General Terms

Minimum Age & Disability / Special needs

1. Minimum Age – 18. Our courses are for anyone who is over 18 years old.
2. You must inform us of any disability or special needs before making an application. We will refuse your application / cancel your course if you fail to do so.
3. There is no wheelchair access to the College or its accommodation provision. We regret that we are not able to accommodate such kinds of disability in our current premises. Please do discuss with us if you have any questions about support for disability and special needs.

Application & Enrolment

1. All students should read and understand the College’s Terms and Conditions (available from http://www.excel-college.com/terms.php) when applying.
2. By paying course fees students enter an agreement with the College that they accept the College’s Terms and Conditions and will follow the course to completion. This agreement abides by the College’s Terms and Conditions regardless of whether the students have signed the application form.
3. All students must show their passport and UK visa (if applicable) before starting their course. EU students can show either their passport or national ID card.

Payments

1. The entire course fees must be received before the course starts, or the enrolment will be cancelled and there will be no refund.
2. If applying for Tier 4 or student visitor visa, all the fees must be received before we can issue a visa/CAS letter.
3. Payments can be made by credit/debit card (for card payment, they can only be made in person) cash, or bank transfer.
4. We don’t usually accept cheques. It is the College’s decision whether we allow a student to pay by cheque. The student can only start their course after the cheque has cleared to our bank account. We will charge £20.00 if the cheque cannot be cashed.

Refund & Cancellation

1. In general, there will be no refund of course fees made after a student’s payment. We do not give any refunds for cancellation or change of mind - they are non refundable. The student will lose any money they have already paid.
2. Students may only request a refund if their visa application is refused by UKBA.
1. a)  To claim a refund the complete UKBA refusal letter must be submitted and we may require the original copy if the email or fax copies are not clear. The student will not be granted a refund without the complete UKBA refusal letter.
2. b)  We will not issue any refund if you have been refused for reasons of fraud or deception.
3. c)  Refunds will not be authorised 12 months after the date of purchase.
4. d)  We will apply a £150.00 admin fee to all refund claims. If we permit a refund the student will receive course fees paid minus the £150.00 admin fee.
5. e)  It can take from 2 weeks to 3 months to process a refund.
6. f)  Refunds are paid by cheque or bank transfer. It is not possible to pay refunds in cash.

Change of Course

1. It is the decision of the College whether students will be allowed to change their course after payment.
2. If the students want to change to a course which is cheaper than the course they initially paid for, the College will not authorise any refund.
3. The students may change to a course which is more expensive than the course they initially paid for by paying the difference.

Transfer of Course Fees

Excel College does not permit transfer of a student’s course fees to another person.

Deferred Start Date

It is the College’s decision whether a student can defer their start date. The maximum time allowed for deferral is 3 months. The College may not be able to offer the original course the student booked.

Early Finish Date

Students cannot shorten their courses. There will be no refund of course fees if the students decide to leave the course earlier than the agreed course end date and we will also report to UKBA any Tier 4 visa students who have done so.

Sick Leave / Holidays requested by students

1. Students are entitled to take time off during the College’s holidays and the national holidays.
2. It is the College’s decision whether to allow students to take sick leave or their own individual holidays during their Course. Students must obtain the College’s permission to take holidays during term time.
3. In the event of sick leave or authorisation of a student’s holiday, there will be no refund for the classes conducted during the student’s absence. The College will not make up for the course time missed by the student’s absence.

Conditions of Expulsion

Students will be asked to leave the College and will not be given any refunds under any of the following conditions:

1. Failure to pay the College fees, including course fees and accommodation fees.
2. Taking part in criminal / terrorist activities.
3. Displaying verbally or physically abusive behaviour, violence or vandalism on the College’s premises or associated accommodation.
4. Failure to inform the College of a disability or a special need before arrival and the College not being able to support or accommodate such a disability or special need.
5. For visa students only: breaking UKBA immigration rules.
6. For Tier 4 visa students only: attending less than 40% of their classes without a good reason.
7. For Tier 4 visa students only: missing 20 consecutive contact days without informing the College.

College Rules

1. No smoking inside the College building (Cedar House). No smoking inside the College’s associated accommodation (including homestay and house share).
2. Attendance of all classes. Students must achieve at least 80% attendance.
3. Speaking only English at the College.
4. Respecting teachers, the College staff and fellow students.
5. Being punctual and arriving on time: teachers will refuse you entry to the class if you are more than 10 minutes late.

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Accommodation Terms

Booking and confirmation

1. Accommodation can only be booked for students of Excel College and where course fees have been received.
2. Accommodation will only be reserved on receipt of a fully completed application form and the full payment.
3. The minimum period of stay is normally four weeks. However if your course is less than four weeks, we can try to organise accommodation from 1 week to 4 weeks.
4. The College and its accommodation provision do not have wheel chair access and cannot accommodate such disability or special needs.

Cancellation and refund

1. If the student pre-pays but then cancels 14 days before the booking start date, the student will receive a refund minus one week Accommodation Fee and the Booking Fee.
2. After 14 days before the booking start date, there will be no refund of accommodation or booking fees paid by the student.

Late arrival late / leaving early / deferral of start date

1. If the student arrives later than the booking start date, there will be no refund
2. If the student decides to leave earlier than the booking finish date, there will be no refund.
3. The student may postpone the booking start date for a maximum of TWO WEEKS if he or she informs the College 14 days before the booking start date. After this point the booking start date cannot be deferred.

Insurance

Students should arrange their own insurance to cover:

1. Medical treatment and personal risks.
2. Damage to and loss/theft of personal property.

Excel College is not responsible for damage to or loss/theft of students’ personal property.

College right

Excel College reserves the right to cancel / change arrangements without prior notice.

Students must agree:

1. To inform Excel College on the Accommodation Application Form of any disability or special needs.
2. To inform Excel College on the Accommodation Application Form of all flight details and arrival time.
3. Not to smoke indoors in any accommodation.
4. To look after house keys during their stay and to return them at the end of the stay. £10 / key for replacement.
5. To let the College/host know if you break anything and you must pay for it.
6. To keep your bedroom, the bathroom and other shared areas of the house clean and tidy. Offer help with shared household duties
7. To be friendly and considerate and treat your host / housemates with respect in the hope that they will do the same.

For homestay:

1. Britain is a multi-cultural country and our hosts have a range of cultural backgrounds.
2. Please allow 30-60 minutes travelling time by public transport from your homestay to the school.
3. Observe all rules / requests of the host family.
4. Do not use the host’s telephone unless by prior agreement.
5. Let your host know if you are going to be late for a meal.
6. Inform your host family in advance if planning to stay out late or stay elsewhere overnight.
7. Do not disturb your host family when returning home late.
8. Ask permission when you wish to use facilities in the living room or kitchen at your homestay.

For house share:

1. Leave shoes you wear outside at the entrance; only wear a pair of clean slippers inside the house, so that it helps keep the floor & carpets clean.
2. Do check to make sure all the doors and windows are closed and locked before you leave the house.
3. Do check to make sure all cooking equipment (e.g. gas cooker) is turned off after use.
4. Clean the cooking equipment (gas cooker, microwave) after use.
5. Clean the toilet, washing basin and bath tub after use.
6. Turn off all the lights before leaving the house.
7. Keep the post on the shelf at the entrance.
8. Recycle and dispose of rubbish properly: separate general waste, paper waste, bottles/tins/cans and food waste from each other. (Detailed instructions are on the booking confirmation letter.)
9. No overnight guests.
10. No pets.
11. No shouting / loud music – please consider the neighbours.
12. Do not try to change the central heating controls in the kitchen; it is programmed - please contact the college if there is a problem.
13. Pay a deposit of £200 per room. The College will return the deposit at the end of your stay if there is no damage or need for excessive cleaning. Cost of repairing damage or excessive cleaning will be paid from the deposit.  For example, if the carpet has been stained badly by the student and it costs £120.00 to clean, the student will only receive £80 of their deposit back.

1-to-1 Course Terms

General conditions

1. The teacher will discuss the needs of the student, diagnose strengths and weaknesses, and design the course content accordingly.
2. At the end of each lesson the teacher and the student should agree a mutually convenient day and time for the following lesson.
3. If a student wishes to cancel (or postpone) a lesson, they must give the teacher at least 24 hours’ notice by calling Excel College. If the student cancels on the day of the lesson or fails to attend, that lesson will be lost.
4. If the teacher is not able to give a lesson, the student will be offered the choice of having the lesson with a substitute teacher or postponing to a mutually convenient day and time.

Books and other materials

1. If the student needs to buy any books, CDs, etc. for the private lessons, the price of the materials will be extra.
2. The student can either buy the materials from Excel College (if we supply it for our own classes), or they can buy them from a bookshop or from the internet.
3. Photocopies can only be used within the limits specified by the College’s policy on photocopying, and statutory copyright law.

Location & time of lessons

1. 1-to-1 lessons will ordinarily be held at Excel College, subject to the availability of a classroom (the teacher should always check with the DOS when agreeing the next lesson time with the student).
2. It may be possible to arrange lessons at the student’s home or the student’s place of work. Otherwise a neutral venue such as a coffee shop may be possible, assuming that the proprietors do not object.
3. These lessons could take place any time the teacher is available. As with the venue, this is a matter to be agreed between the teacher and the student. Minimum lesson time is usually 2 hours.
4. For off-site lessons where the teacher has to travel a significant distance from their home or place of work immediately after work, or if the teacher has to incur a travel cost (e.g. petrol, bus/tram/train fare, etc.), an additional cost will be incurred to cover the teacher’s travel expenses (and travel time if it is significantly above the time they would usually spend travelling to teach at the college).