Definitions

1. A ‘course’ is defined as a period of time on a single course type as described in our current brochure – for example, the General English course or the IELTS Preparation course.
   
2. A booking can consist of either a single course or a combination of courses.

Conditions of Enrolment

3. Students must be 16 years old or over for adult courses.
   
4. To become a student at Celtic English Academy you need to send us the following:

• A completed application form
• A copy of your passport
• A copy of any English certificates from previous courses/educational certificates/transcript (if available).
• Full payment of your tuition fees / a letter from your sponsor stating that they will be financially responsible for you.
• Payment of accommodation and transfer service (if required).
• A copy of your visa if you are already in the UK.
• A copy of your husband/wife’s visa if you are on a dependent visa and a proof of their course of study if they are a Tier 4 student.

5. If you book an afternoon course, Celtic English Academy has the right to move you to a morning course should a class at your level be unavailable.
   
6. If you are government sponsored student, Celtic English Academy has the right to place you in either the morning or afternoon classes.

7. You must pay your course fees at least 4 weeks prior to the start date of your course. If you are making a booking less than 30 days before the start of your course, you must pay the full fees immediately. You will not be allowed to start your course until your fees have been paid in full.

8. A 2% fee will be charged to individuals paying by credit card outside of the UK as well as to companies or ETO partners both in the UK and abroad. Individuals paying by credit card within the UK will not be charged this fee.

Booking and Course Changes

9. Celtic English Academy will try to accommodate any request to change course start dates, but reserves the right to refuse any requests.
   
10. If you change from a more expensive course to a cheaper one with less than 10 working days’ notice given before your course start date or once your course has started, you will not be entitled to any refund and will not receive compensation in the form of extra lessons.

11. If you change your course after you have started in the school, you must pay a rebooking fee of £30 for every change. This fee covers administration and your new course materials.

Your level of English

12. If your placement test results are below the minimum entry requirements for your chosen course, we reserve the right to place you in a different class until you are ready to join the course for which you originally applied. We may offer you a programme of individual tuition to compensate until a course becomes available at your level.

13. It is important that you are at the right level to join our Exam Preparation courses. We use the following information to make sure that you can join these courses:

• The Pre-Arrival Questionnaire
• Any information you send us as part of your application (for example the results of any English language tests)
• The Placement Test you complete on your first day
  

14. If your level is too low to join the course you originally booked, we will place you in a suitable General English class until you are ready to join your booked course.

15. Celtic English Academy reserves the right to change teachers, class times and/or combine classes if necessary or transfer a student from one class to another. We will do our best to minimise any disruption and to do this as infrequently as possible.

Postponing a course

16. If you want to postpone a course, you may do so by emailing or writing to us at least 10 working days before your original course start date. If you request to postpone your course but provide less than 20 working days notice, you will be charged for the first week’s tuition and accommodation.

17. You may postpone your course on the following conditions:

• You must take the postponed course within 3 months of the original start date.
• A postponed booking cannot be postponed again. In this case our normal cancellation policy will apply.

Cancelling a course

18. If you would like to cancel a course, you must do so in writing or by email. You may cancel your course, but the following penalties will be incurred:

• If you provide more than 20 working days’ (Monday–Friday) notice before the course begins the enrolment fee will be retained.
• If you provide less than 20 working days’ notice before the course begins 50% of tuition fees and the enrolment fee will be retained.
• If you cancel once the course has started 100% of tuition fees and the enrolment fee will be retained.

19. If you cancel your course booking because of a visa refusal, we will refund any fees that you have paid minus the £50 enrolment fee if you send us a copy of the visa refusal letter issued by the British Embassy/Consulate. 

20. You must send us your visa refusal notice at least 5 working days before your course is due to start.

21. If you notify us after your course start date, we reserve the right to charge you in line with our normal cancellation terms. Please note that it is your responsibility to apply for your visa in good time.

22. If you arrive late due to visa issues, your first 2 weeks of accommodation will be charged unless you inform us at least 20 working days prior to the booked arrival date.

23. It is your responsibility to arrange suitable insurance to avoid loss of fees in the event of unavoidable cancellation or postponement. Celtic English Academy advises you to book your own study abroad insurance for the duration of your course.
    
24. Our terms apply even in the case of unforeseeable ‘force majeure’ events, which may not be covered by insurance.

Course Extensions

25. You may extend your course at the school if you would like to stay longer. The fees you pay will be based on the length of your original booking and will also depend on whether you are sponsored or private.  If you change courses, you will be charged the rate for the new course, i.e. General English to IELTS.  You must pay full fees in order to guarantee a place.

26. Course extensions are strictly subject to availability.

Shortening a booking after you have started or decreasing the number of hours you study

27. You can shorten your course after you have started, but you will not receive a refund for any weeks lost. If you are a sponsored student, we will only invoice the Embassy for the weeks that you study.

28. You can decrease the number of hours you study, but you will not receive a refund for the hours that you choose not to study.

 Increasing the number of hours that you study

29.  You can increase the number of hours you study.

30. All students must pay the difference between the hours they are currently studying and the hours they will increase to.

31. If you are a sponsored student, you must study the number of hours indicated on your sponsor letter. You cannot increase or decrease without written permission from the Embassy and agreement from Celtic English Academy. 

Class Changes

32. Class changes are strictly subject to availability.

33. All class changes must be approved by the Director of Studies. Class transfers cannot be made mid-week.  Students can only change class if the Director of Studies authorises it and deems your level to be suitable. 

34. Students cannot attend other classes apart from those booked and assigned to them.

Holidays

35. You may take a holiday during your course with us on the following conditions:

• Students studying less than 12 weeks are not entitled to holiday. 
• Students studying 12-23 weeks get 2 weeks of holiday. This can be added to the end of the course period. 
• Students studying 24-35 weeks get 4 weeks of holiday. This can be added to the end of the course period. 
• Students studying 36-40 weeks get 6 weeks of holiday. Four weeks can be added to the end of their course. Two weeks can be taken during the course period but no refunds will be given for this. 
• Your holiday must consist of whole weeks, must last at least 1 week, and must not exceed 2 weeks. Weeks must be taken together during the 12-week period.
• You must give us at least 10 working days’ notice before booking and taking a holiday.

Students with a 6-11 month Short Term Study Visa must leave the United Kingdom no more than 30 days after the end of the end date of their courses. Therefore, a student with this visa can only move up to 4 weeks of lessons to the end of his/her course if they take 4 weeks of holidays. If a student takes more than 4 weeks of holiday, he/she will not be compensated for the final 2 weeks in any way, as his/her visa will have expired before the time at which further lessons could be provided.

36. We will add the weeks that you take as holiday on to the end of your course providing the holiday is authorised by the Operations Manager in advance and you have sufficient time left on your visa to do so. Holidays will only be authorised if you are making sufficient academic progression.

37. It is your decision to take a holiday and we will hold your space at the school for you, but we reserve the right to change your class depending on school requirements. 

38. All holidays must be authorised by

39. No refunds will be given for holiday weeks if you do not want to add the weeks to the end of your course or do not have sufficient time left on your visa to do so.

40. If your course lasts for less than 12 weeks, you are not permitted to take holidays. Any days that you take off will be marked as unauthorised absences.

41. Courses will not be extended due to any unauthorised absences, including unauthorised holidays taken throughout the term.

42. The school is closed on public holidays and for two weeks at Christmas. Please see our current holiday dates on our price list for details.  

43. If you book a course for a week that includes a public holiday, you will not be entitled to extra classes to compensate for the public holiday closure.

44. If you need to take time off or a day off from school due to unforeseen circumstances, medical appointments, etc. it must to be authorised and recorded in reception.

Homestay accommodation

45. Homestay accommodation is only available while you are taking a course at the school, including any time necessary to take an exam connected with your course, and generally in multiples of whole weeks.

46. Homestay accommodation is booked from the Sunday before your course starts to the Sunday after it ends. If you want to arrive earlier, or leave later, we will try to arrange this at a nightly rate, but we may have to offer you an alternative.

47. If you have paid for homestay accommodation and wish to cancel your accommodation, you may do so but the following penalties will be incurred:

• If more than 20 working days’ (Monday–Friday) notice is given before the course begins there will be no penalty.
• If less than 20 working days’ notice before the course begins we will retain 2 weeks’ of accommodation fees.
• Once the course has started we will retain 4 weeks’ accommodation fees.

48. If you want to leave homestay accommodation while you are at the school, you must give 10 days’ notice. If you do not give 10 days’ notice, you will be charged 2 weeks’ accommodation fees. 

49. If you are unhappy in your homestay accommodation you should come to see us immediately and tell us why you are unhappy. If we decide to move you and feel your request is reasonable we will not ask you to pay. If you ask to change and it is an unreasonable request, you will have to pay £30 to change your homestay accommodation. An unreasonable request will be at Celtic staff’s discretion and can include, but is not limited to; distance, temperature of the house, family demographic or food. It is not always possible to make a change when requested, but we will try our best.

50. We recommend that you reserve accommodation for the duration of the course, especially if you are studying 12 weeks or less. If you are studying for more than 12 weeks and wish to extend, please give us at least 4-6 weeks’ notice. We will try our best to accommodate extension requests but this is subject to availability and we cannot guarantee that there will be a room available in homestay or residence, or that there will be a room with the same homestay provider.

51. If you require a visa to study in the UK we will only place you into homestay accommodation after you have sent us a copy of your visa and paid in full for your accommodation.

52. A weekly retention fee of £70.00 is payable if you wish to keep homestay accommodation whilst away so long as your homestay provider agrees to keep a room for you. This is not possible in July and August.

53. You are liable to pay for any damage that you cause at your accommodation.
    
54. Students under 18 years old must book “full-board” accommodation.
    
55. The school’s accommodation service acts as a third party in introducing you to your homestay host. The contract is between you and your host.

Residence accommodation

56. Residence accommodation fees must be paid in advance to Celtic English Academy. Upon receipt of the accommodation fees, we will book accommodation for you.  You must pay for the full duration of your stay. 

57. Residence accommodation is only available while you are taking a course in the school, including any time necessary to take an exam connected with your course, and in multiples of whole weeks. If you want to stay one or two extra days, you will be charged at the weekly rate. 

58. If you require a visa to study in the UK we will only place you into residence accommodation after you have sent us a copy of your visa and paid in full for your accommodation.

59. If you have paid for residence accommodation and wish to cancel your accommodation, you may do so but you will incur the following penalties:

• If more than 20 working days’ (Monday–Friday) notice is given before the course begins there will be no penalty.
• If less than 20 working days’ notice is given before the course begins, we will retain 4 weeks’ accommodation fees.
• Once the course has started we will retain 8 weeks’ of accommodation fees.

60. The arrival time for residence accommodation is 15:00 onward on your day of arrival and you must leave the room at 9:00 on your day of departure. Residence accommodation is booked from Sunday to Sunday.

61. The minimum age for residence accommodation is 18 years old.

62. A service and cleaning fee of £100 applies to all residence bookings, regardless of the duration of the stay. You are liable to pay for any damage that you cause at your accommodation. If the room or kitchen is left in an unacceptable state of cleanliness, i.e. very dirty, you may be required to pay an additional charge to have the room or kitchen cleaned. 

63. If you are unhappy in your residence accommodation you should come to see us immediately and tell us why. If we decide to move you to another room and feel your request is reasonable we will not ask you to pay. If you ask to change and it is an unreasonable request, you will have to pay £30 to change your room.

64. We recommend that you reserve residence accommodation for the full duration of your course as it is subject to availability. If you wish to extend your stay in residence accommodation please give us as much notice as possible.  We will try our best to accommodate extension requests, but cannot guarantee that there will be a room available.

65. If you take a holiday break during a long course, you will be able to remain in the residence providing it has been booked in advance. You must inform the staff at the residence that you will be going on holiday. You will not be refunded for the time that you are not in the residence.

Airport Transfers

66. Celtic English Academy will arrange your airport transfer for you (if requested) based on the flight details that you send to us. Flight details must be received at least 10 working days before arrival.  Transfers must be paid for in full before arrival.  Transfer fees are per person. 

67. If you have paid for an airport transfer and wish to cancel your transfer you may do so, but the following penalties will be incurred:

• If more than 10 working days’ (Monday–Friday) notice is given before the transfer date no penalty will be incurred.
• If less than 10 working days’ notice is given before the transfer date we will retain 100% transfer fees.

68. Our driver will be waiting for you in the airport’s arrival terminal holding a Celtic English Academy sign with your name on it and you will be provided with his/her contact details before you leave your home country. If you cannot see our driver, please contact him/her or go to the airport information desk and ask them to put a call out for him/her. 

69. If the driver is late due to unforeseen circumstances, you must wait in the airport terminal for him/her.  You should also call the driver on the emergency number provided and he/she will advise you what to do.  We cannot be held responsible if the driver is late due to any ‘force majeure’ events.

70. All students under 18 must book a return transfer unless confirmation that a private transfer has been arranged is sent to Celtic.

71. Celtic reserves the right to pick up several students at the same time.

72. An excess waiting fee of £15 per 30 minutes will be charged if the taxi has to wait longer than 45 minutes after the flight landing.

General

73. Students can, but are not advised to book courses starting at the end of a term. Please refer to our term dates for further information.

74. You are expected to attend all your classes. If you are not in the class, you are marked absent.  Any absence should normally only be for illness or pre-arranged and approved holidays.  It is your responsibility to inform the school of illness and other reasons for absence.

75. All students are required to have at least 80% attendance every week. If your attendance falls below 80%, Celtic English Academy reserves the right to exclude you from the school.  You will receive warnings if your attendance is a concern.

76. Students who do not attend for over 4 weeks (excluding certified illness or holidays) will be removed from the class register. No refunds will be given and no weeks will be added to your course in these circumstances.

77. We reserve the right to refuse you entrance to the class in the event of late arrival of more than 10 minutes in the morning or afternoon. You will be marked absent for the part of the class that you miss.  It is your responsibility to catch up on any work that you miss.

78. We reserve the right to exclude you if you attend irregularly or behave unacceptably. In this case, no refund will be given.

79. We try to run all advertised courses/levels, but we reserve the right to cancel courses where this is unavoidable. In these cases, we will always do our best to offer you an alternative.

80. We reserve the right to not run courses where there are less than 4 students enrolled for that course. In this case, we will always do our best to offer you an alternative.

81. If you have come to us through an Educational Tour Operator (ETO), their Terms of Contract may apply to you, but we reserve the right to apply our own Terms & Conditions.

82. In order to fulfil our obligations to you and, in some cases, to the British authorities, it is necessary for us to see and copy your passport/ID card and visa (if applicable), to have contact details for you in Cardiff (including a mobile phone number if you have one), and to have details of your emergency contact in your own country. You therefore agree to provide these and it is your responsibility to tell us if they change during your stay.

83. We reserve the right to hold our courses at either our Cardiff centre location or at a suitable offsite location, irrespective of the published location.

84. If a situation arises that has not been covered by these Terms & Conditions, we reserve the right to take any fair and reasonable action that we think appropriate.