Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions apply to USA, UK, Malta and Cape Town schools.
Click here for EC Canada Terms and Conditions.

Payments

Payments may be made by bank transfer or credit card and must be received in full 14 days prior to the course start date. A deposit must be paid immediately upon booking. A booking confirmation will only be sent when a deposit has been received. Bank details are provided on the invoice. Payment must include all bank transfer charges (including intermediary bank charges).

Visas

Payment must be received in full prior to any visa documents being issued. There is a charge of 55GBP/80EUR/65USD each time documents have to be sent by courier. If a visa application is rejected and we receive written evidence at least 7 days prior to arrival we will refund the fees received in full, less any bank charges and any non-refundable fees (tuition fee 150USD (US only), registration fee, courier fees and bank charges).

A cancellation fee equivalent to 1 week of accommodation and tuition in addition to non-refundable charges (above) will apply if we receive written evidence of visa rejection fewer than 7 days prior to arrival.

Should EC receive positive visa application results fewer than 7 working days prior to arrival, EC reserves the right to offer

Should the arrival day be postponed due to delayed visa applications, EC cannot guarantee the original accommodation allocation.

Whilst EC endeavours to support students at all times, EC cannot be held responsible for decisions taken by embassies or immigration police regarding entry visas or visa extensions.

EC can assist with queries regarding the visa application process at the time of booking however EC cannot be held responsible for information which is constantly being updated through visa websites. It is therefore the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the most updated regulations/processes are being followed. EC cannot be held responsible for any visa regulation changes which occur after the booking has been confirmed in compliance with the then existing regulations.

USA only: EC is authorised under federal law to enrol non-immigrant students. By law, to issue the I-20 form, with the enrolment form EC must receive: the student's home address, a copy of the student's passport, proof of sufficient funds to meet tuition and living expenses through a current bank statement or letter from either the student's, sponsoring person's or institution's bank. Sponsors must also provide an affidavit of support.

Refunds and Cancellation Fees

Written notification of cancellation must be submitted in order to provide refunds.

If EC cancels a programme after a student's enrolment, EC will refund all monies already paid by the student.

Students who require a visa/temporary residence permit may not be able to shorten their course due to the terms of their visa/ temporary residence permit.

In the event that a refund is due, prorated refunds will be calculated on a weekly basis. When determining the number of weeks, EC will consider a partial week the same as if a whole week were completed, provided the student was present at least one day during the scheduled week.

Accommodation Cancellation Prior to Arrival

EC accommodation: students cancelling fewer than 14 days before arrival will be charged a one week accommodation fee charged at the standard accommodation rate and accommodation placement fee.

Non-EC accommodation (i.e. accommodation contracted by EC through external suppliers) have different cancellation terms. For hotels and self-catering apartments booked through EC but not featured in the EC Price List, reservations must be cancelled 30 days prior to arrival to avoid a cancellation fee which may amount to the full stay charge. For this reason we remind you that in cases of hotel or self-catering apartment bookings, payment in full is expected one month prior to arrival. EC will inform you of the booking terms when confirming the booking.

Accommodation Cancellation After Arrival

UK, South Africa & Malta: Bookings of 7 weeks or fewer: No accommodation refund. Bookings of 8 weeks and over: students must give notice in writing 4 weeks prior to termination, otherwise a 4 week cancellation fee will apply. Students in Malta incur a 20% cancellation fee and refunds will be given in the form of a credit note. Credit notes are not transferable or refundable.

USA: Students leaving their accommodation must give notice in writing 4 weeks prior to termination. After deducting the price of accommodation used, including the required notice period, charged at standard accommodation rates, students will be refunded the remaining accommodation costs.

Please note: certain accommodation options may be subject to special cancellation charges. should these differ from above, students will be notified at the time of cancellation.

UK, South Africa & Malta:

Cancellation prior to arrival

To students cancelling over 14 days prior to the course or accommodation start date (whichever comes first), or to students who have had their visa application rejected, EC will refund fees received in full less non-refundable charges (registration fee, accommodation placement fee, courier fees and bank charges).

Students cancelling 14 days or fewer prior to the course or accommodation start date (whichever comes first) will be charged a cancellation fee equivalent to 1 week of accommodation and tuition, accommodation placement fee, registration fee, courier fees and bank charges.

Course cancellation after arrival or "no shows"

No refunds of tuition, registration fee or placement fees will be given by the school once the student has started his/her course. However courses can be shortened as follows:

Short courses (1-7 weeks): Courses cannot be cancelled or shortened, or lessons reduced in number. Tuition fees are not refundable.

Long courses (8-23 weeks): students can shorten courses by a maximum of 2 weeks. students must give a 2 week period of notice. The resulting credit can only be used to upgrade tuition. Credit is not transferable or refundable. Visa restrictions may apply.

Course of 24+ weeks: students can shorten courses by a maximum of 4 weeks. students must give a 2 week period of notice. The resulting credit can only be used to upgrade tuition.

Credit is not transferable or refundable. Applicable in low season only and visa restrictions may apply.

Students cannot upgrade courses to One-to-One in high season. In low season, students may be able to upgrade to One-to-One, but we cannot guarantee this.

USA

All students attending an EC Centre in the Us will be subject to the destination-specific applicable state Enrolment & Refund Agreement policies. should EC's refund policies differ from state agreements, refunds will be processed according to the state policies, available upon request in each centre.

Cancellation prior to arrival

Students cancelling over 14 days prior to the course or accommodation start date (whichever comes first), or to students who have had their visa application rejected, EC will refund fees received in full less all accommodation charges incurred plus any non-refundable charges (tuition fee 150USD, accommodation placement fee, registration fee, courier fees and bank charges).

Students who enter the Us on an I-20 obtained through EC, who cancel (or never attend) prior to the course or accommodation start date (whichever comes first) will be charged a cancellation fee as follows: For a programme of less than 12 weeks: all tuition charges for up to 4 weeks, all accommodation charges incurred plus non-refundable charges (tuition fee 150USD, accommodation placement fee, registration fee, courier fees and bank charges). For a programme of 12 weeks or more: all tuition charges for up to 6 weeks, all accommodation charges incurred plus non-refundable charges (tuition fee 150USD, accommodation placement fee, registration fee, courier fees and bank charges).

Course cancellation after arrival or "no shows"

For courses of 4 weeks or fewer: Lessons cannot be cancelled. Tuition fees are not refundable.

For courses of 5 weeks & over: Students who terminate their course in the first 4 weeks will be refunded all tuition except 4 weeks at the non-discounted rate found in the EC Price List.

For courses of 5 weeks & over: Students who terminate their course after the 4th week, but before the mid-point of their course, will be charged at a prorated amount of tuition at the non-discounted rate found in the EC Price List.

For courses of 5 weeks & over: Students who terminate their course after the mid-point of their course will not be refunded.

Refund due dates

For students cancelling before arrival, refunds will be made within 45 calendar days of the first scheduled day of class or the documented date of cancellation, whichever is earlier.

For an enrolled student, the refund due will be paid within 45 calendar days from the documented date on the student's written notice of withdrawal.

Any refunds due will be paid to the person or organisation who originally paid the fees.

Changes to Enrolment

EC reserves the right to charge an administration fee of 50GBP/80EUR/150USD each time the course, accommodation or centre is changed or postponed after EC has confirmed the initial enrolment. This also includes requests for changes whilst the student is at school.

Session Breaks

Students returning from their session break cannot expect to return to the same class, teacher or accommodation. No credit is given for accommodation during session breaks. students requiring a visa for study must ensure that their visa is issued for the correct dates to include any session breaks.

UK, Malta & Cape Town: Academic/Business Year or Multi-Destination Academic/Business Year students (24 weeks+):

Students can have a maximum of 4 weeks' session break. Students must give a 2 week period of notice.

US: students who are planning to stay in the Us, who have studied for a minimum of 12 weeks with an attendance of over 80%, and are registered for a further 4 weeks, are entitled to a session break of up to 2 weeks. session breaks cannot be more than 2 weeks, including all EC breaks except the standard Christmas break. Students enrolled for 24 weeks+ may take a break of up to 5 months if they are leaving the US.

Public Holidays 2012 - Falling on a Weekday

Malta: 10 Feb, 19 Mar, 6 Apr, 1 May, 7 Jun, 29 Jun, 15 Aug, 21 Sep, 13 Dec

UK: 2 Jan, 6 Apr, 9 Apr, 7 May, 4 Jun, 5 Jun, 27 Aug,

Cape Town: 2 Jan, 21 Mar, 6 Apr, 9 Apr, 27 Apr, 1 May, 9 Aug, 24 Sep, 17 Dec

US: 2 Jan, 16 Jan, 20 Feb, (16 Apr - EC Boston only), 28 May, 4 Jul, 3 Sep, 8 Oct, 12 Nov, 22 Nov, 23 Nov

All EC centres will be closed on Public Holidays. Centres in the UK, US and south Africa do not make up for lessons missed on these dates. Exceptions are made for One-to-One courses where lessons missed will be made up. EC Malta will make up for lessons missed with the exceptions of 6 Apr, 29 Jun, 15 Aug, and 21 Sept when lessons will not be made up. There is no refund for lessons missed.

Christmas & New Year Opening Dates

Schools will reopen after the Christmas 2011 holidays on 3 Jan 2012. (Malta reopens on 2 Jan 2012)

The last day of school is 21 Dec 2012. Centres reopen on 7 Jan 2013.

UK and US accommodation Christmas supplement: Due to increased costs associated with accommodation over the Christmas period, an additional 50% of the weekly price will be charged for the Christmas week in UK and US homestay accommodation.

Reduction of Lessons

EC reserves the right to reduce the number of lessons in a class due to insufficient number of students. The lessons may be reduced as follows:

General 20/Exam 20/Academic Year 20/semi-intensive 24: If 1-3 students in class lessons reduced to 10 lessons/week; If 4-6 students in class lessons reduced to 15 lessons/week.

Mini Group 20/Business English Mini Group 20: If 1-3 students in the class lessons reduced to 15 lessons/week.

Intensive/Exam 30/Academic Year 30/Business Year: If 1-3 students in class lessons reduced to 15 lessons/week; If 4-6 students in class lessons reduced to 20 lessons/week.

Mini Group 30: If 1-3 students in the class lessons reduced to 20 lessons/week.

Club 50+: If 1-3 students in class - courses change to standard Mini Group 20 and the social programme will change slightly.

Reissuing Lost/ Misplaces Student Certificates

30GBP/30EUR/60USD

Level of English

If a student does not have the minimum level of English required to follow a specific course, as determined by EC's Placement Test, EC reserves the right to move the student to an appropriate course for their level.

Scholarships

Recipients of scholarship or government grants should expect to pay a deposit to the school they are attending in cases where reimbursement to the school is not provided prior to the student commencing their course.

Transfers

Flight details including: arrival time, flight numbers, airline and point of origin must be advised 7 days prior to arrival in order for EC to provide airport transfers. No refunds will be granted on transfers if flight details are not sent to EC at least 7 days prior to arrival. Airport transfer fees include a maximum of 1 hour waiting time. In the event of delays exceeding 1 hour, students will be charged the additional fee at the school.

Class Information

Private lessons will be scheduled subject to teacher/classroom availability.

EC reserves the right to use classrooms in alternative premises of a similar standard.

Homestay

EC San Francisco, New York, Miami, Bristol, London and Cambridge may use carefully selected partners to house students with suitable host families.

Force Majeure

EC will not be responsible for any failure to comply with any of its obligations (and therefore shall not be required to provide any compensation) if the failure is occasioned by any cause beyond EC's reasonable control. Nor shall EC be responsible for any costs incurred by or on behalf of the student as a result of any such cause. Such causes shall include but shall not be limited to war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, unusually adverse weather conditions and infectious diseases.

Supervision

Please note EC does not provide supervision for students who book an adult course.

Expulsion

EC reserves the right to expel students for unacceptable behaviour or lack of attendance. No refund will be given. Repatriation is at student's own expense.

Damage to Property

Students must pay the full cost of any damage they cause to property.

Insurance

Students must have adequate health, accident and travel insurance while attending any of our programmes. EC Centres in the US require students to show a proof of health insurance upon arrival. Where proof is not available, students must immediately purchase at least one week's insurance from EC. EC reserves the right to claim this cost from uninsured students, and during this week students must purchase insurance for their entire stay. Uninsured students may not attend class until proof of insurance is available, and will not be refunded for lost class time.

Liability

EC will not be held liable for loss, damage or injury to persons or property.

Photography And Filming

EC may take promotional photographs and video footage of students. If students do not wish to participate, EC will respect their wishes if EC has been notified in writing.