Terms and Conditions
All bookings are subject to the following terms and conditions which become legally binding on acceptance of enrolment by Buckswood Overseas Summer School.
The School
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The School is Buckswood Overseas Summer School. It is assumed that a student will, subject to conduct and ability, progress through the Summer School Programme.
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The parent(s)/guardian(s) are those adults who have legal responsibility for the student and are expected to give their support and encouragement to the aims of the School, to uphold and promote its good name, to continue the student’s education at home and to ensure that the student maintains appropriate standards of punctuality, behaviour, diligence, language and discipline.
Fees
Fees are due one month prior to the start of the course date and include:
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20 hours of English per week
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Internationally recognised ESOL exam
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Two full day excursions and two half day excursions
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Museum and attraction entrance fees
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Full Afternoon and Evening Activity Programme
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All course materials
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Full board accommodation
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Laundry service
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BOSS wristband, BOSS folder, BOSS diary and BOSS t-shirt
Fees do not include:
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Optional extras
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Airport transfers
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Flights
Payment of Fees
All fees including the deposit and transfers must be paid no later than one month before the start of the course. Bookings and transfers will not be confirmed until all fees have been paid in full.
The course fees must be paid in full if documentation is required in support of a visa application. Students will not be permitted to start the course unless full payment has been received.
Correct Information and Administration Charges
It is the responsibility of the parent, guardian or agency to inform us of any mistakes in the spelling of names during the registration period. We can only work with information that we are provided with and cannot be held liable for any discrepancies once the course has finished.
Once confirmation documents have been received, you have 48 hours to check them and inform us of any mistakes or issues with the documents. Following the 48 hour period, any necessary amendments to documentation will incur a £25 administration charge. If the amendment is regarding a Trinity College exam certificate, this will incur a £50 administration charge plus postage and packaging.
Charges Regarding Postage and Packaging
Following receipt of certificates from Trinity College London, we will mail them along with the course certificates and student reports. We send these documents using DHL’s ‘mass mail’ service and will not receive a tracking number for the parcel. Documents sent using DHL’s tracking service will incur a charge of £30 per item. If you wish for us to use the tracking service, please let us know and once the item has been dispatched, we will send you the tracking number.
Bank Charges
Buckswood Overseas Summer School is not responsible for any incurred charges when making a payment via bank transfer, credit card or any other means. All costs and/or charges must be covered by the payee to ensure that we receive the full amount payable.
Refund Policy
All refunds will be sent to the account of the Buckswood Overseas Summer School representative to whom the fees were originally paid or to the individual from whom Buckswood Overseas Summer School has received the original payment. If a student’s visa application is rejected after payment has been received all fees, excluding any cancellation fees detailed in the Cancellation Policy below, will be refunded within 28 days, provided we receive a visa refusal letter at least two working days before the course is due to start and the student has fulfilled all requirements for a visa application. No refund will be made if a visa rejection is based on a student’s failure to meet the necessary criteria for their chosen visa category.
Cancellation Policy
Buckswood Overseas Summer School defines cancellation as the period prior to the start of the course. All cancellations must be made in writing to the Summer School Administrator. The following refund policy applies:
Where cancellations are received in writing more than 14 days before the course start date, any fees minus the deposit and airport transfers will be refunded. Where cancellations are received in writing 14 days or less prior to the start of the course, 30% of the fees, the deposit and airport transfers will not be refunded.
Withdrawal Policy
Buckswood Overseas Summer School defines withdrawal as termination of the course after the course has started. Any withdrawal must be made in writing to the Summer School Administrator. No refund will be given if a decision is made to withdraw from the course after the course start date.
Visas
Some students require a student visa or a tourist visa. Students should contact their local Embassy, Consulate or High Commission to ensure that they are allowed to enter and study in their chosen country. Arranging the correct visa is the sole responsibility of the student or agent. No visa support documentation will be provided until all fees have been received.
Student Travel Insurance
Student travel insurance is no longer included in our package price. We therefore recommend that individual travel insurance policies are taken out by parents or the agency with who the student is booking.
Medication Policy
There are an increasing number of students bringing their own medication to Buckswood Overseas Summer School. Unless the medication is prescribed for a specific ailment that we are informed of on the booking form and it is brought together with a doctor’s note translated into English, signed and stamped, the medication will be destroyed. It is completely unnecessary, completely unacceptable and extremely dangerous if a child brings their own supply of medicine. No medication, unless prescribed for a diagnosed illness or ailment that is stated clearly on the booking form and accompanied by a doctor’s note may be brought onto the Buckswood Overseas Summer School premises. This includes Group Leaders who are under no circumstances permitted to give any of our students any medication.
Liability
Buckswood Overseas Summer School, its staff and representatives will not be liable for loss, damage or injury to persons or property howsoever caused except where liability is expressly imposed by the law. Buckswood Overseas Summer School will not be liable in the event that any service contracted to be supplied by Buckswood Overseas Summer School becomes impossible to supply for any reason or any cause outside of our control.
Arrival and Departure Times
If no transfer is required and a student is using alternative travel methods to arrive at school, i.e. the parent/guardian is bringing the student to school, please note that check-in time is after 13:00 on the Sunday of arrival. On departure day (Saturday of departure), parents/guardians may collect students from 10:00 to 13:30.
Flight/Train Arrival and Departure Windows
Please note that we ask for flights or trains to be booked to arrive within the following time windows:
Arrivals: Flights or trains should land/arrive between 8am and 6pm.
Departures: Flights or trains should take off/depart between 11am and 8pm.
Previously, staff would have to start work at 2am and sometimes not finish until 2am due to early/late arrivals and we have introduced these windows to allow our team to get a good night's sleep in order to be on top form during the week.
Any flights or trains arriving outside of these time windows will incur a charge of £125 to pay for the necessary overtime that staff must work in order to facilitate these arrivals/departures.
Specific Accommodation Requests
Where ever possible, Buckswood Overseas Summer School will endeavour to meet specific accommodation requests. However, this may not always be possible so we recommend that students pre-book accommodation in order to avoid disappointment. Any specific accommodation requests, e.g. single or en suite rooms, sharing with friends, etc. will incur a supplementary charge of £150 per week. If this supplementary charge has not been paid, then we cannot guarantee that specific requests will be met.
No specific accommodation requests are guaranteed unless the £150 specific room request fee has been paid. Typically, students aged 8 to 12 may be housed in rooms with up to 3 other students and students aged 13 to 17 may be accommodated with up to 2 more students. We also have a limited number of single rooms which may be used. Also, we do not have en suite rooms for students aged 8 to 11 although the nearest bathroom is never more than a 10 second walk from any bedroom.
Suspension and Expulsion
The school reserves the right to suspend and/or expel, without notice, any pupil whose conduct, in the opinion of the Summer School Director, becomes unacceptable for whatever reason. Fees for the remainder of the course will be forfeited and deposits will only be returned after the deduction of expenses. The parent/guardian must then cover any expenses incurred in returning a pupil to his/her place of home.
Drugs and Alcohol Abuse
Buckswood Overseas Summer School has a strict no drugs or alcohol policy and the school reserves the right to undertake random testing for the use of drugs and alcohol. Any positive result will be assessed at the discretion of the Director or Centre Manager who may suspend or expel the pupil concerned.
Travel
Buckswood Overseas Summer School is not responsible for any flights, trains or any other means of travel entering the United Kingdom. All travel must be booked in accordance with availability and availability must be checked with the Summer School Registrar before any travel commitments are made.
Extra Night
There is a supplementary charge of £195 for any extra nights.
Exams
The minimum length of stay in order to sit an exam is 2 weeks. Please note that it can take up to 8 weeks after the exam for us to receive the certificates from the exam board.
Lost Property
We cannot be held responsible for items lost by students. Upon arrival, students are offered the opportunity to deposit any valuables with our staff for safe keeping and can have access to these belongings as and when necessary. Any belongings which students remain in possession of are their own responsibility and although we will try our best to source any lost property, we cannot be held liable for these items. Any property that is found once the owner has left the school will incur a postage and packaging charge should the owner wish for it to be returned and we therefore advise that all property is labelled with the student’s name.
Booking Confirmation
We advise that availability is checked with us directly before any booking process begins. No booking is confirmed until a booking form has been completed and a £250 non-refundable deposit has been paid.
Semi-Supervised Time
It must be understood that students aged 13 to 17 may be given ‘semi-supervised’ time during some excursions. Semi-supervised time is when these students are given a set amount of free time to explore a set area, for example, a museum or a shopping area. These students are only allowed to participate in this free time if they are wearing their wristband which contains our emergency phone number, we have their phone number and they are in groups of two or more. During this semi-supervised time, a meeting point that is constantly occupied by a member of staff will be established while other members of staff patrol the set area. Students aged 12 and under are supervised 100% of the time. If you do not wish for your child to be left unsupervised, please let us know.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individual citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area. In order for Buckswood Overseas Summer School to be compliant we must receive a GDPR consent form for all of our students. Please note that no confirmation documents will be issued until the consent form has been received.
If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact us.