About these terms
These terms cover the one-to-one postgraduate consulting I provide. I work as a sole trader under my own name, Dr Rich Armitage. When you book and pay for a session, you are agreeing to these terms, so please read them before you pay. You can reach me at hello@drricharmitage.com.
What the service is
I offer remote, one-to-one guidance to help you apply for and succeed in competitive postgraduate study. Depending on what you need, a session might cover the things involved in applying, such as choosing programmes and supervisors, personal statements, CVs, research proposals, interview practice, and funding and scholarship applications. It might also cover the work that postgraduate study involves, such as study design, ethics applications, academic writing, conference abstracts, journal article submissions, and grant, fellowship, and studentship applications.
My role is to give you guidance and feedback. I do not write or edit any work that you will submit as your own, whether for assessment or as part of an application. Anything you submit must be your own work.
What I cannot promise
I cannot guarantee any particular result. Whether you are admitted to a programme or awarded funding is decided by the universities and funders you apply to, not by me. You are paying for my time and guidance, not for an outcome.
Booking and payment
We agree the date, time, and fee by email before you book. I then send you a secure payment link from Stripe, my payment provider. You pay the full fee in advance, and you accept these terms at the checkout. Your session is confirmed once your payment has gone through. If the payment is not completed, the session is not booked. Fees are payable in pounds sterling unless we agree otherwise.
Your right to cancel
Because we arrange your booking at a distance, you have a legal right to cancel within 14 days of booking, for any reason, and to receive a full refund. To cancel, email me within that period.
Many sessions are booked to take place within those 14 days. If yours is, then by booking it you are asking me to begin during the cancellation period, and you accept that:
Changing or missing a session
This section is separate from your legal right to cancel above.
If you need to move your session, please give me at least 48 hours' notice and I will reschedule it once at no extra cost. With less notice than that, I may not be able to offer another time, and I may keep the fee to cover the time I had set aside. If you do not attend and have not let me know in advance, the fee is not refunded. If I ever need to move your session, I will offer you another time as soon as I can, or a full refund if none suits you.
Confidentiality
I treat what you share with me as confidential. I will not pass your materials or your personal information to anyone else without your permission, unless the law requires me to.
Your responsibilities
Please give me accurate information, and send me anything you would like me to look at in good time before the session. The applications you make and the decisions you take afterwards are your own. As above, anything you submit for assessment or to an institution must be your own work.
Intellectual property
Any notes or feedback I give you are for your own use in your studies and applications. You keep ownership of your own work, and I keep ownership of any template or written material I have created. Please do not publish or resell my materials as your own.
My liability
I will provide the service with reasonable care and skill. I am not responsible for the decisions of universities, funders, or other third parties, nor for any loss that I could not reasonably have foreseen. My total liability to you for a session is limited to the fee you paid for it. Nothing in these terms limits my liability where the law does not allow it to be limited, such as for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
Your personal data
I am the data controller for the personal information you give me. I use it to arrange and provide your sessions and to reply to you, and I keep the business and tax records that the law requires. I keep your information only for as long as I need it for those purposes, and then delete it. I do not sell it, and I do not use it for marketing without your consent.
Payments are handled by Stripe, who process your card details under their own terms and privacy policy. I do not see or store your full card details.
Under UK data protection law you have rights over your information. You can ask me for a copy of what I hold, and you can ask me to correct or delete it. To make a request, please email me.
Complaints
If something is not right, please tell me at hello@drricharmitage.com and I will do my best to put it right.
Changes to these terms
I may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your session is the one published at the time you book and pay.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any dispute will be handled by the courts of England and Wales.