Terms of Service for The Really Great Teacher Company’s 120-Hour
Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate
1. Introduction
The Terms of Services stated herein apply to anyone starting, working on, or completing our 120-hour TEFL Course ("Course") through The Inspire Academy.
By reading these Terms of Service, verbally or in written form agreeing through any means, or purchasing this Course, you accept all the terms stated within. The acceptance of these Terms of Service constitues a contract between you, as our student, and The Really Great Teacher Company.
Our Course is provided by The Really Great Teacher Company (25th floor, Workington Tower, 78 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong) ("the Company") through The Inspire Academy.
2. Course Requirements
In line with our aim to operate ethically and responsibility, you are only allowed to enroll for our Course if you have the reasonable potential to complete it.
By reading these Terms of Service you agree that you fulfill the following minimum requirements:
1. This Course is presented, and support is provided through engagement with tutors and administrators, in English. Therefore, you should be sufficiently proficient in English. Proficiency is defined as being able to understand complex, extended discussions or presentations, being able to express ideas fluently and spontaneously; being able to understand various complex texts in familiar and unfamiliar contexts and topics; and being able to write formal and informal texts for social, academic, and professional purposes. We require a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) English level of B2 or better. We also recommend a good general education, up to the accepted level for university entrance.
Our Course’s Introduction Module is offered free of charge, as it is designed to establish whether you meet the language proficiency requirement. If you are unable to complete the Introduction Module, due to the inability to meet this requirement, then you will not be accepted into our Course. If, at this point, you have already paid for our Course, but are not accepted into our Course, you will be issued a refund.
2. You are at least 18 years old when you start our Course.
3. Our Course is presented, and support is provided through engagement with tutors and administrators, electronically. You can therefore effectively engage with our Course, trainers, and support staff electronically. This means:
a. You have access to a computer (desktop, laptop, or tablet).
b. Your computer allows you access to a modern browser like Firefox, IE 9+, Chrome, Safari, and Opera which supports HTML5, or browsers on mobile devices (i.e., iOS and Android). If your browser is insufficient, our system will prompt you to update your browser.
c. You have access to an internet connection sufficient to access content-rich webpages, including text, images, and video. A 4mbps connection speed or better is normally fine.
d. You have access to speakers to listening to course instruction.
e. You have access to a microphone to engage verbally in course tasks.
We aim to determine the suitability of our course and yourself through the above process and requirements, while allowing you to experience a part of our Course. If you are still unsure about the requirements or have any questions regarding them, please contact us at certifications@reallygreatteachers.com for assistance or sign up and speak directly to a trainer.
3. Course Details
Purchasing our Course does not automatically guarantee that you will pass. If you do not meet the requirements of the 12 Modules and the Units they are comprised of, you can fail this course.
However, your trainer will contact you with advice and guidance on resubmitting assignments. This will enable you to learn and grow based on the guidance provided by our trainers.
Our Course consists out of 12 Modules that each contains multiple units. The units require you to complete all unit assessments. The 12 Modules also require you to complete a module assignment for which you need to attain a minimum pass mark of 50%. Once all modules have been passed, you will have three attempts to attain a minimum of 50% passing grade for the Final Course Assessment. Once you submit your Final Course Assessment, this will be deemed as an attempt. Your trainer will contact you with feedback regarding the outcome of your Final Course Assessment.
If you fail our Course, because one of our qualified trainers determined that you do not meet the minimum requirements, and you feel that you should have passed, you are welcome to contact certifications@reallygreatteachers.com to initiate a grievance.
Upon completion of our Course, you will receive a digital certificate for completing our 120-hour TEFL Certificate course through The Really Great Teacher Company and The Inspire Academy.
4. Course Duration
You have 6 months from the date of payment in which to complete our Course. After this 6-month period, if you have not completed our course, your account will be deactivated.
Should you be unable to complete our Course within the prescribed 6-month period, you may request your trainer assigned to you to extend the aforesaid period by three months. Should the additional three months not be sufficient to complete our Course your account will be deactivated. Should you require more time to complete the course, you may request additional time to complete the course, which will incur a fee of $25 per month.
We will respond to all such requests mentioned above within 2 business days.
No refund of the monies paid for our Course will be permitted in the event of your failure to complete our Course within the 6-month (or adjusted) period.
5. Enrolment
Prices as displayed on our website and communicated to you are accurate and correct at the time of purchase. Please feel free to sign up and audit our introduction and first module to determine whether our Course is right for you. Also feel free to contact us regarding any queries or guidance that you may need via certifications@reallygreatteachers.com.
You can enrol by signing up via our website and then engage with a trainer on further questions that you may have. Audit the introduction and first modules before making a purchase through the Course Catalog and its designated payment portal. You can also enrol others by contacting us and arranging the enrolment of multiple students. In either case, the person executing the transaction must be at least 18 years of age and guarantees the accuracy of information provided as well as the suitability of students (please see Course Requirements).
Once you have signed up, you will receive an email providing your login and password details, granting you access to our Course website and content. You will also receive a welcome mail from a trainer within 24 hours. At this point, check your user information to ensure that it is correct. The login and password details are for your use only and may not be shared with or used by another party.
When we have approved your application as per the requirements in the introduction module, you have completed Module 1, you have paid for the course, and subsequently started Module 2, a contract exists between you and our Company.
All prospective and enrolled students are treated equally in terms of application, assessment, and other course procedures and policies, regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, age, disability, political or religious belief, or socio-economic class.
6. Course Cancellation
Where our Course cannot take place due to trainer illness or other circumstances beyond our Company's control, our Course may be cancelled by our Company. We will provide an alternative trainer, alternative date(s) and/or alternative arrangements, depending on the nature of the circumstances, for the completion of our Course by the student. We will do this through clear and timely communication with the student to ensure that the adjustments are reasonable and acceptable to the student and our Company. If it is impossible to reach a reasonable and acceptable alternative, the student will be refunded their enrolment fee into our Course; however, our Company accepts no liability for any further loss or expenses incurred by you.
We expect all students to always treat trainers and other staff of The Really Great Teacher Company with respect. If your trainer feels that you are being aggressive, bullying, offensive, threatening or harassing towards them we reserve the right to cancel our Course and cease to provide you with any services with immediate effect. In this circumstance, our Company accepts no liability for any loss or expenses incurred by you.
7. Course Suspension
Where our Course cannot be completed due to unforeseen circumstances or other circumstances beyond the student’s control, the student’s progress in our Course may be suspended. If a student needs to put their course progress on hold, they should contact their trainer. Course progress and access will then be placed on hold for an agreed upon period of up to 6 months. Once the student is ready to retake their progress, they should once again get in touch with their trainer or send an email to certifications@reallygreatteachers.com to enable the student to continue.
The period that a student has to complete their course will be extended by the amount of time that you put your course on hold for. Should a student fail to contact our company before their extension concludes, the course will become active upon the suspension period concluding. Once the course becomes active the remaining course time will then be used. Our Company will contact a student whose account suspension is ending to inform them of the time remaining to complete their course.
8. Warranties
By purchasing our Course, you, the student, hereby warrants the following:
1. That at the time of you purchasing our Course, you are over the age of 18 years old;
2. That you have fully read and understood these Terms of Service and you are fully aware of the circumstances under which a refund will be given as well as those circumstances under which it will not;
3. That you will take reasonable care to verify that our Course will meet your needs. Our Company does not make any commitment to you that you will obtain any particular result from your use of our Course.
9. Liability
Our Company neither accepts nor has any liability, for any loss, damage, costs, liabilities or additional expense arising from, or in connection with weather conditions, civil disturbance, industrial action, strikes, wars, floods, sickness or other events of force majeure. Such losses or additional expenses are your responsibility. Force majeure (for the purposes of this clause) means any unusual and/or unforeseeable circumstances such as war or the threat of war, riots, terrorist activity, civil strife, pandemics, epidemics, industrial disputes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, flood or adverse weather conditions.
Our Company neither accepts nor has any liability, for any technical or IT issues arising from or connected with the usage of our Course such as systems crashing.
Our Company ensures all assignments are marked promptly. However, delays in busier times should be expected. Our Company accepts no responsibility for any loss or other circumstances resulting or arising from such delays.
Our Company neither accepts nor has any liability, for any loss or additional expense arising for students where they fail our Course whether such failure is alleged to be due to trainers allegedly lacking competency, because of plagiarism or for any other reason.
10. Our Company’s Website
Our Company’s website, all content on the website and its related software are the intellectual property of and are owned by our Company.
The structure, organization, and code of the website and its related software contain valuable and confidential information of our Company. Except as expressly stated herein, these Terms of Service do not grant you any intellectual property rights to the website and its related software and all rights are expressly reserved by our Company.
Any content, form, database, or software that is altered, conceived, made, or developed in whole or in part by our Company during or because of our relationship with you shall become and remain the sole and exclusive property of our Company.
No content on our website and in this Course may be copied or reproduced without our express prior written consent.
11. Intellectual Property
All right, title and interest in and to the contents of our Course and all intellectual property rights embodied therein, including copyrights, trade names, trademarks, service marks, product names, our Course’s branding, design and methodology and other proprietary materials in our Course belong exclusively to our Company.
Except as specifically provided under this Agreement, you acknowledge that no other right, title or interest in and to our Course or any parts thereof is granted to you. You may not use the trade names, trademarks, service marks or product names of our Course in any way that might state or imply that you created our Course.
Nothing contained in these Terms of Service shall in any way be interpreted or intended to transfer, cede, assign, make over or in any way pass over any right, title or interest in or to our Company’s intellectual property to you at any time.
For the sake of clarity, our Company shall be the sole owner and title holder of its right and interest in and to its intellectual property contained in our Course and our Company’s website. By reading these Terms of Service you acknowledge and agree that the content of our Course will not be copied, modified, reproduced, stored, or redistributed without our explicit consent.
12. System Maintenance, Operations and Upgrades
Our Company may upgrade its systems, Course materials, or other services at any time for the duration of our Course. This may cause interruptions and our Company will keep the interruptions to a minimum. If this would cause your inability to complete our Course, our Company will grant you a time extension equivalent to the interruption for you to complete our Course.
We aim to maintain our marketing material for it to be up to date and relevant. Even though we retain the right to change any of the information on our website and in our Course, we do not take any responsibility for any information that is deemed incorrect. If you encounter any inaccuracies, vagueness, or inconsistencies, you should confirm such information by contacting us at certifications@reallygreatteachers.com.
13. Our Commitment
Our Company commits itself to providing a quality digital TEFL Certificate course. Our qualified trainers will provide guidance, feedback, and results within a reasonable timeframe. Our Company will also engage and respond to communications within a reasonable timeframe.
14. Grievances
These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive law of Hong Kong.
In the event of a student grievance about an aspect of our Course, the following procedures sets out the process for resolving such a grievance:
1. We encourage all students to first seek advice, clarity, or guidance from their trainer and attempt to resolve the grievance with them.
2. If the grievance remains unresolved, it can be escalated to our Course moderator via certifications@reallygreatteachers.com. Please ensure that all the pertinent information related to grievance is included in your email. The grievance will be reviewed by the moderator, and a response issued two five business days.
3. If the grievance remains unresolved, your grievance can be escalated to the Global Service Manager of The Really Great Teacher Company. You will be consulted about your grievance towards a solution within a reasonable timeframe considering the nature of the grievance.
4. If the grievance remains unresolved, it will be escalated to our accreditation body (ACTDEC) for arbitration.
Expenses of the arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties of the arbitration, provided that each party shall pay for and bear the cost of its own experts and evidence.
15. Variation
We retain the right to alter these Terms of Service at any time in order reflect current economic and legal conditions. Similarly, if either party finds a particular part of these Terms of Service to be illegal then such a section will be deemed to be deleted.
We retain the right to change the website, Course content, prices, offers and requirements at any time, but to only do so with necessary cause and appropriate communication. We explicitly exclude liability for any inaccuracies and any incomplete or inappropriate content.
Our Course includes links to other websites and resources to enable convenient access them, and we endeavour to ensure these websites and resources are relevant and reliable; however, we cannot guarantee that they remain accurate, complete, or appropriate. We also do not accept responsibility for any consequences of your engagement with these third-party websites or resources.
16. Entire Agreement
These Terms of Service contains the entire agreement between the parties. No party shall have any claim or right of action arising from any undertaking, representation or warranty not included in these Terms of Service.
17. Plagiarism
If you are found to be guilty of plagiarizing content (be this from a fellow student, an online or other source) you will be issued with a single warning. A further instance of plagiarism will result in the student being ejected from our Course without claim to a refund. If you are ejected on the grounds of plagiarism and you wish to dispute this, please contact your trainer, and failing resolution please contact certifications@reallygreatteachers.com.
18. Data Privacy
We will collect the information you enter as part of signing up, enrolled by someone else, or provided during our Course of engaging with the content and your trainer for the exclusive use of operating and improving the services rendered by our Course.
We will store this information on our servers and the information shall be utilized to contact you, provide you with details of our Course and otherwise as required during the normal provision of services.
To enable us to monitor and improve our Course, we gather certain aggregated information about you, including details of your operating system, browser version, domain name and IP address, the URL you came from and go to and the parts of our Company's website that you visit.
We use information such as your user ID, session identifiers and password to enable us to identify whether you are using our services, assist with the provision of services and to ensure that you have access to our Course. We will only read cookies from your cookie file placed there through your web browser's interaction with the Website.
Our products may link to third party websites, and we are not responsible for their data policies or procedures or their content.
Our Company shall take all reasonable steps to protect your information including the use of encryption technology but cannot guarantee the security of any information that you disclose. Our Company further guarantees that it shall not pass any information onto anyone outside of our Company, except for any third-party service providers.
By purchasing our Course, you accept the inherent security implications of being and transacting on-line over the internet and will not hold our Company responsible for any breach of security that may occur.
19. Breach of the Terms of Service
In the absence of anything to the contrary contained in any provision herein, if you (the student) breach any provisions of these Terms of Service or our Course's terms and remain in breach for 5 (five) business days after written notice has been directed to you requiring you to rectify that breach, our Company shall be entitled (without derogating from any of its other rights or remedies under this Terms of Service or at law), at its option, to cancel our Course and/or to sue for immediate specific performance of any of your obligations under these Terms of Service and/or to claim any damages, including damages on a punitive scale, our Company has suffered or may suffer as consequence of your breach. Further and in addition to the damages claim our Company may have herein, you (the student) shall be liable for all costs incurred on an attorney and own client scale, interest and disbursements, as well as collection commission on the recovery of any monies or assets as contemplated elsewhere in this agreement (including any such cost, interest or collection commission incurred by our Company outside of the jurisdiction with foreign or foreign-based attorneys or legal representatives).
20. Contact Details
If, at any time, you have a complaint, are dissatisfied, or require additional information about this Course or the operations thereof, please contact certifications@reallygreatteachers.com or sign up on our website and contact one of our trainers. We strive to reply to all such communications as quickly as reasonably possible, which is usually two business days.
