DEFINITIONS
The definitions set out below apply in these Terms:
“Course Handbook” means the course handbook of your chosen course which can be accessed in your Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
"Student Complaint Policy" means the complaint handling procedure which can be found on our website here.
“Finance & Refund Policy” means our policy relating to refunds and course payments which can be found on our website here.
“Higher Education Admissions Policy” means the regulations and requirements for considering students' entry on to a Higher Education course which can be found on our website here.
“Student Visa Policy” means our policy relating to international students who require a student visa and can be found on our website here.
“Student Disciplinary Procedure Policy” means our policy relating to disciplinary action which can be found on our website here.
“Student Services” means Point Blank staff who are responsible for student support during their studies.
1. THIS AGREEMENT
All courses, studios, equipment and materials are owned, created, operated and/or managed by Point Blank Limited (“Point Blank”), a company registered England, with its trading address at 23-28 Penn St, London N1 5DL. This Agreement is between Point Blank and you (“you” or the “Student”).
2. ADMISSIONS PROCESS
Point Blank offers courses at our London, Ibiza and Los Angeles schools as well as through the distance learning provision (“online school”). We offer higher education courses at our London school and through our distance learning provision. Practical (non-accredited) courses are offered across all the three physical locations as well as through the online school.
This section applies to the Admissions Process for the online and London schools. Please see the separate Terms and Conditions for the Los Angeles and Ibiza schools.
There are no entry requirements for applicants to study a practical (non-accredited) course through the online or London school. Applicants are welcome to contact our Course Advisors for advice and information before enrolling onto a course.
Applicants wishing to apply to and enrol onto a higher education course at the online or London school should refer to Point Blank’s Higher Education Admissions Policy.
3. YOUR OBLIGATIONS
You agree to:
(a) Comply with a) these Terms and Conditions at all times throughout your course b) the Course Handbook for your chosen course (if applicable) c) school policies and d) the reasonable requests of our teaching and support staff.
(b) Keep us informed of any change in your visa status.
(c) Keep us informed of any changes to your personal information (including your home address, telephone numbers and next of kin).
(d) Declare any criminal charges pending against you and any criminal convictions on your application form or immediately after receipt of any such charge or conviction if these arise during your course.
(e) Submit only your own work and not plagiarise the work of others.
(f) When on Point Blank premises, behave appropriately at all times and in such a manner as not to cause a nuisance, injury or damage to other persons (in particular, other students, our employees, contractors, agents and any visitors) or to any of our property.
(g) Not impede or prevent the provision of any programme or Course of study offered by us.
(h) Not cause damage to our reputation.
All offers of admission are subject to agreement of these terms and conditions, our Student Charter, and the details of your offer set out in your formal offer letter issued by our Admissions Office.
If you fail to comply with any of these obligations we may notify you of such failure and where appropriate arrange a meeting with you. If your breach is serious or persistent, we may at our discretion dismiss you with immediate effect from your course and terminate our agreement immediately on written notice, in line with the Student Disciplinary Procedure as detailed in the Course Handbook.
You are required to attend your course in full and comply with our attendance and punctuality requirements set out in the Course Handbook. We monitor your attendance in accordance with our policy set out in the Course Handbook.
If your attendance is not, in our reasonable discretion, of a satisfactory standard (regardless of the reason for any absence and whether on a cumulative or consecutive basis), we will provide notice to you that continued failure to attend the course may result in your dismissal from the course. If, following such notice, your attendance on the course continues to be unsatisfactory (in our reasonable discretion), we reserve the right to dismiss you with immediate effect at any time from the course and terminate our agreement immediately by notice to you, without refund or further liability.
Please note that in the event of termination, we may notify:
(i) The UK Visa and Immigration services (if you are an international student)
(ii) Any relevant authority
(iii) Your legal guardian or parent (if you are under 18)
(iv) Your financial sponsor (if any)
(ev) Student Finance England (if applicable)
4. OUR OBLIGATIONS
We shall provide our tuition services with reasonable skill and care.
We have the right to revise and amend these Terms and Conditions from time to time and we will give you prior notice of any changes to our Terms and Conditions.
Course start and end dates are not expected to change. However, we reserve the right to change course dates, cancel courses and/or change instructors or locations from the published information for reasons such as non-availability of venues, insufficient take-up of the relevant course, and sickness or other absence of instructors. We will give as much notice and explanation of any such change as is reasonably possible and, where practicable, we will offer an alternative academic programme (visa regulations permitting).
If any material and substantial change we make adversely affects you, you may withdraw from the course and terminate our agreement immediately by written notice and we will reimburse you for any remaining course fees for courses not yet started.
If you have a complaint relating to any academic or non-academic aspect of the course, please use our Student Complaint Policy.
5. YOUR CANCELLATION RIGHTS, COURSE WITHDRAWALS, COURSE TRANSFERS AND DEFERRALS
If you change your mind about a course you have booked, you may cancel that booking within 14 days starting from the day after we send you our Course Details email (“Cooling-off Period”). This email is sent one day after booking a course through our website or over the phone by paying a registration fee or full course fees or confirming a firm offer through the UCAS system.
If you are accepted onto a course or enrol onto a course (through our website, over the phone or through UCAS), which starts during the Cooling-off Period, you must pay for the part of the course that has been provided until the time that you cancel the agreement. Any such refund will be in proportion to the part of the course that has been provided.
To cancel the agreement within the Cooling-off Period, please let us know by a clear statement setting out your decision to cancel the booking. Written notification can be posted (via First Class post) to our Admissions Department, Point Blank Music School, 26 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ (provided such cancellation is received by us within two days of posting). Alternatively, you can notify us by email using the contact form on the Point Blank website.
If you wish to withdraw from a course after the Cooling-off Period, fees will be owed or refunded in accordance with our Finance & Refund Policy.
If you need to withdraw from the course due to exceptional circumstances, you should inform us immediately. If, in our reasonable opinion, we agree in writing that the circumstances are exceptional, you may cancel the agreement between us immediately by written notice. We will refund any fees subject to the terms of our Finance & Refund Policy.
We may grant course / module transfers at our discretion. Please speak to a member of staff or send a formal request to Student Services. Students may be asked to pay an administrative charge for deferrals or course changes (please see COURSE TIMETABLE section).
We may grant course deferrals prior to the course starting, in each case at our absolute discretion. To request a course deferral you must send a formal request to Student Services at least 21 days before your course is due to start.
6. COURSE FEES, LIABILITY, REFUNDS & TERMLY INSTALMENTS
Please refer to our Finance & Refund Policy for information on course fees, student liability, refunds and termly instalments.
7. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Point Blank is monitored annually by the Quality Assurance Agency. You can view the latest QAA report here. This fulfils the current Home Office requirements for our licence to sponsor international students for student visas. We are listed as a Tier 4 Sponsor by the Home Office. This means that if you are a student from outside the European Union you can apply for a student visa to study at Point Blank in London. If you satisfy our application criteria we will issue you with a CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance of Study) for a Tier 4 visa or an acceptance letter for a Short Term Study Visa. You can then use this CAS or acceptance letter to apply for your visa. Point Blank will help international students apply for their visa however Point Blank will not be held responsible for an unsuccessful visa application. Please refer to our Finance & Refund Policy and Student Visa Policy for more information.
8. LOCATION OF COURSES
The Point Blank Music School courses are delivered at Point Blank Music School, 26 Orsman Road, London N1 5QJ and/or at 23-28 Penn St, London N1 5DL unless specifically stated otherwise (e.g. other Point Blank studios, recording and mastering studios, visits offsite to places of interest, live sound venues, etc). Please refer to individual course details on the website at the time of booking and ensure you confirm again shortly before the start of your course. Students must ensure that they have confirmed the location of their course in advance.
9. ACCESS TO STUDIOS
Every Point Blank student on a London-based course of not less than one month in duration shall be given access for sufficient practice time at Point Blank Music School, subject to availability and the following conditions: students must in each case ring the office (on 0207 729 4884) to book in advance; no reservations will be accepted more than one week before the requested session. Please note that at peak times some students may be subject to a waiting list. The Point Blank studios are open from 10am-10pm during the week and 11am-7pm at weekends on most days of the year. All students must telephone in advance to book practice time. In most cases, Point Blank’s facilities are suitable for wheelchair access.
10. USE OF POINT BLANK PROPERTY
Each student is responsible for ensuring that no Point Blank equipment or property is damaged, lost or stolen as a direct or indirect result of their own action or failure to act appropriately. Each student is also responsible for the actions and omissions of any guests they invite on to the Point Blank premises.
In the event that any Point Blank equipment or property is damaged, lost or stolen as a direct or indirect result of negligent action or failure to act appropriately by any student or guest, the student agrees to pay all reasonable costs in full (including without limitation for replacement or reparation). For the avoidance of doubt, no Point Blank property may be removed from the premises without the express prior consent of Point Blank in each case.
11. STUDENT CONDUCT
Please refer to Point Blank’s Student Disciplinary Procedure Policy.
12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All intellectual property rights (including without limitation registered design, copyright, database right, trademarks, application to register any of the aforementioned rights, trade secrets and/or know how) in Point Blank materials and courses described in this brochure are and shall remain the exclusive property of Point Blank or its licensors. Point Blank shall also own all intellectual property rights arising in the parts of recordings and writings made or written by Point Blank employees during the teaching of courses where Point Blank and its employees have had input into the composition and/or recording and/or production of said works. Any unauthorised reproduction, dissemination, broadcast or other use of such Point Blank owned or controlled recordings and/or writings is prohibited and shall constitute breach of this Agreement and an infringement of copyright. From time to time, Point Blank may offer to certain students Publishing and/or Production licensing and/or administration arrangements, with the express intent of cooperatively exploiting songs and/or recordings presented by the student to Point Blank. All such arrangements shall be subject to the terms offered in each case.
13. COURSE TIMETABLE
The timetable for each term will be confirmed one week before the term start date. If a student has specific timetable requests, they should notify the school as soon as possible who will make arrangements to accommodate this where possible, however no guarantees can be made to accommodate a student’s timetable request.
Point Blank reserves the right to change the contents of the courses to enhance the quality of instruction and ensure courses remain in line with industry needs, or based upon the analysis of student feedback and performance data. In this instance, the student will be given notice as soon as possible. In the unlikely event that Point Blank cannot provide a similar course, a refund may be provided for future modules which have yet to be studied.
Classes may be filmed for internal use and by agreeing to these terms and conditions, students consent to this.
Students wishing to change to an equivalent course, or postpone a course, whilst their current course is underway should submit their request via email to Student Services. If the request is possible, the student may be charged an administrative fee of £50 (for onsite students in London) or £25 (for online students) per request.
14. SPECIAL NEEDS
Please inform us of any special physical or medical requirements you may have with as much notice as possible, in order for us to try to meet them as far as practicable.
Students applying or enrolling onto a Higher Education course should refer to the Higher Education Admissions Policy for more information on disability support.
15. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Point Blank’s liability to you hereunder shall be limited to the total amount you have actually paid to Point Blank for the applicable course(s). Except as set out herein, Point Blank shall under no circumstances be liable to you, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, for any indirect or consequential loss arising hereunder or in connection with the courses provided by Point Blank (including without limitation, travel, accommodation or any ancillary expenses). Nothing in this Agreement shall operate to limit or exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence. For the avoidance of doubt, Point Blank shall not be liable for any loss or termination hereunder resulting from or arising in connection with any student visa status or other reason related to immigration matters.
Point Blank:
(a) accepts no responsibility for loss, damage or theft of personal belongings;
(b) reserves the right to alter advertised instructors at any time;
(c) reserves the right to cancel courses at any time and/or to transfer bookings to rescheduled dates (though Students unable to attend rescheduled dates may be entitled to some refund or other credit in some cases subject always to the terms of this Agreement);
(d) accepts no responsibility for the quality of services or products provided or offered by third party advertisers and/or vendors (and any inclusion in course materials or other presence during a course does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by Point Blank); and
(e) reserves the right to change the order of modules delivered as advertised on our website.
16. STUDENT DISCOUNTS AND EQUIPMENT
Point Blank offers student discounts on certain hardware and software (and in some cases free hardware and software) with certain manufacturers to aid students during their studies.
If a student places an order through Point Blank for discounted hardware or software, the student has the right to cancel the order and receive a refund for the order until the product(s) has been received. Once the order has been collected by the student (or shipped to the student’s address), the student will not be entitled to a refund through Point Blank for the order.
If a product ordered through Point Blank is faulty (whether discounted or free), Point Blank will help resolve the issue through the manufacture, however ultimate responsibility to resolve the issue remains with the student subject to the manufacturer’s warranty policy.
17. FORCE MAJEURE
For the purposes of this Agreement, “Force Majeure Event” means any event beyond the reasonable control of Point Blank including without limitation strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes, failure of a utility service or transport network, act of God, war, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage, compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, including governmental visa status, accident, breakdown of plant or machinery, fire, flood, storm or default of suppliers or subcontractors. Point Blank shall not be liable hereunder as a result of any delay or failure to perform its obligations as a result of a Force Majeure Event. If the Force Majeure Event prevents Point Blank from providing any of the Services and/or Goods for more than four (4) weeks, Point Blank shall, without limiting its other rights or remedies, have the right to terminate this Agreement by written notice.
18. GENERAL
Point Blank may at any time assign, transfer, charge, subcontract or deal in any other manner with all or any of its rights under the Agreement and may subcontract or delegate in any manner any or all of its obligations under the Agreement to any third party.
If a court or any other competent authority finds that any provision of the Agreement (or part of any provision) is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part-provision shall, to the extent required, be deemed deleted, and the validity and enforceability of the other provisions of the Agreement shall not be affected.
A person who is not a party to this Agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it.
This Agreement (together with the documents referenced above and provided to you by Point Blank in relation to your booking) shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties on the subject matter hereof.
19. COMPLAINTS
If you should ever have any complaint(s), please speak to any member of staff and we will do our best to resolve the matter. If this does not resolve the issue, please contact the Music School Manager at the address above in writing and he will look in to the matter for you. For more information please refer to the Student’s Complaint Policy or the Higher Education Admissions Policy (if the complaint is regarding a higher education application).
20. LAW AND JURISDICTION
This Agreement shall be governed by English law and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim, dispute or difference which may arise out of this Agreement.