Terms and conditions for a training provider

A training provider fills a room months ahead with delegates who cancel the week before, delivers materials that reappear on a client's intranet, and issues certificates that clients treat as qualifications. The terms have to run bookings and cancellations, protect the materials, define what a certificate means, and work for a company booking twelve delegates and an individual booking one. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Training providers, course businesses and corporate trainers in England and Wales running open courses, in-house programmes and online training for business clients and for individuals who book personally, as a sole trainer or a training company.

What matters in training provider terms

Bookings, minimum numbers and cancellation

The terms should confirm a booking on payment or purchase order, set a notice period for cancellation and transfer with charges inside it, allow the provider to cancel or reschedule an open course that falls below a minimum number with a transfer or refund, and provide for substitute delegates. A business client's cancellation is governed by the terms; an individual who books personally is a consumer with a cancellation right under regulation 29 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 until the course starts at their express request, and the cancellation charges must be fair.

In-house training and the client's obligations

For in-house courses the terms should set out the client's obligations: a suitable room and equipment, delegate numbers within the agreed range, the release of staff for the whole course, and information about the delegates and the business the trainer needs. Postponement by the client inside a notice period should be charged, and travel and accommodation recharged as agreed.

Materials, copying and intellectual property

Course materials, slides and handouts are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and remain the provider's. The terms should licence delegates to use them for their own learning, prohibit copying, sharing and use to train others, and say that recording sessions is not permitted without agreement. A client that wants to reuse materials internally is asking for a licence, which the terms can price.

Trainers, content and certificates

The terms should allow the provider to substitute a trainer of equivalent competence and to update content, say that courses are delivered with reasonable skill and care and that learning outcomes depend on the delegate, and define what a certificate certifies: attendance, or achievement of an assessment, and for accredited courses, that the awarding body's rules on assessment, appeals and certification apply. A certificate of attendance is not a qualification and the terms should say so.

Conduct, fees, data and liability

Delegates must behave and can be removed without refund for conduct that disrupts a course, and the terms should give the trainer that authority. Fees are payable before the course with interest and fixed compensation on late payment by business clients under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. Delegate names and results are personal data under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 and the terms should say who holds them. Liability should be capped at the course fee, with consequential loss excluded, tested for reasonableness under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and not applied against a consumer's statutory rights.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted for your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want them checked and brought up to date. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of bespoke terms drafted for your business, reflecting the legal requirements that apply to your business and sector
• A note in plain English explaining the terms I have drafted for you
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions that protect your position and are drafted to withstand scrutiny from the other side
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly
• Your questions and comments answered by email or phone
• One round of amendments to finalise the terms ready for use

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers (I am happy to quote for this as an additional service if required)
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country
• Tax advice

Questions I am often asked

A company booked eight places and four people did not turn up. Can we charge for all eight?

If the terms say that fees are payable for places booked whether or not the delegate attends, and substitution was available, yes. Non-attendance is not cancellation.

We found our slides on a client's intranet. What can we do?

If the terms licence materials for the delegates' own learning only and prohibit copying and internal distribution, the client is in breach, and you can require removal and charge for the licence they should have bought.

A delegate failed the assessment and wants a refund. Do they get one?

The terms should say that fees are for the training delivered and that certification depends on meeting the assessment standard. A resit at a stated fee is the usual remedy, subject to the awarding body's rules.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Terms and conditions for a first aid training provider
• Terms and conditions for an e-learning provider

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.