Conditions of Enrolment

What the College does when a student enrols

When a student’s enrolment is accepted, the College will send the student the following items:

• A Letter of Acceptance.
• An Invoice / Receipt showing the amount paid.
• The student’s host family contact details (if requested) and travel information.

When the College receives a student’s Enrolment Form, the College Administration Department will send the student an invoice for the fees payable.

We can only send you the Letter of Acceptance after we have received full fees or an indication from your agent that he or she has received full fees.

Entry to the U.K.

When a student arrives in the UK, he or she will be asked to show:

• A valid passport.
• A visa (if required). [Student visa information]
• A Letter of Acceptance issued by the College.
• Confirmation of payment of fees.

Minimum number of participants

Normally we require there to be at least four students enrolled on a course in order to be able to run that course. If there are fewer than four students enrolled for a course, the College will inform the contracting party in good time. If the College is unable to offer another suitable language course, fees already paid will be refunded in full, thereby excluding any further liability on the part of the College.

Class composition

While the College aims to maintain a balanced mix of student nationalities in each class, we cannot guarantee this.

Minimum Age and English Language Level

The minimum age for Adult Programmes (including English for Special Purposes courses) is 18.
There is no minimum language level requirement for courses of English Language Studies (General English). However, there must be at least four students of the same level for the College to be able to form a class.

Students wishing to take a course of English for Special Purposes (Business, Medicine, Tourism and Hotel Management, etc) will normally require a good upper-intermediate level of English.

Students wishing to take an Examination Preparation course will be required to take a test to ensure that their level is sufficient for their proposed course.

Students may be required to take a course of English Language Studies before beginning their English for Special Purposes, Examination Preparation course or Further Education course (eg. Business Studies) if their level is not sufficient to enter their proposed course.Entry to these courses is at the discretion of the Director of Studies (or another competent member of staff).

Course Duration

Apart from certain group and vacation courses, each course is designed to run for 12 weeks. Students may take courses shorter than 12 weeks, although we do not recommend this as they will miss part of the programme unless they start and finish with their classmates.

Deposits and Fees

Full fees must be received by ETC at least 4 weeks before the course commences.

No compensation, fee reductions, refunds, credit, additional lessons or extension of the course can be given:

• For lessons replaced by testing and class allocation procedures on course entry dates or when tests form part of the course progress monitoring procedures.
• For days when the College is closed because of official public (bank) holidays.
• For services or facilities included in the fees and not used.
• When students reduce the number of lessons studied, take a vacation or leave earlier than planned.

ETC reserves the right to make fee adjustments as a result of changes in exchange rates or statutory taxes.

All bank charges must be met by the student.

If students choose to pay by credit card, there is a 4% service charge.

Any outstanding balance must be settled on the first day of a student’s course.

Deposits and fees are not transferable from person to person.

Agency Bookings

When students have booked through an agency, the terms and conditions of that agency apply and students must contact that agency if they would like to change their booking. However, the ETC Conditions of Enrolment as stated here still apply.

Late arrivals, unauthorized absences, withdrawals and expulsions
Students are advised to take out personal insurance against inability to attend or continue a course for medical or compassionate reasons, as no refunds can be given in such circumstances.

The client is accepted on the understanding that he or she will stay for the duration of the course. There will be no refund in the event of late arrivals, unauthorised absences, withdrawals or expulsions.

The College has the right to expel a student for misconduct or unsatisfactory work or attendance.

Holidays

Students are only allowed to take holidays (apart from official public holidays) if:

• Their course is of more than 18 weeks’ duration.
• They have already completed a minimum of 12 weeks’ study.
• They booked their holidays when they enrolled.
• Their holidays are taken in accordance with the dates specified in their Letter of Acceptance.

No refund of fees will be made when the College is closed for official public (bank) holidays.

Holidays may not be taken during fixed-term Examination Preparation or English for Special Purposes courses.

Cancellations / Refunds

Clients should notify the College of intended cancellation of their course(s) at least 21 days before their course is due to begin. Any refunds will be given at the sole discretion of the Director, and any documents issued by ETC school of english must be returned in order to obtain this refund.

In all cases, if a student wishes to cancel an enrolment less than 21 days before the start of a course, a minimum of 2 weeks’ tuition and accommodation fees is payable to the College.

No refund is payable once a student has started his or her course, under any circumstances.

If a student does not arrive to start their course at the arranged time, no refunds are payable and acceptance of the student onto the remainder of the course is at the sole discretion of the Director.

Class allocations

The Directors have the right to exclude from the class any client who, for reasons of lack of ability or poor progress is not qualified to attend that class. The College also reserves the right to exclude students for poor attendance or misconduct.

Liability

In the event of the student’s death or illness, ETC accepts no liability unless the cause is shown to be negligence by its staff.

ETC does not accept liability for the loss of a client’s property or for extra expenses incurred by circumstances beyond our control, including strikes, sickness, riots, war, etc.

ETC does not hold insurance to cover students against doctors’ fees, hospital or drug expenses or loss of baggage, loss of money or damage to property (including the property of a host family) by students. Students are expected to take out full insurance to cover these risks and to ensure that they are repatriated in the event of serious accidents, illness or death.

Students are strongly advised to take out full insurance in his or her own country as protection against losing money through leaving a course early due to illness or for personal reasons.

Any damage to College property, whether intentional or not, may have to be paid for.

Visa refusal

If a student’s visa application is turned down and the student cannot therefore attend a course at the College as scheduled, any fees paid by the student will be refunded minus the deposit, any fees already paid out to a third party and any bank transfer fees.

In order to obtain this refund, the student must return the College Letter of Acceptance and other documentation sent to them, together with the document issued by the visa issuing authorities showing that the student has been refused a visa.

Please note that host family accommodation can only be booked firmly once ETC receives confirmation that the student has obtained a visa. Obtaining a visa may take several months so it is very important that the student applies for their visa well in advance.

Students should be aware that information about their enrolment, attendance and progress at ETC may be passed to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for purposes connected with immigration.

Accommodation

The College acts solely as an agent in the provision of host family accommodation for students, not as principal. Accommodation is normally arranged from midday on Sunday until midday on the following Sunday each week.

Allocation of students to host families: the Collegewill try to find the kind of family that the student has asked for on the Enrolment Form but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet all of the student’s preferences.

If students are already in Bournemouth, they must pay for their host family accommodation at least one week in advance. The College does not arrange the accommodation until this is paid. If students do not stay in this accommodation, they lose a £30 cancellation fee which is then paid to the host family.

Length of Stay: If the student is not sure how long he or she would like to stay in the host family, he or she should give an estimated number of weeks and stay in the accommodation until then. It is usually possible to extend the stay after the student has arrived.

Arrival time: Students must inform their host family of their expected arrival time at least two days before they travel. If they do not do this, the host family may not be at home when the student arrives. Please note that host families may not accept students arriving after 12pm midnight.

Problems: If students have a problem with their accommodation, they should tell the Accommodation Officer directly. The Accommodation Officer will help the student to solve the problem. If the problem is serious, the College will move the student to another family.

Changing accommodation: If students want to change their accommodation for their own reasons, they must give the College a week’s notice from the following Saturday and pay a cancellation fee of £30, which will be paid to the host family.

If students want to shorten their course at the College, they must leave their host family accommodation. They must not make a private arrangement with their host family. If students stop studying at the College but remain in Bournemouth, they must find another host family or private accommodation themselves.

If students want to move to a flat, they must give the College their new address. The College is obliged by law to keep students’ accommodation details so that they can provide this information to authorities including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate when requested to do so.

Extra nights’ accommodation at the start and finish of the course can normally be arranged with fees calculated on a pro rata basis.

The College reserves the right:
-To refuse an enrolment.
-Not to provide a student with lessons, accommodation, transfers, etc if full fees have not been received.

Complaints

If students are not satisfied with their course or accommodation (or any other part of the ETC service), they should speak to their teacher (courses) or the Accommodation and Welfare Officer (accommodation) immediately. If it is not possible to speak to these people, clients should contact Reception to arrange an appointment.

Our aim is to ensure that students are able to benefit fully from their time at the college and we will do our best to resolve any problems.

Validity of conditions

The Conditions of Enrolment are valid from 1st August, 2005 until further notice and are subject to English law. The English language version of these conditions is legally binding in all cases and replaces all previous versions. In cases of dispute, English law applies.

ETC International College is an English Language School offering a variety of language and further education courses.