Terms and conditions/your data
Terms and conditions for Open Programmes
Please read carefully. This page contains important information about your contract with the University.
Contract with the University
1. The purpose of these Terms and Conditions is to set out the contractual basis for your relationship with the University, and to draw your attention to key terms.
2. Your contract with the University is made up of:
- a. these Terms and Conditions,
- b. the programme description on the programme web page (you should consider printing a copy of this page as a record of the information provided),
- c. the offer letter or email from the Saïd Business School,
- d. the University’s Statutes and Regulations, and rules and policies made under them (see paragraphs 8 and 9 below).
3. Your offer of a place on an Open Programme is set out in the offer letter or email from the Saïd Business School (the 'Offer'). By paying your full fees you enter into your contract with the University.
4. You will enter into this contract with the University even if your fees are paid by a third party on your behalf.
Conditions of your contract with the University
5. Your contract with the University may be subject to academic and/or financial conditions set out in your Offer or accompanying documents.
6. It is also a condition of your contract that any information submitted with or in relation to your application is true, accurate and complete (ie does not omit information you have been asked to provide).
7. Breach of any condition has the following consequences:
- a. if you have received an acceptance email from the Saïd Business School but have not yet paid your fees for the programme your offer from the University may be withdrawn at the University’s discretion; or
- b. once you have started your programme, disciplinary proceedings may be brought against you under Statute XI, which may result in sanctions.
University statutes, regulations and policies
8. By paying your fees you agree to comply with the University’s Statutes and Regulations as amended from time to time and with the Statements and Codes of Policy, Practice and Procedure which are made under them. These include the University’s Code of Discipline, and other regulations concerning your studies, conduct and behaviour including regulations relating to harassment, the use of IT facilities, health and safety issues (including safe behaviour required during any pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency) and legislative requirements such as data protection. You similarly agree to comply with Saïd Business School’s policies and guidance as amended from time to time.
9. You may be excluded from some or all of the programme if the University considers that you are in breach of any of these rules.
Your responsibilities
10. It is your responsibility:
- a. to act as a responsible member of the University’s community, including treating other members of the community, fellow programme participants and the public with courtesy and respect.
- b. to comply with any measures or instructions given by the University to reduce risk of transmission of any illness or to safeguard health during a pandemic (including Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency. Without limiting that general obligation, reasonable measures may include imposing specific requirements regarding personal protective equipment such as the wearing of masks, or specific safety measures such as use of sanitiser or distancing procedures. You must also immediately declare to the Saïd Business School if you have, or suspect you may have, symptoms of Covid-19 (or any other serious infectious illness), or if you have received a positive test result for Covid-19, comply with the period of self-isolation required by government, and comply with any other distancing or health and safety measures in place, as updated from time to time.
- c. To comply with any other reasonable instructions in relation to delivery of the programme (eg other health and safety requirements, confidentiality, use of devices in sessions and complying with licence terms on programme materials)
- d. To attend all teaching sessions, arrive promptly, carry out all relevant preparation for programme sessions and engage fully with programme activities.
11. If you fail to comply with clause 10 without proper reason, the Saïd Business School reserves the right to exclude you from sessions or from the programme as a whole (and to notify your funder if your fees are being paid by a third party) to ensure your behaviour does not have a detrimental effect on other participants. If you are excluded from the programme or if (without reasonable excuse) you do not attend all teaching sessions of the programme, you will not receive a certificate of attendance or an invitation to join the Oxford Business Alumni (OBA) or Elumni Network. No refunds will be payable to you where you are excluded from the programme, or any sessions, in these circumstances.
Fees and payment
12. Details of the fees and charges you will have to pay are set out on the programme web page.
13. Shortly after sending your Offer the Saïd Business School will issue you an invoice with details of how to pay. Invoices are payable immediately upon receipt. Places on programmes are allocated following receipt of the full fees, subject to availability. Your place is not confirmed until your fees are paid in full.
14. If your fees are to be paid by a third party which informs the Saïd Business School that it accepts full liability for your fees, then the University will invoice the third party directly and will seek to recover any unpaid fees from the third party in the first instance. However, the University reserves the right to seek payment from you if recovery from the third party is unsuccessful.
15. The University reserves the right to refuse you admission to your programme if you have not paid all programme, registration and accommodation fees (if booked through the Saïd Business School) before the programme starts.
16. If accommodation has been arranged by the Saïd Business School with a third-party provider and you wish to cancel your enrolment on a programme or transfer onto a later iteration of the same programme as provided for within these Terms and Conditions then you will only be entitled to a refund of the accommodation element of fees if and to the extent that the Saïd Business School is able to obtain a refund from that third party provider. (The Saïd Business School has different contracts with various hotels, some of which retain 100% of fees if bookings are cancelled with less than 5 weeks’ notice, though it often depends whether it is one attendee asking to cancel or a number of attendees.) Cancellation charges made by external accommodation providers are outside the control of Saïd Business School.
17. All payments must be in GB Pounds Sterling. You must pay any currency conversion costs or other charges incurred in making the payment or in processing a refund.
Cancellations and refunds – within 14 days
18. You have the right to cancel your contract for education services at any time within 14 days of its commencement. You will receive a full refund of any payments you have made in relation to education services. (Note – for the accommodation element of fees clause 16 applies instead.)
19. If you choose a programme that is due to start within 14 days of commencement of your contract and you then wish to cancel after your programme has started, you will be required to pay for any part of your programme that has taken place before you gave notice of cancellation. This amount will be calculated on a pro rata basis.
20. To cancel within 14 days please inform us in writing, either by email to the programme administrator on openprog.busdev@sbs.ox.ac.uk or by post to Saïd Business School, Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HP. Write the name of your programme in the subject-line of your email or at the top of your letter.
Cancellations and refunds – after 14 days
21. If you cancel your place on an in-person programme at any time after expiry of the 14-day period you will not be entitled to a refund, save as set out below. Where accommodation is arranged by the Saïd Business School clause 16 applies to the accommodation element of fees. Programmes at the Saïd Business School are usually over-subscribed well in advance of programme commencement. Participants are encouraged to ensure they book out the time to attend a programme in their diaries as: (a) over-subscription usually means another potential attendee has missed out on a place and (b) programmes are taught in small groups so reduced numbers due to cancelations may impact the experience of other attendees.
22.1 For online programmes of 6 weeks or more; you are entitled to receive a full refund of your place if you cancel before the release of module 2 materials. After this period, refunds are not available however you can submit a business case to openprog.busdev@sbs.ox.ac.uk to request a transfer to a future iteration of the programme you have enrolled in.
22. After 14 days the following fees are payable if you cancel:
- a. Between 6 and up to and including 12 weeks’ notice prior to the commencement of the programme – 20% of the fees
- b. Between 3 and less than 6 weeks’ notice prior to commencement of the programme – 50% of the fees
- c. Less than 3 weeks’ notice prior to commencement of the programme – 100% of the fees
Transfers prior to commencement of the programme
23. Participants may, subject to availability, transfer to a later iteration of the same programme, provided that the Saïd Business School is notified prior to the commencement of the original programme and on payment of the following transfer fees:
- a. 6 weeks’ notice or more prior to the commencement of the original programme – no transfer fee payable;
- b. Between 3 and less than 6 weeks’ notice prior to commencement of the original programme – 25% of the fees for the original programme
- c. Less than 3 weeks’ notice prior to commencement of the original programme – 50% of the fees for the original programme
For online programmes of 6 weeks or more; you are entitled to transfer your place before the release of module 2 materials. After this period, transfers are not automatically available however you can submit a business case to openprog.busdev@sbs.ox.ac.uk to request a transfer to a future iteration of the programme you have enrolled in.
24. The transfer fees above are payable in addition to the full fees for the iteration of the programme that you will be attending.
25. If a transfer to a later iteration of the in-person programme is agreed less than 12 weeks prior to the start of the original programme and you then cancel your place on the new iteration of the programme (at any time), the Saïd Business School shall be entitled to retain the transfer fee and to charge the cancellation fees that would have been applicable to cancellation of the original programme based on the timing of the transfer.
26. You are eligible for one transfer only.
27. If there is a transfer fee and programme fees outstanding, then any payments will be applied to the transfer fee first. Both the programme fee and transfer fees must be paid before a programme place is secured.
28. To cancel after 14 days, or to ask to transfer, please write to us as early as possible either by email to openprog.busdev@sbs.ox.ac.uk or by post to: Saïd Business School, Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HP, United Kingdom, explaining your reason for requesting the cancellation or transfer, details of the programme you are cancelling and your invoice number reference. Please write the name of your programme in the subject-line of your email or on the top of your letter. If you are asking to transfer you should also tell us the programme you wish to transfer to.
Cancellation by us
29. Where there are good reasons to do so the University may cancel your programme and will make every reasonable effort to give you as much notice of cancellation as possible (normally at least 15 working days prior to the start date). The University will refund programme fees paid by you and will endeavour to offer a transfer to another programme as an alternative, subject to payment or refund of any difference in purchase price.
30. The University’s liability when it cancels a programme will be limited to a refund of any fees or charges paid for the cancelled programme, and of any accommodation fees (if booked through the Saïd Business School). For partial cancellation of a programme, such refunds will be made on a proportionate basis.
Changes to programmes
31. The University will seek to deliver each programme in accordance with the description set out on your programme web page.
32. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in programme provision, either before or after enrolment. The University therefore reserves the right to:
- a. make reasonable changes to the timetable, location or academic staff specified for a programme; and
- b. make reasonable changes to the content and syllabus of a programme.
33. In exceptional circumstances we may need to suspend, discontinue or combine programmes. This may be because of the effect of a pandemic (including Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency, academic changes within subject areas, or as a result of low student numbers on a programme.
Moving programmes online in the event of a pandemic, epidemic or local health emergency
34. Short programmes at the Saïd Business School are planned as either online-only or on-campus (ie taught in-person in Oxford). Clauses 35 and 36 below only apply to those programmes for which the programme information on the Saïd Business School website, or any other information provided at the time of your Offer, states that the programme is taught wholly or partly on-campus.
35. Saïd Business School recognizes that students who enroll for its on-campus Open Programmes are in a very different position to University students who enrol for a course lasting 1-3 years or more, since a key benefit of Saïd Business School on-campus programmes is the opportunity to network face-to-face with professionals and academics from industry sectors or disciplines during a short residential programme. Therefore, insofar as reasonably possible, if a pandemic (including but not limited to Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency means that on-campus teaching needs to be substituted for online-teaching for health and safety reasons then the Saïd Business School will notify students at least 6 weeks prior to the date on-campus teaching is due to commence if it is not going to be possible to teach the programme on-campus and will give you the opportunity to either:
- a. Attend the same programme but taught online-only (cost to be confirmed at the point of notification); or
- b. To transfer to the same on-campus programme at a later date, subject to availability, without incurring a transfer fee; or
- c. To cancel your place on the programme, subject to a cancellation fee of 5% of the programme fees.
36. Where a pandemic (including but not limited to Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency necessitating measures to reduce risk of infection or illness arises or has already arisen, the University may make such changes it reasonably deems necessary to comply with government or local authority regulations or guidance, and/or its own health and safety advice and/or to ensure the health and safety of staff, students and third parties and/or to respond to consequential staffing or resource constraints. Examples of measures the University may take in such circumstances in respect of Open Programmes include:
- a. Moving the location of teaching and/or restricting student numbers permitted to attend any location at one time (including restricting numbers at libraries, lectures or seminars or splitting a programme cohort into two or more groups);
- b. Changing the times of scheduled teaching, including to evenings or weekends;
- c. Requiring students to comply with:
i. social distancing measures;
ii. wearing of face-masks;
iii. wearing personal protective equipment;
iv. other health and safety measures the University deems necessary - d. varying, limiting or cancelling access to some University services or facilities;
37. The University will ensure that, when making changes as a result of a pandemic (including Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency, the key learning outcomes of each programme will still be provided. The scope of the University’s right to make changes under clause 36 of these Terms and Conditions should be construed accordingly.
38. Save as set out expressly above, no refunds, discounts, damages or waivers of programme fees or other charges will be payable to you where changes or delays have resulted from, been caused by, or are in relation to a pandemic (including but not limited to Covid-19), epidemic or local health emergency necessitating measures to reduce risk of infection or illness. Furthermore, the University will not be liable for any consequential losses or expenses you may incur (eg travel or accommodation costs) as a result of any such pandemic, epidemic or health emergency measures under clause 36 nor in the event of cancellation under clause 29 nor transfer to a later programme under clause 35.
Events beyond our control
39. The University will not be in breach of its obligations under its contract with you, nor liable to you for any loss caused to you under its contract with you which results from events which are beyond the University’s reasonable control, such as: a pandemic (Covid-19 or otherwise), an epidemic or a local health emergency necessitating measures to reduce risk of infection or illness; industrial action; acts of God; acts of terrorism; the unanticipated departure or absence of key members of University staff; or failure or delay by third party suppliers and subcontractors. In such circumstances the University will take reasonable steps to mitigate the impact on you and to restore teaching and services. More information is available in the Student Protection Plan.
Personal data
40. The University will collect and use your information about you in accordance with the principles set out in the University’s Student Privacy Policy. This includes ensuring that your data will only be used in a way which is fair, lawful and secure.
Complaints procedure
41. If you have a complaint you should submit details to execed@sbs.ox.ac.uk.
Termination
42. Your contract with the University will end in the following circumstances:
- a. when you finish your programme or if you cancel or withdraw from your programme;
- b. if the Department exercises its right to cancel or discontinue your programme under paragraphs 29 or 33 above;
- c. if you are excluded from a programme under clause 11; or
- d. if you fail to comply with paragraph 5 or 6 above.
43. The following terms will survive termination of your contract with the University for any reason:
- a. terms relating to personal data as described at paragraph 40 above; and
- b. terms relating to University procedures to the extent that they relate to events that occurred prior to termination including the complaints procedure, the disciplinary procedure, the harassment procedure and/or the academic integrity in research procedure.
Jurisdiction
44. Your contract with the University and any dispute arising from it (including non-contractual disputes) shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.