Terms and Conditions

By booking and paying for IELTS exam preparation classes with Rebecca Matveyeva, Sandra Pyne, or any other approved Atomic IELTS tutor I (the client) confirm I have read, understood and agree to these terms and conditions so no signature is necessary.

⚛️Services provided

The services are limited to

✅one online 60-minute lesson per week for the duration of the programme

✅access - for the weeks you book - to the self-study modules on the Atomic IELTS platform

✅access to private group chats on different platforms for as long as the student wishes 

The IELTS exam fee, including any booking charges, is not covered by the course cost. Students are responsible for booking and paying for the exam independently. 

⚛️Further services 

subject to availability and capacity, other paid services can include but are not limited to these:

liaising with other educational professionals or institutions

writing reports or letters of recommendation

setting extra homework / creating personalised learning plans

giving personalised feedback 

marking work

learning coach and mentoring services according to individual needs

other services and support the student requires, in agreement with their tutor

Please contact us to ask about these extra services beyond the tutoring session and availability and rates for these services.   

⚛️Price & Payment

IELTS 12-week programme - 800 GBP for a 12-week programme (pay in 2 amounts of 400GBP). We offer our course on a "love it or leave it" basis. If you find after four weeks that the course is not for you, we will unenrol you from the platform and you won't need to make the final payment of £400.
Payment is in GBP - British pounds sterling (or your currency equivalent) 

Individual small group lessons are 60-minute sessions (max 6 students)

Payment is in advance only, by most methods, via our secure online payment provider. 

⚛️1:1 or 1:2 lessons

Available upon request. These can be booked as single sessions based on student needs and are subject to tutor availability. Please note that these lessons are not included in the £800 course fee. 

⚛️Further recommended resources

Beyond the self-study materials hosted on the Atomic IELTS learning platform, other resources are referenced for further study with the strong recommendation that the student gets and uses these resources to maximise their IELTS result

• Essential Grammar in Use (with Answers and Interactive eBook): A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Elementary Learners of English
  ISBN 978-1107480537 Raymond Murphy (author)

• English Grammar in Use (with Answers and Interactive eBook): A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Learners of English
  ISBN 978-1108586627 Raymond Murphy (author)

• Listening for IELTS (With Answers and Audio): IELTS 5-6+ (B1+) (Collins English for IELTS)
  ISBN 978-0008367527 Fiona Aish & Jo Tomlinson (authors)

• Reading for IELTS (With Answers): IELTS 5-6+ (B1+) (Collins English for IELTS)
  ISBN 978-0008367503 Els Van Geyte & Rhona Snelling (authors)

• Writing for IELTS (With Answers): IELTS 5-6+ (B1+) (Collins English for IELTS) Anneli Williams (author)
  ISBN 978-0008367534

• Atomic Habits Transform your life with tiny changes in behaviour, starting now. James Clear (author)
  ISBN 978-1847941831 

⚛️Start dates

Students may join programmes that start throughout the year, on advertised dates.
Please note, at our discretion:

• We reserve the right to alter the start time of the lesson by 60 minutes on either side. 

• We reserve the right to merge groups depending on numbers.

• We reserve the right to temporarily increase the maximum number of 6 students to 8 in exceptional circumstances.  

• We reserve the right to substitute equally qualified tutors where necessary.

⚛️ Lesson schedule

Lessons will take place on all public holidays and all school holidays in every country in the world.

Public holidays or school holidays anywhere in the world are not considered a reason to postpone, reschedule or otherwise change the regular lesson schedule. 

The only time lessons will not take place are these (subject to revision)

December 24th

December 25th

January 1st 

⚛️Cancellation policy 

🖥️for live lessons
Our cancellation policy is strict and no refunds are issued under any circumstances. 

Lessons are recorded, so students who miss lessons will be able to access the missed lesson up to 7 days after the lesson takes place. 

No alternative lessons for missed lessons will be offered.

Any internet, power, hardware or software failures outside of anyone’s control (tutor or student's) including at any point while a lesson is taking place, cannot be accepted as reasons to provide an extra lesson in addition to the policy below.  

Please be aware: students will not be admitted into unpaid lessons: it is the responsibility of the bill payer to make sure sessions are paid in advance. 

Please note: (for students under 18) parents/carers are not informed about student attendance.

It is the responsibility of the bill payer/responsible adult to make sure the student attends lessons. 

⚛️If the tutor has to cancel a tutoring session

We will try to let you know with as much notice as possible, ideally 48 hours in advance, but if something happens at very short notice resulting in a cancellation, we cannot guarantee the cancellation notice period.  If we have to cancel, we will offer you an alternative, make-up tutoring session. No refunds will be given. We reserve the right to allow an equally qualified tutor to tutor the lesson if the planned tutor is not available. 

In the case of adverse or extreme circumstances, we reserve the right to cancel the tutoring contract immediately, without a notice period and without giving a reason.  Refunds or reimbursements of any kind for outstanding tutoring sessions are not guaranteed. 

⚛️ Hardware, software, internet connection

By booking online tuition, 

✅I confirm I have a reliable internet connection. 

✅I confirm that I have the necessary hardware required in full working order and that all software required is the most up-to-date version and is installed and working. 

✅I confirm my child/the student has the basic computer skills necessary to take part in the tuition sessions. 

⚛️Permission to record lessons

Lessons take place on Zoom,  Google Meet, or a platform of our choice
To take part in lessons, students will need a device with Zoom installed on it - the free version is enough, or access to Google Meet.  

✅The hardware required is a modern laptop or desktop computer with a keyboard, a microphone and a camera. 

✅The software required is an up-to-date operating system, ideally with the Chrome browser installed. 

Other (optional) materials required are a notebook and writing materials for the lesson. 

You give permission for you/your under 18 child's lesson to be recorded and shared with them and others in the same group for catchup learning, or overlearning/reinforcement after the lesson.
Students are required to attend lessons with camera and microphone switched on, although in exceptional circumstances students may switch off their camera/microphone.
Recordings are strictly for learning purposes only. 

Recordings will only be made available to students in the group and will never be shared in any way publicly. 

All recordings will be deleted after 7 days.   

⚛️Contact permissions
✅You give your tutors explicit permission to use your (or your under 18 child's) email address to arrange lessons and give access to learning materials. 

✅You give your explicit permission for you (or your under 18 child) to join recorded lessons, and for those lessons to be shared with other learners in the group for a maximum of 7 days after the lesson. 

✅You give your tutors explicit permission to use your (or your under 18 child’s) phone number to add to the group chat* for wraparound support**. 

*Atomic IELTS Telegram group chat: tutors aim to reply to messages within 24 hours. The chat is intended for short messages requiring quick answers. If a student requires more time-intensive support, we will recommend booking 1:1 sessions.     

**You have the option to refuse to join (or refuse to allow your under 18 child) the Telegram group chat, if you wish. You give or refuse permission in the sign up form.

All other communication about our services will be strictly between the teacher and the client (or parent/carer for under 18s). 

⬇️Please see the child safeguarding policy later in this document.

⚛️Lateness policy

If the student is late to the lesson:

Students will get an automatic reminder on the day of each lesson, with a link to join the lesson. We will admit the student to the lesson up to 29 minutes after the start time of the tutoring lesson, but students who arrive at or after 29 minutes will not be admitted in order to avoid disruption to other students. 

No lesson credits, makeup sessions or refunds will be given. 

If the student is late but arrives up to 29 minutes after the lesson has started,  no extra time will be offered. 

If the student arrives late, the lesson will not extend beyond the regular finish time to make up for the student’s lateness - it will be a shortened lesson. 

The student has the option to watch the recorded version of the full lesson to make up for missed time.  

If the tutor is late to the lesson: 

In the unlikely event that the tutor is late, we will do our best to inform you as soon as possible and we will arrange with you to either extend the session or offer a make-up session, whichever option you prefer. No refunds will be given. 

⚛️ Obligations of the responsible adult during online lessons (under 18s only)

For safeguarding reasons, a responsible adult must be within sight and sound of the tutoring session with a child under 18 at all times. The tutoring session may not be privately recorded or photographed. The responsible adult who books tuition or is in charge of the child during online tutoring sessions confirms that before each online tutoring session:

✅the child will be able to work in a quiet place without interruptions for the duration of the tutoring session

✅the child comes rested, settled and not hungry or thirsty to the tutoring session

✅the child understands they may not drop in and out of the session and they have to stay for the whole session

✅the child understands they need to behave cooperatively and, in group sessions,  not disrupt the learning of others. If the child behaves in a way that is not conducive to learning they may, in extreme circumstances, be removed from the session

✅the child has the required equipment requested by the tutor
✅people other than the child will only join the tutoring session with the prior agreement of the tutor
✅equipment (computer, microphone, etc.) will be prepared and working before the session starts
✅the internet connection and power supply will be checked and working before the session starts
✅all software will be available in its most up-to-date form

⚛️Safeguarding Policy (under 18s only)

We make safeguarding a top priority. We have an up-to-date safeguarding check and update our child protection training regularly.   

The purpose of this policy is to confirm:
We are committed to protecting the children and young people who receive my services from harm.
We will respond to any allegations or any concerns relating to the welfare of the child or young person for whom we provide lessons.
All IELTS tutors hold current criminal records checks which are updated regularly.
We will never directly contact the child or young person outside of the tutoring session about anything other than lessons. Communication will be, for example, to provide links to learning resources, or to offer help in the group chat. We expect all other communication to be via the parent/carer, via the parent/carer’s email address and phone number.
All Atomic IELTS tutors undertake certified safeguarding training with a reputable provider at least every two years to keep up-to-date with safeguarding protocols and best practice.

As a tutor and responsible adult, if a student says that they or another child is being abused, the tutor will:

• show that they have heard what the child is saying, and that they take their allegations seriously

• encourage the child to talk, without prompting them or asking them leading questions. The tutor will not interrupt when a child is recalling significant events and will not make a child repeat their account

• reassure the child that they can tell the tutor anything that is worrying them, but that the tutor cannot promise not to tell anybody because some things have to be passed on in order to keep the child safe

• explain what actions they as the tutor must take, in a way that is appropriate to the age and understanding of the child

• record what they as the tutor have been told, as soon as they can, using exact words where possible

• make a note of the date, time, place and people who were present during the disclosure.

▶️The tutor will contact the relevant local safeguarding authorities.  

▶️If the tutor is concerned that the child is in immediate danger, the tutor will call the police. 

⚠️It is not the tutor's responsibility to attempt to investigate the situation personally.

⚛️General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

We take data protection very seriously and make it a top priority with reference to:  

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which went into effect on May 25, 2018
The information we hold will be:

• the name and address of parents/carers

• the name of the child/student

• email address of parents/carers

• phone number of parents/carers

• email address of the under 18 child (only for lesson organisation)

• phone number of the under 18 child (only for for lesson purposes)

• SMS messages, direct messages, emails messages or messages on others apps or platforms we choose to use

• payment and billing information

• documentation, for example school reports, assessments, tests, other school communication or communication from relevant professionals connected to the child that parents/carers choose to give the tutor

Both Sandra Pyne & Rebecca Matveyeva  are officially registered with the Information Commissioners Office in the UK as data controllers.

We can confirm that the data you provide us with is held securely.
The Google platform we use to store data is GDPR-compliant and their security policy and certifications of compliance are here https://policies.google.com/?hl=en-US
The payment provider we use is Stripe which is GPRR compliant and their security policy and certifications of compliance are here https://stripe.com/gb/privacy  

The student will receive automatic lesson reminders via email from MailerLite, security policy and certifications of compliance are here  https://www.mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy
The student will receive access to learning modules on the ThriveLearn platform. 

Any paper documentation is stored in a lockable cabinet.  Student data will not be used for anything other than the functioning of the services we provide.

✅We will never give or sell your data to any third parties for any reason whatsoever.

The only times we will share your information are:
(1) to disclose information in the case of a safeguarding issue for under 18s
(2) because you ask us and give permission to share information with someone else, such as your child’s school.

We hold your data until the contract finishes, when we will delete all electronic records and return any paper documentation to you.
There are exceptions to this:

(1) Any data related to safeguarding, accidents or incidents must be held until 25 years after the child’s date of birth
(2) Contracts, invoices and payments must be held for 10 years.
We may ask you if you would like to opt in to receiving communication from us once the tutoring contract is finished so we can keep in touch.   

For all data protection matters, please contact data controllers Sandra Pyne or Rebecca Matveyeva

⚛️ Disclaimer

All tutors will work to the best of their abilities to ensure student progress, but there is no guarantee that individual students will pass any tests, exams or checks, formal or informal, or reach any levels of achievement that have been set, either formally or informally. 

In case you are dissatisfied with our services, please talk to us first so we can resolve the situation discreetly, professionally and to your satisfaction.