DOINEL CHINESE ACADEMY

Course terms
& refunds

Version 1 · 9 September 2026

1. Who you contract with

Doinel Chinese Academy is a standalone trading brand of Doinel Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 07563110. VAT registration: GB125809216.

The academy is an independent course provider. It is not Chinese Testing International, an official HSK test centre, or a university. We do not issue official HSK qualifications.

2. The course and your place

These initial cohorts are for adults aged 18 or over. HSK 1 accepts complete beginners. HSK 2 and HSK 3 require the preceding level or equivalent knowledge, checked before we accept your booking. The course page states the target exam format, start and end dates, weekly timetable, teaching hours, holiday breaks, homework expectations and full fee.

When enrolment opens, an order is your offer to buy the specified course. Your contract begins when we accept it and send a booking confirmation. A calendar download, enquiry or placement check does not reserve a place. If we cannot accept an order, we return any payment in full. We send your course details and a copy of these terms by email for you to keep.

Groups have 3–6 learners. If a cohort cannot run, we tell you before it begins and offer a different cohort or a full refund. You choose whether to accept an alternative.

3. Fees and payment

The advertised euro price is the full course fee, including applicable taxes, listed live lessons, course materials, set homework feedback and mock practice. Official HSK registration and exam fees are not included. You register and pay the official test provider separately. Your bank may charge currency conversion fees.

Payment is a single course purchase. There is no automatic renewal or subscription. Stripe checkout is planned but is not connected yet. We will never ask you to send card details by email or messaging app.

4. Teaching and attendance

Lessons take place live online on Zoom or Tencent Meeting. You need a stable internet connection, a suitable device, audio and access to the agreed platform. Each lesson lasts 90 minutes. The timetable remains fixed in UTC, so daylight saving may change the time shown in your country. Check the full calendar before booking.

Attend punctually, complete the set practice and treat classmates and teachers respectfully. Your own missed classes do not ordinarily receive a separate replacement or refund, but lesson materials remain available. If we cancel a lesson, we offer a reasonable replacement or refund that lesson’s share of the fee. If we make a material timetable or course change that you cannot reasonably accept, you may cancel the affected undelivered part for a proportionate refund.

We teach with reasonable care and skill. We do not guarantee an HSK score, a pass, fluency, university admission, a scholarship, a job or any other third-party outcome. Exam formats and centre requirements can change. If a change makes our course materially unsuitable for the advertised target exam, we discuss an appropriate update or cancellation and refund for undelivered teaching.

5. Cancellation and refunds

Before your first class: you may cancel for a full refund at any time before the scheduled course start. This is our course cancellation policy and is additional to your statutory rights.

Your cooling-off right: as a consumer buying online, you normally have 14 days beginning the day after the contract is made to cancel without giving a reason. Tell us with a clear written statement. You may use the cancellation form below, but you do not have to.

We do not begin paid teaching during that 14-day period unless you expressly request it. If you request an early start and then cancel within the cooling-off period, you pay only a proportionate amount for teaching actually supplied before cancellation, calculated using the full course fee divided by the advertised teaching hours. We do not deduct this amount without the required request and information. You lose the service cancellation right only after full performance where you expressly requested early performance and acknowledged that consequence.

Any separate early supply of downloadable digital content requires the legally required express consent and acknowledgment. We will not treat attendance, silence or a pre-ticked box as that consent. Course materials do not carry a separate cancellation charge under this offer.

After the cooling-off period and after classes start: you may withdraw. We refund 50% of the fee attributable to scheduled lessons that have not begun when we receive your cancellation. Lessons already delivered, and lessons you missed before cancellation, are not refundable under this voluntary policy. More favourable statutory rights, including rights where our service is faulty, take priority.

For example, if you cancel an €384 course with 8 of its 16 lessons still to run, our voluntary refund is €96. This example does not restrict a statutory right to a larger refund.

We make refunds due under these terms within 14 days after we receive your cancellation, or confirm a service-related refund, using the original payment method unless you agree otherwise. We do not charge a refund administration fee.

Model cancellation form

To: Doinel Limited, at the registered address above, or the customer support email supplied with your booking.

“I give notice that I cancel my contract for the following course: [course and cohort]. Ordered on: [date]. Booking reference: [if available]. Consumer’s name: [name]. Consumer’s address: [address]. Date: [date]. Signature: [only if sent on paper].”

6. Materials, privacy and recordings

You may use supplied materials for your own study. Do not resell them, publish them, share class links publicly, or record classmates without permission. You retain ownership of your own work and allow us to use it only as needed to teach you and give feedback.

Classes are not recorded by default. Any proposed recording will require advance information about its purpose, access, retention and an appropriate lawful basis. We will provide a way to participate without an optional recording. Our privacy notice explains the current website and the information required before teaching begins.

7. Conduct, problems and complaints

We may remove someone from a class to protect others from harassment, discrimination, threats or serious disruption. Where reasonable, we first explain the problem and give an opportunity to resolve it. We do not impose automatic forfeiture of all fees. Any deduction must fairly reflect services supplied and a legally recoverable loss.

Contact the academy using the customer support email in your booking confirmation, or write to the registered office, with your course, booking reference and the outcome you seek. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 2 working days and provide a substantive response within 10 working days. If more time is needed, we explain why and give an update date.

8. Your rights and these terms

Nothing here excludes liability for fraud, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability or consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded. If services do not meet applicable legal standards, your statutory rights to repeat performance, a price reduction or other remedies remain available.

English law governs these terms, without depriving consumers of mandatory protections in their country of habitual residence. Courts with jurisdiction under applicable consumer law remain available. Changes to these terms apply to future bookings unless we agree a change with you or the law requires it. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining terms continue to apply.

Information sources: UK government guidance on online selling and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.