Our Terms and Conditions.

Your booking is only confirmed when we have accepted it and either full payment has been received, or an approved payment plan has been agreed.

By completing a booking, you agree to these terms and conditions.

We may refuse a booking. If we do this and you have already paid, we will refund the course fee you have paid to us.

Course fees must normally be paid in full at the time of booking.

You cannot attend a course unless your course has been paid for in full, or you are up to date with an approved payment plan.

We may accept payment by PayPal, bank transfer, credit or debit card, cheque, GoCardless Direct Debit, or another method agreed with us.

Some courses and programmes may be available on a payment plan. This may be through GoCardless, Direct Debit, or a payment arrangement agreed directly with The College.

A payment plan is not a discount. It is a way to spread the cost of the course or programme.

A £500 non-refundable deposit is required when booking onto a payment plan, unless we confirm otherwise in writing. You may wish to include this in your payment schedule. This £500 will always be kept by The College if you cancel, withdraw, do not attend, or fail to keep up with the payment plan. This applies to all payment schemes, including GoCardless, Direct Debit, bespoke instalment plans and payment plans agreed directly with The College.

If the cancellation charge is more than £500, you must pay the difference. If you have already paid more than the cancellation charge, we will refund the balance after deducting the correct cancellation charge and any administration fee that applies.

For all City & Guilds programmes, a bespoke monthly instalment scheme may be agreed. Unless we agree otherwise in writing (e.g. when the scheme runs past the finish date), the payment plan must be completed by the month of the instructor's week.

If you are on a payment plan, you must make every payment on time.

If a payment is missed, we may pause or withdraw your place on future courses until payments are brought up to date.

If three payments are missed, we may remove you from the course or programme, keeping the £500 deposit.

If you have completed any part of a course or programme but have not paid for it in full, you must still pay for the parts you have completed.

If you do not pay money owed, we may take further action to recover the debt. This may include legal action.

If City & Guilds credentials, certificates or awards have been issued before payment is complete, we may withhold, pause or withdraw them where payments are not maintained or where fees remain unpaid.

If you are struggling to make payments, please contact us as soon as possible. We will always encourage you to speak to us early so we can discuss the situation.

All cancellations must be made in writing by email or post.

The cancellation charges below apply whether you paid in full or are paying by instalments.

If you cancel 0 to 7 days before the course start date, or you do not attend, the full course fee is payable.

If you cancel 8 to 56 days before the course start date, 50% of the full course fee is payable.

If you cancel more than 56 days before the course start date, 30% of the full course fee is payable.

For all payment-plan bookings, the £500 deposit is non-refundable and will be kept by The College. The cancellation charge will never be less than £500 for a payment-plan booking.

A £175 administration fee may also be charged for cancellations, withdrawals, transfers or changes to a booking. Where the cancellation relates to a programme or payment plan, this administration fee may be added to any course fees or cancellation charges owed.

If you start a programme and then choose to withdraw, you must pay the full agreed price; there will not be a refund. See cancelling a programme above.

If you are on a payment plan, the payments will continue until the total cost is repayed

A £175 administration fee may also be charged.

If you book online or at a distance, you may have a legal right to cancel within 14 days of booking.

If your course starts within that 14-day period and you ask us to begin providing the service, you may lose the right to cancel once the course has started or once course materials, online access or services have been provided.

If you cancel during any legal cooling-off period, we may still deduct payment for any services, course access, materials or work already provided, where the law allows us to do so.

This section does not affect your legal rights.

Requests to transfer to another course or date must be made in writing by email or post.

Transfers may be requested up to 10 days before the course start date.

A £175 administration fee may be charged for a transfer.

Transfers are subject to availability. We do not have to provide an alternative date or course if one is not available.

A booking can only be transferred once. Any further transfer request may be treated as a cancellation.

You may name a substitute delegate at any time before the course starts, at no extra charge, as long as the substitute is suitable for the course and meets any course requirements.

Please tell us about any substitute delegate as early as possible so we can update our records.

We may need to change course content, timings, dates, venues, instructors or delivery arrangements. We will only do this where needed, for example to maintain quality or because of circumstances outside our control.

We may cancel a course up to and including the course date. If we cancel, we will give as much notice as reasonably possible.

If we cancel a course, you can choose either a refund of the course fee you have paid for that course, or a transfer to a future course date.

We are not responsible for other costs you may have, such as travel, accommodation, loss of earnings or other expenses.

Correspondence, distance learning and online courses must be completed within the time period given for that course.

If you do not complete the course within the required time, we may charge extra fees for extensions, support, reassessment or renewed access.

Course materials are provided for your own personal learning and, where relevant, for use in your own scent dog training business.

The College of Scent Dogs keeps ownership of all course materials, methods, diagrams, training systems, written content, videos, resources and other intellectual property.

You must not copy, record, share, sell, publish, reproduce or distribute our materials without written permission from us.

If you refer to our materials, methods or ideas in your own work, you must credit The College of Scent Dogs properly.

This includes, but is not limited to, The Venn Diagram of Search, indication training, modular equipment, and material published in Dr Robert Hewings’ books or doctoral thesis.

We will use your personal information to process your booking, provide the course, manage payments, contact you about your booking, and keep records.

We may also contact you about similar courses, services or products. You can unsubscribe or ask us not to send marketing messages at any time.

We will handle personal information in line with UK data protection law.

If you have a complaint, please contact us in writing by email or post. Please explain the issue clearly and include any evidence you want us to consider.

Complaints will be reviewed by the Head of School, Dr Robert Hewings, or another suitable person appointed by The College.

If you need details of an appeal process, please ask us in writing.

Equipment payment plans may be available by agreement.

Equipment orders over £300 may be spread over three months.

Equipment orders over £700 may be spread over six months.

If you do not complete the agreed payments, we may require the equipment to be returned in good working order.

If equipment is returned because payments were not completed, a £100 administration and cleaning fee may be charged.

If equipment is damaged, missing, not returned, or payment remains outstanding, you must pay the amount owed. We may take further action to recover unpaid amounts.

A Murder Mystery team booking is a booking for five people at the advertised team price.

Once booked and paid, the team booking is non-refundable.

If one or more team members cannot attend, we cannot refund individual places. However, you may replace a team member with another suitable handler and dog.

You must give us the replacement team member’s details at least 14 days before the event.

The team organiser is responsible for making sure all five places are filled, giving us correct information, telling us about changes, and making sure all team members understand these terms.

Only full teams of five are eligible for the main team trophy or prize. Incomplete teams may still take part, but may not be eligible for the main team prize.

You are responsible for your own behaviour and for the behaviour, welfare and safety of any dog you bring to a course or event.

We may remove a person or dog from a course or event if we believe there is a safety, welfare, behaviour or disruption concern.

If you are removed for these reasons, no refund will be given unless we decide otherwise.

You must tell us before the course if you or your dog has any health, access, behaviour or welfare needs that may affect attendance or participation.

We will do what we reasonably can to support suitable adjustments, but we may refuse or rearrange attendance if we believe it would be unsafe or unsuitable for you, your dog, other delegates, staff, instructors or the public.

We will provide our courses and services with reasonable care and skill.

We are not responsible for losses that are not directly caused by us, or for losses that we could not reasonably predict.

We are not responsible for travel, accommodation, loss of income, business losses, kennel fees, dog care costs or other personal expenses if a course is changed, postponed or cancelled.

Nothing in these terms limits liability where the law does not allow it to be limited.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Any dispute will be dealt with by the appropriate court in England or Wales.

The College of Scent Dogs Ltd

7 Newgate

Barnard Castle

County Durham

United Kingdom

DL12 8QN

Company number: 10617236

VAT registration number: 448047483

The College of Scent Dogs Ltd was formerly known as UK College of Scent Dogs Ltd or UKCSD.

Document prepared in plain English from the Terms and Conditions page supplied by The College of Scent Dogs.