Please read and accept these terms and conditions in full. When you agree to them, you are entering into a contract with International House Bristol, and you agree that we can process your data. If you need host family accommodation, please also read and accept the terms and conditions for staying with a host (further down this page).
You must pay your full course fees at least four weeks before your course starts, unless we have agreed something different with you. If you book less than four weeks before your start date, you must pay in full straight away. Once we have your full payment (including any accommodation fees), we will send your accommodation details and your airport transfer details, if you have one. We usually send accommodation details about two to three weeks before your course starts, and transfer details by the Wednesday before you arrive or leave.
If you book host family accommodation for longer than one month, please pay at least four weeks’ accommodation fees before you arrive. Please pay each extra months at least one month in advance. There are no discounts on accommodation fees.
Along with your invoice, we will send you one of these documents: a Certificate of Acceptance (if you do not need a visa), or a visa letter (if you do need a visa). We send the visa letter and the Certificate of Acceptance only after we receive your £250 deposit.
You must tell us about all medical conditions, in full, before we accept your booking.
If you do not know your flight and arrival details when you book, please tell us (and your host, if you have one) as soon as you know them.
We strongly advise you to take out personal insurance. It should cover loss of belongings (including laptops and mobile phones), medical costs, and the loss of tuition and other fees if you have to cancel your course or go home early. IH Bristol works with guard.me to offer students an insurance policy designed for studying in the UK. You can find out more on our insurance page. You can find more information about insurance here.
If you cancel, the amount we refund depends on when you cancel and why. The registration fee and the accommodation finding fee are never refundable. We can only pay refunds using the same method you used to pay.
| When and why you cancel | What we refund |
|---|---|
| You cancel in writing at least four weeks before your course starts | Your course fees, minus your £250 deposit. (The deposit may include the administration fee and/or accommodation finding fee, where these apply.) |
| You cancel in writing less than four weeks before your course starts | 50% of your course fees, minus your £250 deposit. |
| Your visa is refused and you cancel in writing at least two weeks before your course starts | Your payment, minus the administration fee, the accommodation finding fee (if any) and the insurance premium (if any). You must also send written evidence from the visa office that your visa was refused, and return all original acceptance letters to us. |
| Your visa is refused and you tell us less than two weeks before your course starts | The standard cancellation amounts above apply. |
| Late arrival, early departure, absence during the course (including illness), or a change of programme | No refund. |
One-to-one lessons. You can postpone and rebook individual one-to-one lessons with 24 hours’ notice. One-to-one courses of any length follow the same terms and conditions as our other English courses.
Weeks of study. Fees are for consecutive weeks of study.
Changing your booking. We may charge an administration fee (currently £62) each time you change or postpone your course, accommodation or dates after we have confirmed your enrolment. This includes changes you ask for while you are studying with us.
Bank holidays. We cannot give refunds for days when the school is closed for bank holidays.
Taking a holiday. If you want to take a holiday during your course, please tell us when you apply, and we will add the holiday to your course. If you have a visa, you may take one week of holiday for every 10 consecutive weeks of study. If you are already on a course and want a holiday, please tell us two weeks in advance; we can then add that holiday time to the end of your course, if space is available. Extra charges may apply.
Use of your image. You may sometimes appear in our promotional material – for example, photos for brochures, social media or other advertising. By agreeing to these terms and conditions, you agree to let IH Bristol use your image for marketing. If you would prefer us not to, please email info@ihbristol.com with the subject line ‘Image use’. For students under 18, we ask both the parents and the student for written permission before the course starts.
Behaviour. You agree to follow all the school’s rules. If you behave in a disruptive way, do not follow the school rules, are often absent from class, or take part in illegal activity, we will send you home immediately, at your own expense (or your parents’ expense).
Host family accommodation. If you need host family accommodation, there is an extra set of terms and conditions (below). Please read all of them. We expect students to arrive at their host’s home on a Sunday and leave on a Saturday.
Airport transfers. If you want an airport transfer, you must send us your flight details – airport arrival time, flight number, airline and where you are flying from – at least seven days before you arrive. If you do not send these details at least seven days before you arrive, we cannot refund the transfer. The transfer fee includes up to one hour of waiting time; if we have to wait longer than one hour, we will charge an extra fee. Airport transfers are not part of the course package: they are priced separately, and we cannot guarantee travel times. If there are delays, any compensation is limited to the price you paid for the transfer.
Events beyond our control. Sometimes the school may have to close, or you may have to go home early, because of something beyond our reasonable control – for example a fire, flood, infectious disease, war or terrorism. If this happens, we cannot give refunds, but you may be able to claim on your own insurance policy. We will do everything we can to keep the school open and running. To do this, we may have to make some classes larger, move some classes online, or change the timetable so that staff can cover all lessons.
Insurable disruption. We will not refund or compensate you for any disruption to parts of your course (for example tuition, flights, accommodation, taxi transfers or exams) that you could normally insure against.
Your data. We will process any information you have given us, or give us in future, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018. Under data protection law, you can ask for a copy of certain personal records we hold about you.
If you want to cancel your application within 14 days of entering the contract with the school, see separate box below. Please note: accommodation is not included in the 14 day cancellation policy.
If you receive a scholarship or government grant, you should expect to pay a £600 deposit to the school when you enrol. We will refund this deposit only once we have received your full fees from your sponsoring organisation, for the whole course.
If you need to postpone your course for any reason (for example, if you are still waiting for your visa), please tell us at least two weeks before you are due to arrive. If you do not, you will lose your deposit and will need to pay another deposit before we can confirm a new start date.
If you cancel your registration after accepting a place on the course, the £100 registration fee is never refundable.
| When you cancel (in writing) | What we refund |
|---|---|
| At least four full working weeks before the first Monday of the course (for example, to cancel a place starting 1 August, by 17:00 on Friday 30 June) | Your course fees and your deposit, minus the registration fee. |
| Less than four weeks, but more than two weeks, before the start date | 50% of the fees. |
| Less than two weeks before the start date | No refund. |
| After the course has started | No refund. |
Please note: the CELTA course is one package.
We normally charge an accommodation placement fee, as well as the cost of the accommodation.
We will start to look for accommodation once we have received your deposit and, if they apply, your parental agreement and medical information forms.
We arrange accommodation only for the period you are studying with us.
You must not make arrangements directly with your host.
You must pay for your accommodation at least four weeks before you arrive. If you book less than four weeks in advance, please pay straight away.
You cannot attend classes until you have paid your accommodation invoice.
If you want to extend your stay with a host, please give us at least one week’s notice. An administration fee may apply. You will not pay this fee if you stay with the same host, extend your stay by at least several weeks, and extend your course at the same time.
If you plan to leave earlier than arranged, you must give the school and your host one week’s notice.
We need notice to postpone, cancel, extend or change accommodation bookings: at least one week to cancel or postpone, and at least three weeks to extend or change your host.
You must give us complete and accurate information about any medical conditions, allergies, dietary needs, whether you smoke, and anything else a host needs to know or that could affect their ability to host you. If you do not give us this information and you then have to move out, IH Bristol is not responsible. You will still have to pay for a notice period, and you may need to find and pay for other accommodation yourself.
If you book a transfer through IH Bristol, please tell us your arrival and departure details as soon as possible, and no later than seven days before you arrive.
If you arrange your own travel, you must tell your host your arrival and departure details.
You must follow the school’s rules while staying in your homestay, or you may be asked to leave.
You must follow IH Bristol’s procedures for payment plans, moving homestay, complaints and holidays. Please see our FAQs for details.
You must tell your host if you break or damage something, and offer to pay for it before you leave. International House Bristol is not responsible for any loss or damage caused, directly or indirectly, by any student or host.
You must behave reasonably. See our FAQs for examples of unreasonable behaviour.
You must not download unsuitable material from the internet while staying with a host. See our FAQs for examples of unsuitable material.
You must return to your homestay by your curfew time (if one applies):
| Your age | Curfew |
|---|---|
| 11–15 years | By 9.30pm |
| 16–17 years | By 10.30pm |
… or by the time your host asks, whichever is earliest.
If you cancel your registration before the deadline, the £40 registration fee is never refundable.
After the application deadline has passed, we give refunds only in extreme circumstances (for example, serious illness), with evidence, and only at the discretion of the University of Cambridge. We must receive your written refund request within seven days of the exam.
We will not confirm your application until we receive full payment.
If you do not receive your certificate, you must tell IH Bristol within six months of the exam date.
Exam numbers. IH Bristol will run all sessions if the numbers allow. If we cannot run a session, we will tell candidates and preparation centres by the closing entry date.
Candidates with learning or physical disabilities. If you have a learning or physical disability, please contact IH Bristol by the closing entry date. Please send a medical report in English (no more than two years old) with detailed information about your condition, so we can make suitable arrangements. We cannot guarantee that a particular arrangement is possible, so please contact us for more information.
Complaints. If you want to complain about anything to do with your Cambridge exam, you must do so in writing within 48 hours of your test day. Please send all complaints to exams@ihbristol.com; we must receive them no later than 48 hours after your test day. You can also fill in a Candidate Comment Form on the day of your test and hand it to a member of staff. We cannot process any complaint after your results have been released.
After you book your exam on the IELTS website, you will get a link to IH Bristol’s payment page, where you enter your card details.
If you do not pay within 72 hours of booking, your entry is cancelled automatically.
You must pay by 48 hours before your exam.
To cancel your IELTS test (Academic or General Training), log in to the Test Taker Portal and submit a cancellation request, with any supporting documents. The table below shows what you get back. We make all refunds to the card or method you used to pay.
| When you cancel | What we refund |
|---|---|
| 15 or more days before Listening, Reading Writing Test date | Refund of 75% of the test fee paid. |
| Within 14 days of Listening, Reading Writing test date | Test fee us non-refundable |
| With a medical certificate for illness on the test day (emailed to ielts@ihbristol.com within 24 hours of the start time, together with your portal request) | Refund of 75% of the test fee paid. |
To move your exam to a later date, contact us at ielts@ihbristol.com. Any new date must be within three months of your original test date.
| When you ask to transfer | What happens |
|---|---|
| 15 or more days before Listening, Reading Writing Test date | Free transfer to a later date; no fee. |
| Within 5 - 14 days of Listening, Reading Writing test date. | An admin fee of 25% of test fee paid is charged. |
| Within 4 days of Listening, Reading Writing test date. | Any transfer during this period is treated as a cancellation. |
| Less than 24 hours before the test for medical reasons | Allowed only with valid medical evidence. If we accept it, you pay the test-day transfer fee. |
Exam numbers. IH Bristol will run all sessions if the numbers allow. If we cannot run a session, we will tell candidates and preparation centres within one week of the date.
Candidates with learning or physical disabilities. If you have a learning or physical disability, please contact IH Bristol by the closing entry date. Please send a medical report in English (no more than two years old) with detailed information about your condition, so we can make suitable arrangements. We cannot guarantee that a particular arrangement is possible, so please contact us for more information.
Complaints. If you want to complain about anything to do with your IELTS exam, you must do so on the day of the exam. Ask a member of staff for a Complaint Form on your test day and return it before you leave.
You can read the British Council’s full terms and conditions for test takers on their website (ielts.org).
You can read the British Council’s full Terms and Conditions for test takers here(Opens in a new tab/window).
You have a legal right to cancel this contract within 14 days, without giving a reason, under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This is called the ‘cancellation period’. It ends 14 days after the date of your application. To cancel, you must tell us with a clear statement. You can write to us at International House Bristol, 2 Queens Avenue, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2AT or email info@ihbristol.com – but you do not have to use this method. You can also use our cancellation form, which you can download from the link below (‘Cancelling your contract within 14 days of application’); please open, save, complete and return it to us. A cancellation is only valid once we have confirmed it by email. We will not start providing our services to you during the cancellation period unless you have specifically asked us to on your application form. If you cancel as described above, we will refund the fees you have paid within 14 days of the date you tell us you want to cancel. However, if you asked us on your application form to start during the cancellation period, we can charge you a reasonable amount for the services you have already received. We work this out from the proportion of the course or exam you have taken and its overall cost, and we can take this amount off any refund. Please note:
Cancelling your contract within 14 days of application: a downloadable cancellation form (Word format) is available on the website. |
Cancelling your contract within 14 days of application: please click here to download a cancellation form (Ms Word format)
Your safety is a priority for us and the school maintains high standards in this area. We comply with all relevant legislation relating to health and safety, and conduct regular fire drills and careful risk assessments to ensure our buildings are safe.
The Oakfield Road site is accessible for wheelchair users. The Queens Avenue site is not suitable for clients in wheelchairs.
Please click here to access our physical disability policy
We can usually help clients with some difficulties with their sight or their hearing but our courses are probably not suitable for the totally blind or the very deaf. Please contact us if you think you may need special arrangements.
If you are dyslexic, it is very helpful if you can tell us in advance. In particular, if you are planning to take an examination we can make special arrangements for you but we need to know in good time.
At IH Bristol, we strive to provide the best educational experience for all of our students, and we try our best to meet all educational needs when we can.
We understand that each student has unique learning requirements, abilities, and potential challenges. To cater for these needs effectively and ensure our students' safety and well-being, we must receive advanced notice of SEN.
When enrolling a student with special educational needs, we need this information at the time of the booking or at least 8 weeks prior to their arrival, whichever is sooner.
The safety and welfare of our students is very important to us, especially for U18s and vulnerable adults. As part of this context, IH Bristol also understands its responsibilities under the Counter Terrorism & Security Act 2015 to help prevent people of all ages being radicalised or
drawn into terrorism. We have measures in place to mitigate this, and to promote respect for others and to promote British values.
Applies in school, on school premises, in accommodation and on organised social events with International House Bristol.
The following are not tolerated at International House Bristol:
Important: It is the school’s decision whether or not your behaviour is unacceptable. If your behaviour is unacceptable, the school will give you one written warning. If unacceptable behaviour occurs again, the school will order you to leave the school immediately, with no refund of any fees.
Please note that the school may order you to leave the school immediately with no refund of fees, with no written warning, if the behaviour is very serious, in the school’s opinion.
We will record all incidents in writing.
Important: It is the school’s decision if your behaviour is unacceptable or not. If your behaviour is unacceptable, the school will give you one written warning. If unacceptable behaviour occurs again, the school will order you to leave the school immediately, with no refund of any fees.
Please note that the school may order you to leave the school immediately with no refund of fees, with no written warning, if the behaviour is very serious in the school’s opinion.
We will record all incidents in writing.
Our commitment to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2018
Organisation structure
IH Bristol is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory working environment for its staff. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure that all employees, actual and prospective, are legally entitled to work in the UK and to safeguard staff from abuse or coercion once in our employ.
All employees and prospective employees are vetted to ensure that they are working legally in the UK, that their documents are in order and that they are doing or applying to do their job of their own volition. This is done at interview where original documents are required and copies taken where appropriate. Our Anti-Slavery Policy is part of our policies bundle on our website.
We consider the risk of an employee being a victim of modern slavery to be minimal as a result of the above.
We have never had an incidence of anybody reporting or suspecting a member of staff to be a victim of modern slavery.
We update our policy annually and try to reflect all and any changes to the 2018 Act when we do so. Staff are asked to re-read policies at regular intervals (often coinciding with inspections by our umbrella bodies).
Supply chain
IH Bristol has little in the way of supply chains. Other than incidental purchases online, it uses UK registered companies for both goods and services. The vast majority of those we work with are SMEs and so not subject to the requirement to publish a statement.
We ensure our suppliers are legal entities with the necessary accreditations for the areas in which they operate.
We have never had an incidence of a supplier being accused of modern slavery.
In case of problems or complaints, please come and speak with one of our team. We will do everything we can to help make the situation better for you. We are here to help!
You can speak to reception, or to one of your teachers. If it is a problem with accommodation, you can speak to one of the Accommodation team. If it helps you, there is a 'Change of Host Family' request form we can give you.
If this does not solve your problem, and you want to make a formal complaint, please ask to speak with the Principal. We can give you a formal complaints form to complete (see the link below). Please send this to Pete Gibson, Principal.
International House Bristol
27 Oakfield Road
Clifton
Bristol
BS8 2AT
+44 (0)117 909 0911
If you cannot find a solution with us, English language students can complain to our industry body English UK, following their instructions here: https://www.englishuk.com/complaints(Opens in a new tab/window)
The safety and welfare of all our students is very important to us, but especially for students under the age of 18 and any vulnerable adults. You can see more information on our U18s policies, supervision, parental agreements, and U18 permission forms here
Our school Designated Safeguarding Lead is the Principal, Pete Gibson, who can be contacted by email pete@ihbristol.com or phone 0117 9090911.
In an emergency, the Safeguarding Team can be contacted by phoning this number (if out-of-hours, please call the school Emergency Phone)
We encourage our students to read the ‘Do I need a visa(Opens in a new tab/window)' page on the gov.uk website for the latest on visa regulations for your country and length of study.