CognateUK | Service Terms and Conditions

WHO WE ARE

We are Excellence First Enterprise Consultancy Limited trading as “CognateUK”. Our company information is at the end of this document.

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

These are our legal “terms and conditions” which cover your use of our Service (which is explained below). Please read the entire document carefully and contact us if anything is unclear. We’ve tried to make it user-friendly but please note that the summaries/explanations for each section in capitals aren’t a substitute for the rest of the text. Please save a copy for future reference. These terms replace any previous versions.

SOME DEFINITIONS

THIS SECTION TELLS YOU WHAT CERTAIN WORDS MEAN WHEREVER THEY ARE USED WITH A CAPITAL LETTER IN THIS DOCUMENT

“February study weekend”: the two-day in-person study weekend on 6 and 7 February 2027 that forms part of our Service, as described on our Price Information Page.

“our Materials”: our course materials and tools in whatever form including electronic or paper.

“Participants”: other students, tutors, staff and contributors involved with the Service.

“Service”: our CognateHelix life sciences enrichment programme including all online and in-person sessions and our Materials.

“Student”: the student who participates in our Service.

ENTERING A LEGAL CONTRACT WITH US

THIS SECTION TELLS YOU HOW AND WHEN YOU BECOME LEGALLY BOUND BY A CONTRACT WITH US

You promise that you are aged 18 or over and:

• are the proposed Student (in which case these terms should be read as applying directly to you); or
• are the parent or legal guardian of the Student or otherwise have appropriate authority to arrange for the Student's education and enter into this contract.

You promise that the Student is at least 16 years old.

When you place an order and make payment on our website, you are making an offer to enter a legal contract with us to use our Service.

We accept your offer and there is a binding legal contract when we send you a confirmation email. Despite anything that we may say in prior communications, the contract is not formed until this point. We may decline an order for any reason before acceptance. If so, we will make a full refund.

You agree to ensure that the Student is aware of, and complies with, the provisions of these terms that apply to Students, including behaviour, safety/safeguarding and security requirements, and you are responsible to us for any failure by the Student to do so.

PAYING US

THIS SECTION COVERS YOUR PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS

Payment of our fee is in advance or otherwise in accordance with agreed instalment arrangements. Prices and payment methods are as explained on our Service. The prices shown include any applicable VAT or other sales tax.

Our Price Information Page explains what is and is not included in the fee. For example, travel to and from in-person events and spending money at those events is excluded.

We may agree with you to split the total fee into instalments. This does not of itself create a subscription or give you any right to cancel.

If any payment is not paid in full by the due date, we will give you notice and a grace period of at least 14 days for payment.

You agree that you are legally bound by the terms and conditions of any payment providers whose services you use on our Service.

YOUR STATUTORY RIGHT TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT (“COOLING OFF”)

IN SHORT: YOU HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO GET OUT OF THE CONTRACT WITHIN 14 DAYS

You have the legal right to cancel this contract within 14 days as explained in the Annex at the end of this document.

If you specifically agree to us starting provision of the Service during the 14-day cancellation period, and you cancel during that period, you must pay us for the Services supplied up to cancellation, as explained in the Annex.

YOUR ADDITIONAL RIGHT TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT

THIS SECTION EXPLAINS YOUR ADDITIONAL RIGHT TO CANCEL i.e., IN ADDITION TO YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

This section does not affect your statutory right to cancel the contract explained above.

You can cancel the contract at any time by giving us email notice in accordance with our Cancellation and Refund Policy. If so, then your refund entitlement will be as explained in that Policy. Unless otherwise stated in the Policy:

• cancellation before the programme start date entitles you to a full refund; and
• cancellation after the programme start date entitles you to a pro rata refund of fees calculated from 30 days after your notice:
• based on the period from the programme start date to the end date,
• but subject to a (capped) deduction to cover our actual committed costs for the February study weekend if you give notice after the committed-cost date.

Note that, if you are paying by instalments, we will compare the amount you have actually paid with the amount due under the Cancellation and Refund Policy and pay you the balance. If the amount due is more than you have paid, you are responsible for paying us the shortfall.

STUDENT NON-ATTENDANCE

THIS SECTION EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENS IF STUDENTS DO NOT ATTEND/COMPLETE SESSIONS

You are not entitled to any refund if a Student does not attend or complete any session (whether online or in-person).

However, if the Student is unable to attend the February study weekend due to illness or another reason beyond their reasonable control and you (a) tell us as soon as reasonably possible and (b) provide any proof that we reasonably request, we will seek to recover or reallocate the cost committed for the Student's place, for example by offering the place to another student or amending the booking with the venue, and we will provide a refund of whatever we recover in accordance with our Cancellation and Refund Policy.

CHANGING OR CANCELLING OUR SERVICE

THIS SECTION EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENS IF WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR PROGRAMME (e.g., RESCHEDULE SESSIONS) OR CANCEL IT COMPLETELY

We may make reasonable changes to our programme at any time, e.g., tutors, timetables, sessions or venues provided that these do not materially affect our Service as a whole.

We are entitled to reschedule or cancel any session (online or in-person) if there are exceptional circumstances, e.g., tutor illness or venue unavailability. If so, we will give you as much notice as possible and, if the change materially reduces our Service, we will provide a reasonable refund if we are unable to offer, or the Student is unable to attend, a rescheduled session.

We are entitled to cancel the entire programme for any reason before the commencement date. If so, you may choose either transfer to a future programme or a full refund.

If at any time we reasonably consider that the programme is no longer commercially viable, we may (a) cancel the programme, in which case we will refund the part of the fee attributable to the programme that has not been delivered; or (b) offer a modified version of the programme. If the modifications materially reduce the programme, you may choose not to continue and we will refund the part of the fee attributable to the programme that has not been delivered.

We are entitled to cancel the entire programme after the commencement date if there are circumstances beyond our reasonable control materially affecting programme delivery for a continuous period of more than eight weeks and we cannot provide a reasonable alternative. If so, we will provide a reasonable refund relating to programme delivery that will not take place.

If any change by us materially reduces our Service, you can end this contract without the 30-day notice period and receive an appropriate refund for programme delivery not provided.

SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDING

THIS SECTION CONTAINS IMPORTANT WARNINGS ABOUT SAFETY AND INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDING

We take the safeguarding and welfare of students seriously. Where we have a safeguarding concern, we will act in accordance with the current edition of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and our Safeguarding Policy (which may change from time to time). This may include contacting a parent or guardian, school, safeguarding professional or relevant authority where appropriate.

If Students encounter inappropriate behaviour in connection with our Service or have any concern for their safety, they should immediately tell the tutor or us and, if appropriate, leave the session and stop communicating with the person concerned. Please also seek relevant external help if appropriate (e.g., from law enforcement authorities).

If you have any safety or safeguarding concerns, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead at the email address shown in our Safeguarding Policy.

STUDENT BEHAVIOUR AND PARTICIPATION

IN SHORT: STUDENTS MUST BEHAVE APPROPRIATELY

Students must take reasonable steps to attend sessions, engage positively with the programme and their tutors, and carry out any assigned pre- and post-session work.

Where sessions are recorded, we may agree to make these available for catch-up by a Student who missed the session but this is at our discretion and is less likely to be agreed if there are multiple such requests.

Students must behave reasonably and appropriately at all times, both towards Participants and generally in connection with the programme.

Students must not make or share any audio/video recording, photo or screenshot of any session or any Participant without our prior written consent.

We may make audio/video recordings of online/in-person sessions.

For in-person sessions:

• you are responsible for arranging travel to/from the venue and for arriving/leaving at the stated times;
• our supervision responsibilities arise between those times only; and
• Students must comply with our reasonable requirements and those of the venue operator.

Students are responsible for ensuring that they have appropriate connectivity and for complying with any other technical requirements needed to access online sessions.

USE OF OUR PLATFORM/AI

THIS SECTION SETS OUT YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT OBLIGATIONS AND ALSO DEALS WITH RESPONSIBLE USE OF AI

Platform accounts are personal to the relevant user and must not be shared or transferred.

You must take reasonable care to keep login information confidential and to tell us immediately of any apparent breach of security such as loss or misuse of a password.

Students must use our platform, including our AI tool, responsibly and in accordance with any acceptable use guidance. AI-generated material may be incomplete, inaccurate or unsuitable. Students are expected to test and check outputs against evidence, programme materials and tutor guidance rather than treating an AI response as authoritative.

Students must not enter unnecessary sensitive personal information, another person’s private information, or third-party confidential material into AI tools or other programme systems.

Student platform access ends 90 days after the Student’s individual programme completion. That is the programme end date except that:

• individual programme completion will be extended to the end of the discretionary completion window where the student opts for this (please see our programme documentation for information about when this applies); and
• in the case of Students who withdraw or leave the programme, individual programme completion occurs when the contract ends.

Students are responsible for downloading all of their work, including their project portfolio, before access ends. Their work may be deleted after that date.

STANDARD OF SERVICE

THIS SECTION SETS OUT THE STANDARD OF SERVICE THAT WE PROMISE YOU WHEN PROVIDING OUR SERVICE

We will provide our Service with reasonable skill and care.

The aim of the Service is to provide students with a project portfolio showing how they have investigated, reasoned, reflected and defended their work over time. We do not award any qualification, grade or credit. Nor do we guarantee that the Student will achieve any particular exam grade, or admission to university or elsewhere, or any particular employment, or any other outcome, as a result of our Service.

We do not guarantee that our website will be uninterrupted or error-free. We are entitled without liability to suspend our website for repair, maintenance, improvement or other technical reason. For any planned maintenance we will try to provide reasonable notice.

ENDING/SUSPENDING OUR CONTRACT FOR BREACH

THIS SECTION TELLS YOU WHEN THIS CONTRACT CAN END OR BE SUSPENDED OR RESTRICTED AND, IF SO, WHAT HAPPENS

We may suspend or end this contract (including suspension or removal of a Student or suspension of access to our online platform) in the event:

• of serious or repeated misconduct;
• of behaviour creating legal, safeguarding, abuse, fraud, safety or other risks for us or others;
• of misuse of our platform or systems; or
• that any material payment remains overdue after we have given you a grace period in accordance with these terms.

Except where immediate action is reasonably necessary because of the seriousness of the issue, we will raise the concern first and provide a reasonable opportunity to address it.

If we end participation under this section, we will calculate any refund for programme delivery not yet provided on a fair and proportionate basis.

If this contract ends:

• Your right to use our Service is terminated.
• This does not affect any rights that have already arisen.
• Any continuing terms will still apply.

RESTRICTIONS ON OUR LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY - VERY IMPORTANT

THIS SECTION LIMITS OUR LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY IN VARIOUS WAYS AND MAKES YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN LOSSES WE SUFFER

Nothing in these terms in any way limits or excludes our liability for negligence causing death or personal injury or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or for anything which may not legally be excluded or limited. In this section, any reference to us includes our officers, employees and subcontractors, who have the right to enforce these terms.

Subject to the above, we shall not be liable for any loss or damage where:

• there is no breach of a legal duty owed to you by us;
• such loss or damage was not reasonably foreseeable (meaning it was not an obvious consequence of our breach and was not contemplated by you and us at the outset);
• (and to the extent that) such loss or damage is your fault, for example by not complying with these terms; or
• such loss or damage relates to your business activities.

You will be responsible to us for any reasonably foreseeable loss or damage we suffer (including claims made by other people) resulting from your breach of these terms or misuse of our Service.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IP)

THIS SECTION CONFIRMS THAT WE OWN IP IN OUR MATERIALS, THE STUDENT OWNS IP IN THEIR ORIGINAL WORK AND SETS OUT HOW WE ALLOW EACH OTHER TO USE SUCH CONTENT

We and/or our suppliers own the IP in all our Materials.

Students may use our Materials only for their private educational and non-commercial purposes only. Our Materials must not be used in any other way including by copying, recording, publishing (on the internet or otherwise), selling or altering them, taking extracts from them or passing any part of them to other people. The ownership or source of our Materials must not be misrepresented, for example by changing or removing any legal notices or author attributions.

Students remain the owners of the IP in any original work that they create through our Service except to the extent that the work includes other people’s input or materials. We are allowed to use and adapt all or part of such material insofar as reasonably necessary for our Service including evaluation purposes and, with appropriate consent, to use examples of the work for marketing.

YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

IN SHORT: OUR PRIVACY POLICY APPLIES

Our Privacy Policy explains how we use personal information relating to you and the Student. Please ensure that the Student is also shown the relevant part applicable to Students in that Policy.

THINGS WE CAN’T CONTROL

IN SHORT: WE AREN’T RESPONSIBLE FOR “ACTS OF GOD”

We are not legally responsible for failure to perform or delay in performing any of our obligations if the failure or delay is caused by any circumstances beyond our reasonable control. If this happens, we will tell you and take reasonable steps to reduce the disruption.

TRANSFERRING RIGHTS/OBLIGATIONS

IN SHORT: WE CAN PASS OUR RIGHTS/OBLIGATIONS TO SOMEONE ELSE BUT YOU NEED OUR PERMISSION TO DO LIKEWISE

We may transfer all or part of our rights or duties under these terms provided we take reasonable steps to ensure that your rights under these terms are not prejudiced.

You may transfer your rights under this contract only with our written agreement, which we will not unreasonably withhold where there is a legitimate reason for the request.

ENGLISH LAW AND COURTS

IN SHORT: ENGLISH LAW APPLIES AND ONLY UK COURTS CAN ADJUDICATE ON DISPUTES

These terms and conditions are covered by the law of England and Wales. You also benefit from any mandatory protections in any other country where you live.

Any disputes will be heard in the courts of England and Wales but, if you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also sue in your country.

GENERAL

HERE ARE SOME GENERAL BUT IMPORTANT POINTS THAT APPLY

We may send all notices by email to the most recent email address you have given us, or by displaying the notice when you log in. You can send notices to our email address shown below. Headings used in this document are for information and not binding. If any part of these terms is ineffective or unenforceable for any reason, the rest of the terms will still apply. If either of us overlooks any breach by the other, this does not prevent that party from taking action later. A person who is not a party can’t enforce the terms unless these terms expressly say otherwise. The parties are independent and, except as otherwise specifically stated above, nothing in these terms makes any party an agent, employee or representative of the other.

COMPLAINTS

If you have any concerns, you can make a complaint in accordance with the Complaints Policy on our website.

INFORMATION ABOUT US

Company name: Excellence First Enterprise Consultancy Limited

Trading name: CognateUK

Country of incorporation: England and Wales

Registered number: 06000580

Registered office: 15a Station Road, Epping, Essex, CM16 4HG, UK

Contact address: 6 Theydon Grove, Epping, Essex, CM16 4PU, UK

Contact email address: programmeteam@cognateuk.com

Other contact information: See our website/contact page

ANNEX - COOLING OFF

YOUR LEGAL RIGHT TO CANCEL THIS CONTRACT

The following applies ONLY if you have the legal right to cancel this contract (as explained above).

Right to cancel

You have the right to cancel the contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The cancellation period will end 14 days after the day when you enter a contract with us (i.e., as explained above - “Entering a legal contract with us”).

To exercise the right to cancel, you must tell us, Excellence First Enterprise Consultancy Limited, 6 Theydon Grove, Epping, Essex, CM16 4PU, UK, email address above) of your decision to cancel the contract by using the cancellation methods explained on our Service or sending us a clear statement (e.g., by email or post). You may use the model cancellation form below, but you don’t have to.

To meet the cancellation deadline, you must send your communication telling us you want to cancel before the cancellation period ends.

Effects of cancellation

If you cancel the contract, we will refund to you all payments received from you.

The refund will be made without undue delay, and no later than 14 days after the day we receive your notice to cancel the contract.

The refund will be made using the same means of payment you used for the initial transaction, unless you expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the refund.

If you asked us to start performing the services during the cancellation period, you must pay us an appropriate proportion of the payment to cover services performed until the point when you tell us you want to cancel the contract.

MODEL CANCELLATION FORM

Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel the contract:

• To Excellence First Enterprise Consultancy Limited, 6 Theydon Grove, Epping, Essex, CM16 4PU, UK (email address above):
• I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract of sale of the following goods [*]/ for the supply of the following service [*],
• Ordered on [*]/received on [*],
• Name of consumer(s),
• Address of consumer(s),
• Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),
• Date

[*] Delete as appropriate