1.1 Company Details: The Platform website (RubiconTutors.com) and its associated digital services are owned and managed by Rubicon Tutors (a trading name of UK Study Today Ltd), a private limited liability company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 07192908, with its registered office situated at 124 City Road, London, England, EC1V 2NX. Contact may be established via info@RubiconTutors.com.
1.2 Purpose of the Platform: Rubicon Tutors provides a digital platform and administrative infrastructure designed to allow independent educators ("Tutors") to promote their instructional services, and to allow clients, learners, or their legal guardians ("Students") to discover, schedule, and pay for educational sessions ("Lessons").
1.3 Scope of Application: These Terms apply universally to all individuals utilizing the Platform. Specific provisions labeled with a [Tutor Provision] apply exclusively to Tutors. These Terms supersede prior marketing communications but do not supersede statutory safeguarding obligations or regulatory requirements applicable to Rubicon Tutors.
1.4 Authority to Bind: If you are registering on the Platform on behalf of an organization (such as a school or tutoring company), you represent and warrant that you have the necessary legal authority to bind that entity to these Terms.
2.1 Employment Agencies Act 1973 Statement: Users explicitly acknowledge and agree that Rubicon Tutors operates strictly as a digital connection platform and introductory service.
• (a) For the purposes of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, Rubicon Tutors operates exclusively as an introductory agent (employment agency) in facilitating connections between self-employed contractors and clients.
• (b) Rubicon Tutors is not an employment business. It does not hire, supply, assign, or command Tutors to perform services under the control or supervision of a third party, nor does it control the methods, content, curriculum, or timing of any Lessons provided.
2.2 Independent Contractor Status [Tutor Provision]: Tutors are independent self-employed professionals and are not workers, employees, partners, or joint-venturers of Rubicon Tutors. Nothing contained within these Terms shall be construed as creating an employer-employee dynamic. Tutors maintain professional autonomy regarding how they structure their educational content and teaching methods, subject to compliance with the Platform's Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct, which are mandatory conditions of access to the Platform.
2.3 Safeguarding Compliance Does Not Create Employment: Tutors acknowledge that compliance with the Platform's Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is a mandatory condition of access to the Platform, imposed to discharge statutory safeguarding obligations under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Keeping Children Safe in Education. Such compliance requirements do not create, and shall not be construed as creating, any relationship of employment, worker status, or supervision between Rubicon Tutors and any Tutor. These requirements are conditions of platform access, not conditions of employment.
3.1 Facilitation: Providing an interface where Tutors can highlight their professional expertise and where Students can locate and book appropriate Lessons.
3.2 Infrastructure Maintenance: Exercising reasonable commercial endeavors to preserve a secure, operational digital environment, including scheduling interfaces, video software portals, and messaging boards. Continuous or uninterrupted uptime cannot be structurally guaranteed.
3.3 Verification Processes: Performing introductory-level verification checks on Tutors, which include reviewing government-issued identification, validating reported qualifications, and reviewing Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) credentials.
3.4 Payment Administration: Acting as an introductory facilitator to transmit Lesson Fees through our integrated payment processor, Stripe Connect, ensuring payments are processed or adjusted in strict accordance with the rules of this Agreement.
In these Terms, the following definitions apply:
"Lesson Fee" means the total fee payable by a Student for a Lesson.
"Tutor Fee" means that part of the Lesson Fee which is collected by Rubicon Tutors as agent for the Tutor.
"Service Fee" means the commission or platform fee charged by Rubicon Tutors for the use of the Platform.
"Platform" means the website located at RubiconTutors.com and all associated digital services, applications, and interfaces operated by Rubicon Tutors.
"Booking" means a confirmed arrangement made via the Platform by a Student to receive a Lesson from a Tutor at a specified date and time.
"User" means any individual who accesses or uses the Platform, including both Students and Tutors.
"Student" means any individual, or parent or legal guardian acting on behalf of a minor, who uses the Platform to discover, schedule, and pay for Lessons.
"Tutor" means any independent self-employed educator who uses the Platform to promote and deliver educational services.
"Lesson" means any educational session, whether individual, group, or part of a class package, arranged and delivered via the Platform.
5.1 Security and Access: Users are personally responsible for protecting the confidentiality of their login credentials.
5.2 Acceptable Use: Users must not use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, to transmit any material that is defamatory, offensive, or otherwise objectionable, or to interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Platform. Users shall not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform, other user accounts, or any systems or networks connected to the Platform. Without limiting the foregoing, Users must not: (a) impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or misrepresent their identity, qualifications, or affiliation; (b) upload, share, or distribute any content that is harmful, abusive, harassing, or inappropriate in an educational context; (c) use the Platform to facilitate academic dishonesty, including but not limited to contract cheating, plagiarism, or the completion of assessed work on behalf of another person; or (d) use automated scripts, bots, or other technologies to scrape, extract, or interact with the Platform without prior written consent from Rubicon Tutors.
5.3 Non-Circumvention, Anti-Disintermediation, and Contractual Breach Fees: Rubicon Tutors invests significant operational resources to introduce, verify, and match Students with Tutors. Circumventing the Platform to conduct educational sessions offline constitutes a material breach of this Agreement.
• (a) Prohibited Conduct: Users must not request, provide, or share personal contact information (e.g., phone, personal email, social handles, or alternative payment details) to arrange sessions outside the Platform, nor encourage others to do so.
• (b) Restricted Window: This restriction is binding throughout any booking sequence and persists for a minimum of six (6) months following the last completed Platform booking with that Student or Tutor.
• (c) Contractual Breach Fee: If a User, in Rubicon Tutors's reasonable determination, facilitates or attends educational services outside the Platform with a party introduced via the Platform, they shall be liable for a Contractual Breach Fee of £50.00 per instance of an off-platform lesson, as a pre-estimate of loss to Rubicon Tutors.
• (d) Enforcement: In the event of a breach, Rubicon Tutors may: (i) immediately suspend or terminate user access; (ii) cancel all future scheduled sessions without notice; and (iii) withhold any outstanding tuition balances within the user's platform account to satisfy the unpaid Contractual Breach Fee.
6.1 Age Requirements: Students must be at least 18 years old to directly purchase or arrange Lessons for themselves. Learners under the age of 18 must be registered and fully represented by a parent or legal guardian, who must oversee all communications and remain present or in the vicinity during all structural interactions.
6.2 Validation of Profiles: While the introductory verification is executed, Students are independently responsible for reviewing the suitability, references, background badges, and pedagogical styles of any Tutor before entering into a direct contract via a booking.
6.3 Direct Contractual Relationship: When a Student confirms a Booking on the Platform, they are entering into a direct, separate contract for educational services with the Tutor. Rubicon Tutors acts as a digital intermediary to facilitate this arrangement and carries no operational liability regarding the quality or outcomes of the lesson delivered.
6.4 Technical Readiness: For online sessions, Students must guarantee they possess compatible hardware, a functioning webcam and microphone, and a stable internet connection. No compensation or structural updates will be processed due to equipment or software failures originating from the Student's side.
7.1 Eligibility to Teach: Tutors must hold a legal right to work within the United Kingdom on a self-employed basis.
7.2 Criminal Convictions Disclosure: Tutors must immediately disclose any criminal records, active cautions, or warnings. Tutors must possess a valid, updated Enhanced DBS certificate and grant explicit authorization to confirm its current status on the Update Service database at any time.
7.3 Honesty in Professional Profiles: Tutors must present precise, truthful, and non-misleading information regarding their educational history, professional certifications, and instructional capability.
7.4 Delivery of Obligations: Tutors must arrive on time for scheduled bookings. Tutors are required to wait a minimum of fifteen (15) minutes from the designated lesson start time to accommodate delayed Students. Tutors must not complete, ghostwrite, or perform graded academic coursework, dissertations, or official assessments on behalf of Students.
7.5 Insurance Coverage: Tutors are entirely responsible for sourcing, purchasing, and maintaining appropriate professional indemnity and public liability insurance policies required to safeguard their operational performance.
8.1 Integrated Processing: All financial transactions must occur via Stripe Connect. By engaging with our billing portals, you consent to comply with the Stripe Connected Account Agreement and the Stripe Services Agreement - United Kingdom.
Post-Session Billing Framework: To maximize administrative security and convenience, the Student's registered payment card is not billed at the time of booking. Instead, the final split payment charge is automated to run exactly twenty-four (24) hours after the scheduled completion of the relevant Lesson.
8.2 Split-Transaction Allocation: When the charge is initiated twenty-four (24) hours post-session: (a) The Student pays the Tutor's designated professional lesson fee directly into the Tutor's connected account. (b) The Student simultaneously pays a platform usage fee (the "Service Fee") to Rubicon Tutors.
8.3 Tax Obligations and Direct Invoicing [Tutor Provision]: Tutors bear exclusive, standalone liability for assessing, reporting, and executing their tax obligations to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
8.4 Failed Payments [Tutor Provision]: In the event that a Student's payment method is declined at the time of processing, Rubicon Tutors will automatically notify the Student to update their billing details. Rubicon Tutors reserves the right to suspend the Student's account and future bookings until the outstanding balance is settled. Tutors will not be held responsible for payment processing failures, and Rubicon Tutors shall use reasonable endeavors to recover outstanding balances on behalf of the Tutor; however, Rubicon Tutors does not guarantee the collection of fees from Students with insufficient funds.
9.1 Advance Booking Requirement: Every instructional interaction, individual lesson, group class, or class package must be scheduled and authorized in advance using the Platform interface.
9.2 Timely Cancellations (Standard Booking Window): Because the Platform operates a post-session processing model, the Student's card is not billed in advance. If a Student cancels a booking within the appropriate advance notice window, no payment will be processed from their card, and no administrative fees apply. The notice criteria are as follows:
• (a) Individual One-to-One Lessons: A minimum of twenty-four (24) hours' notice prior to the scheduled start time is required.
• (b) Group Classes and Class Packages: A minimum of seventy-two (72) hours' notice prior to the scheduled start time is required.
9.3 Late Cancellations (Under Standard Window but More Than or Equal to 6 Hours): If a Student cancels a booking less than the required standard window (under 24 hours for individual lessons, or under 72 hours for group classes and class packages) but with at least six (6) hours or more remaining before the scheduled start time, the applicable lesson charge is subject to the Tutor's sole discretion via the Platform interface. In this scenario, the Tutor may choose to instruct the system to adjust the session billing to either 50% or 100% of the standard booking value. No extra platform cancellation fee is levied during this notice window, and processing occurs in accordance with the post-session billing timeline.
9.4 Short-Notice Cancellations (Less Than 6 Hours Notice): If a Student requests a cancellation with less than six (6) hours' notice remaining before the scheduled start time, the transaction is handled according to the Tutor's choice among three options. These parameters apply uniformly to individual lessons, group classes, and package classes, with adjustments applied directly to the card on file:
• (a) Full Waiver: The Tutor may choose to completely waive the late notification adjustment. In this scenario, the student's card is not charged for the tuition portion, but a fixed £5.00 late cancellation administrative fee remains applicable and will be billed to the Student's card by the Platform.
• (b) 50% Late Notice Fee: The Tutor may choose to apply a 50% partial billing rate for the scheduled session. In this scenario, the 50% late fee along with a fixed £5.00 late cancellation administrative fee will be billed to the Student's card.
• (c) 100% Late Notice Fee: The Tutor may choose to apply a 100% billing rate for the scheduled session. In this scenario, the standard booking value is billed to the Student's card, and no platform administrative fees or processing surcharges are levied.
• (d) All calendar updates must be processed strictly through the Platform interface. Notifying a Tutor via phone, email, or third-party text message does not constitute an officially tracked cancellation and will automatically trigger standard session billing parameters.
• (e) Upon receiving a late cancellation notice from a Student, the Platform will notify the Student of the Tutor's elected charge option within 2 hours of the cancellation request being received (or before the automated billing window opens, if earlier). Where the Platform has not received the Tutor's election within 12 hours of the cancellation request, the default charge applied shall be 50% of the lesson fee. The Student will receive confirmation of the final charge by email before their card is debited.
• (f) The fixed £5.00 late cancellation administrative fee referenced above represents a genuine pre-estimate of the administrative costs incurred by Rubicon Tutors in processing short-notice cancellations, including system rescheduling, payment adjustment handling, automated notifications to affected parties, and associated support overhead. This fee is not intended as a penalty and has been calculated to reflect the actual operational cost to the Platform of managing late cancellation workflows.
9.5 Multi-Stage Lesson Issue Resolution and Escalation Framework: To secure balanced transaction integrity, the Platform implements an explicit, multi-stage issue resolution sequence following the conclusion of any scheduled session:
• (a) Stage 1 - Student Issue Reporting Window (72 Hours): If a Student encounters a technical failure, tutor attendance delay, or service issue, they must log a formal 'Report Issue' flag via the Platform dashboard within seventy-two (72) hours after the scheduled lesson time. Logging an issue immediately pauses the automated post-session billing flow.
• (b) Stage 2 - Tutor Review and Direct Resolution Option: Once a report is submitted, the relevant Tutor is notified to review the Student's claim. If the Tutor and Student mutually reach an agreement or the Tutor handles the adjustment internally via the interface to the Student's satisfaction, the issue is resolved and marked closed.
• (c) Stage 3 - Administrative Escalation Window (Up to 72 Hours): If a direct resolution cannot be achieved between the parties, the Student retains the explicit right to escalate the matter to Platform Admin for official arbitration at any point within seventy-two (72) hours of the original lesson end time. Upon escalation, Platform Admin will conduct a final review of server records, logs, and user statements. Admin will issue a binding decision, fully settle the account balance, and permit the underlying automated financial split-transaction to safely execute or cancel based upon the formal decision rendered.
9.6 Student No-Shows: If a Student fails to attend a scheduled session or join the online interactive classroom workspace within fifteen (15) minutes of the designated start time, the session is treated as an unfulfilled attendance. The Student's card will be automatically billed for 100% of the scheduled session value twenty-four (24) hours later, and no platform administrative fee or issue resolution rights are applicable.
9.7 Cancellation by Tutor [Tutor Provision]: If a Tutor cancels a session prior to its scheduled start, the Student faces no charge, and the card on file will not be processed. No platform administrative fees are applied. Frequent tutor-led cancellations remain subject to administrative account audit.
9.8 Unscheduled Bookings: If a lesson, group session, or package hour has been authorized but not yet officially locked into a specific time slot on the platform scheduling calendar, it is classified as an unscheduled booking. No charges are processed against the Student's card for unscheduled bookings, and they can be deleted from the dashboard at any time without incurring any administrative adjustments.
9.9 Detailed Cancellation and Refund Policy Access: For complete, itemized information regarding user disputes, cancellation billing mechanics, or dissatisfaction adjustments, Students and Tutors may view the comprehensive rules by visiting the dedicated Platform Cancellation and Refund and Policy page. In the event of any conflict between the Refund and Cancellation Policy page and these Terms, these Terms shall take precedence. Rubicon Tutors reserves the right to update the Refund and Cancellation Policy from time to time, and Users will be notified of material changes via email or Platform notification.
9.10 Statutory Consumer Rights: Under the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations, a Student generally possesses a 14-day statutory right to cancel a digital service agreement. However, by explicitly booking and scheduling any lesson, class, or package session to occur within this 14-day window, the Student formally requests the immediate performance of the service and acknowledges that their statutory right to cancel that specific lesson is waived once delivery has occurred.
Where you cancel your Rubicon Tutors account within 14 days of registration without having booked any sessions, you are entitled to a full refund of any platform fees paid. This right is separate from your cancellation rights in respect of individual booked sessions which have already been delivered.
10.1 Platform Content: All intellectual property rights, including but not limited to copyright, trademarks, trade names, software, design, text, graphics, logos, and the "look and feel" of the Rubicon Tutors website and platform, are exclusively owned by or licensed to Rubicon Tutors. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right, title, or interest in these intellectual property rights, except for the limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the platform for personal, non-commercial use as permitted by these Terms.
10.2 User Content: By submitting, uploading, or displaying any content (including but not limited to profile descriptions, educational materials, or tutor biographies) on the platform, you grant Rubicon Tutors a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, and distribute such content for the purposes of operating, promoting, and improving the platform.
10.3 Prohibited Use: You must not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, or otherwise exploit any content owned by Rubicon Tutors or other users without prior express written permission from the owner of the intellectual property.
10.4 Infringement Claims: Rubicon Tutors respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work has been used on the platform in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please notify our support team at support@RubiconTutors.com with the following information: (a) A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (b) A description of where the material is located on the platform; (c) Your address, telephone number, and email address; (d) A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
11.1 Interactive Tools and Automatic Recording Framework: To satisfy structural safeguarding standards, facilitate regulatory transparency, and provide academic revision support, all digital online lessons utilize interactive virtual classroom environments (including shared digital whiteboards, text workspaces, and media transmission tools) provided by a third-party sub-processor, Lessonspace. Users explicitly acknowledge and agree that:
• (a) The underlying infrastructure, interactive tools, and direct live media streams are hosted, deployed, and supported directly on servers managed by the third-party provider.
• (b) Automated recording of video, audio, screen shares, and chat streams occurs on the third-party provider's storage network as an integrated data sub-processor.
• (c) Rubicon Tutors acts strictly as a data controller under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and has contractual authorization to access, stream, display, or pause these encrypted server-side recordings via secure Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) built into the Platform dashboard.
• (a) Users explicitly consent to this automated technical infrastructure processing model upon finalizing any interactive session booking.
11.2 Retention and Deletion Windows: Lesson recordings are stored securely using encrypted cloud servers managed by our authorized sub-processor (such as Lessonspace) in strict compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Recordings remain accessible on the User dashboard for a fixed period of ninety (90) days from the lesson date for academic review, after which they are automatically and permanently purged from server storage.
11.3 Recording Restraints: Users are strictly forbidden from executing external independent screen-captures, audio recordings, or downloads of lessons. Links to platform video recordings must not be broadcasted, shared with third parties, or uploaded onto social media channels.
12.1 Statutory carve-out for fundamental legal rights: Nothing in these platform terms and conditions in any way limits or excludes Rubicon Tutors's liability for its own operational negligence causing death or personal injury, for fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any underlying matter which is strictly prohibited by English law from being excluded or limited.
12.2 Reasonable opportunity to remedy: All Users explicitly promise to provide Rubicon Tutors with a reasonable commercial opportunity to investigate and remedy any operational matter, service bug, or billing dispute for which Rubicon Tutors is potentially liable before incurring any out-of-pocket costs or third-party expenses to fix the matter themselves.
12.3 Exclusion of non-foreseeable and user-driven losses: Rubicon Tutors shall not be legally or financially liable for any loss or damage caused by it, its staff members, or registered platform agents in situations where: (a) there is no documented breach of a legal duty of care owed directly by Rubicon Tutors; (b) the resulting loss or damage was not reasonably foreseeable by both parties at the time of account registration; or (c) the loss or damage is entirely driven by the User's own omissions, such as a failure to comply with the behavioral, scheduling, or technical responsibilities outlined in these Terms.
12.4 User liability for platform breach: Subject to Rubicon Tutors's standard common-law obligation to mitigate its losses, a User shall be held personally liable for any reasonably foreseeable loss, operational damage, regulatory fine, or expense that Rubicon Tutors suffers arising out of that User's explicit breach of these Terms, software tampering, or active misuse of the Website interface.
12.5 Corporate financial liability cap and economic exclusions: The following liability constraints apply strictly to the relationship between Rubicon Tutors and the User:
• (a) Cap on Financial Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by English law, Rubicon Tutors's total cumulative liability of any kind (including liability arising out of its own negligence or service interruptions) regarding the provision of the Website interface for any single event or series of structurally related events is strictly capped at and limited to the higher of: (i) £100.00, or (ii) the total value of all Lesson Fees and Service Fees actually paid by that specific User to Rubicon Tutors during the twelve (12) month window immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
• (b) Specific Economic Losses Barred: Under no circumstances shall Rubicon Tutors be held liable to a User for any indirect or consequential losses (including without limitation loss of revenues, profits, commercial contracts, business opportunities, or anticipated academic savings), loss of personal goodwill, or brand reputation, unless such loss was caused by Rubicon Tutors's own negligence or breach of statutory duty.
• (c) Data Damages Barred: Rubicon Tutors carries no liability for the corruption, loss, alteration, or recovery costs of any data streams, chat files, or profile information, even if Rubicon Tutors was pre-warned about the possibility of such standard risks.
12.6 User Indemnity: Users agree to indemnify and hold harmless Rubicon Tutors against any third-party claims, liabilities, and reasonable legal costs arising directly from: (a) the User's deliberate misuse of the Platform in a manner that is fraudulent or illegal; (b) the User's material and deliberate breach of these Terms causing proven loss to Rubicon Tutors; or (c) intellectual property infringement caused directly by User Content uploaded by the User. This indemnity does not apply to claims arising from Rubicon Tutors's own acts or omissions.
12.7 Reconciliation of Liability and Safeguarding Obligations: Notwithstanding our status as a digital intermediary, Rubicon Tutors maintains safeguarding obligations as set out in our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. Our fulfilment of those obligations does not create or imply any liability for the educational content, methods, or outcomes of Tutor-provided lessons, which remain the sole responsibility of the Tutor under the direct Tutor-Student contract.
13.1 Breach and Termination: Rubicon Tutors reserves the right to suspend or permanently block any account if, in its reasonable determination, a User has compromised platform security, violated the non-circumvention rules, engaged in unlawful conduct, or breached these Terms.
13.2 Voluntary Closure: Users can delete their platform profiles at any time, provided all outstanding lesson debts have been paid.
13.3 Jurisdiction: These Terms of Service, and any non-contractual disputes arising out of them, shall be exclusively governed by and interpreted under the laws of England and Wales. All parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
13.4 Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found by a court or competent authority to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision shall be deemed severed from these Terms. Any modification or severance of a provision under this clause shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions of these Terms, which shall continue in full force and effect.
14.1 Initial Contact: If a User has a complaint regarding the Platform, a Lesson, or any aspect of the services facilitated by Rubicon Tutors, they should first contact the support team by emailing support@RubiconTutors.com, clearly setting out the nature of the complaint, the relevant dates, and any supporting information.
14.2 Acknowledgement: Rubicon Tutors will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five (5) business days and will provide the User with a unique reference number for tracking purposes.
14.3 Investigation and Response: Rubicon Tutors will investigate the complaint fairly and thoroughly, and will aim to provide a full written response within fourteen (14) business days of acknowledgement. If the investigation requires additional time, the User will be informed of the delay and given an estimated response date.
14.4 Escalation: If the User is not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint, they may request an internal review by a senior member of the Rubicon Tutors management team by writing to info@RubiconTutors.com within fourteen (14) days of receiving the initial response. The senior review will be completed within fourteen (14) business days.
14.5 External Resolution: If the complaint remains unresolved following the internal review, the User may seek external resolution through an appropriate alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body or, where applicable, the courts of England and Wales in accordance with Section 13.3.