Acceptance of enrolment, evidenced by confirmation of the Student’s booking, will constitute a legally binding agreement, governed by English Law, for the period specified on the enrolment form. Students’ statutory rights are not affected by the conditions below.

All fees in respect of services specified on the Application for Enrolment are due for payment in full 14 days before the starting date. The School reserves the right not to provide such services in the event that such fees have not been paid by the due date. For payment by bank transfer, please contact the School to receive our bank details. The Student is responsible for all foreign and UK bank charges. Please note that bank transfers may take 5 to 6 working days to reach our account. Please allow for this. It is essential that the Student’s name and invoice number is clearly stated on the bank transfer documentation. Please see HOW TO PAY AT THIS LINK

i. During the 14-Day ‘Cooling Off’ Period

If the Student has booked their programme via email or the internet (a ‘distance contract’), they are entitled to a 14-day ‘cooling off’ period. During this ‘cooling-off’ period the Student may cancel their booking for any reason within 14 days and receive a refund of all fees minus any bank charges. If the Student cancels during the ‘cooling off’ period described above, the School will refund the fees within 14 days of the date that the Student informs the School that they wish to cancel. However, if the Student has requested the School provides services during the cooling off period, the School is entitled to charge a reasonable sum for the services. For an English course, this will be based on the proportion of the Course the Student has undertaken and the overall cost of the Course. The School can deduct this sum from any refund payable. Please note that accommodation cancellation terms apply – see paragraph 16.

ii. Outside the “Cooling Off” Period

The Student may cancel their programme for whatever reason, but if the cancellation is outside the ‘cooling off’ period as described in 3i, or if a ‘cooling off’ period does not apply, they will be liable for the following proportion of the total tuition fees:

• 15+ days before the start of the course – enrolment fee only
• 7-14 days before the start of the course – 50% plus enrolment fee
• less than 7 days before the start of the course – 75% plus enrolment fee
• no refunds are given once the course has started

In the case of cancellation less than 7 days before the start date, 1 week’s accommodation will be charged (if applicable). In the case of a refund, bank charges will apply.

In all cases, any unused accommodation will be refunded subject to cancellation terms – see paragraph 16

If the level of enrolments does not reach the minimum number to operate a programme viably, or the School is unable to offer services due to circumstances beyond its control such as fire, flooding, terrorism, war, pandemic (force majeure conditions), the School reserves the right to cancel the programme. In this case the School may offer an alternative programme. The student has the right to reject the alternative and instead receive a refund. The School reserves the right to cancel a programme without any liability no later than 7 days prior to the course start date.  At no point is the School liable for the Student’s travel costs, except for taxi transfers booked through the School.

The Student may postpone their start date by giving the School a minimum of 7 days’ notice. During a ‘cooling off’ period (see 3i), the Student may postpone at any time.

No refund of tuition fees will be given if the Student leaves the course early. The Student is not entitled to a refund for lessons missed due to absence or public holidays. Tuition fees may be transferred to another course (see condition 12) but may not be transferred to any other service such as accommodation, airport transfers or exam registration fees. Insurance fees are non-refundable. All unused accommodation fees are refundable. If the Student’s visa application is rejected and the School receives written evidence at least 7 days prior to arrival, the School will refund the accommodation and tuition fees in full but will retain the enrolment fee of £65. All agreed refunds will be paid to the Student within four weeks of your providing the School with bank details and a signed authorisation that the refund should be paid to that account. If written evidence of a visa refusal is received less than 7 days prior to arrival, the refund will be paid minus the enrolment fee of £65 and one week’s accommodation and tuition. In all circumstances, if payment was made by card, any refund can only be made to the same card.

Students must show their passport, which the School will keep a copy of.  Students are also required to provide the School with full and accurate contact details and it is the Student’s responsibility to inform the School of any changes to contact details. See also paragraph 22. Data Protection.

The School will be closed for two weeks for the Christmas / New Year holiday as follows. All homestay accommodation during the 2-week Christmas / New Year closure must be full-board.

• For 2024/25: the school closes on 21/12/2024 and reopens on 6/1/2025
• For 2025/26: the school closes on 20/12/2025 and reopens on 5/1/2026

The School will be also closed for public holidays on the following dates in 2025: 18 April, 21 April, 5 May, 26 May, 25 August.
There are no reductions or discounts in tuition fees for courses that include public holidays.

Students are expected to attend all their lessons. It is the Student’s responsibility to inform the School immediately of any illness or other reason for absence. If average attendance is below 80%, a course certificate will not be issued. Absence due to illness will be taken into account. The Student has a responsibility to arrive on time to their lessons. Late arrivals cause disruption to the teacher and other students, and late entry to classes is at the School’s discretion. Special conditions apply for under 18s in this respect – see Policy for Under 18s on Adult Courses*. Persistent failure to comply with the School’s Attendance and Punctuality Policy may result in expulsion without refund. Our policy for cancellation of 1:1 Lessons is stated in our Attendance and Punctuality Policy.

The School reserves the right to rotate teachers, change rooms and lesson times, and to combine classes if necessary.

The Student can change course. All remaining fees will be transferred to the new course. A balancing charge will be made if the new course costs more. Please note: this does not apply to 1:1 Lessons, which must be booked as an additional course.

Students / parents must report on their application form any mental or physical illness, allergy, disability or condition that may interfere with their ability to successfully finish their programme, that may impact the health or well-being of any other student or staff member, or that may require monitoring, treatment or emergency intervention of any kind during the student’s anticipated period of enrolment. Lewis School reserves the right to reject an applicant or terminate a student’s enrolment in the programme if the student’s continued participation represents a risk to their own health and safety and well-being or to the health and safety and well-being of other students or staff. No refund will be given in this event and all costs of repatriation will be the responsibility of the parents/guardians.

In the case of serious misconduct, the Student may be required to leave immediately, in which case no refund will be made. The School will be the sole arbiter of what constitutes serious misconduct. See our Discipline Policy for more information.

The Student, whether or not adjudged guilty of serious misconduct, will be required to pay for any damage they have caused. This includes any accommodation booked through the school.

Homestay accommodation fees are payable in advance. If the Student wishes to cancel their accommodation, they are required to give 1 week’s notice and will receive a full refund for the outstanding period booked. The School does not charge an administration fee for this. The School keeps £15 per week from the published homestay prices as a contribution towards the administrative costs. The balance is paid to the host.

The School strongly recommends the Student to have comprehensive medical, travel and personal insurance to cover you in case of accident or emergency. The School can arrange this. Visit our Adult Insurance Page for more details.

For all students under 18, we require a signed Under 18 Policy Agreement Form to be sent before the start of the course. See Policy for Under 18s on Adult Courses.

The School does not accept liability for accidents or illness, or loss, damage or theft of personal items. This does not negate your statutory rights.

If there is a complaint regarding the standard of service provided, it must be submitted in writing to the School before the departure date. See our Complaints Procedure.

The School may take photographs or video during the Student’s programme for use in the School’s marketing materials, including social media. The Student will be given a form during their induction where they can opt out if they do not want their image to be used in the School’s marketing materials. Any images given to the school or its staff may be used in Lewis School publicity without charge to the School and without obligation to credit the owner of the image.

Privacy and data security are important to the Lewis School. Personal information will be held on a secure database and server on our premises and will not be shared with any third party other than where necessary. These include, but are not limited to, the Student’s accommodation provider where applicable, taxi company where applicable and relevant governing/accrediting bodies. All data processing and any sharing of data will be in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
(See also paragraph 7. Personal Information)

All prices and information as indicated in Lewis School promotional materials, including the Lewis School website, are presented in good faith. However, the School reserves the right to alter programme prices and details without prior notice.

If our ability to provide the course and any accommodation is affected by an event outside our control, we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the event on the course and any accommodation.  Provided we do this we will not be liable for any failure, delays or alterations to these services caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any of the course and accommodation you have paid for but not received. No compensation is payable if any aspect of the course has to be changed or altered due to such events.  Events that that our outside our control include (but are not limited to) the following: war, terrorism, riot, natural or man-made disaster, pandemics, epidemics (including COVID-19), fire, adverse weather, technical problems, breakdowns, closure or congestion at airports or ports, industrial dispute, any law or any action taken by a government or public authority, including imposing a quarantine requirement. In the event of a government lockdown, all courses will be moved online, and students will be very welcome to stay in their accommodation and remain in the UK or return home and continue studying from there. If they do not wish to transfer to online courses, they will be offered a credit note valid for 2 years from their last day studying with us. No refund will be given for the course. If they return home the balance of their accommodation will be refunded.

The School aims to be an inclusive and welcoming environment which protects students from unfair treatment based on sex or on gender identity. During the booking process, the School collects data on each student’s sex (as indicated on their passport). These data are needed for purposes such as providing relevant accommodation (where applicable) and to meet legal or regulatory requirements when providing data to a third-party such as governing / accrediting bodies. If the Student’s gender identity differs from their sex, this information may optionally be provided in addition, to help the school address their needs. For more information, please see our Sex & Gender Policy.