Please review these Terms and Conditions. By using the tutoring service, the Client is deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions and agrees to adhere to them.

Definitions

Billing Period

The period between an invoice date and the final scheduled lesson under that invoice, normally four weeks.

Client

Any person who has agreed to use these tutoring services and has accepted the Terms and Conditions under which the services are provided, including a student enrolled in a school, college or university, an adult learner, or a student under adult approval from his/her parent or legal guardian.

Company

chemistrytutor.me and its employees and agents, which is a sole-proprietorship providing science tuition and education resources of which Dr Carl Thirsk is its Principal Tutor.

Confidential Information

Any and all drawings, designs, specifications, models, samples, devices, manuals, reports, plans, diagrams, prototypes, computer programs, documentations and other things in which copyright subsists together with any and all information results, data, calculations, know-how, business sensitive data including pricing policies and private terms of business relating to customers and suppliers and other things which are received by either party from the other during or as a consequence of any exchange of information or discussions.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Any and all of the following: patents, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trademarks, trade names and domain names, rights in get-up, rights in goodwill or to sue for passing off, unfair competition rights, rights in designs, rights in computer software, database rights, topography rights, rights in confidential information (including know-how and trade secrets) and any other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications (or rights to apply) for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world.

Lesson

A pre-booked session in which tuition occurs.

Teaching Resources

Any digital or print materials used or created by the Company and made available to the Client in the course of tuition that are primarily intended to be used in digital or print form by the Client for the purposes of any course of study or tuition. For the avoidance of doubt, this shall mean, but shall not be limited to, recorded lectures, videos, audio files, podcasts, presentations, exercises, question booklets, checklists, notes and other e-learning materials.

Tuition and Tutoring

Provision of teaching and other educational services, including but not limited to curriculum lessons; revision lessons; exam preparation; marking and feedback on Client work; advice on study skills, exam technique and careers; proof-reading of CVs, personal statements, assignments, essays, dissertations and theses; all of which may be provided during face-to-face or online tutoring lessons, or through other means of communication such as email.

Bookings

• A Client may purchase one or more Lessons. By doing so, they are entering into a direct contract with the Company for the provision of tuition services under the Terms and Conditions prevailing.
• For regular tuition, a minimum booking of four lessons is required.
• Tuition is provided strictly on a standing appointment basis. The Client will be allocated a weekly time slot and it is expected that tuition takes places in the same time slot each week.
• All Lesson times are allocated based on the UK time zone. This observes GMT (UTC+00:00) from the last Sunday of October until the last Sunday of March each year, when clocks are moved forward one hour to observe British Summer Time (BST, UTC+01:00). Clients in time zones that do not observe Daylight Savings should note the following:
  • When UK clocks go forward in March, the lesson will be one hour earlier than the allocated Lesson time.
  • When UK clocks go back in October, the lesson will be one hour later than the allocated Lesson time.
• During school holidays, additional lessons may be booked on a first-come, first-served basis, either individually or in blocks.
• Please note it is advisable to book well in advance as demand for revision lessons during holidays and in exam season (particularly the spring and summer half-terms and Easter) is extremely high.
• Existing Clients are given advance notice of holiday availability and get booking priority.

Fees and Payment

• Payments should be made in advance upon receipt of an invoice sent to the Client. A Lesson is not booked and will not be taught until payment has been received.
• Payments may be made by bank transfer (BACS) or PayPal (please note a 4% surcharge is added to cover their merchant fees)
• Liability for payments will commence on the earlier of a Client confirming orally or in writing their desire to proceed, or the date on which the Company starts providing tutoring services
• Time for Lesson planning and marking of work set by the Company is included in the hourly fee for each Lesson. If a substantial amount of additional time is required (e.g. for past paper marking and feedback), the Client will be notified in advance
• In the event of late payment, the Company reserves the right to suspend or withdraw tuition services until the outstanding balance has been settled.

Cancellations, Rescheduling and Termination

Cancellations and Postponements

• In the event that a Client wishes to cancel or postpone Tuition, no less than 1 weeks’ notice should be given.
• If a Client wishes to postpone Tuition, to avoid the space being allocated to another student, the Client will be required to pay the full fee for Lessons missed during the postponement period.
• In the event that a Client wishes to cancel or reschedule a Lesson, no less than 48 hours’ notice should be given prior to the allotted Lesson time.

Notification of Illness and Timely Communication

• In the event of illness, the Client is expected to notify the Company as soon as reasonably possible, recognising that the onset of most illnesses allows for timely communication.
• Failure to provide adequate notice of illness, except in cases of sudden severe illness, will result in the application of the cancellation policy as set out in these Terms and Conditions.
• Notification must occur no later than 48 hours prior to the scheduled Lesson. The Company may exercise discretion in rare cases of extreme, unforeseen illness, but such exceptions will not be considered the norm.

Respect for the Tutor’s Time and Resources

• The Client acknowledges that the Tutor allocates specific time slots for scheduled Lessons and may prepare materials in advance. As such, late cancellations or missed Lessons, regardless of the reason, result in lost time and resources for the Tutor. Therefore, the 48-hour cancellation policy will be enforced in the event of illness, and the full Lesson fee may be charged unless timely notice is provided, or a mutually convenient rescheduling option is arranged.

Professional Boundaries and Consistency

• The Company upholds a cancellation policy to establish professional boundaries and ensure consistency for all Clients. While illness may be beyond a Client’s control, the expectation remains that timely communication will be provided. The Company will assess each situation on a case-by-case basis but reserves the right to charge for any Lessons cancelled within the 48-hour period. Regular and repeated last-minute cancellations due to illness may lead to suspension or termination of tuition services, in accordance with the cancellation terms.
• If less than 48 hours’ notice is given, the Company will endeavour to find a mutually convenient time to reschedule the Lesson, however, if this is not possible, the full amount for the Lesson will be charged.

Sudden Onset of Severe Illness

• In the rare event of a sudden, severe illness, such as acute medical emergencies, the Company may consider waiving the 48-hour cancellation requirement at its sole discretion. However, this exception is intended to apply only in genuinely unavoidable circumstances, and Clients are expected to communicate any potential cancellations at the earliest opportunity.
• The Company retains the right to request reasonable evidence in cases of illness resulting in late cancellations to determine whether the cancellation fee will apply.

Missed Lessons Without Notice

• A Lesson missed without notice (e.g., due to the Client forgetting the schedule) will be charged at the full rate.
• A missed Lesson must be rescheduled within the current Billing Period, or within a four-week period following the date of the missed Lesson.

Regular Cancellations or Rescheduling

• Tuition is only effective when it occurs regularly and without interruption. For that reason, the Company reserves the right to cancel tuition in cases where Lessons have been cancelled or rescheduled on a regular basis.
• For guidance purposes, tuition services may be suspended or withdrawn entirely if a Client reschedules or cancels:

• • More than one Lesson in four booked Lessons;
  • Three Lessons in a school term.

Termination of Tuition

The Company may at any time give the Client 3 days’ written notice that Tuition will be terminated, notwithstanding that either party may give written notice to the other terminating Tuition with immediate effect if:

• The other party commits any material breach of any of these Terms and Conditions and that breach (if capable of remedy) is not remedied within 5 days after notice being given requiring it to be remedied;
• The other party becomes bankrupt, insolvent or becomes the subject of a receiving or winding-up order, makes any composition with its creditors or has an administrative receiver appointed over all or part of its undertaking or assets, or either party ceases, or threatens to cease, to carry on business.

Refunds

• Refunds are not available for any Lessons once delivered.
• Refunds equal to the value of remaining Lessons are available on pre-booked Lessons that are cancelled within 48 hours.

Equipment

• In the event that the scheduled Lesson cannot take place due to technology problems (e.g. failure of network, Skype outage etc.), the Company will endeavour to reschedule the Lesson at a mutually convenient time.
• However, it is the Client’s responsibility to ensure they have adequate technology and network access for online tuition and failure to fulfil this will lead to the Client being charged the full amount for the missed Lesson.

Attendance, Punctuality and Behaviour

• If a Client fails to attend a Lesson within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time for a Lesson, that Lesson will be deemed cancelled and the full amount will be charged. If prompt explanation of extenuating circumstances is provided, it may be possible to reschedule the lesson at the Company’s discretion.
• Unless there are extenuating circumstances, repeated failure to attend scheduled Lessons will lead to a warning notice being issued after two missed Lessons and automatic cancellation of tuition after the third missed Lesson.
• There is an obligation for the student to behave in a correct and acceptable manner during tutoring Lessons. Failure to adhere to this will result in cancellation of tuition.
• Any form of academic dishonesty (including plagiarism) will result in immediate cancellation of tuition.
• A student failing to complete two pieces of set homework without good reason will be warned and subsequent failures may lead to tuition being suspended.

Intellectual Property

• Subject to the provisions of the Patents Act 1977, the Registered Designs Act 1949 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, all IPR in Teaching Resources, documents, manuals, hardware and software provided for the Client’s use by the Company, and any data or documents (including copies) produced, maintained or stored on the Client’s computer systems or other electronic equipment (including mobile phones) shall remain the exclusive property of the Company.
• the Company grants the Client a royalty-free, limited, non-transferable, revocable license to use such material for academic use only and solely for the purpose of participating in the Lessons.
• The Client is not permitted to record any Lessons or take screenshots of resources without the express consent of the Company.
• Any recording of any Lesson shall belong to the Company and shall not be reproduced for any reason without the prior consent of the Company.
• All Teaching Resources used and made available to the Client remain the exclusive property of the Company.
• Without limitation the Client may not repackage, reformulate, edit, distribute, copy, sell or otherwise use any Teaching Resources without the prior written consent of the Company.
• Once tuition ends, the student’s access to Teaching Resources will cease.

Confidentiality

• Confidential Information provided to the Company will be held only by the Company. The information supplied to the Company will not be deliberately passed to third parties. However, as with all electronic communication, nothing can be regarded as totally secure and therefore it is understood all information provided is done at the Client’s own risk.

Limit of Liability

• Whilst Clients are guaranteed high-quality, professional tuition, the Company does not guarantee specific grades or outcomes from examinations and coursework.
• The Company is not liable or responsible in any way if a Client incorrectly answers a question or submits incorrect or inaccurate information in an assignment, exam or any form of formal test through use of methods or procedures acquired during the course of Tuition or from www.chemistrytutor.me.
• By using the service, the Client accepts the principle that this is an educational support service where responsibility for academic performance ultimately resides with the Client, who will therefore not hold the Company accountable for poor or disappointing academic progress and attainment.