Terms and Conditions

Date Last Updated: April 25, 2023

astarequivalency.co.uk is a site and service run by A Star Teachers Ltd. Please make sure you have read the Terms of Service for astarequivalency.co.uk (“this website”, “We”, “A Star”). For the purposes of these terms and conditions, “learners”, “candidates”, “you”, refer to those using the website or service.

1. Examinations

1.1 A Star offers examinations for GCSE equivalency tests in maths, English, Science and Biology. When you sign up to our service, you do so in accordance with the following terms.

1.2 Learners can book into the exams directly through the A Star website which details how each exam works. When signing up to our exams you agree to adhere to our terms and conditions, which includes the creation of a user account where you can access your booking details and make changes to the booking.

1.3 Our examinations are overseen by professional invigilators who provide a series of instructions on the day of your exam. Detailed instructions are also sent to you prior to the exam. You must follow these instructions carefully and ensure you adhere to the guidance set out. It is your responsibility to understand these instructions and ensure you have the correct setup to undertake your exam. Examinations that do not go ahead due to technical difficulties or other issues relating to the learner, are the sole responsibility of the learner and A Star will not be held accountable for such issues.

1.4 Those individuals who fail to comply with examination protocols may be disqualified from an examination based upon the evidence provided by the invigilator.

1.5 Results are provided within 10 working days and certificates are awarded when learners submit their details via the certificate issuing page. Those who have opted for fast track will receive their results within 2 working days. In the rare event, results are late, we accept no liability relating to any losses incurred by learners as a result of this.

1.6 We are not responsible for the outcome of any examinations, and can not be held accountable for said results.

1.7 Examination bookings, outside of the 14-day cooling-off period, are non-refundable but dates can be rearranged for an administration fee starting from £40.

1.8 Cancellations that occur within 48 hours of the scheduled exam time will be subject to a full cancellation fee; therefore, the examination cannot be rescheduled under these circumstances.

1.9 All cancellations must be given in writing to [email protected]

1.10 Examinations cancelled within the 14-day cooling off period, are due a refund but will incur a standard £99 cancellation fee per exam. This is to cancel the invigilator and cover administration costs relating to exam processing fees and payment processing fees.

1.11 Examinations that are booked with the ‘Choose date later’ option are valid for up to 12 months. If the examination is not taken within 12 months of the booking date then A Star reserves the right to cancel the booking with no refund due. While some ‘Choose date later’ slots may be free, some will incur a fee of up to £65. Fees are applied to time slots with extremely limited invigilator availability.

1.12 If you need to resit your exam more than twice then you may be asked to demonstrate you have revised in order to take another exam.

1.13 If you wish to rearrange your exam date, you can do so for a small administration fee. The fee is to cover any administration and invigilation costs involved with the rearrangement and exam booking. Rearrangements are from £40 and can be done via your account.

1.14 If you purchase an exam rearrangement, the initial exam booking is completed, and as such, no refund can be issued linked to this initial exam booking fee. If you then decide to cancel your exam booking altogether, the refund can only be applied to the rearrangement fee if you are still within the 14 day cooling off period.

1.15 No refunds can be given on bookings which are defined as any exam that is booked to be taken within 5 working days. This is to cancel the invigilator and cover administration costs relating to exam processing fees and payment processing fees.

1.16 Reasonable adjustments should be provided well ahead of your exam date, no less than 7 days before your scheduled exam but ideally longer notice is preferable. You must submit your reasonable adjustments for each examination attempt you have.

1.17 Exams purchased with the “Book now, Choose Date Later” option expire exactly 1 year after the day of purchase.

2. Courses

2.1 Courses that are purchased are sent out to you in the post. You have the right to cancel your course within 14 days of purchase. To cancel your course please email our team at [email protected] and return the course to the return address on the original parcel. Please note that course materials must be unused and in resalable condition in order to qualify for a partial refund. A cancellation fee of £49 will be applied to course refunds to cover costs associated with packing, potage, processing and administration of the returned items.

2.2 All paid courses involving access to software are non-refundable. Up on purchase, login details will be sent to you.

2.3 Any content within a course is owned by A Star along with all rights relating to it. When you take a course you are able to use this content for the sole purpose it is intended for and under no circumstances have the permission to share this content.

2.4 We accept no liability for performances in exams or otherwise, for those who have used one of our courses.

2.5 Swapping from one course to another will incur a cost of £49 in order to cover the postage and administration fees. A new course will only be issued once the existing course has been returned and is in saleable condition.

3. Content and Copyright

3.1 Copyright © A* Star Teachers Ltd 2023. All rights reserved. All copy and other intellectual property rights in all text, images, sounds, software and other materials on this site are owned by A* Star Teachers Ltd and affiliated companies, or are included with permission of the relevant owner. References to affiliates or affiliated companies shall include all members of by A* Star Teachers Ltd.

3.2 You are permitted to browse this site and to reproduce extracts by way of printing, downloading to a hard disk and by distribution to other people but in all cases, for non-commercial, informational and personal purposes only. No reproduction of any part of this site may be sold or distributed for commercial gain, nor shall it be modified or incorporated in any other work, publication or site. No other licence or right is granted.

3.3 All trademarks displayed on this site are either owned or used under licence by A* Star Teachers Ltd and affiliates.

3.4 The information on this site has been included in good faith but is for general informational purposes only. It should not be relied on for any specific purpose and no representation or warranty is given in regards to its accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose. Save to the extent that such limitation is not permitted under English Law neither by A* Star Teachers Ltd, any of its affiliates, nor employees shall be liable for any loss, damage or expense arising in contract, tort or otherwise out of any reliance on information contained in this site, access to or use of or inability to use this site or any site linked to it including, without limitation, any loss of profit, indirect, incidental or consequential loss.

3.5 Your information and activity on this site must not:

  • be false, inaccurate or misleading
  • be in breach of any applicable laws, regulations, licences, or third party rights
  • Interfere in any way with the proper working of this site, and in particular you must not circumvent security, tamper with, hack into or disrupt the operation of the site or surreptitiously intercept, access without authority or expropriate any system, date or personal information as defined in GDPR 2018.

3.6 You agree to fully reimburse A* Star Teachers Ltd in respect of all losses, costs, actions, claims, and liabilities incurred by A* Star Teachers Ltd or its affiliates as a result of any breach or non-observance by you of these terms or any data submitted by you to us. A* Star Teachers Ltd will make all reasonable attempts to exclude viruses (and similar destructive devices) from the site but cannot guarantee the exclusion of viruses (and similar destructive devices), and you should take appropriate steps in respect of this risk.

3.7 At various points throughout the site, you may be offered automatic links to other internet sites relevant to a particular aspect of this site. This does not indicate that A* Star Teachers Ltd or its affiliates are necessarily associated with any of these other sites or their owners. While it is the intention of A* Star Teachers Ltd and affiliates that you should find these other sites of interest, neither A* Star Teachers Ltd nor affiliates nor their employees shall have any responsibility or liability of any nature for these other sites or information contained in them.

These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law and each party to these terms submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

4. Complaints Procedure

This procedure is intended for complaints being raised against A Star Equivalency and its staff.

For the purpose of this procedure, the term “Candidate” includes existing and new registering candidates to the A Star Equivalency, the general public and people working on behalf of A Star Equivalency.

PROCEDURE

4.1. Complaints must be received in writing by letter and should reinforce any complaint that is made over email. Our staff will not tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour in any circumstances.

4.2. The complaint should then be forwarded to the following address:

A Star Equivalency Complaints

Evans Business Centre,

Office 24

Hartwith Way,

Harrogate,

HG3 2XA

4.3. As a minimum, the complaint must contain the following information:

  • Date and time of the complaint
  • Nature of the complaint (including the details of who you are e.g. a customer, potential customer, visitor etc.)
  • Your full name and address

4.4. All complaints will be acknowledged within 20 working days and a full response to the complaint will be made within 25 working days where appropriate.

4.5. If the response to the complaint is not considered to be acceptable then the documentation should be re-submitted explaining why it is unacceptable to the contact details above (marked with “For the attention of Senior Management – Re-submitted Complaint”).

The re-submitted complaint will also be acknowledged within 20 working days with a target of 14 days for a full response.

Our Complaint Procedure does not affect your statutory rights.

5. Examination appeals policy and procedures

5.1 These procedures are independent of those for exam setting and marking. Each procedure is distinct and separate and cannot be used interchangeably.

5.2 All examination scripts whose results are seen to be borderline (fail by 5 or fewer marks) are automatically reviewed by A Star Equivalency as a matter of general practice.

6. Malpractice Policy

6.1 A Star Equivalency has a zero-tolerance of malpractice.

6.2 Our exam procedures and software have been designed to ensure that the examinations are secure. Our invigilators are also well trained to identify and challenge malpractice.

6.3 Where malpractice is suspected, learners will be challenged and all evidence submitted to management for review.

6.4 Where malpractice is identified, examinations will be voided.