Terms & Conditions

1. About These Terms

These terms and conditions govern your use of the SoloCogs platform and services, operated by Portsdown Tuition (sole trader), Portsmouth, England. By creating an account or using the platform, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.

These terms are written in plain English. If anything is unclear, please contact us before you sign up.

2. The Service

SoloCogs provides:

• SEND-informed online science learning resources for KS3 and KS4 students
• SoloCognition - an adaptive assessment and knowledge-mapping tool
• Online tuition (where arranged directly)
• Student wellbeing check-in tools

We may need to modify or suspend parts of the service (for example, for security or safeguarding reasons, or where a third-party sub-processor changes materially). Where we do so:

• Non-material changes (bug fixes, minor UI improvements, content additions) may happen at any time and do not affect your subscription.
• Material changes (removing a whole tier, retiring a feature you rely on, or a change that reduces the value of your subscription) will be notified in writing at least 30 days in advance, with a written reason.
• If you do not want to continue on the changed service, you may cancel and we will refund the unused pre-paid portion of your current billing period on a pro-rata basis (monthly + annual plans alike). This is not conditional on the reason for cancellation.
• Full discontinuation of the platform would be notified at least 60 days in advance, with a pro-rata refund of all unused pre-paid time and a data-export window for any account content.

3. Accounts

To access protected content, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate information when registering
• Keep your login credentials secure and not share them with others
• Notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access to your account
• Take responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account

Parent/carer accounts are responsible for the student accounts linked to them. By creating a student account, you confirm you are the parent or legal guardian of that student, or have their parent/guardian's consent.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, or our safeguarding obligations.

4. Subscriptions, Trials and Payment

4.1 What you are agreeing to pay

Family plans on SoloCogs start with a 2-month free trial on any new subscription taken during our founding-member window (see Founding-Member Offer). After the free-trial period ends, we begin charging your card at the price shown on pricing.html for the plan you selected, on the same day of the month you signed up (monthly plans) or the same date once a year (annual plans). We show your trial-end date and first-charge date on your Account > Subscription screen and in your welcome email.

4.2 How auto-renewal works

• Subscription fees are charged in advance for the billing period (monthly or annual, as selected). Your first charge happens on the day after the free-trial period ends, unless you cancel before then, in which case no payment is taken.
• Subscriptions renew automatically at the same billing cycle unless cancelled before the renewal date, so your child's access is not interrupted.
• Before an annual renewal, we send a reminder email at least 14 days ahead of the renewal date, showing the amount that will be charged and how to cancel.
• Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period; access continues until then. No partial refunds are issued for unused time, except where required by law or as set out in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

4.3 Price changes

We may change subscription pricing with at least 30 days' written notice to existing subscribers before the change takes effect. If you do not want to continue at the new price, you have the right to cancel and receive a pro-rata refund of any pre-paid but unused portion of your current billing period, on request within 30 days of the notice. Founding-member locked prices are protected under the separate Founding-Member Offer Terms.

4.4 Cooling-off right (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013)

Under UK consumer law, you have a right to cancel a distance-purchased digital service within 14 days of purchase and receive a full refund. Because SoloCogs is a digital service you can start using immediately, we ask you to tick a specific box at sign-up that (a) gives us your express consent to begin supply during the 14 days and (b) acknowledges you understand you will lose the automatic cooling-off refund right for content already accessed. Your rights as a consumer to a refund for content that is faulty, misdescribed, or where the service has not been performed with reasonable care and skill (Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.34 and s.49) are unaffected. Full detail is in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

4.5 Payment processor

Card payments are handled entirely by Stripe Payments Europe Ltd. SoloCogs never sees or stores your card details. See our Privacy Policy for the data-sharing detail.

4.6 When the contract forms

The binding contract between you and Portsdown Tuition (trading as SoloCogs) forms at the moment we send you an order confirmation email after you complete Stripe Checkout - not at the moment of clicking the sign-up button. Until that email is sent, either side may withdraw without obligation.

5. Intellectual Property

All content on the SoloCogs platform - including resources, questions, assessments, graphics, copy, and the SoloCognition system - is the intellectual property of Portsdown Tuition (trading as SoloCogs) unless otherwise stated. You may not:

• Copy, reproduce, or redistribute platform content without written permission
• Use platform content for commercial purposes
• Attempt to reverse-engineer or extract proprietary systems

Personal use by registered students and their families is permitted.

6. Acceptable Use

Your use of the platform is also subject to our Acceptable Use Policy. Violations may result in account suspension or termination.

In particular, you must NOT:

• Use SoloCogs to cheat on any externally-marked assessment. SoloCognition, SoloLab and any other tool on the platform are designed for learning and self-assessment. They must not be used during AQA exams, mock exams, school controlled assessments, coursework with restricted-resource rules, or any other situation where outside help is forbidden.
• Share answers, model answers or our SoloCognition question text with third parties, in any format, including verbatim screenshots that could enable cheating.
• Use another student's account, share your account with another student, or impersonate another user.
• Attempt to extract, scrape, or republish our question bank or learning content.

Suspected misuse may result in immediate account suspension while we investigate, and confirmed misuse may result in permanent account termination without refund. Where misuse appears to involve a regulated exam, we may have a duty to inform the relevant exam board or school.

7. Educational Support, Not a Grade Guarantee

SoloCogs is an educational support tool. It is not a guarantee of any particular grade, examination result, or learning outcome.

The platform is provided "as is." While we work hard to keep it accurate, accessible and available, we do not guarantee that:

• The service will be uninterrupted or error-free.
• Any specific grade, percentage, or AQA result will be achieved by any individual student.
• Use of the platform will replace, substitute for, or be equivalent to in-school teaching, tutoring, or direct examination preparation.

Educational outcomes depend on many factors outside our control - including the individual student's engagement, prior learning, school environment, examination conditions, special educational needs provision, and circumstances on the day of assessment. By using the platform you accept that no learning provider can guarantee a grade, and that SoloCogs makes no such guarantee.

7a. Data Accuracy

We work hard to make our learning content and assessment items accurate, exam-board-aligned, and up to date. However:

• Specifications change. Awarding bodies update their syllabus periodically. Where a change is made between our content release date and an exam sitting, the latest official specification from the exam board is the authoritative source.
• Errors may exist. If you spot an inaccurate question, mark scheme, or piece of content, please email hello@solocogs.co.uk with the page or question and what you believe to be wrong. We aim to correct verified errors within 5 working days.
• SoloCognition flags are guidance, not grades. The Knowledge Map and PCA x RAG flag system give a useful diagnostic signal but are NOT a substitute for a teacher's professional judgement on a piece of student work, nor for a final examination grade.
• Auto-marked answers may be imperfect. The SoloSpell tolerant matcher accepts close spellings and minor errors. Where a student believes an answer was marked incorrectly, they can flag the question for human review via the platform's referral system.

Use the platform's information to support learning, not to make irreversible decisions (e.g. choosing exam tier) without confirming the data against an authoritative source - the awarding body specification, your child's school, or our team if you are unsure.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the extent permitted by law, SoloCogs shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses arising from your use of the platform. Our total liability for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid for the service in the three months preceding the claim.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes:

• Our liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
• Our liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
• Your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 - including the requirement to perform services with reasonable care and skill (s.49), the requirement that digital content be of satisfactory quality (s.34), fit for purpose (s.35) and as described (s.36).
• Any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law.

9. Safeguarding and Wellbeing Data

By using the platform, you acknowledge that student wellbeing check-in data may be reviewed by the DSL, and that we have a legal duty to refer safeguarding concerns to statutory authorities. This is not a breach of these terms or of our privacy obligations - it is a legal requirement. Full detail lives in the Safeguarding Policy and the Privacy Policy. The named Designated Safeguarding Lead for SoloCogs and their contact route are published on the Safeguarding Policy.

10. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales - meaning consumers domiciled elsewhere in the United Kingdom retain their right to bring proceedings in the courts of Scotland or Northern Ireland where applicable, and we retain the right to bring proceedings in the courts of the country in which you are domiciled.

11. Changes to These Terms

We may update these terms where we have a valid reason (for example, a change in law, a change in a sub-processor, or an improvement to the service). Registered users will be notified of material changes by email at least 30 days before they take effect, with the reason stated. If you do not want to continue on the new terms, you may cancel and receive a pro-rata refund of any unused pre-paid time under section 4.3. Non-material changes (clarifying wording, correcting typos, updating a phone number) may be made without individual notice.