Gemini Courses Terms & Conditions:

Making your booking

When you fill in the booking form on our website and submit the form, we will receive your details and send you an invoice for the full fees. This invoice is valid for 7 days and within that time either the deposit or full payment must be made by bank transfer. If payment is not made within 7 days then the invoice will be cancelled and you will have to complete another booking form. Once a deposit or full payment has been received in our account, you will receive a confirmation receipt of your booking.

Pre-departure information

Your programme details including school, course, accommodation and arrival information will be sent to you by email approximately 2 weeks before the start of your course. If you have booked a transfer from the airport, you must send us your flight details at least 2 weeks before the start of the course. Course and programme information will not be sent until full payment has been received.

Starting Dates

Course start dates are stated in the booking process. General and Intensive Courses usually start every Monday and other types of courses have more restricted start dates. On the first Monday of your course, the morning is usually taken up with assigning new students to their classes. The level test is usually also taken on the Monday morning and this can cut into your class time. In some locations the whole morning can be taken up with class assignments and welcome meetings, especially in the busier summer months. Classes lost for this reason cannot be made up.

Accommodation

All accommodation is arranged by the language schools. If you feel you need to change your accommodation for any reason, please immediately speak to the accommodation officer of the school you are attending. They will do their best to resolve any situation for you and, if necessary, change your accommodation. Host family accommodation won't be changed due to distance to the school. Changes may incur an administration fee. Bedding is provided in all accommodation but we recommend you take your own towels. Your arrival day should be the Sunday before your course starts and your departure day should be the Saturday after your course ends. In some schools this can be flexible and you can book extra nights. Please contact us for details.

When opting for residence or apartment accommodation, many schools will require that you leave a deposit on your arrival to cover any potential damage to the property during your stay. This is usually taken by credit card or cash and will be returned at the end of your stay, providing no damage has been caused during your stay. Deposits usually range from 50 to 150 €.

Please note that host families can sometimes live quite far from the school and this will involve some travelling time and costs. Please take this into account, especially when choosing a large city such as: London, Manchester, Liverpool, Dublin, New York, San Diego, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto.

Class Size & Level

The class sizes are stated in each course description. Schools reserve the right to change these so they may vary slightly. Your level is tested on the first day in the form of a written and spoken test in order to place you in the correct group accordingly. Some schools test in advance via an online test. If you are placed in a class at the wrong level, please immediately contact the director of studies at the school and they should be able to move you to another class. In the rare case where there are no students of your level to form a group, the school will usually organise individual classes up to the value you have paid for your group course.

Public Holidays

The public holiday dates for each location are shown on the course pages of the website. These are correct at time of publishing but subject to change at any time. Classes missed due to public holidays cannot be made up. Some schools organise an activity to replace lost classes.

Materials

The course materials and books in most schools are included in the price. You may be loaned the book or you may be able to keep it, it usually depends on the length of your course. Some schools charge locally for the course books. The fees will vary depending on the school. Please contact us for details. We have tried to state whether books are included in the price or not. This info is subject to change at any time.

Activities & Excursions

Most of the schools offer activities and excursions in addition to the English classes. These are optional. We recommend that you take part in extra activities as a way to help improve your English. Some activities are included in the price such as: films shown at the school, conversation clubs, sports organised by the school, walks to local places of interest. Activities that involve food, drink, entrance fees or transport will incur a fee, usually in the range of 5€ to 15€ depending on the activity. Some schools offer weekend day trips or weekends away to visit places of interest. These trips will cost extra and are usually in the range of 30€ to 150€ per person.

Visas

For EU citizens taking an English language course in UK, Ireland & Malta, no visa is required. If you are not an EU citizen, please contact your local embassy for information on what visa might be needed. For students studying in USA or Canada a visa may be required. Please contact your nearest embassy for USA/Canada to find out more. Immigration rules change frequently so please make sure you check before you make your booking. It is the responsibility of the student to check and abide by immigration rules. Visas for USA and Canada can take a long time to process. If you need a visa you should allow at least 8 weeks for processing. Please don’t submit a booking without leaving enough time to get your visa.

Travel & Transfers

Flights are not included in any of the courses or packages. We advise that you make your flight booking as early as possible and at the same time as your booking with us, to ensure that you can travel on the dates you have requested. Bookings that have to be changed due to lack of flight availability will incur the standard fees. For flights worldwide we recommend the use of www.skyscanner.net

Insurance & Health

We strongly recommend that you take out health and travel insurance. Please speak to your nearest insurance provider for details on what insurance is recommended for language study trips abroad. Insurance can usually be bought alongside your flights.

Prices & Surcharges

Prices are correct at time of publishing but may be subject to change at any time. Gemini Courses charge the same prices as booking directly with the schools. The only supplement we charge is an accommodation booking fee of €30 per person. This is due to the extra work involved in gathering and collating accommodation information that we provide to students. Prices are subject to change due to fluctuating exchange rates and tax increases.

Role of Gemini Courses

Gemini Courses acts as an agent for private English Language Schools in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Malta. We are bound by the fees, decisions and processes of each school that we work with. We have strong relationships with all the schools we work with and this can help to resolve any issues that may occur during your stay.

Complaints

If you are unlucky enough to have any problems during your stay, it is vital that you immediately speak to someone at the school so that they can help rectify the situation. The school will contact us, the agent, if there is something further we can help you with. We cannot deal with any complaints made about the school, course or accommodation if you inform us after your return. If you have any complaints about the way your booking has been handled by Gemini Courses, please contact Sarah Spencer on sarah@geminicourses.com

Payment Conditions

Payment should be made in euros by bank transfer or PayPal. The student is responsible for all bank transfer charges. A non refundable deposit payment of 200 euros will secure your reservation and the balance payment is due 6 weeks before the start of your course. If you make a booking to start within 6 weeks time, you should pay the full amount at the time of booking.

Cancellation & Changes to booking

If a cancellation is made more than 14 days in advance of the start of  the course, a full refund will be given, less the 200€ deposit, except in the case of Manchester, Bournemouth, Bristol, Toronto and Vancouver where 28 days notice is required. For cancellations made within 14 days of the start of the course, a refund will be given, less the 200€ deposit and 1 weeks course and accommodation fees. No refunds will be given on cancellations made after the start of the course.
All cancellations must be sent in writing (email or letter). If a cancellation is made due to a visa refusal, a 50€ fee will be charged and the refund will be processed on receipt of the visa refusal letter.
Any changes made to the dates, course or accommodation of a booking will incur a handling fee of 50€ per change. Changes made after the course has begun will be at the discretion of the school.

Beca Mec/Mepsyd Students

Students applying for the beca MEC/MEPSYD can make a booking by paying a deposit of 200 EUR. The balance payment is due 6 weeks before the start of the course. If the student is granted a beca, they should send the Cupon de Respuesta to Gemini Courses by email for it to be stamped and signed. If a student does not receive the beca, they can cancel their booking and the deposit will be returned only on receipt of the letter of rejection from the MEC/MEPSYD department of the Spanish Government.