Booking Conditions

By making bookings with International House London, you agree to these terms and conditions.

If you book your programme at International House London through an agency in your country, then the contract you have is with your agent, and different terms and conditions may apply.

Course availability and cancellation
Every attempt will be made to place students on the course of their choice. In the event of insufficient applications for a course, the school reserves the right to offer an alternative course of equal value or a refund.

Age
For young learner programmes the minimum age is twelve, except at Frensham, Ellesmere and Edinburgh young learner centres where it is eight. Young learner programmes also have a maximum age of seventeen.

Insurance
It is highly recommended that all students have comprehensive travel, repatriation, medical and course insurance. For young learners we provide complimentary insurance. Please see www.ihlondon.com/faq/is-insurance-includedin-the-course/ for more details.

British immigration regulations
If the student is a non-EU applicant, they may require a student visa. It is your responsibility to obtain this visa and we are not responsible if a student obtains the wrong visa. If you require a visa and arrive without one, you will not be eligible to attend the school. Please note that all non-EU students must study for a minimum of 15 hours per week to comply with British immigration regulations.

A course may be terminated at any point during its duration if a participant is found not to have leave to remain in the UK or breaches the conditions under which they are in the UK.

Visa applicable support
For the latest information about student visas for the UK, see our Getting a visa page or visit the www.gov.uk website.

We are a Tier 4 Sponsor under the UKVI’s points-based system (no. 5BY3ENNA5) and we will provide the documentation required for students to apply for study visas where applicable. Documentation in support of study visa applications will only be provided after all fees have been paid.

The school has a legal obligation to collate and maintain application information, as well as passport and visa data, and inform the Immigration Authorities of those students whose attendance falls below the standard required by their visa.

If a visa application is unsuccessful, yet all documentation was correctly submitted, please send a copy of the visa refusal letter to our admissions team. A course fee refund will be issued when we receive this document.

For advice on visa regulations, please visit the following website: gov.uk/browse/visasimmigration/student-visas. Alternatively, you can contact the British Embassy in your country.

Attendance and student holidays
Students are expected to attend lessons regularly and on time. Students forfeit course fees if they are late, absent, or leave before the course ends.

Airport and railway station transfers
We can provide transport from your airport or train station to your accommodation at prices stated in our price lists. Once booked these fees are non-refundable irrespective of whether or not the service is used. These fees must be paid at least six weeks before the transfer date

Code of Conduct
The school reserves the right to terminate an enrolment without issuing a refund, where a participant’s behaviour is such that it would be unreasonable for them to continue their studies.

Special offers
Discounts cannot be applied retrospectively to existing bookings and only one discount can be applied to a booking.

Variation to fees
We usually set, and hold, our fees for a calendar year. Fee are chargeable based on the fee for the course published in the brochure for the year in which you choose to study. However, if you book a course before 1st October for the following year you may choose to be charged the fee applicable in the previous year. Please note that if you extend your course, additional weeks will be chargeable at the fee applicable on the date you extend your booking.

Deposits
All our courses require a deposit at the time of booking. Deposits are non-refundable, except under the visa refusal conditions detailed above. Deposits for individual students are £450, unless this is more than the course fee. Deposits for group bookings are 10% of the total course fee. Subject to a small leeway, to allow for funds to be transferred, until the deposit is paid, the ‘booking’, remains a quotation or an allocation, and the place(s) are not confirmed; they may be sold to another person.

When tuition fees are due
For courses starting within eight weeks the full fee is due at the time of booking. If not paid via our online booking system an invoice will be raised and payment expected on receipt.

For bookings more than eight weeks before commencement, fees, less deposit, are due six weeks before the commencement of the course.

We do not allow students owing fees to register for their class or enter our accommodation. Students unable to pay any balance at registration will be turned away and, where applicable parents, agents or sponsors informed. Students under 18 will be passed across to the care of local government social services.

How to Pay
All fees are stated in GBP. We accept cash at our Stukeley Street Reception. For currencies other that GBP you will be charged the exchange rate applicable at the time of booking plus a handling fee dependent on the currency and amount.

Alternatively, you may pay by card (MasterCard, Visa or JCB) via our website at the time of booking, or by phone. You can also pay via Flywire (www.flywire.com) or bank transfer to 30-65-41, 37995568. Please quote your name in the reference section.

We do not make any charges for payments. We are not responsible for any bank service fees; it is the responsibility of the student to cover any fees required to ensure that we receive the full student fee. Always quote the student number on bank transfers.

Force Majeure
In the event of ‘force majeure’, such as fire, flooding, infectious diseases and other events outside our reasonable control which may cause the closure of the school, no refund of fees will be made to students, except at the school’s discretion in exceptional circumstances.

Your right to cancel
Because we understand that plans change and that you may need to cancel or postpone your study, we have generous cancellation arrangements for most of our courses. The information below relates to tuition fees and excludes the deposit and registration fee which is always non-refundable:

• Up until six weeks before the start of the course – full refund
• Between five weeks and two weeks – 50% tuition refund
• Between two weeks and the day before your course starts – 30% refund
• After course has commenced – no refund

Online Young Learner Courses – your right to cancel

• 4 weeks before the start date: 75% fees refundable
• 2 weeks before the start date: 50% fees refundable
• 1 week before the start date: no refund
• Cancellation on or after the start date: no refund

Payment is due upon receipt of the invoice

Additional Conditions – Young Learners

Health and safety
We operate a rigorous Health and Safety policy. Staff are all DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checked and undergo a period of training and orientation prior to students arriving at the school. All the relevant student-teacher ratios are adhered to, as set out by the Children’s Act and relevant governing bodies of language travel courses, such as English UK.

Airport transfers
If you have booked a shared airport transfer, students will be met by a member of our Young Learners Programme staff and accompanied to the school. Shared transfers are available from 10:00 until 19:00 from: London Heathrow and Manchester International Airport, and for Edinburgh, from Edinburgh International. For arrivals outside of these times or to other airports, clients can make their own way to the school or book a private transfer.

Clients are welcome to choose between a shared or private transfer during the hours of 10:00 and 19:00, but private transfers will be charged at the full private transfer rate. This includes a member of the school staff meeting the student at the airport and checking in the student at the airport upon departure.

Unaccompanied minors are charged an additional £60 one-way due to the additional staff resources needed to provide this service. All travel details must be finalised and communicated to us at least 28 days before the start of the programme. Within 28 days we may have to arrange a private transfer, in which case the fee difference will be due before the course commences.

Code of Conduct
School rules will be sent out along with the joining documentation. While every effort will be made to contact parents or guardians regarding serious breaches of school rules, the centre manager may at his/her discretion impose sanctions, including suspension and expulsion. We reserve the right to dismiss any student whose standard of conduct is unsatisfactory. We do not refund fees in cases of expulsion and all costs incurred as a result must be paid for by the student.

All students are liable for loss or damage to school property for which they are responsible. A £50 cash deposit will be taken from all students upon arrival and returned at the end of the programme, providing no damage has been incurred.

Medical
Our Schools have qualified first aiders and excellent links with local accident and emergency facilities.

Medical forms should be completed at least 21 days prior to the student’s arrival. Any medication that a student brings with them must be labelled in English and given to a member of IH staff on arrival.

We regret that any student arriving with a serious medical condition which was not previously reported on the medical and
personal information form may be sent home with fees not refunded.

We cannot accept students on the Young Learner Programme unless their parents have
signed and returned the completed medical and personal information form (Joining Documents). Again, students arriving without us having this information may be sent home and fees not refunded.