Terms of Service and User Agreement

1.1 Who we are

Tugo is a trading name of Trailblaze Education Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 15855007. Our registered office is 41 Streathbourne Road, London, SW17 8QZ, United Kingdom. In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean Trailblaze Education Ltd, and "Tugo" means the service we provide.

1.2 What these terms cover

These terms are the agreement between you and us when you buy online group tuition for your child through tugotutors.com. They cover what we provide, what it costs, how to stop, and what happens if something goes wrong. They do not cover our relationship with our tutors, who are engaged under a separate written agreement with us.

1.3 Who these terms are for

These terms are between us and the person who buys the tuition and manages the account. We call that person "you" throughout, and in almost every case it is a parent or guardian. Where we say "your child", we mean the person taught. You must be 18 or over.

Your child is not a party to this agreement and does not have their own account with us. That does not make them invisible to us: they have rights of their own over the information we hold about them, and our Privacy Policy explains those.

If you are 18 or over and buying for yourself rather than for a child, these terms still apply to you in full — just read "your child" as meaning you.

1.4 Your account

We create your account when you buy, and you sign in at tugotutors.com/hub to see your child's class, join lessons and view your receipts. You can browse the rest of our website without an account.

1.5 Accepting these terms

You accept these terms when you buy, and again in your hub whenever we publish a new version. We keep a record of which version you accepted and when, and you can ask us for a copy of it at any time. If you do not accept these terms, do not buy — and if you have already bought, tell us and we will refund you in line with section 6.

1.6 Words we use

Where a word has a specific meaning in these terms, it is explained in section 14.

2.1 The class

We provide online group tuition. When you buy a place, you are buying a seat in one weekly class, for one child, in one subject, at one year group.

• Classes run online at the same time each week, during English school terms.
• Classes are small groups, and every child in one is in the same year group and studying the same subject.
• We will tell you how long your child's lessons are before you pay.
• Lessons are taught live by a tutor. They are not recordings, and there is no self-study course to work through on your own.
• We will tell you the day, time and start date of your child's class before you pay.

2.2 How many lessons you get

Terms are not all the same length, so a term is not always the same number of lessons — and if you join part-way through a term, your plan covers the lessons that are left in it rather than a whole term's worth.

On the weekly plan, your child gets one lesson each week for as long as the plan runs.

On the termly and annual plans, we will tell you exactly how many lessons you are buying before you pay, for the specific term or year you are joining. That number is the one we owe you, and section 7 explains what happens if we do not deliver it.

If you are joining part-way through a term and would rather wait and start at the beginning of the next one, tell us and we will hold your child a place if one is available.

2.3 Term dates and holidays

Classes follow English school terms and do not run during half-term or school holidays. Our term dates are published on our website, and the lesson counts above already take the holidays into account.

2.4 Who teaches your child

We choose which tutor teaches your child's class, and we may change them — for a single lesson, for a term, or permanently. Every tutor who teaches a Tugo class holds a current Enhanced DBS certificate, or is registered on the DBS Update Service, and meets our published minimum requirements for that subject and year group. Where we can, we will tell you in advance when someone other than your child's usual tutor is taking a lesson. We do not guarantee a particular named tutor.

2.5 Keeping the service running

We will do our best to keep our website, your hub and your child's lessons available when you need them. We cannot promise they will never be unavailable — occasionally we need to take something down to maintain or improve it, and sometimes a service we depend on has an outage of its own.

Where we plan maintenance that will affect a lesson, we will tell you in advance. If a lesson is lost because something was unavailable, section 7 applies and you do not lose the lesson.

2.6 Keeping an eye on what happens in class

We monitor what happens on our platform and in our classes — by our tutors being present, by the AI teaching assistant described in section 3, and by reviewing our own teaching. We do this to keep children safe, to keep our teaching good, and to notice misuse.

We are not reading your private messages or watching your home. What we look at is the work done in lessons and how our platform is used.

2.7 What you need at your end

Your child will need a device with a working camera, microphone and speakers, and a reliable internet connection. We cannot refund a lesson your child missed, or could not take part in properly, because of a problem with your own equipment or connection. If you are unsure whether your set-up will work, ask us before you buy.

2.8 Changing class

If your child's class is not the right fit — the wrong level, or an awkward time — tell us and we will move them to another class in the same subject and year group if a seat is available. We will not charge you to move.

3.1 What it does

Our tutors are helped during lessons by an AI teaching assistant. It looks at the work your child is doing on screen, marks their answers, and writes short pieces of written feedback onto their work. It also produces written reports on your child's progress after a lesson and at the end of each month.

3.2 The tutor is still in charge

Some of the assistant's feedback is shown to the tutor to approve before your child sees it. Some is delivered to your child during the lesson without a tutor reading it first, so that they get help at the moment they are stuck. The assistant is a teaching aid. A tutor is present throughout the lesson and is responsible for it, and no decision about your child's education is taken by the assistant on its own.

3.3 Progress reports

The assistant drafts your child's lesson and monthly reports, and a member of our team reads each one before it reaches you. If we ever change that — so that reports come to you as soon as the assistant writes them — we will tell you before we do, and update these terms.

3.4 When it gets something wrong

AI-generated feedback and reports can be wrong. If you or your child think a piece of feedback, a mark or a report is mistaken, tell us. We will look into it, correct the record, and explain what happened. You will not be charged for a lesson because the assistant made a mistake in it.

3.5 It is part of the class

The assistant is part of how a Tugo class works, so we are not able to offer a class without it. Our Privacy Policy explains exactly what the assistant processes, who else sees it, and how long we keep it.

4.1 Who can buy and who can attend

You must be 18 or over to buy. Our classes are for students in Years 5 to 13. If you are buying for someone under 18, you confirm that you are their parent or guardian, or that you have the authority of their parent or guardian to enrol them and to agree these terms on their behalf.

4.2 Keeping your details right

Please keep your email address and phone number up to date in your hub. Email is how we reach you about lessons, changes and payments, and a bounced address is the most common reason a family misses something important.

4.3 Supervision during lessons

Lessons are online and take place wherever your child is. A responsible adult should be present or within earshot while a lesson is running. You know your child and your home; we ask this because it is the single most effective safeguard in online tuition, for your child and for our tutors alike.

4.4 Behaviour in class

A Tugo class is a shared space with other children in it. We ask that your child is respectful to their tutor and classmates. If a child repeatedly disrupts a class, we will talk to you first and work out how to fix it. If it cannot be fixed, we may move them to a different class or, as a last resort, end their place — and if we end it, we will refund the lessons they have not had.

4.5 Safeguarding

We take the welfare of the children we teach seriously, and our Safeguarding Policy explains how concerns are raised, recorded and acted on. It names our Designated Safeguarding Lead and how to contact them directly. If you have a concern about your child's safety, you do not need to go through anyone else first.

4.6 Homework and coursework

Our tutors teach your child how to do the work. They will not complete assessed coursework, controlled assessments or exam work on your child's behalf, and neither will the AI assistant. Asking us to do so puts your child at risk of an academic malpractice finding by their school or exam board.

5.1 The price is the whole price

The price shown when you buy is everything you pay. There is no booking fee, no service fee, no platform fee and no charge on top for materials. We will always show you the price of a lesson and the total before you pay.

5.2 VAT

We are not currently registered for VAT, so no VAT is charged on what you pay. If we become registered, we will tell you at least 14 days before VAT is added.

5.3 How we take payment

Payments are taken by Stripe, our payment provider. We do not see or store your card details. On the weekly plan we take a payment each week until you stop it. On the termly and annual plans we take a single payment up front.

5.4 If our prices change

We may change our prices. A change never affects a termly or annual plan you have already paid for. On the weekly plan we will give you at least 14 days' notice before a new price applies, so you can stop the plan first if you would rather not pay it.

5.5 If a payment fails

On the weekly plan, if a payment fails, Stripe will email you and try again over the following few days. Your child keeps their place during that period — we would rather carry you through an expired card than pull a child out of a lesson over one. If we still cannot take payment after that, we may end the plan and release your child's seat, and we will email you before we do.

6.1 Your 14-day right to change your mind

Because you bought online, you have 14 days from the day you buy to change your mind and get your money back. This is your legal right under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and you do not need to give a reason.

6.2 If lessons start inside those 14 days

Most families want lessons to start straight away, which usually means before the 14 days are up. If you ask us to start and then change your mind within the 14 days, we may keep a fair amount for the lessons your child has already had, and refund the rest. If your child has attended every lesson available in that period, that may be all of what you paid.

6.3 How to change your mind

Email hello@tugotutors.com and tell us you have changed your mind. That is all you need to do — there is no form to fill in and no notice period. We will refund you within 14 days of receiving your message, to the card you paid with.

6.4 Stopping a weekly plan

You can stop your weekly plan at any time in your hub. Your child keeps their place until the end of the week you have already paid for, and we will not take another payment. You can restart it later if you change your mind, though we cannot promise the same class will still have a seat.

6.5 Stopping a termly or annual plan

Termly and annual plans are paid up front for a fixed period, and after the first 14 days we do not refund part of one if you stop part-way through. Your child can stop attending whenever you like. If something has gone wrong, our complaints process in section 8 still applies, and so do your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 — neither of which this paragraph limits.

6.6 If we end your plan

We may end your plan if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, or if we cannot take payment as described above. Except where you have broken these terms, we will refund the lessons your child has not had.

7.1 We deliver the number of lessons your plan includes

Your plan includes a stated number of lessons, and that number is our promise to you. How we schedule them is up to us; how many you get is not.

7.2 If a lesson cannot go ahead

Sometimes a lesson cannot run — a tutor is ill and we cannot arrange cover, we need to close a class, or something outside our control stops it. If that happens we will still deliver your full number of lessons, by one of the following, and we will tell you which as soon as we know:

• rescheduling the lesson;
• adding a lesson later in the term;
• or moving your child into another class in the same subject and year group.

7.3 If we cannot make it up

If we cannot deliver your full number of lessons by the time your plan ends, we will refund the value of the lessons we did not deliver. You do not have to ask, and you do not have to prove anything — we know which lessons ran.

7.4 If your child misses a lesson

A group class runs whether or not every child attends, so we cannot refund or reschedule a lesson your child chose not to attend, or missed because of illness or a clash. If your child is going to be away for a stretch, talk to us — we will do what we sensibly can, and on the weekly plan you can simply stop and restart.

8.1 How to complain

Email complaints@tugotutors.com and tell us what has gone wrong. A complaint reaches a person, not a queue. There is no deadline for making one — if something was wrong six weeks ago, we would still rather know.

8.2 What happens next

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and give you a full answer within 10 working days. If we need longer, we will tell you why and when to expect an answer. We will tell you what we found, what we are doing about it, and what you are entitled to.

8.3 If you are not satisfied with our answer

Ask for it to be reviewed by a director, and one will look at it personally. We do not send you to the tutor: we supply the tuition, so a complaint about a lesson is ours to answer.

8.4 Going further

If we cannot resolve things between us, you are free to take the matter to court — see section 13. We are not currently a member of an alternative dispute resolution scheme, and we are not obliged to use one. You can get free, independent advice from Citizens Advice at citizensadvice.org.uk.

9.1 What we owe you

We supply the tuition. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 we must provide it with reasonable care and skill, and if we do not, you are entitled to have it put right or to a reduction in price. Nothing in these terms takes that away, and nothing in them makes a tutor responsible to you in our place.

9.2 What we never limit

We do not exclude or limit our liability in any way for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for breach of your legal rights as a consumer, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited.

9.3 What we are not responsible for

We are not responsible for losses that were not a foreseeable result of us breaking this contract, or for losses caused by something you or your child did or failed to do — including a problem with your own device or internet connection. We do not promise a particular exam grade or level of progress; teaching well and guaranteeing an outcome are different things, and no honest tutor offers the second.

9.4 Give us the chance to fix it

If something has gone wrong and you are thinking of spending money to put it right yourself, tell us first and give us a reasonable opportunity to fix it. We are unlikely to be responsible for a cost you could have avoided by asking us.

9.5 Your responsibility to us

If you break these terms, or misuse our service, you are responsible for the reasonably foreseeable loss or damage that causes us. We will always take reasonable steps to limit any such loss ourselves.

This is not aimed at ordinary mistakes and we have never used it. It exists for the serious cases — sharing your child's joining link so that someone outside the class gets in, for instance.

9.6 Business customers

This paragraph applies only if you are buying as a business rather than as a consumer, and it does not affect anyone buying for their own child. If you are a business: all terms implied by statute or common law are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law; our total liability arising from the service is limited to the greater of £250 or the total fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim; and we are not liable for lost profits, lost revenue, lost contracts, lost anticipated savings, or damage to reputation or goodwill.

10.1 Your account

Keep your sign-in details to yourself. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has got into your account, and we will secure it. Your hub contains your child's joining link, which is why this matters more here than on an ordinary website.

10.2 Joining links

The joining link for your child's class is for your child only. Please do not share it, post it, or pass it to another family. A shared link puts a stranger in a video call with a group of children.

10.3 Recording lessons

Please do not record, photograph or stream a lesson, or take screenshots of other children's work. Other families have not agreed to it, and children have a reasonable expectation that a lesson stays in the room. If you need a record of something for a genuine reason — a special educational need, or a safeguarding concern — ask us and we will find a way to help.

10.4 Things you or your child upload

Your child's work stays theirs. We use it to teach them, to mark it, to write their reports, and to run and improve our own teaching — and for nothing else. We will not use your child's work, image, voice or name in our marketing or on our website unless you have given us specific written permission for that particular use, and you can withdraw that permission at any time.

10.5 What must not be uploaded

Do not upload or send anything that: infringes someone else's intellectual property; you do not have the right to share; contains malware or code designed to disrupt systems; is unlawful, abusive, defamatory, pornographic, violent, hateful or discriminatory; or is unsolicited advertising.

10.6 If these rules are broken

We may investigate, remove content, and suspend or end an account. Where something we see suggests a child is at risk, or a criminal offence has been committed, we will report it to the appropriate authority — that duty comes before this contract.

11.1 How we handle your data

Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect about you and your child, why, who else sees it, how long we keep it, and what rights you have. It includes a full explanation of what the AI teaching assistant processes. It forms part of your agreement with us.

11.2 Safeguarding

Our Safeguarding Policy sits alongside these terms and explains how we protect the children we teach.

12.1 How we change them

We update these terms from time to time — because the service changes, or the law does. When we do, we publish the new version here with a new date, and you will be asked to accept it the next time you sign in to your hub. We keep a record of which version you accepted.

12.2 Changes that affect what you pay or what you get

If a change reduces what we provide or increases what you pay, we will tell you at least 14 days before it takes effect and you may stop your plan without penalty. Corrections, clarifications and changes required by law take effect when published.

13.1 Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute may be brought in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring a claim in the courts there.

13.2 Transferring this agreement

We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will tell you in writing if we do, and it will not affect your rights — if you are unhappy about it, you may stop your plan and we will refund the lessons your child has not had.

13.3 If part of these terms cannot be enforced

If a court decides that any part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest of them continue to apply.

13.4 Nobody else has rights under these terms

This agreement is between you and us. No other person has any right to enforce any of its terms.

13.5 If we delay enforcing these terms

If we do not insist straight away that you do something you are required to do under these terms, that does not stop us doing so later.

14.1 Class

A recurring weekly small-group lesson in one subject for one year group.

14.2 Lesson

A single dated occurrence of a class.

14.3 AI teaching assistant

The software described in section 3, which marks your child's work, writes feedback onto it and produces progress reports.

14.4 Enhanced DBS certificate

An enhanced criminal records check from the Disclosure and Barring Service, including a check against the barred lists for work with children.

14.5 Hub

The signed-in area at tugotutors.com/hub where you see your child's class, joining link and receipts.

14.6 Joining link

The video call address for your child's class.

14.7 Plan

How you pay: weekly, termly or annual. Each plan includes a stated number of lessons.

14.8 Term

An English school term. Our term dates are published on our website.

14.9 Trial lesson

A single free lesson, before you buy anything, so your child can see what a class is like.

14.10 Tugo

A trading name of Trailblaze Education Ltd, company number 15855007, registered office 41 Streathbourne Road, London, SW17 8QZ.

14.11 Tutor

The person who teaches a class. Our tutors are self-employed and engaged by us under a separate written agreement.

14.12 You

The person who bought the tuition and manages the account — in almost every case a parent or guardian, and always someone aged 18 or over.

14.13 Your child

The person taught. Usually the account holder's child. Where an adult has bought for themselves, "your child" means that adult.