Enrolment and Purchase Terms

For most of our short courses, this is the agreement between you and the University when you sign up for the course. Our other courses have slightly different agreements.

If you require this document in an alternative format, such as large print or a coloured background, please contact us at Enquiries.Shortcourses@ed.ac.uk.

What these Terms are and why you should read them.

These Terms set out the contract between you as a learner on a short course (“you”, the “Learner”) and The University of Edinburgh (“we”, “us”, “the University”) as the short course host and provider.

Please read these Terms carefully before creating a user account or enrolling on a short course. They provide important information including who we are, how we will provide short educational courses to you, what to do if there is a problem and how you or we may end the contract between us.

Creating a learner user account

1. Creating a user account with the University or a partner organisation. Each course description within our Short Course Catalogue will specify whether the course is delivered by the University, or by one of our partner organisations (for example, Coursera, EdX or FutureLearn).
   1. If the course is delivered by the University, you must first register for a user account on our Short Course Catalogue Website under these Terms.
   2. If the course is delivered by a partner organisation, you will instead register with the partner organisation through their website and under their terms and conditions.

Enrolling on a course delivered by the University

2. Course description. The most up-to-date information about our short courses is published on the Short Course Catalogue Website. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of information that is published on third party external websites.
3. Who is entering into the contract. By enrolling on your short course, you are entering into a contract with the University, even if there is no fee, or if your fees are being paid by someone else (such as your employer) on your behalf.
4. What is included in this contract. The contract between you and the University in relation to your short course is made up of:
   1. these Terms;
   2. the Short Course Learning Platform terms of use:
   3. the description of your course which is available on the Short Course Catalogue Website; and
   4. the confirmation of your enrolment from the University.
   These constitute the entire agreement between you and the University in relation to their subject matter.
5. Minimum age for participating. Unless specified otherwise in the course description, the minimum age for enrolling on a short course is normally 16 years on the date the course starts.
6. How to enrol. Enrolments for short courses are made online via the Short Course Enrolment Website unless indicated otherwise in the course description.
7. Our right not to accept your enrolment. The University has complete discretion within the law over whether to accept your enrolment. Without limiting our discretion:
   1. Where the number of applicants exceeds the number of places on a course, the University may place you on a waiting list.
   2. We must comply with all applicable laws and regulations and observe sanctions or embargos in place against certain countries and organisations. Our courses may not be purchased from those countries or by those organisations.
8. When to enrol and pay. Enrolments must be made before the advertised enrolment deadline for your chosen course. Full payment of fees is normally required at the time of enrolment, unless the University has agreed to invoice you, in which case the invoice will contain the terms of payment. We retain complete discretion over whether to accept any enrolments requested after the deadline, and over whether to reserve spaces on any short course pending receipt of an enrolment or payment.
9. Progressing to a further course. Where completing your course allows you to progress to a further course, your place on that further course will normally only be reserved once you have enrolled and paid for it in full or once we have agreed to invoice you for the further course.
10. Tax payable in certain cases. Short courses that are entirely self-directed by the learner may be taxable in the UK as a digital service. We will indicate this in the course description.

Learner status and provisions

11. Status of short course learners. Registering as a Learner on a University of Edinburgh short course does not constitute matriculating as a student of the University nor does it confer membership of Edinburgh University Students’ Association.
12. Access to University services. Your participation on a short course only lets you use the University facilities and services that are specified in these Terms or in your course description or otherwise arranged by the course organisers as part of the course provision. This will normally include access to course resources held in our Short Course Learning Platform.
13. What the University will not provide. Your course fee does not cover course materials such as textbooks, nor expenses such as travel, maintenance or purchase of computer software or hardware required to undertake the course.
14. Learner Conduct Expectations. By enrolling in a University of Edinburgh short course, through shortcourses.ed.ac.uk, you agree that you will:
    1. Be polite, professional and inclusive.
    2. Demonstrate respect and integrity in your interactions with others involved with the course and address people as they wish to be addressed.
    3. Work and study collaboratively, collegially and effectively with others.
    4. Take responsibility for your own learning and attend, participate and engage with your course as directed by your instructors.
    5. Not provide your University of Edinburgh short course login details to others.
    6. Not adapt, download, distribute, record, use or make available any course materials or resources for any other purpose than your personal learning.
    7. Avoid any conduct (including academic misconduct) which would constitute unacceptable behaviour under the University of Edinburgh Code of Student Conduct (opens in a new window).
15. Inappropriate conduct. If, in the reasonable opinion of the University, you fail to comply with the Learner Conduct Expectations, the University may in its discretion:
    1. issue a warning to you;
    2. suspend your access to the course; and/or
    3. cancel its contract with you and remove you from your course without a refund;
    4. remove you from any future courses.
    5. If you enrolled on a course provided by the University through your employer or another organisation, the University may alternatively or additionally notify the employer or organisation.
16. Criminal charges or convictions. If you have any relevant pending charges, or relevant unspent convictions, you are required to inform the University by emailing studentconduct@ed.ac.uk. You are also required to notify the University of any relevant pending charges or relevant convictions which are imposed upon you during your studies. Information about what types of convictions and charges are regarded as relevant is provided on the Academic Services web pages (opens in a new window). Information about criminal convictions will be shared only with those members of University staff who need to know and to carry out appropriate risk assessment when required. The information will be held until the end of your studies at the University, when it will be securely destroyed. If you would like further information or to discuss your circumstances prior to enrolling, please email studentconduct@ed.ac.uk.
17. Status of short course certificates. The University may at its discretion issue you a certificate of completion or digital badge if in our opinion you have completed the course, met any criteria for issue of a certificate or badge detailed in the course description, and paid any course fee in full. The certificate or badge will be issued in the name that your user account is registered with, and it does not constitute a degree or other award from the University.
18. How we will deliver and record online classes. If your course includes live online classes, these shall be delivered in accordance with the University's Virtual Classroom Policy (opens in a new window). For this purpose, references to "students" in that policy shall be understood to include non-matriculated short course learners. We may sometimes record online classes to allow you to review them. Where we record an online class that you are participating in, you agree that the University may use the recording for the limited purposes specified in the policy.
19. Making your own recording of your teaching. In line with the University's Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy (opens in a new window), the University permits you in certain circumstances to make recordings of your course teaching sessions for the sole purpose of your own personal learning. You agree that you will make, use and destroy any such recordings under the same conditions as are specified for students within that policy.

Cancellation and transfer to another course

20. We reserve the right to reschedule, cancel or change the delivery format or location of courses or individual teaching sessions, and to change the course teachers. Reasons for rescheduling, cancellation or change of format or location can include, but are not restricted to, low enrolment numbers, weather warnings and teacher availability. We will endeavour to give you as much advance notice as possible of any such changes. Where we cancel an individual teaching session, we will endeavour to offer a replacement by or at the end of the course, and, where possible and appropriate, on the usual day and time for that session.
21. Transfer to another course. We reserve the right in some circumstances to cancel your enrolment or transfer you to another, more appropriate course. This might include, for example, where you are registering for or participating on a course that is clearly inappropriate for your current level of proficiency.
22. Refund if we cancel your course. We may cancel your enrolment if we fail to recruit the minimum number of learners we need to run the course, or if circumstances beyond our reasonable control prevent us from delivering it. At the time of course cancellation, we will either offer you an alternative course (if there is an appropriate course with places available) or refund the fee in full.
23. Refund if we cancel an individual teaching session. If we cancel an individual teaching session, and if we are unable to provide or you are unable to attend a replacement teaching session, we will provide a refund at the end of the course equivalent to the value of the lost teaching session, based on the course fee you have paid.
24. Other costs. The University is not responsible for any additional costs that you may incur because of a cancellation or change made to a course or teaching session. For courses delivered in person, it is not responsible for travel or accommodation costs, unless paid extras such as University accommodation are included in your enrolment package. We strongly suggest that you do not make any travel arrangements or accommodation bookings until you receive confirmation of your place on your chosen course. We also strongly suggest that you invest in a comprehensive travel insurance policy that covers costs in the event of course cancellation.
25. If you wish to cancel. You have the right to cancel your course enrolment up to the end of 14 days after you have made the enrolment, or until any cancellation deadline specified in the course description, whichever is later. You must inform us of your cancellation in writing, by emailing Enquiries.Shortcourses@ed.ac.uk. If you cancel within this cancellation period, we will refund all fees paid by you, minus the cost of any classes you have attended. We will not normally refund any fees after the cancellation period, nor if you have attended and completed the course during the cancellation period. If you cancel a free course enrolment after the cancellation period, we will normally charge you the administration fee detailed in the Course description.
26. Transfer of your enrolment to another party. If you decide to cancel your enrolment prior to the start of the course, you may request that your enrolment be transferred to another person by emailing Enquiries.Shortcourses@ed.ac.uk. The University has complete discretion over whether to accept any enrolment transfer request and the person to whom the enrolment is transferred must have or must create a user account and must accept these Terms.
27. Cancelling or postponing your course in exceptional personal circumstances. If you can demonstrate exceptional personal circumstances that prevent your attendance at your course, for example, serious illness or bereavement, you may request that we make a refund outwith the cancellation period or transfer you to a later instance of the course. We will consider these requests on a case-by-case basis and may request supporting evidence from you.
28. Refund methods. We will endeavour to process refunds as quickly as possible, but this may take up to 3 weeks. We will reimburse using the following methods:

    Original Payment Method	Reimbursement Method
    Credit or debit card	Same card as payment unless card has expired, in which case Bank transfer
    Cash, cheque or bank transfer	Bank transfer
    Gift voucher	Gift voucher
    Invoice	Credit Note

Closing your user account

29. Deletion of your user account if you don't use it. We will delete your user account five years after the end of the last course on which you have enrolled, unless you enrol on another course in that period. For flexible courses, the course end will be defined as the time your access to the course expires. We will email you in advance of this to let you know that your user account is due to expire.
30. You may ask us to delete your user account. If you no longer wish to hold a short course platform user account or undertake short courses with the University then you can contact us by emailing Enquiries.Shortcourses@ed.ac.uk.

If things go wrong

31. You can contact the University if you are dissatisfied. We will follow our complaints handling procedure if you contact us to say you are dissatisfied with our service. If you are dissatisfied with your course, or with the behaviour of another learner or a member of University staff, you should contact your course organisers in the first instance. If you are dissatisfied with the Short Courses Website or Learning Platform, you should contact Enquiries.Shortcourses@ed.ac.uk.

Other important terms

32. How we will use your data. We will handle any personal data you provide to us in accordance with our Privacy Policy, including using them to contact you about courses on which you are enrolled.
    1. You can choose to opt in to receive marketing updates relating to your preferences. You can also choose to opt out to stop receiving these at any time.
33. Third party services. It may be necessary for you to register for and use digital products or services that are not managed by the University during your course. If so, we will indicate this clearly in the course description and provide a link to the relevant privacy statement.
34. Changes to these Terms. We may make changes to these Terms, including to comply with consumer or other law, or to reflect best practice. Such changes are generally either minor or are made in learners’ interests (or both). If it is necessary for us to make any such change following your enrolment on the course, we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible. If you feel that you will be negatively impacted by any such change, please raise the matter with your course organiser in the first instance. If you remain unhappy you may raise a complaint through our complaints handling procedure.
35. Who can enforce these Terms, and when. These Terms shall only be enforceable by you and the University. No failure or delay by the University or you to exercise any right or remedy provided under the Terms or by law shall constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict the exercise of that or any other right or remedy.
36. If a court finds any of these Terms illegal, the rest will continue in force. If any provision or part-provision of the Terms is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision or part-provision shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of the terms or the contract.
37. Applicable Law. These Terms, their subject matter and their formation, are governed by and construed in accordance with Scots law. We agree that any disputes will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.