Cancelling or postponing courses

To avoid incurring penalties on a booking, it is very important that you read this page:

Sometimes a client's plans can change and they need to postpone or cancel their course. This can be for a number of reasons including:

* Their work plans have changed and they can no longer attend the course as planned.

* They - or a family member - have fallen ill and they can not travel.

* They have been refused a visa.

* Their visa has not been issued a week before the course is due to start.

All of the above are perfectly good reasons for needing to postpone or cancel a course and we try to be as flexible as we can. However, clients can not expect to be able to cancel or postpone a course at the last minute without penalty.

Please remember why we charge a penalty: we are a small but busy school with limited places. If we do not have sufficient notice that someone will not attend a course then we do not have sufficient time to fill the place and the revenue is lost. Provided that you follow the conditions outlined below, we simply ask that you contact us about your circumstances, so that we can advise of what we can do to help. It may still be possible to hold a place and avoid charges, but only if you contact us before the penalty period. We will do what we can to help, if we feel that our current booking position allows for greater flexibility.

In order to avoid penalties for cancellation or postponement, it is very important that you make your clients aware of the following conditions:

Cancelling a course

If you want to cancel a course, you (or your agent) must do so in writing. You may cancel on the following conditions:

In the case of acceptance letters having been sent, the Home Office is always informed of the student’s name and passport number if they cancel their course

1. Cancellations must be made in writing and will only apply from the date it is received by the school administration.

2. If notification of cancellation is received by Castle School more than 14 days before the start of the course, Castle School will give a full refund, and retain the (£100) deposit. If notification of cancellation is received less than 14 days before the start of the course, Castle School will retain 50% of the fees paid. In the event of cancellation after the commencement or before the end of the course, no fees can be reimbursed.

3. If a student cancels their accommodation less than 14 days before the start accommodation date, 1 week’s accommodation fee is charged.

4. Under no circumstances can fees or credit for cancelled courses be transferred to another student.

5. If a student has arrived at the accommodation, and requests to be moved to another home stay, 1 week’s notice must be given, or 1 week’s accommodation fee must be paid (in the event of a student or home stay provider being very unhappy with their family/student, the school endeavours to rectify the situation as quickly as possible, and investigate the cause of the problem(s).

6. If a cancellation is made (at any time) due to a student’s failure to obtain a Visa, a copy of the official refusal letter issued by the Home Office or British Embassy must be provided by the student. Failure to provide this confirmation results in the Home Office being informed of the student’s name and passport number and no refund will be given. If the confirmation is provided, all fees apart from £100 advance payment of fees are refunded.

7. No fees are refunded in the case of late arrival for a course.

8. Castle School reserves the right to charge a booking amendment fee of £100 for changes in tuition or accommodation made during the course.

9. Castle School reserves the right to refuse any student suffering from any mental or physical disability that has not been disclosed on the Booking Form.

Postponing a course

If you want to postpone a course, you (or your agent) must do so in writing. You may postpone on the following conditions:

* you must pay the full course fees by the original starting date of the course booked, and

* you must take the postponed course within 3 months of the original starting date.

If you postpone a booking, we will give you a credit towards the postponed booking as follows:

* 6 working days’ notice or more before the course begins: 100% credit of course fees paid

* less than 6 working days’ notice before the course begins: 50% credit of course fees paid.

A postponed booking cannot be postponed again or cancelled. If you postpone Individual Tuition (including combination courses) with less than 3 working days’ notice, you will not receive any credit of your fees.

Visa refusal

If you cancel your booking because of a visa refusal, we will refund any fees that you have paid if you send us a copy of the visa refusal letter issued by the British Embassy/Consulate. You must do this at least 5 working days before your course is due to start. If you notify us later, we reserve the right to charge you in line with our normal cancellation terms. If you cancel less than 5 full working days before your arrival date, and homestay has been arranged, you must pay for 1 week’s accommodation, and the accommodation placement fee, even if your cancellation is caused by a visa refusal. Please note that it is your responsibility to apply for your visa in good time.

If the issuing of your visa is delayed, the same conditions apply - you must give us 5 full days' notice of this to avoid penalties.