General Terms and Conditions 2024
- § 1 Requirements for Participation
The minimum age of the students for all language courses is 16 years and 15 years for the time period of the summer courses from July 1st to September 06th, 2024. - § 2 Enrolment
Enrolment for a language course is made by means of a completed enrolment form from Sprachschule zum Ehrstein Freiburg im Kolping Bildungswerk e. V. (in the following: language school). For the enrolment of minors (under 18), the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required. The contract will become legally binding when the booking confirmation from the lan-guage school has been received by the applicant. - § 3 Payment Deadlines
A down payment of € 200 is due for course registra-tion. The entirety of the course fees must be transferred at the latest 4 weeks before the beginning of the course (immediately for last minute registrations). All bank fees will be charged to the client. - § 4 Changes in Booking, Withdrawals, Cancellations
Once a booking has been confirmed and paid, no changes can be made. A change from group lessons to private lessons is not possible.
Withdrawals from the original booking must be made in writing. Withdrawals made up to two weeks before the beginning of the course are subject to a cancellation charge of 20 % of the course fees. Cancellations made in a period of less than 2 weeks before the beginning of the course will be charged 40 % of the course fees. Bookings in connection with visa applications are subject to special regulations (see below). Independent of the time when the cancellation is made, the language school charges for costs arising from accommodations, food, transportation or other costs from external service providers.
Once courses have started, cancellations are no longer possible. For students who do not attend or terminate an already booked language course, there can be no refund of the course or accommodation fees.
For other changes in booking and cancellations a processing fee of € 60 will be charged.
For private lessons and flexible group courses, the following rules apply: Schedule changes must be ap-proved by the school secretary. Short-term cancellations must be made by the student until 3 pm on the day before class. In case, lessons take place on a Mon-day or holiday, cancellations have to be made until 3 pm on Fridays resp. the last day the language school is open before this holiday. Otherwise, no replacement or refund is possible. - § 5 Holidays and Vacation Dayss
On weekends and on the following holidays in 2024, language classes will not take place: Feb. 12 (Carnival Monday), Mar 29 (Good Friday), Apr. 01 (Easter Mon-day), May 1 (Labour Day), May 09 (Ascension Thurs-day), May 20 (Pentecost Monday), May 30 (The Feast of Corpus Christi), Oct. 3 (anniversary of German unifi-cation) and Nov. 1 (All Saints). In addition, the school will be closed from Dec. 16, 2024 to Jan. 6, 2025 (Christmas Holidays).
Lessons that do not take place due to these holidays, will not be made up for at a later date (except for evening courses, as well as private lessons and flexible group courses).
- § 6 Accommodation
The language school provides private accommodations for those who wish them. As a rule, students move in on a Sunday before the beginning of their course and move out on Saturday after the end of their course. Any exceptions to this arrangement must be approved by the language school and will incur additional fees.
If the desired type of room is fully booked, the language school will arrange for alternative accommodation in a different category. A change of accommoda-tion or cancellation can only be allowed in exceptional cases and must be made 6 weeks before the Saturday moving-out date. If the students wish to change to another room or to cancel their room before the end date, a handling charge of € 200, in addition to the room rent, will be charged. Increased costs caused by short-term changes in accommodation will be paid for by the student.
The school charges a fee for arranging an accommoda-tion. This fee is included in the price of the accommodation. After a down payment of € 200, the room res-ervation is binding. The remaining payment for the accommodation is due, at the latest, on the day the rental lease starts.
Before moving into the room, the student must pay a room deposit of € 200 which will be refunded to the student after moving out. In addition, proof of liability insurance is mandatory. The student is responsible for the maintenance and cleanliness of the room for the duration of the lease. Upon termination of the lease, the living quarters including kitchen and bathroom must be left tidy and clean. In failing to comply with these conditions, the student must bear all cleaning and repair costs after moving out. Students are also liable for all damages caused during their stay.
An overnight stay of guests in the student's room requires the explicit approval of the landlord. Any offence against the house rules of the landlord will lead to an immediate termination of the rental agreement without any claim for substitution or reimbursement of the rent. - § 7 Visa and Registration Confirmation
Before issuing a letter of acceptance for visa applica-tions, the language school requires that the full payment for the course fees be made by the student. Along with the letter of acceptance, a visa application must be made in the required time at the German consulate in the student's home country. If no visa is issued, the language school will refund the course fees minus a handling charge of € 150. The requirement for a refund, however, is the immediate notification of the language school by the applicant and the presentation of a written rejection notice from the German authori-ties. If the language school does not receive a proof of a rejection letter, no amount of the course fees will be refunded.
Handling fees collected by the language school for arranging admissions to the university will not be reimbursed if the visa is not granted by the consulate or if the university refuses the applicant. - § 8 Course Level Placement and Duration
The course level of a participant is determined by a written and oral placement test conducted before the beginning of the language course. All level determinations are conditional and stay subject to possible later changes.
There is a set duration for completing a particular course level. In exceptional cases, it may be necessary to adapt the lessons to the learning pace of a group in such a way that the duration for completing a particular level is extended, thereby possibly incurring additional costs for the language student.
At the end of each course level there is an internal final exam. You are only entitled to retake an exam with a medical certificate. - § 9 Attendance Requirement
All language students are obliged to attend class regu-larly and comply with the prescribed class times. Students also agree to inform the school administration in advance of their absence. If a student misses more than 20 % of class time, they will not receive a certifi-cate of attendance or a report letter. In case of a course interruption (vacation, illness, etc.), the student is responsible for making up the missed subject matters. A claim to make up the lost hours is excluded.
If the language student suffers from a contagious illness, he/she should stay at home to protect his/her classmates or take other appropriate measures (mask protection, etc.). - § 10 Number of Participants and Hours
The minimum number of students in a classis 5 participants. When there are less than 5 in the class, the number of hours will be reduced as follows: for 4 participants a reduction of hours to 80 %, for 3 participants a reduction to 60 %, for 2 participants a reduction to 40 %, and for 1 participant a reduction to 15-20 % (see extra sheet).
With the reduction of course hours there is no reduction in course fees. In exceptional cases, the maximum number of participants allowed for a class (see price list) can be exceeded for a short time. The school reserves the right to make changes in its programme (such as changes in class times). - § 11 Student's Obligations and Insurances
All language students are obliged to help in correcting deficiencies as they occur. This means in particular that problems should be reported immediately to the school secretary or to the school management in order to rectify the situation.
The language school recommends that students take out health, liability and travel-cancellation insurance. - § 12 Personal Data
All personal data the school obtains from students will be handled according to German data protection laws. - § 13 Validity and Application
The invalidity of individual terms does not result in the invalidity of the entire terms and conditions.
For services from external service providers, which the language school arranges, the terms and conditions of the respective company apply. For telc examinations we ask you to observe the regulations on the registra-tion form for exams.
In individual cases, special agreements can be made that deviate from these conditions of participation. No general claim to validity can be inferred from the ap-plication of exceptional regulations in individual cases. - § 14 Court of Jurisdiction
The Court of Jurisdiction is Freiburg im Breisgau. German law applies to all agreements and contracts.