Terms & Conditions

Conditions of Enrolment

Enrolment

Complete the latest enrolment form on our booking page or send it to your agent to complete. If there is an agent's stamp send the form to that address. If there is no agent's stamp, send the form to the school. Your place at school is confirmed when we have received the registration fee of £120. This is non-refundable. For students that require pre-arranged accommodation for visa applications, a non-refundable deposit of £300.00 must be paid prior to enrolment (deducted from course fees on arrival).

Payment

You must pay all fees at least 4 weeks before you start your course. If there are 30 days or fewer before your course starts, you must pay the full amount when you enrol. We cannot accept credit card payments.

Accommodation

Southbourne School of English arranges the accommodation for all of their students. We do not allow a reduction for parts of a week, but you will have to pay for any extra days.

Parents not attending courses

We will not be able to issue any visa support documents to students' parents/guardians not attending our courses.

Holidays

The school is closed on the following public holidays: Fri 03/04, Mon 06/04, Mon 04/05, Mon 25/05, Mon 31/08. The school is closed for the Christmas and New Year period from Sat 19/12/26, and reopen on Mon 04/01/27. You can only take other holidays during the course if you tell us about them when you enrol or give 4 weeks notice. We will not give refunds or extend your stay if you take other holidays.

Cancellations

If you want to cancel a course, you must send us this information by email which must be acknowledged by the school. We cannot refund the registration fee of £120. You will have to pay for one week's course and accommodation if you cancel fewer than 15 days before the course starts. For all courses, if you need to cancel because you cannot get a visa, we will refund your fees, less bank charges and the registration and accommodation placement fee of £120. If your visa has been refused, you need to send us a copy of the letter from the British Embassy.

Change of course

If you decide to change your course once it has started, no refunds will be made. Any change needs to be made 2 weeks prior to arrival by email.

Finishing early

If you finish before the end of your course, you will not get a refund. We do not give refunds or extend courses to cover missed lessons. Courses cannot be transferred to any family members or friends.

Insurance

We advise you to arrange insurance to cover any expenses you may incur in the event of cancellation due to illness, travel, medical, serious illness of a relative, or any prepaid travel costs. The school is not liable for any of the above.

Expulsion

You will be expelled (told to leave the school) for these reasons:

• If your attendance is 70% or less
• If you bully students or staff
• If your behaviour is not acceptable
• If you steal from your homestay host or school or cause damage to your host's property or school

No refunds will be offered if you are expelled. No leaving certificate is issued.

Damage

If you damage school or homestay property, even if it is an accident, you will have to pay the full cost of the repair or replacement within a week.

Liability

The school is not responsible if your course does not run or you lose lessons because of public disturbance, industrial action, natural disasters or epidemics. The school is not responsible if you lose anything. You should take out insurance to cover health problems, loss, damage and having to go back to your country unexpectedly. We will try to provide a similar service to the one you have booked. If we do have to change your class, we will make sure you are in a suitable class.

Age

Students under 18 must have the signed permission of a parent or guardian. Students aged 16 and under are not allowed to live alone in any type of accommodation. The school may place children of the same sex together in a shared homestay room. Specific age limits apply to individual courses — see our course pages for details.

Complaints

If a student has a complaint, they should speak to the Director of Studies or the Principal in the first instance. If the matter is not resolved, the student should put the complaint in writing to the school. The school will respond within 5 working days. If the student is still not satisfied, they can contact the British Council or English UK.

Activities and excursions

No refunds are given for missed or cancelled activities and excursions once these have been paid for, unless the activity or excursion does not run for reasons outside our control.

Last updated: August 2026. These terms and conditions are subject to change. The latest version is always available on this page.