1. About these terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Vital Educators ("Platform", "we", "us", or "our"), operated by Vital Educators Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales.

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Platform, you agree to these Terms in full. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.

We may amend these Terms from time to time. Updated Terms will be published on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Where changes materially affect your rights or obligations, we will take reasonable steps to notify users in advance by email or via the Platform.

Definitions:

• Tutor — a user who creates a tutor profile on the Platform.
• Student — a user seeking tuition services, including a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a child.
• Profile — a tutor's public listing.
• Student Release — the point at which a student pays the applicable release fee to gain access to a tutor's contact details.
• Premium Tutor Subscription — the optional recurring subscription purchased by tutors for enhanced Platform visibility and benefits.

2. The service

Vital Educators is an online directory and communications platform connecting students and independent tutors in the United Kingdom.

We provide:

• A searchable directory of tutor profiles
• On-platform messaging between users
• Optional tutor profile verification indicators
• A student-release system allowing access to tutor contact details
• An optional Premium Tutor Subscription service

We do NOT:

• Employ tutors
• Provide tutoring services ourselves
• Supervise lessons
• Guarantee lesson outcomes
• Process lesson payments between tutors and students
• Act as agent for either party
• Verify qualifications unless expressly stated

Any tutoring arrangement formed after contact details are exchanged is strictly between the tutor and the student or parent. Vital Educators is not a party to that agreement.

3. Your account

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. Users under 18 may only use the Platform through a parent or legal guardian.

You agree to:

• Provide accurate and up-to-date information
• Maintain control of your registered email account
• Use only one account unless expressly authorised by us

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that contain false information, impersonate another person, manipulate reviews or rankings, or breach these Terms.

4. Student release fee & tutor premium subscription

4.1 Student release fee:

Students are charged a one-time fee of £34.99 per tutor to access that tutor's contact details and communicate without contact-detail restrictions.

Payment of the release fee grants the student:

• Ongoing access to that tutor's contact details through the Platform
• The ability to exchange direct contact information with that tutor

The release fee is charged to the student only and is not a payment for lessons or tutoring services.

4.2 Premium Tutor Subscription:

Tutors may optionally purchase a Premium Tutor Subscription priced at £29.99 per month, recurring automatically unless cancelled.

Premium benefits may include:

• Higher placement in search results
• Increased profile visibility
• Priority exposure to students
• Students being able to access the tutor's contact details without paying the student release fee
• Additional profile or promotional features as may be introduced from time to time

Premium subscriptions renew automatically each billing cycle until cancelled.

Tutors may cancel renewal at any time through their account settings. Cancellation prevents future billing but does not refund the current billing period unless required under applicable law.

We reserve the right to modify Premium features, pricing, or eligibility on reasonable notice.

5. Refunds

5.1 Student release fee refunds:

We may provide a refund of the £34.99 release fee where:

• The tutor's contact details are invalid or inaccessible
• The tutor fails to respond within 14 days of reasonable contact attempts
• The tutor confirms they are unavailable to provide tuition
• The tutor materially misrepresented their profile

Refund requests must be submitted within 30 days of payment to support@vitaleducators.com.

We may request evidence before approving a refund.

5.2 Non-refundable situations:

The release fee will generally not be refunded where:

• Contact was successfully established
• Lessons were arranged or delivered
• The student changed their mind
• The student failed to engage with the tutor
• The user breached these Terms
• Fraudulent or abusive activity is suspected

5.3 Premium subscription refunds:

Premium subscription payments are generally non-refundable once a billing cycle has commenced, except where:

• Required under UK consumer law
• Billing occurred in error
• The service was materially unavailable due to our fault

Nothing in these Terms affects statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or other applicable UK consumer protection laws.

6. If you're a student or parent

You are solely responsible for conducting your own due diligence before engaging a tutor.

You acknowledge that:

• Tutors are independent third parties
• We do not guarantee tutor suitability, safety, qualifications, identity, or outcomes
• Any safeguarding checks shown on profiles are informational only and should not replace your own assessment

Where tuition involves minors, parents and guardians remain responsible for safeguarding decisions, supervision, and suitability assessments.

Lesson arrangements, payments, cancellations, and disputes are strictly between tutor and student.

7. If you're a tutor

Tutors use the Platform as independent contractors and not as employees, workers, agents, or partners of Vital Educators.

Tutors are solely responsible for:

• Tax obligations
• Insurance
• Compliance with safeguarding obligations
• Accuracy of profile information
• Their own contracts with students
• Compliance with UK consumer law
• Obtaining any DBS or safeguarding checks they consider appropriate

Tutors must ensure all information on their profile is accurate, lawful, and not misleading.

We reserve the right to remove profiles containing inaccurate, deceptive, unlawful, or inappropriate material.

8. Tutor verification badges & safeguarding disclosures

Vital Educators does not conduct DBS, PVG, AccessNI, criminal-record, or safeguarding checks on tutors.

Tutors may voluntarily upload evidence of an existing DBS or equivalent safeguarding certificate to their profile.

Where such evidence is uploaded, we may display a verification badge indicating only that:

• A document was uploaded by the tutor
• The document appeared valid on visual inspection at the time reviewed

The badge:

• Does not constitute a guarantee of safety or suitability
• Is not an endorsement by Vital Educators
• Does not confirm ongoing DBS status
• Does not amount to continuous monitoring
• Does not replace independent verification by students or parents

Students and parents remain solely responsible for carrying out their own safeguarding and identity checks before engaging a tutor.

We reserve the right to remove verification badges at any time.

9. Messaging & content

Until a student pays the applicable release fee — or the tutor has an active Premium subscription — contact details may be automatically restricted or redacted within messages.

Users must not attempt to bypass Platform protections or payment systems, including by:

• Sharing disguised phone numbers or email addresses
• Directing users to external platforms before authorised access
• Circumventing fees

All content uploaded or sent through the Platform must:

• Be lawful
• Be accurate
• Not infringe intellectual property rights
• Not be defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, threatening, or misleading

You retain ownership of your content but grant Vital Educators a worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, display, reproduce, and distribute such content for operation and promotion of the Platform.

10. Acceptable use

You must not:

• Use the Platform unlawfully
• Harass or abuse other users
• Misrepresent qualifications or identity
• Upload false safeguarding documents
• Manipulate reviews or rankings
• Scrape or harvest Platform data
• Create fake accounts
• Attempt to interfere with Platform security
• Circumvent fees or restrictions

We may suspend, restrict, or permanently terminate accounts for breaches of these Terms, with or without notice depending on severity.

11. Reviews & rankings

Reviews must reflect genuine experiences.

We reserve the right to:

• Moderate, remove, or refuse reviews
• Detect and investigate suspicious review activity
• Adjust search rankings and visibility algorithms at our discretion

Premium subscriptions may influence profile prominence and ranking visibility within search results.

We do not guarantee any specific ranking, volume of enquiries, or business outcomes.

12. Liability

The Platform is provided on an "as available" and "reasonable endeavours" basis.

We do not guarantee:

• Continuous availability
• Error-free operation
• Tutor suitability
• Lesson quality
• Educational outcomes
• User conduct

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Vital Educators excludes liability for:

• Indirect or consequential loss
• Loss of profits, revenue, opportunity, goodwill, or data
• Disputes between users
• Acts or omissions of tutors or students

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under English law, including liability for:

• Death or personal injury caused by negligence
• Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
• Breach of statutory consumer rights

Subject to the above, our total aggregate liability shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to Vital Educators during the previous 12 months.

13. Closing your account & service shutdown

You may close your account at any time.

We may retain certain records where legally required, including for fraud prevention, taxation, dispute resolution, or regulatory compliance.

If the Platform is discontinued, we will provide reasonable notice where practicable.

14. Privacy & data

Our handling of personal data is governed by our Privacy Policy.

We process personal data in accordance with applicable UK data protection legislation, including:

• The UK GDPR
• The Data Protection Act 2018

By using the Platform, you consent to such processing as necessary for operation of the service.

15. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

Any dispute arising from these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, except where consumers have non-excludable rights to bring claims in their local jurisdiction.

If you have a complaint, please contact support@vitaleducators.com first and allow us a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue.

16. Contact & changes

Questions regarding these Terms should be sent to:

support@vitaleducators.com

If we update these Terms, the latest version published on this page will apply from its effective date.