Terms And Conditions
Introduction
These terms and conditions (the “Terms”) apply to the use of a Course provided by Alliance Française d’Oxford, a charitable organisation founded in England with registered charity number 1163206 and having its registered office at 30 Polstead Rd, Oxford OX2 6TN (“AF”, "we", "us" or "our"), as chosen by you in your application.
For the purpose of these Terms:
“Application” means the form submitted by you for your chosen Course;
“Course” means the specific language course offered by AF and chosen by you and detailed in your Application;
“Data Protection Legislation” means the Data Protection Act 2018 and the rules and regulations made or having effect under it and any such other legislation in effective from time to time;
“Fees” means the cost of the Course as stated in your Application;
Someone who uses the Course is referred to as a "Student", “you” or "your"; and
“Working Day” means any day (other than a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday) on which banks are open in England for normal banking business.
Terms
These Terms apply to any Application for a Course. You are deemed to have read and agree to these Terms before you submit any Application to us, as they set out important information about your rights and obligations.
If you are below the age of 18 or submitting an Application on behalf of a student who is below the age of 18, you confirm that you have authority and/or permission to submit such an Application. A person below the age of 18 requires to provide details of a parent, guardian or responsible adult when an Application is submitted and such parent, guardian or responsible person will be AF’s point of contact for the Student.
We may make changes to these Terms at any time. However, the Terms which apply to the Application will be those in force at the time you submitted the Application.
Application
There is a £25 registration fee if you are registering with AF for the first time. By registering with AF you automatically become a member of AF and this gives you the right to vote at AF’s Annual General Meeting.
A booking for a Course is complete only once an Application has been submitted and payment of the Fees for the Course has been made in full, subject to condition 4.4.
The duration of the Course, will be as stated on the relevant Application.
Places for the Course may be limited and are allocated upon receipt of an Application along with full payment of the Fees, subject to condition 4.4.
If your chosen Course is full or AF requires to cancel the Course due to insufficient Student enrolment or teaching staff shortages, you will be notified and offered a replacement Course. Should you not accept, or choose any replacement Course, AF will issue you with: a credit note up to the value of the cancelled Course which you may use to enrol on another Course with AF - any credit note offered is valid for a period of 1 year.
A free level consultation service is provided by AF, by appointment, to help you decide which Courses are best for you. AF requests that all new non-beginner Students attend a level consultation before enrolling on a Course and AF strongly recommends that you follow the advice given. AF reserves the right to refuse any enrolment on a Course where we believe that a Student is enrolling at an unsuitable level.
Fees
Fees for a Course are payable in advance. For group Courses, Fees are payable no less than 10 Working days prior to commencement of the Course. For private tuition Courses Fees are payable no less than 10 Working days prior to the commencement date. Fees are not subject to VAT and are non-refundable subject to the conditions of these terms and/or at the discretion on AF.
Unless otherwise stated, payment of Fees in instalments is not accepted.
Unless otherwise agreed with AF, Fees will not be pro-rated as a result of a Student’s absence.
Where the duration of a Course is for a prolonged period or full academic year:
- any refund for a cancellation at any time will be at AF’s discretion; and
- charges equivalent to any reduction plus an administration fee of 10% of the Fee will be applicable to any Student who withdraws part way through a Course stated to be for a prolonged period or full academic year.
- At AF’s discretion, concession Fees may apply to full-time students, senior citizens, those who receive job seekers allowance and subsequent member of the same family.
Payment of Fees can be accepted by debit or credit card, or bank transfer.
Fees include a complementary notebook and a reduction in courses fees in participating Alliances Françaises in France, a list of which is available on demand.
Cancellation and Reschedule
Before Courses have started:
You may cancel your course no less than 10 Working Day(s) (not including Saturdays) prior to commencement of the Course for a full refund. Should you wish to cancel in accordance with this condition 5.1 in order to obtain a refund, notification and requests to cancel must be made in writing to courses@af-oxford.org. Any cancellation after this time will require payment for the Course and no refund will be given, subject to condition 4.4.3, at the discretion of AF or in accordance with applicable law.
An administration fee of 10% of any Fees paid may apply for the processing of any refund at any time.
Cancellation after Courses have started:
After the first class of a Course has been delivered by AF, the Course may not be cancelled and no total or partial refund shall be given, subject to applicable law.
Subject to condition 5.1, for any cancellation or changes of a scheduled private tuition Course or class by a Student due to illness or such other provided reason, AF must be informed by telephone no less than 2 Working Days prior to the class. If notification of cancellation is made in due time, the private tuition class may be rescheduled by AF, notwithstanding the class will be charged in full.
For cancellation of a scheduled class received by AF on the day of the class, only at the discretion of AF will the class be rescheduled notwithstanding the class will be considered missed by the Student and no Fee will be refundable.
If a teacher is unable to attend a class due to illness, personal circumstances or other, or if they are unable to conduct a distance-learning Course due to an equipment or internet failure on our part, AF will always do its best to allocate a substitute at the original Course time. Where this is not possible, AF reserves the right to reschedule the relevant Course to another time and will provide the Student with as much notice as possible.
For Students who do not attend 3 consecutive classes per Course, upon notice AF reserves the right to offer a Student place on a Course to another Student.
For Courses performed in person, a time and location will be provided to Students and the Student will endeavour to adhere to such time and location.
AF reserves the right to change the location of any Courses including to the Course being conducted online if, in its reasonable opinion it is deemed necessary. Should any class be relocated (including to online) no reimbursement of any Fees shall be granted.
AF cannot accept any responsibility for unforeseen changes in a Student’s circumstances that may prevent a Student’s attendance in relation to the Course.
For distance-learning Course, no total or partial refund can be granted for courses where the Student’s technical equipment fails or is inadequate, or their internet connection becomes inadequate part-way through, or after the Course has begun. Students are advised to check that they have all the necessary equipment and a suitable internet connection before the Course begins and to download the relevant application in advance.
AF cannot accept any responsibility for unforeseen events which prevent a Student from attending or receiving the Course on days when the premises remain open, such as strikes, adverse weather conditions, transport malfunction or technical difficulties, and cannot refund or replace the class under these circumstances.
In the event of an incident beyond our control which forces closure of the AF or prevents us from delivering a Course (e.g. pandemic resurgence, extreme weather event, generalised internet failure, government order, local council order, or advice from the emergency services), we will endeavour to replace the Course with a suitable alternative to the best of our ability, but where this is not possible, we reserve the right to cancel any scheduled Course for the days concerned, without refund. To the extent that it is possible, such a closure will be advertised on the AF’s website or otherwise communicated to the Students concerned.
Courses
Students registered for a Course will require to re-register for any subsequent Courses to secure their space.
Resources may be provided however, you acknowledge that books and other learning materials are not included in the Fees payable for a Course.
If any Course proves to be unsuitable for a Student, AF reserves the right to transfer the Student to another within the same enrolment period within the first two weeks of the Course commencing.
Course duration and running may depend on the number of Student enrolled (a minimum of 4 students is usually required to run a course) and may alter subject to enrolment numbers until the third class of the Course, after which it will not change or at AFs discretion may be cancelled whereby Student will be offered alternative Courses.
In the case of a private tuition Course, the Course purchased is valid for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase, is valid only for the Student named in the Application and is non-refundable.
Distance-learning Courses are conducted via Zoom. For the best experience, we recommend connecting via the app and using a computer (rather than a tablet or phone), with a headset equipped with microphone, and a webcam (which may be integrated or external).
For online Course, in order to facilitate an interactive course experience, we request that you activate your camera and microphone. If there are any circumstances which make this difficult for you, please get in touch with us in advance of the start of your Course.
Students may not record any lessons, using any device. It is strictly forbidden to publish on the Internet or on any public media any videos or images acquired during remote or onsite teaching activities, featuring voices or images or teachers, personnel, or other students of AF.
One or more teachers may be allocated to you throughout the period of your Course this is to best suit your requirements and our operational needs.
Student Obligations
AF reserves the right to refuse admission/enrolment and to cancel any Course without a refund for any Student in the event of serious contravention of the Code of Conduct or any AF policy.
When visiting or attending a Course at any of our premises, in the event of non-respect of our policies and procedures, we reserve the right to ask you to leave immediately, to revoke your enrolment without refund and to refuse future admission to the premises. In the event of non-observance, we can take no responsibility for your health and safety.
AF teaching staff have signed contracts with AF which do not allow them to teach privately students who have been introduced by AF.
Liability
The extent of the AF’s liability under or in connection with these Terms or any Course (regardless of whether such liability arises in tort, contract or in any other way and whether or not caused by negligence or misrepresentation) shall not exceed the total amount of Fees paid for the relevant Course by the person raising a claim and AF will not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss.
Except as expressly stated in the above provision all warranties and conditions whether express or implied by statute, common law or otherwise are excluded to the extent permitted by law.
Other
For more details of AF’s Complaints Policy or Child Protection Policy, Procedure and Code of Conduct for Online Classes please contact us. All disputes will be dealt with in accordance with our Complaints Policy.
Where a Student’s details are provided to AF it is acknowledged that this will constitute Personal Data and will require to be Processed by AF for the purposes of providing a Course, in accordance with Data Protection Legislation. AF undertakes that it will only Process such Personal Data in order to provide a Course or otherwise to provide the relevant services under these Terms. Further information regarding our Processing of Personal Data and how we use your Personal Data can be found in our Data Protection Policy on our website.
Any complaint or commendation can be made in writing to the Caitlin Kennedy, Chairman of the Trustees, trustees@af-oxford.org and will be dealt with in accordance with our Complaints Policy.
AF will have different opening hours over public holidays and Students will be informed of these.
Students are responsible for their own property while on the premises. AF will not be held liable for any loss or damage to personal effects.
These Terms are governed by the Laws of England and the parties agree that the English court shall have exclusive jurisdiction.