Cancellations & Refunds Policy

1. Standard Cancellation Rule

Students may cancel a paid lesson more than 24 hours before the scheduled lesson start time and receive a full refund. If a student cancels within 24 hours of the scheduled lesson start time, the lesson is normally non-refundable. This is because the tutor has reserved that time and may no longer reasonably be able to accept another booking.

TutorEd does not normally provide partial refunds or TutorEd credits. A lesson will therefore normally result in either a full refund or no refund. Exceptional circumstances may be reviewed by TutorEd under Section 12.

2. How the 24-Hour Period Is Calculated

The cancellation deadline is calculated from the scheduled start time of the lesson. For example, if a lesson is scheduled for 6:00 pm on Friday, it must normally be cancelled before 6:00 pm on Thursday to qualify for a full refund. The cancellation time recorded by TutorEd’s booking system will be used when determining whether a cancellation occurred before or within the 24-hour period.

3. Student Cancels More Than 24 Hours Before the Lesson

Where the student cancels more than 24 hours before the scheduled lesson start time, the lesson will be cancelled and the student will receive a full refund of the amount paid for that lesson. The tutor will not receive payment for the lesson. The refund will normally be returned to the original payment method. The student’s bank or card provider may take additional time to display the refunded amount.

4. Student Cancels Within 24 Hours

Where a student cancels within 24 hours of the scheduled lesson start time, the lesson is normally non-refundable. The tutor may remain eligible for payment in accordance with TutorEd’s tutor-payment rules, and TutorEd will not normally issue a partial refund or account credit. The student may request an exceptional-circumstances review where appropriate.

5. Student No-Show

A student is considered a no-show where they fail to attend the scheduled lesson and have not cancelled it in accordance with this policy. Tutors must remain available for the student for the first 15 minutes of the scheduled lesson. If the student has not joined within 15 minutes, the tutor may leave the classroom, the lesson may be recorded as a student no-show, the student will normally receive no refund, and the tutor may remain eligible for payment.

If the student joins within the first 15 minutes, the tutor should continue the lesson where reasonably possible. A student arriving late does not automatically extend the scheduled lesson end time.

6. Tutor Cancels the Lesson

If a tutor cancels a paid lesson and the lesson cannot take place as booked, the student will receive a full refund and the tutor will not receive payment for that lesson. TutorEd may take tutor cancellations into account when assessing tutor reliability, performance or continued eligibility to tutor through TutorEd.

7. Tutor No-Show

Tutors are expected to attend lessons on time. TutorEd allows a 5-minute grace period for minor delays. If a tutor has not joined within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time, the lesson will normally be treated as a tutor no-show. Where a tutor no-show is confirmed, the student will receive a full refund, the tutor will not receive payment for the lesson, and the incident may be considered as part of TutorEd’s tutor-performance and reliability processes.

8. Tutor Is Late

A tutor arriving within the first 5 minutes of the scheduled lesson will normally be treated as within TutorEd’s grace period. No refund is normally due solely because of a delay of up to 5 minutes.

More than 5 minutes late but the time is made up

If the tutor is more than 5 minutes late but provides the full booked teaching time by extending the lesson or otherwise making up the missed time, the lesson will normally be treated as completed and no refund will normally be due.

More than 5 minutes late and the time is not made up

If the tutor is more than 5 minutes late and the student does not receive the full booked teaching time, the lesson may be referred to TutorEd for review. The refund and tutor payment may be temporarily held while the circumstances are reviewed, and TutorEd will determine the appropriate outcome. TutorEd does not normally provide minute-by-minute refunds or small partial credits. The normal outcome will be either a full refund or no refund, subject to exceptional circumstances and applicable law.

9. Tutor Leaves Early

Tutors are expected to provide the full booked lesson duration. If a tutor leaves early but all missed teaching time is subsequently made up in a TutorEd-approved manner, the lesson may still be treated as completed. If significant tutor-caused teaching time is lost and is not made up, the lesson may be placed under TutorEd review, and TutorEd may issue a full refund where the booked service was materially not provided. Minor or disputed timing issues may be reviewed individually.

10. Technical Problems

A technical problem does not automatically result in a refund. TutorEd may consider who experienced the technical issue, how much of the lesson was successfully delivered, whether reasonable troubleshooting was attempted, whether the lesson could reasonably continue, and whether any missed teaching time was made up.

TutorEd or classroom-system failure

If a lesson cannot reasonably take place because of a verified TutorEd or authorised classroom-system failure, TutorEd may arrange a replacement lesson or issue a full refund.

Student-side technical problem

If the tutor is available and able to teach but the student cannot participate because of their own internet connection, device, browser, microphone, camera or other equipment problem, a refund is not automatically due. TutorEd may review exceptional circumstances individually.

Tutor-side technical problem

If the tutor cannot deliver the lesson because of their own technical issue and the lesson cannot reasonably be completed or made up, the student may receive a full refund.

11. Rescheduling

Lessons may be rescheduled subject to tutor availability and TutorEd’s booking rules. A student may generally reschedule a lesson more than 24 hours before the scheduled start time without a cancellation charge. Requests to reschedule within 24 hours are not automatically permitted. TutorEd may require the request to be reviewed before the booking is changed. Students must not repeatedly use last-minute rescheduling to avoid the cancellation policy. TutorEd may treat an attempted last-minute reschedule as a late cancellation where appropriate.

12. Exceptional Circumstances

TutorEd recognises that genuine emergencies and exceptional circumstances may occur. Where a cancellation, absence or disruption occurs within 24 hours, the affected person may request a review. Examples may include a genuine medical emergency, hospitalisation, bereavement, a serious family emergency, significant widespread travel or infrastructure disruption, serious technical failure outside the user’s reasonable control, or another genuinely exceptional circumstance. TutorEd may request reasonable supporting information where necessary.

An exceptional-circumstances request does not guarantee a refund. TutorEd may issue a full refund where it considers this fair and appropriate. TutorEd does not normally provide partial credits instead.

13. Free Introductory Calls

TutorEd may allow students to book free introductory calls with tutors. Because no lesson fee is charged, cancelling an introductory call does not generate a monetary refund. Students should cancel or reschedule as early as reasonably possible, and repeated no-shows or misuse may result in booking restrictions. Tutors are also expected to attend confirmed introductory calls reliably. Repeated tutor cancellations or no-shows may affect the tutor’s standing on TutorEd.

14. Lesson Packages and Prepaid Lessons

TutorEd may offer lesson packages, prepaid lesson bundles or similar products. Where a package is offered, the specific cancellation, expiry and refund terms applicable to that package will be displayed before purchase. Unless different terms are clearly stated at the point of purchase, the same 24-hour cancellation principles in this policy will apply to individual lessons booked using a package. TutorEd may introduce additional package-specific conditions where necessary, provided they are clearly disclosed before payment.

15. Refund Method

Where a full refund is approved, the student will receive the full amount paid for the affected lesson. TutorEd will not deduct Stripe or other payment-processing fees, Lessonspace or classroom costs, or TutorEd administrative costs from an approved full refund. These are TutorEd’s business costs.

Refunds will normally be returned to the original payment method used for the booking. TutorEd does not normally issue refunds as cash, payment to a different bank account, TutorEd credit, or payment to another person. The time taken for the refund to appear depends on the relevant bank, card issuer or payment provider.

16. Tutor Payment Following a Cancellation or No-Show

Generally: student cancellation more than 24 hours before the lesson means the tutor is not paid; student cancellation within 24 hours means the tutor may remain eligible for payment; student no-show means the tutor may remain eligible for payment; tutor cancellation means the tutor is not paid; tutor no-show means the tutor is not paid; completed lesson means the tutor is eligible for payment; disputed or exceptional lesson means payment may be held while TutorEd reviews the matter.

TutorEd’s internal costs, platform fees and tutor-payment calculations do not reduce an approved full refund owed to the student.

17. Disputed Attendance

TutorEd may use relevant platform records when determining what occurred during a disputed lesson. These may include classroom join and leave times, attendance data, booking information, TutorEd messages, cancellation timestamps, lesson status, technical records, and communications with TutorEd support. Students and tutors must not deliberately falsify attendance, cancellation or technical information.

18. Abuse of the Cancellation or Refund System

TutorEd may investigate suspected abuse of its cancellation and refund systems. Examples include falsely claiming a tutor failed to attend, deliberately disconnecting and falsely claiming a technical failure, manipulating attendance records, repeatedly attempting to reschedule at the last minute to avoid cancellation rules, requesting duplicate refunds, or knowingly providing false information about a booking. TutorEd may restrict or suspend accounts where there is evidence of deliberate misuse. This does not prevent anyone from raising a genuine dispute or safeguarding concern.

19. TutorEd-Cancelled Lessons

TutorEd may occasionally cancel a lesson for operational, safety, safeguarding or other legitimate reasons. Where TutorEd cancels a paid lesson and the booked service is not provided, the student will normally receive a full refund.

20. Safeguarding Situations

Safeguarding always takes priority over TutorEd’s standard cancellation rules. If a lesson is cancelled, stopped or prevented because of a safeguarding concern, TutorEd will review the circumstances and determine the appropriate refund and tutor-payment outcome. A child will never be required to continue a lesson simply to avoid losing payment. Safeguarding concerns should be reported through TutorEd’s safeguarding reporting route.

21. Requesting a Refund or Review

Students or parents/guardians may raise a cancellation or refund issue through TutorEd’s Help & Support system. The request should include, where relevant, the lesson concerned, what happened, why a refund or review is being requested, and any relevant supporting information. Safeguarding concerns should be reported using the Safeguarding concern option rather than as an ordinary refund dispute.

22. Refund Decisions

TutorEd will review disputed or exceptional cases using the available information. TutorEd may determine that a full refund is due, no refund is due, the lesson should be rescheduled or replaced, or further review is required. TutorEd’s normal refund model is full refund or no refund. TutorEd does not normally provide minute-by-minute refunds or account credits.

23. Consumer Rights

Nothing in this policy is intended to remove or restrict any rights a customer has under applicable UK consumer law. Where applicable law provides a customer with greater rights than this policy, those legal rights will apply.

24. Changes to This Policy

TutorEd may update this policy where its services, booking processes, payment arrangements or legal requirements change. The version applicable to a booking will normally be the version made available at the time the booking was made, subject to applicable law.