General Terms and Conditions of Participation
in language courses organised by
Goethe-Institut Krakow and Goethe-Institut Warsaw
1. Scope of applicability of General Terms and Conditions of Participation
1.1. General Terms and Conditions of Participation apply to all semester, quarter, intensive courses as well as to German Online-Group Courses (Deutsch Online-Gruppenkurse) and German Online-Individual Courses (Deutsch Online-Individualkurse).
1.2. General Terms and Conditions of Participation are available at the office of Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw and at
www.goethe.de/krakow and
www.goethe.de/warszawa, about which course Participants are informed at enrolment. By paying for the course, Participants conclude a Course Agreement (hereinafter referred to as Agreement)
- for all online courses with Goethe-Institut Warsaw
- for the in-class courses with the Goethe-Institut at which the respective course is offered
and confirm having been familiarized with the General Terms and Conditions of Participation.
2. Prerequisite
Persons willing to participate in language courses must be at least 16 years of age. This condition does not apply to courses for children and teenagers, in which case consent of the statutory representative is required.
3. Prices
3.1. Information on prices valid at the moment of enrolment can be found in the current price list available at the office of Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw as well as at
www.goethe.de/krakow and
www.goethe.de/warszawa.
3.2. No handling fee is charged for changing course group.
3.3. Payment made for the course entitles Participants to free use of the library of Goethe-Institut in Krakow and Warsaw as well as of the e-learning platform for a period of maximum 4 months. Payment made for the course entitles Participants to free consultations with language teachers.
3.4. The course fee does not include the cost of the course book and exam.
4. Payment conditions
4.1. Payment for the course shall be made on a one-off basis at the time and in way specified in the course reservation document: by bank transfer or by card at the Course Bureau in Goethe-Institut Warsaw.
Only timely payment can guarantee participation in the course.
4.2. Payment of the course fee is considered made at the moment it is booked:
- for all online courses – to the bank account of Goethe-Institut Warsaw
- for the in-class courses – to the bank account of Goethe-Institut at which the respective course is offered.
5. Termination of agreement
5.1. Course Participants may withdraw from the Agreement one day before the course commencement date at the latest. In such a case the course fee is refunded in full.
5.2. From the first day of the course, Participants may terminate the Agreement in writing.
The Agreement is dissolved after the period of notice. The following periods of notice apply:
a) for semester courses: 4 course weeks from the day of the notice of termination,
b) for quarter courses: 2 course weeks from the day of the notice of termination,
c) for intensive courses: 3 course days from the day of the notice of termination,
d) for German Online-Group Courses (Deutsch Online-Gruppenkurse): 1 course week from beginning of the following week,
e) for German Online-Individual Courses (Deutsch Online-Individualkurse): 5 calendar days from beginning of the following week.
5.3. If the Agreement is terminated, Participants are refunded course fees for lessons planned for time after the expiry of the period of notice.
5.4. In the situation when a standard course group has fewer than 8 Participants, Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw reserve the right to dissolve the course within 7 days from the planned course commencement date or to offer the course in a smaller group with reduced number of lessons at the same price. Should the course be dissolved, the course fee shall be refunded in full. In both cases Participants may also join another group provided there are places available.
5.5. Enrolment is possible up to 3 days after the start of the course and if there are free places in the course. The course fee will be reduced proportionally.
6. Group assignment / group size
6.1. Participants are assigned to a group at a given level on the basis of current language level certificate (results of oral and written placement test conducted at Goethe-Institut or Goethe-Institut Examination Centre, Goethe-Institut certificate).
6.2. The size of standard course group and of German Online-Group Courses (Deutsch Online-Gruppenkurse) is 12 persons maximum and in special cases 14 persons maximum. The minimum number of Participants per group is 8.
6.3. For children and teenagers’ courses, the maximum number of Participants is 10.
6.4. The Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw reserve the right to change the number of participants in a course and to offer the in-class course as an online course if this would be necessary due to official instructions or for the safety of course Participants and Goethe-Institut staff.
7. Participation in course
7.1. Participants of Goethe-Institut’s courses shall respect the social norm and behave in a cultured way.
7.2. Participants may only attend classes in the group to which they have been assigned.
7.3. The Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw are entitled to refuse admission to classes if course participants fail to comply with the rules of course participation laid down by the Goethe-Institut.
7.4. Course participants shall be liable for any damage caused to the Goethe-Institut or other persons due to non-compliance with the rules of course participation of the Goethe-Institut.
8. Inspections
The Language Department management conducts course inspections aimed at maintaining high quality of the lessons.
9. Course completion certificate
At the end of the course, each Participant shall receive a course completion certificate containing information of his/her results (based on tests and oral productions/written compositions) expressed as follows: has completed the course with “great success”, “good success” or “success”. If there is no grade on the course completion certificate, the next course level hasn’t been reached. Only the results: “great success”, “good success” and “success” entitle Participants to attend the next level course. The confirmation of participation does not require a signature. It is generated by the system and sent to the e-mail address of the course participant entered in the system when booking the course.
10. Liability of Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw / Force majeure
Liability of Goethe-Institut Krakow, Goethe-Institut Warsaw and their employees shall be limited to cases of intentional actions and gross neglect. Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw shall not be liable for non-delivery of services caused by force majeure, such as natural disaster, fire, flooding, war, directive of authority and any other circumstances beyond control of both parties.
11. Claims and complaints
Claims and complaints shall be submitted
- in case of online courses – to the Course Bureau at Goethe-Institut Warsaw
- in case of in-class courses – to the Course Bureau at the Goethe-Institut at which the respective course is offered.
The management of Course and Exam Department shall reply to claims and complaints in writing within two weeks of their submission.
12. Validity of General Terms and Conditions
12.1. Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw reserve the right to amend the General Terms and Conditions of Participation. Such an amendment shall be effective at the time specified by Goethe-Institut Krakow and Warsaw. The amendment may not come in force earlier than 14 days from the moment the changed Terms and Conditions of Participation are made available to the Participants.
12.2. The present provisions of the General Terms and Conditions of Participation come into effect on 01.04.2024
