or from the agent. If for any reason the school does not receive the Parents’ Agreement form, it will be assumed that the general rules and conditions outlined in the form have been accepted by the parents/guardian of the student. However, in these circumstances the homestay will not necessarily accept responsibility for enforcing the curfew.

2. Booking confirmation

Once your completed application form and deposit have been received and accepted you will receive a confirmation of booking by email. If you require documents to be posted, please inform the school.

3. Payment methods

Fees must be paid in full 4 weeks before the start of the course. Your course and accommodation will be cancelled if we do not receive the payment and you do not contact us about this.

You can pay by any of the following methods:

Online	Please contact the School for details.
Bank transfer	National Westminster Bank plc, P.O Box 8, 33 Eastgate St, Chester, CH1 1XA Account No: 01032704 Sort code: 60 40 08 IBAN: GB51NWBK60400801032704 BIC/Swift: NWBKGB2L Please ensure that the school receives the exact sterling amount.
Credit card	Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Maestro. There is a 2% charge for credit card use.
Travellers cheques
Personal bank cheque	We cannot accept Euro cheques.

All payments should be in sterling (£) unless agreed otherwise.

If fees are paid by bank transfer, please mention your/the student's name in the reference section of the transfer form, so we know who the payment has come from. A copy of the bank transfer receipt should be sent by fax or email as proof of payment.

4. Postponement

If you want to postpone your course, you must do this in writing. You may not postpone courses due to start within the next 28 days. You may only postpone if there is space available on the new course dates you wish to attend.

5. Cancellation or Curtailment

If you decide to cancel your course this must be done in writing by email or fax. Cancellation fees are as follows:

Cancellation from 28 days to 7 days before the start of the course – 50% of the total price may be refunded
Cancellation less than 7 days before the start of the course – no refund

The deposit is non-refundable at any time. The accommodation placement fee is non-refundable. If cancellation is due to a visa refusal a refund will only be given once we have received a signed copy of the visa refusal letter. The deposit and accommodation placement fee are non-refundable.

If you decide to leave the School before the end of your course then fees will not normally be refunded.

Any refunds are at the discretion of the Principal.

6. Extension

If you want to extend your course this is possible, provided there is space available. Please note it may not be possible for you to remain with the same host family if you choose to extend your course.

7. Accommodation

If you wish to stay in accommodation organised by the school we will do everything possible to meet your requirements. This may not always be possible and priority will be given to medical requirements such as allergies.

Your homestay will provide bedding and towels for your use. Your homestay will wash a reasonable amount of personal laundry. They will also provide all adult students with a house key.

If you are absent from your homestay for a few nights, for example over a long weekend, you should not expect a refund of fees.

If you are on a long course with an agreed number of holiday weeks, then there is a retainer of £40 per week to keep your room / your luggage in the room. It is a weekly sum, not payable in part weeks.

If you stay in your homestay over the Christmas break there is an additional £70 to pay for the Christmas week. If you are absent from your homestay for a few nights you should pay for the full week. If you go away but leave your luggage then there is a retainer of £40 per week.

If you are paying your homestay directly for accommodation, please pay them in cash, weekly in advance, or ask them how they would like to be paid.

If you leave the homestay accommodation arranged for you before the end of your course, you must give the host and the school one week's notice. The host is entitled to receive one week's payment in lieu of notice.

8. Holiday

If you are on a long course you should pre-book the number of weeks holiday you wish to take before the start of the course. If holidays are not pre-booked, tuition fees will not be refunded.

Holiday allowances are:

Length of course	Maximum number of holiday days allowed
12 - 24 weeks	10 days
25 - 36 weeks	15 days
36 + weeks	20 days

9. Insurance

We strongly recommend that you take out travel and health insurance. The school will not be responsible for resolving any issues that arise from lack of insurance cover on the part of the student.

10. Your English Level

English in Chester does not accept beginners (A1 on the Common European Framework). It is your responsibility to check the level of English needed for the course you wish to take. If you are unsure of your level, please contact us before booking so that we can advise you.

If your English level is not suitable for the course you have booked, we reserve the right to move you onto a different course or to refuse you admission to the school.

11. Attendance and Conduct

Students will only receive a Certificate of Attendance if their attendance has been 80% or more. If your attendance is less than 80%, the school will, at its discretion, issue an enrolment certificate, confirming that you were enrolled on a course in the school.

If you are a sponsored student, poor attendance will be reported to your sponsor. If you are studying on a student visa, poor attendance will be reported to the UK Border Agency.

We reserve the right to exclude any student who behaves in an unacceptable manner. In this case you will have to pay all course fees and any additional costs (e.g. for any damage caused).

It is your responsibility to provide us with your contact details in Chester (including mobile phone number if possible), the contact details of your next of kin in your own country and a copy of your passport and visa if appropriate.

12. Force Majeure

The school is not liable for failure to perform its obligations if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane, infectious diseases or pandemics or other natural disaster that are beyond the reasonable control of the parties), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (regardless of whether war is declared), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, terrorist activities, nationalisation, government sanction, blockage, embargo, labour dispute, strike, lockout or interruption or failure of electricity [or telephone service].

In the event of an outbreak of infectious disease, all students and or parents/guardians are required to comply with rules regarding quarantine as set by government agencies or by the school.

If the school asserts Force Majeure as an excuse for failure to perform its obligations, then the school must prove that it took reasonable steps to minimise delay or damages caused by foreseeable events, that the school substantially fulfilled all non-excused obligations, and that the other party (student, agent etc.) was timely notified of the likelihood or actual occurrence of the event.

13. Policy on international epidemic of an Infectious disease

Following the international outbreak of H1N1 flu virus in 2009, English in Chester has adopted a policy for dealing with international epidemic outbreaks of infectious disease. This policy will apply when UK government bodies or other recognised medical advice suggests that the school should take containing action to avoid the spread of the epidemic. It will not apply to isolated cases of illness.

What can students do before they come to Chester?

All students coming to the school should make sure they have adequate travel insurance. This needs to cover medical expenses, cancellation and postponement. The school will not be able to cover expenses incurred by any illness, such as reorganising a flight or a longer stay in accommodation after the course has finished, so we advise all students to ensure that they have suitable insurance cover.
If an epidemic has been declared by the authorities, students should not travel to Chester if they suspect that they are carriers of the infectious disease in question. It is likely in any case that the airline will not allow the student to travel.
In these circumstances, if a student has another serious medical condition, he or she should consider whether they can postpone their visit to the UK. The school will consider any requests to postpone arrival sympathetically if students have a pre-existing serious medical condition.

What will the school do if a student is suspected of having caught the declared infectious disease?

The school will help the student to check their symptoms. The school has designated a room for quarantining students who are unwell and suspected of having an infectious disease.
The school will help the student to contact any government helpline and/or a doctor in the UK who will advise the student and prescribe medicine if required.
Any member of staff or student who is suffering from the declared infectious disease will be isolated from other students. Staff will be sent home and we will encourage students to stay at their homestay or other accommodation if possible until they feel better and/or when the doctor confirms they are fit to return to school. Students will be marked as authorised absences for the period they are away from school.
The school will keep in close touch with students if they are ill, as we always do, and if appropriate will provide language work for the student to do at home. Students should inform the school when they feel fit to return to normal classes.
The school will not close unless there is a severe outbreak, following advice from the UK government and English UK. The school may have to take other short-term measures, such as combining classes, if staff numbers are significantly reduced through illness. The school will do all it can to ensure that the students receive the excellent provision that they would normally expect.
There may be cases where students suffering from an illness are unable to travel as planned at the end of their course. The school will help them to extend or find alternative accommodation and to re-arrange any travel plans if necessary.
The school's terms and conditions fully outline the school's position regarding postponement or cancellation of courses.

14. Policy on disruption to international travel

We always advise students travelling to the UK to take part in courses at English in Chester to take out good travel insurance. We would strongly recommend that you check the level of cover you have if your flight were delayed directly or indirectly due to poor weather, strike action, or for any other reason.

English in Chester's cancellation policy applies (see section 5).
In the event of flight delays and/or subsequent course cancellation or postponement, English in Chester will therefore not normally refund fees. However, given exceptional circumstances, where a cancellation can be seen to be directly related to closure of airspace, we will look sympathetically at the individual circumstances and may issue a credit for the full amount of the course fees, and assist students to rebook their course at a later date. In these circumstances, the school will not charge cancellation fees, although host families may still charge for accommodation booked and not taken.
In all cases, we would ask that students and agents keep in close touch with the school by email and phone in the lead up to a journey if it appears likely that external conditions may affect a student's flight. These situations are usually fast-changing, and it is imperative that the school is kept informed of any changes of likely late arrivals, so that our transfer company and host families are kept up to date. The school's 24-hour emergency number (+44 7971857841) can be called if vital information needs to be communicated, but please do not bombard the phone with unimportant information, as it is vital that the phone is kept free for genuine emergency situations.
Where an individual student travelling as part of a group chooses to cancel a course, we would look at the individual circumstances surrounding the decision and deal with it on a case by case basis.
The safety and welfare of every English in Chester student is very important to us. We will therefore do our best to limit the distress and inconvenience if a student is forced to make last-minute changes to his or her arrival or departure plans. If students are unable to leave Chester at the end of their course, the school will assist students in finding temporary accommodation. Where possible, accommodation with host families will be extended, and this will be charged at a pro rata daily rate.
We have a special obligation to look after and ensure the safety of children under the age of 18. The school will offer all assistance in helping these students to investigate and book alternative ways of getting home.