General

These terms and conditions are applicable whether students book courses directly with a school or where students have booked courses with an Educational Tour Operator (“ETO”). Where a student has booked courses with an ETO, these terms and conditions should be read accordingly, including that in instances where any interactions or notification is referenced, this interaction or notification should be made via the ETO unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Admission

Minimum age

The minimum age for our adult courses is 18. In certain circumstances we may accept under 18-year-olds on our adult programmes, however, not younger than 16. If minors enrol in an adult course, parents must sign that they acknowledge that their child will be studying in an adult centre and that The Slaney Language Centre is not legally responsible for the child. We accept children aged 11 to 17 to our Easter and Summer Keen Teen Courses and children aged 6 to 10 to our Easter and Summer Cool Kids Courses. We also accept internal Ministay groups of different ages throughout the year. Minors will only be enrolled on a course if their parents/legal guardians have completed and signed a Parental Consent form.

Course level

We offer classes from Elementary (A1) to Upper-Intermediate (B2) level. A1 and A2 students, A2 and B1 students, B1 and B2 students or B2 and C1 students may be in the same learner group. Please note that we do not accept absolute beginners. We do not have suitable courses for be-ginner students, and The Slaney Language Centre reserves the right to refuse or cancel an en-rolment if a student is at a beginner level of English.

Course

Most courses consist of 20 tuition lessons, 45 minutes each (15 full hours). Course always start on a Monday and finish on a Friday. It is not possible to start a course during the week. During busy times, classes will run in both morning and afternoon.
Classes for Ministay groups usually take place in the afternoons. The number of classes for Ministay groups are agreed on with the organiser of the group in advance.

Course Fees

Course fees include tuition, placement test, student induction, WIFI, and end of course certifi-cate (including a progress report for long term students). A course registration fee of €75 (€30 per person for families) is applicable to all courses. The cost for the course book is €55. If stu-dents move up a level, a new course book must be bought.
All fees must be paid in full prior to the student’s arrival.

Visa

Non-EEA students should contact their local Irish Embassy for visa requirements. The Slaney Language Centre cannot give any guarantees for successful visa applications.
Required documents to apply for a student visa will only be sent once full payment has been received.

Non-EEA students enrolled in the Academic Year Programme, who need to register with the GNIB (Garda National Immigration Bureau) once in Ireland, must be aware of the following:
•It is the responsibility of the student, or where the student has purchased the course from an ETO (Educational Tour Operator) it is the responsibility of the student/ETO re-sponsibility to book an appointment with the GNIB to process the visa accordingly be-fore the expiry of the entry visa. The Slaney Language Centre provides guidance and support with any visa-related questions, but the school does not book appointments for students.
•It is the responsibility of the student, or where the student has purchased the course from an ETO it is the responsibility of the student/ETO to provide the school with all necessary and updated personal student information for a timely and correct provision of student and visa documents.
•It is the student’s responsibility to keep these documents in a safe place.
•If the date and time of the GNIB appointment overlaps with class time, the student must inform the school to be excused from class.
•The student commits to meeting all immigration requirements, such as keeping good attendance rates and siting the end-of-course exit exam. The end-of-course exit exam fee is non-refundable.

IMPORTANT: Students who need to apply for a visa before entering Ireland should not start their course in November or December. Please contact the school for the academic calendar and more information on the dates.

Enrolment

Enrolment Dates

New students should refer to their enrolment confirmation / invoice for course and accommo-dation dates. Students can only start on Mondays (or Tuesday in case of a bank holiday Mon-day).

Continuity of Enrolment

Enrolment of a current student will be terminated if:
•The student notifies The Slaney Language Centre of his/her wish to terminate their en-rolment;
•The student withdraws from their nominated course;
•The Slaney Language Centre terminates the student’s enrolment or suspends or ex-cludes the student in accordance with the provisions of our Policies and Procedures; Or
•The student has completed all course requirements.

Refusal and Cancellation of Enrolment

The Slaney Language Centre may cancel an enrolment, refuse to enrol, or refuse to re-enrol a person/ student for the following reasons:

•Beginner level of English
•Misconduct (refer to the section on Code of Behaviour);
•Failure to satisfy the minimum academic requirements for courses chosen; • Failure to arrive on the commencement date;
•The student has gained admission by misrepresentation, falsification of documents or other fraudulent means;
•Failure to fulfil the normal admission or enrolment requirements; • Non-payment of tuition fees and/or accommodation fees;
•Cancellation of a student’s visa;
•Non-attendance or consistently low attendance;
•Other reasons as deemed by the school’s management.

Medical & Special Educational Needs

It is the student’s responsibility to notify The Slaney Language Centre of any sickness, disabil-ity, allergy, mental health condition, special educational needs, or any other relevant medical
information that might affect the student’s stay at The Slaney Language Centre. Students must provide an up-to-date medical form at the time of booking and inform the school of any subsequent changes.

Payment

All fees should be paid at least 30 days prior to the student commencing their course. The Slaney Language Centre has partnered with Transfermate to make international payment safe and easy.

For non-EEA students who require a visa before entering Ireland:

For visa required students, payment must be made at least 50 days before the course com-mences so we can prepare the student visa documents. Please note that some visa applica-tions need to be made several months in advance, and the payment must be made accordingly. Students or their ETOs are responsible for applying for a student visa well in advance to make sure the visa will be granted and received before the student’s departure. Failure to comply may result in postponement or cancellation charges. Acceptance letters are only issued after full payment is received by The Slaney Language Cen-tre.

Please note in accordance with Irish immigration law your payment will be held in an escrow-type account until your visa application has been approved. We have partnered with TransferMate to provide this service, please see payment options be-low:

TransferMate

TransferMate is an easy-to-use online system which offers a fast and secure way to pay fees at no cost to the payer. International Bank Transfer Fees are eliminated, and payments can be pro-cessed, and receipts issued within 48 hours. There is a 24-hour customer support service avail-able via live chat, skype, phone and email. Once funds are received by TransferMate, the payment is immediately transferred to the re-ceiver’s account from the local TransferMate account in their home country.

For EU students and non-EU students who do not require a visa to enter Ireland:

ETOs / Students can pay through TransferMate without the option of credit/debit card payment. Other payment options for non-visa requiring students and ETOs include electronic bank transfers or online payment with credit cards from our website (stripe).

Cancellation Policy

Course Cancellations

Courses are not transferable. Tuition fees are non-refundable once a student has commenced their course. If a student cancels their course more than 50 days before the course com-mences, all fees will be refunded.
If a student cancels their course less than 50 days before the course commences, fees will be refunded except for the registration fee.
In the event of a group booking cancellation less than 50 days but more than 21 days before the course commences, fees will be refunded minus a 10% cancellation charge. 50% cancellation fee applies to cancellations less than 21 days before the course commences.

Putting course on hold

In exceptional cases, a course can be put on hold for up to 12 months after the date the student was registered. There will be no extra charge or increase in fees if the school is notified at least 30 days in advance of the course start. If a course is postponed less than 30 days in advance of the course start date a postponement fee of €75 will be charged. This fee will be charged without exceptions, also in the case of visa refusals. Please contact the school for further details. Depending on the new course dates, please note that the Summer Supplement may apply. If a course is postponed for more than 12 months from the date the student was registered, the regular cancellation fees apply and the booking will be treated as a new booking, i.e. new fees will apply, if applicable. Postponed courses are not eligible for promotions running at the time of postponement, but the original fees apply.
If a course with a past promotion is postponed in line with the postponement periods, and part(s) of the promotion are not available anymore, where a student has purchased a course directly from The Slaney Language Centre, any promotion that may currently be on offer can

Holiday Policy

Holidays can only be taken in one-week blocks (Monday-Friday only). Students must notify the Office in writing or by email in advance of their intended holiday. Please note that holidays must always be booked at least one week in advance, i.e. holidays will not be granted after the week has already begun.

Holiday Policy for short-term (less than 25 weeks) students on courses of 12 weeks or less:

Generally, no holidays are allowed for students who are studying on courses that are less than 12 weeks.

Students studying on courses from 12 to 24 weeks:

One week’s holiday is allowed for students who are studying on courses from 12 to 24 weeks. To request a holiday, the student must send an email to info@slaneylanguage.com at least one week before they would like to take the holiday. This request will be logged on the school online system.

Holiday Policy for long-term (25 weeks) students:

An Academic Year course lasts for 25 weeks after which students are entitled to take up to 8 weeks holiday before their visa expires. Normally, Academic Year holidays are taken AFTER a student finishes their course.
If students stay during the winter holidays, these three weeks of holidays are included in the 8 weeks of holidays, i.e. students only have 5 weeks of holidays after finishing their course. Also, these three weeks of winter holidays do not need to be booked but are booked by default since the school will remain closed during this period. The same applies for possible school holidays in August.

In the exceptional case where a long-term non-EEA student wishes to take holidays during their course, this holiday period must be requested BEFORE starting their programme and/or regis-tering with GNIB. In addition, holiday periods cannot at any point exceed 1/3 of the total weeks elapsed. This means that students need to have completed 9 weeks of their course before they can take 3 weeks holiday for the first time. After 9 weeks they can then take up to 3 weeks of holidays as they need to have studied 3 weeks for each week, they want to take the holiday.

For Academic reasons students need to have 4 weeks of their course remaining, i.e. cannot take holidays in their final 4 weeks. Early return from holidays is subject to availability of places in the school / class.

Further Conditions

•Bookings are not confirmed until official enrolment confirmation is provided by The Slaney Language Centre and a booking deposit of €200 has been received.
•Final registration and provision of pre-arrival information for each student are only con-firmed upon receipt of full payment of fees.
•The Slaney Language Centre does not accept responsibility for costs incurred due to flight delays or cancellations.
•The Slaney Language Centre does not take responsibility for loss or theft of belongings.
•Refunds, partial refunds, or compensation of any kind will not be given for Public Holi-days, for days missed during the course, for late arrival or early departure, days missed due to adverse weather conditions, acts of governments, interruption of electrical power, fire, floods, war, other natural disasters, disease outbreaks or other Acts of Gods.
•During peak times classes may be held at additional premises and may run at different times.
•If a student wishes to return to their home country or take holidays elsewhere during the term of their English Language Programme, they are free to do so, but no credit will be given for missed study time.
•If students are unable to attend lessons due to illness, these sick days will not be added to the end of the course period.
•Students will only be excused from class in case of illness or to attend their appoint-ment at the immigration ofice. No other reasons will be taken into consideration, and the student will be marked as absent. Under no circumstances the student will obtain credit or a refund for missed study time.
• Promotional Photographs and Videos: The Slaney Language Centre or its representa-tives may take photographs and videos of classes or other school activities during a stu-dent’s time with us, which may be used for promotional purposes. If students do not wish to appear in any promotional materials, they must advise us at the time of booking.
•For educational purposes only, The Slaney Language Centre may record students in virtual classes. By booking a course students authorise and permit The Slaney Lan-guage Centre tomake recordings that include the student in the digital classroom and to use these recordings solely for educational purposes, such as the creation of a stu-dent or teacher portfolio, or for teacher self-reflection, without further consent from or payment to the student.
•Classes can be held in additional premises during busy times. The school is not wheel-chair accessible.