Last updated: 30th October 2021
By browsing, using or creating an account on www.abridgeacademy.com (henceforth referred to as the “website”) you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which govern the relationship between you and Abridge Academy Ltd as well as our provision of various online services and resources. You should save a copy of these terms for your future reference.
1: The relationship between Abridge Academy and you
1.1: This website and contents are the property of Abridge Academy Ltd, 7 Bournemouth Road, Chandler’s Ford, Eastleigh, England, SO53 3DA. Abridge Academy Ltd is a registered company in England and Wales under the company number 12384197.
1.2 The terms “Abridge Academy”, “we” and “us” shall henceforth be used to mean Abridge Academy Ltd. The terms “you”, “yourself” and “your” refer to the user of this website or our services.
1.3 Abridge Academy is the data controller within the definition of the general data protection regulation (GDPR).
1.4 Abridge Academy is governed by the laws and regulations of England and Wales. Due to the global nature of the internet, users from other countries will also have access to our website and services. However, if you are resident in another country you use these services at your own risk and agree that these terms and conditions are bound by the laws and regulations of England and Wales. Any dispute or claim arising between us shall be adjudicated exclusively by the courts of England and Wales.
1.5 By using our website or services, you confirm that you are aged 18 or over.
2: Changes to terms
2.1 These terms and conditions may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you. We will post any revisions to these terms and conditions on this page and we will also indicate at the top of this page the date that these terms and conditions were last revised.
2.2 Your continued use of this website or our services after any revisions have been made constitutes your acceptance of the new terms and conditions. If you do not agree to abide by these or any new terms and conditions, do not use or access the service or this website. It is your responsibility to regularly check this page to determine if there have been any changes to these terms and conditions and to consider such changes.
3: The services
3.1 Abridge Academy provides online courses and training materials, primarily aimed at teachers. These will henceforth be referred to as “courses”.
3.2 Abridge Academy provides access to digital teaching resources and downloadable materials. This will henceforth be referred to as “resources”.
3.3 Abridge Academy provides a digital membership program, which may require a subscription payment, giving you access to certain resources, courses or other services. This will henceforth be referred to as “membership”.
3.4 Abridge Academy provides a platform for users to upload and sell user-generated digital resources and downloadable products. This will henceforth be referred to as “user generated resources”.
3.5 Abridge Academy provides a jobs board where third-party companies, schools and organisations may advertise job opportunities. Abridge Academy may partner with organisations to promote programs in which their job opportunities packaged with Abridge Academy services.
3.6 Abridge Academy may provide additional services in addition to those mentioned in these terms and conditions. Unless governed by an additional agreement, these terms and conditions will still apply.
3.7 Abridge Academy reserves the right to change pricing and/ or availability in respect of any of these services in this clause for any reason and without notice. You agree that we shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of this website or a service.
3.8 Abridge Academy is not responsible for non-delivery or technical limitations of the end user for any reason in respect of any of the services in this clause. You are advised to contact us if you are having any issues accessing our services.
4: Registration and accounts
4.1 Certain aspects of the services may require you to register and provide information about yourself. You agree to provide complete and accurate information about yourself, and maintain or update this information if it changes. We reserve the right to terminate your account and/ or access to any Abridge Academy services if any information you provide is inaccurate, false or incomplete. We shall not be liable for any loss suffered by your non-compliance with this provision.
4.2 The registration process may involve you creating a password to enable access to your account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorised use of your account or security breach. Abridge Academy will not be liable for any loss or damage resulting from your failure to comply with this obligation.
4.3 By creating an account, you agree that your public profile may be made available within our member directory. You are responsible for checking what information is publicly viewable, which can be updated through your profile page. You agree that other users of our website and services may view your public profile and/ or contact you through your profile (if messaging is activated on your account).
4.4 You agree that your account is strictly for your personal use only. You may not share your account details with other individuals or organisations. You may not use your account to access or download materials for anyone else. Companies, organisations, agencies or schools should ensure every individual has their own account, unless otherwise agreed directly with Abridge Academy through a separate partner agreement.
4.5 You agree that we have no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any messages, communications, information or other content maintained or transmitted by our services.
4.6 You understand that your usage of Abridge Academy services and your account will be monitored to ensure compliance with these terms and conditions and fair use. We may monitor your location (IP address and device), number of resources accessed, frequency of resources accessed, number of downloads, frequency of downloads, messages and other content.
4.7 We reserve the right to investigate, deactivate or suspend accounts which are inactive for an extended period of time, engage in suspicious or objectionable activity, appear to be violating fair use, or break any of these terms and conditions, as determined by Abridge Academy at its sole discretion. If you have an active membership subscription, we reserve the right to cancel the subscription on your behalf, without a refund of any payments already made. It is at Abridge Academy’s absolute discretion as to whether or not your account and/ or membership subscription will be reinstated. You agree that Abridge Academy shall not be liable to you or any third party for issues arising as a result of any suspension or termination of your account or membership subscription.
4.8 By creating an account on our website, you agree that your email address may be added to our mailing list. This enables us to provide you with important email notifications relating to your account. You cannot unsubscribe from essential email communications relating to your account or services you have purchased. We may also email you from time to time with marketing communications or product updates. You may opt in or out of these non-essential communications at any time using the link at the bottom of every email. Your email address or contact details will not be passed on to third parties.
4.9 You reserve the right to delete your account at any time. You may do so within your account settings or by contacting Abridge Academy. It is your responsibility to ensure you have cancelled any membership subscriptions or payments before closing your account, as your payment records may not be retained. Upon closing your account, you acknowledge and agree that you will immediately lose all access to any services already purchased.
5: Your conduct
5.1 You can contribute to Abridge Academy in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) accessing our services, writing comments in discussion forums, writing blog posts, and communicating with other users. This will henceforth be referred to as “user generated content”. You acknowledge that all information, data, text, digital materials, images, videos, messages and other content, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are your sole responsibility. Abridge Academy accepts no responsibility for, and does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, quality or ownership of any content placed on our website by you or any third party. You grant Abridge Academy a non-exclusive, sub-licensable, worldwide, fully paid-up, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable license to use, reproduce, publish, distribute and display your user uploaded content, including incorporating it in any works in any form, media or technology.
5.2 You agree not to use our website or services to upload, post, email, message or otherwise transmit any content that:
5.2.1 You do not have a right to share or infringes the intellectual property rights, trademark, patent or copyright of any party.
5.2.2 Is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libellous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise discriminatory, or otherwise may harm others.
5.2.3 Could be considered unsolicited or unauthorised advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes or prohibited marketing content.
5.2.4 Contains software viruses or other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, damage, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or negatively affect a user’s ability to access and use our website or services.
5.3 You agree not to:
5.3.1 Impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, Abridge Academy, our staff members, moderators or partners, or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.
5.3.2 Harm or attempt to harm other users or minors in any way.
5.3.3 Intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable law or regulation.
5.3.4 Collect, store or share personal data about other users.
5.3.5 Use data mining, robots, spiders or other automated data gathering, extraction or publication tools for any purpose
5.3.6 Breach any license you have been granted to make use of our materials, content or other services.
5.3.7 Compete with Abridge Academy or conduct commercial activities which have a negative impact on Abridge Academy’s business operations
5.4 You agree that other users may generate content, including, but not limited to, discussion forum comments, resources and links. You acknowledge that all user generated content is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated. Abridge Academy accepts no responsibility for, and does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of, any user generated content. We do not pre-screen user-uploaded content but reserve the right to monitor and remove it if we wish, at the sole discretion of Abridge Academy. You may contact us to report any content you believe is in breach of these terms and conditions or otherwise inappropriate.
6: Payments
6.1 In order to access some of our services, you will be required to purchase or sign up for a subscription plan. If you fail to pay the required fees, including, but not limited to, payments failing due to a lack of funds or technological issues, you will immediately lose access to the associated services.
6.2 You may cancel your order for access to our digital products, including courses, resources and membership subscriptions, within 14 days from the date of your purchase and obtain a full refund by contacting us, unless you have already accessed the service, including, but not limited to, starting an online course or viewing subscription-only teaching resources. Once you have started to use the purchased services, you cannot cancel your order and will not be eligible for a full or partial refund. By placing an order, you acknowledge and consent to this.
6.3 In relation to membership subscriptions, you will be automatically charged regular subscription fees as per the schedule stated on the checkout page, unless you cancel it within your account in advance of the payment. Unless otherwise notified, your regular subscription fees will remain at the price stated upon making your first subscription payment.
6.4 Abridge Academy reserves the right to change prices or offer discounts at its sole and absolute discretion. If your membership subscription is changing price, we will notify you in advance of your next payment.
6.5 For your safety, Abridge Academy uses third party payment providers, including PayPal or Stripe, to process transactions. Your credit/ debit card details are not stored by Abridge Academy. You are responsible for reading and complying with the terms and conditions of these third-party payment platforms.
6.6 Abridge Academy is not responsible for any fees charged by your debit or credit card provider or other payment service in connection with your purchases of our services. Abridge Academy is also not responsible for any other third-party fees you may incur relating to your use of our services.
6.7 Abridge Academy reserves the right to cease to provide services to you, without refunding any fees already paid, if you:
6.7.1 Fail to pay fees when due;
6.7.2 Act in an aggressive, bullying, offensive, threatening or harassing manner towards any other user, customer, employee or director of Abridge Academy;
6.7.3 Steal or act in a fraudulent or deceitful manner towards any other user, customer, employee or director of Abridge Academy;
6.7.4 Cheat or plagiarise any work, including, but not limited to, online course assignments or curriculum resources;
6.7.5 Are in breach of these terms and conditions.
7: Limited commercial license for use of teaching resources
7.1 You acknowledge and agree that Abridge Academy provides you with a non-exclusive, non-transferable limited commercial use license for teaching resources, as detailed in this section. This license is only valid while your membership subscription is active. If your membership expires, payment fails or your account is suspended, this license is revoked and you must immediately cease all use of our resources.
7.2 You acknowledge and agree that teaching resources provided to you by Abridge Academy, whether for free or part of a membership subscription, are strictly for your personal use only. You may not share your membership subscription with other individuals or organisations. You may not use your account to access or download materials for anyone else. Companies, organisations, agencies or schools should ensure every individual has their own membership subscription, unless otherwise agreed directly with Abridge Academy through a separate partner agreement.
7.3 By using, viewing or purchasing access to our resources, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
7.4 You acknowledge and agree that Abridge Academy’s resources are solely for live education use, both non-commercial and commercial. This is limited to use within a classroom teaching setting, for in-person private tutoring or for live online teaching. You may not use these resources for non-educational use. If you are unsure as to whether or not your use would constitute live educational use, it is your responsibility to confirm with us beforehand.
7.5 You may not use Abridge Academy’s resources for asynchronous learning activities, including, but not limited to, pre-recorded classes in which learners were not present at the time of recording.
7.6 You may only use Abridge Academy’s resources within the Abridge Academy website. If you are teaching online, you should use your platform’s screensharing or built-in web browsing features to share teaching resources. You are prohibited from downloading resources or otherwise accessing, distributing, embedding, selling or otherwise sharing our resources or images of our resources outside of the Abridge Academy website.
7.7 You may record classes taught using Abridge Academy resources for the sole use of sharing with the learners present in the live class at the time of recording. You may not sell or distribute class recordings to individuals who were not present at the time of recording, unless required by child protection, regulatory or legal obligations, or in accordance with clause 7.8 below. If you are teaching with a platform which records classes, these class recordings must not be shared outside of the platform or with any individuals who were not present or enrolled in the live class.
7.8 You may use Abridge Academy’s materials to a limited extent in your marketing or advertising, as defined herein. You may embed a maximum of one open access resource (those available on our website for free without an account) within your own website for the purposes of sharing example curriculum content with potential students – please contact us for the embed code. Alternatively, you may take a maximum of five screenshots of our open access resources to use in your marketing materials. Additionally, you may record a maximum of one live or demo class using our resources, up to a maximum of 30 minutes in duration, for the sole purposes of advertising your teaching services in which you will be using our resources. You are prohibited from using marketing materials using or referring to our resources for the purposes of marketing other services you offer. If your membership subscription expires, you must cease to use any marketing materials using or referring to our resources.
7.9 You are prohibited from using our resources in any context which could be considered defamatory, obscene, hateful, inflammatory, inappropriate, discriminatory or offensive. You must not use our resources in a context which infringes any copyright or intellectual property rights of another individual or third party. Your use of our resources must not promote any illegal or criminal activity or which threatens or harms others. When teaching with our resources, we therefore ask that you consider how your words and actions may reflect on yourself and on Abridge Academy as a company.
7.10 You are not required to credit Abridge Academy when using our resources. However, you may not claim that the resources are your own work. If you wish to credit Abridge Academy, you may use phrasing such as “I use the Abridge Academy curriculum for my classes”. You may not use terms such as “partner” which may misrepresent your relationship with Abridge Academy or suggest endorsement. You acknowledge that all copyright and intellectual property rights to our resources remain the sole ownership of Abridge Academy.
7.11 You are prohibited from selling, redistributing, sharing or otherwise making available our resources, copies or derivatives of our resources, printouts, screenshots or images of our resources, or other reproductions to third parties. You may not embed our resources in your own website, a third-party site or intranet site. You must not make our resources available in a format that allows others to access or reproduce them. You are prohibited from using our resources in any way which contradicts the intent or spirit of this agreement, or otherwise infringes on Abridge Academy’s intellectual property or inhibits our business operations, sales, revenue or profits.
8: Online courses
8.1 By registering and/ or purchasing access to one of our online courses, you agree to be bound by these terms.
8.2 All online courses, materials, assignments and certificates are accessed through the Abridge Academy website. We guarantee to provide you with access to each course for a minimum of 12 months after enrolment.
8.3 Unless otherwise stated in the course assessment criteria, you must complete all lessons and achieve a minimum score of 70% in every quiz or assignment in order to pass a course.
8.4 Some of our courses are externally accredited and moderated by third party bodies. This gives you assurance of the quality and standards of our courses. By enrolling on an accredited course, you agree that all data associated with your course participation, including, but not limited to, discussion forum comments, assignments, quiz scores and progress data, may be shared with the associated third-party accrediting organisation.
8.5 By enrolling on one of our online courses, you agree not to plagiarise or cheat. This means that you may not use information from another source and present it as part of your own work, without referencing the original source. Additionally, you may not ask another individual to complete assignments or work on your behalf. All assignments, quizzes and other submitted work must be your own work. You acknowledge and agree that all assignments submitted to Abridge Academy may be checked for plagiarism, and, if found to violate this term, you will be awarded 0% for that assignment. Abridge Academy retains the right to revoke your access to our courses, without refund, if we believe you have plagiarised.
8.6 You acknowledge and agree that you may not assist others in plagiarising or cheating. This includes, but is not limited to, sharing quiz answer keys or completing tasks on behalf of another student. We encourage learners to share ideas and support each other, but this should not be to the detriment of fair assessment.
9: Copyright, intellectual property rights and confidential information
9.1 Unless otherwise indicated, all articles, information, resources, materials and other content presented on this website or through Abridge Academy’s services are subject to copyright and/ or other intellectual property right owned or licenced by Abridge Academy. Abridge Academy grants you a personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive license to use our website and services for their intended purpose, subject to your compliance with these terms and conditions.
9.2 You are prohibited from copying, reproducing, extracting, modifying, providing links to, taking screenshots of, creating derivative works from or otherwise communicating or making available to third parties any part of the content of our website or any resources therein without Abridge Academy’s written consent. You acknowledge that, by using this website or Abridge Academy’s services, you are agreeing to comply with this prohibition and that any break thereof is likely to result in legal proceedings being issued against you.
9.3 You acknowledge that all materials or resources you download remain the property of Abridge Academy in perpetuity.
9.4 Confidential information means any and all data, documents, software, materials or information relating to the business and management of Abridge Academy, its users, members and partners that is designated as or could be considered as confidential. You acknowledge that any confidential information which you obtain from your use of our services is the valuable, confidential, proprietary information of Abridge Academy. You agree that you shall not, without our express written consent, use or disclose this confidential information to any party, except as specifically authorised under these terms and conditions or required by law.
10: Third party links and resources
10.1 Abridge Academy or third parties may provide links to or embedded content from other websites or resources. Abridge Academy also provides a platform for third party organisations, companies and schools to advertise their services and job opportunities. As Abridge Academy has no control over these sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that Abridge Academy is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, materials or content on or available from such sites or resources.
10.2 You acknowledge and agree that Abridge Academy shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, services or materials available on or through any third-party site or resource.
10.3 You acknowledge and agree that Abridge Academy may receive compensation or affiliate commission for purchases made at third party websites, companies or organisations linked to or referred to by this website.
11: Uploading user generated resources
11.1 You may upload and sell user-generated teaching resources within our community resources platform. This includes, but is not limited to, slides, worksheets, interactive activities, media and other content. By doing so, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to these terms. You acknowledge and accept that this agreement does not constitute an employment relationship or partnership between the parties.
11.2 By uploading user generated resources, you confirm that you own the intellectual property rights to any and all content contained within, including, but not limited to, images, text, videos, activities, curriculum structure, or other content. You confirm that your content does not infringe the rights of third parties, including when used by other users under our limited commercial use license. You may not make any reference to third party organisations or trademarks, including, but not limited to, aligning resources with textbooks, brands, books, films or TV shows.
11.3 You acknowledge and agree that Abridge Academy may review your resources prior to being approved for listing on our website. However, being accepted by Abridge Academy does not constitute any endorsement or confirmation of your resources. If we later receive reports or complaints, or otherwise believe there are issues with your resources, we reserve the right to immediately remove them from sale and refund customers from your commission balance on your behalf. At our absolute discretion, we may allow you to make appropriate modifications before relisting your resources.
11.4 When you upload user generated resources, you grant Abridge Academy the exclusive, worldwide, perpetual and irrevocable (save as set out herein) license to use, sell, distribute, reproduce, publish, edit and display your content on your behalf. You still retain ownership of all intellectual property rights in and relating to that content. Resources will be made available to other users under our limited commercial use license.
11.5 You will be paid a fixed percentage commission on all sales of your user generated resources, as pre-agreed between yourself and Abridge Academy. You retain the right to change the price of your resources at any time. Abridge Academy will pay you commission on a monthly basis, with a minimum payout amount of at least £10. If your commission balance is less than £10, Abridge Academy reserves the right to roll over this balance to future months’ payouts. If customers who have purchased your resources request a refund, Abridge Academy reserves the right to deduct this refund value from your balance. You are responsible for any associated transfer or currency exchange fees, taxes or other costs associated with receiving this commission.
11.6 You acknowledge and accept that this agreement creates no expectation of any specific level of sales or remuneration for your user generated resources. You acknowledge and accept that if your account is terminated, whether by yourself or Abridge Academy, for any reason, you forfeit any unpaid commission balance.
11.7 You acknowledge and accept that other users may write public comments or reviews (whether positive or negative) about your resources. We do not actively monitor or modify any comments or reviews. If you believe any comments or reviews are in breach of the terms and conditions, for example if they are offensive or discriminatory, you may report the comment or review by contacting us.
12: Purchasing user generated resources
12.1 By purchasing user generated resources, you agree to be bound by these terms.
12.2 Abridge Academy will generally make available to you any user generated resources you have purchased for an indefinite period after purchase. However, we provide no ongoing guarantee of this. We strongly recommend you download any downloadable resources promptly after purchase. Abridge Academy shall have no liability for, or duty to replace, lost, damaged or destroyed digital resources.
12.4 Abridge Academy provides no guarantee or warranty for user generated resources. Although we may review resources before they are listed, this should not be taken as any guarantee of its suitability, sale-ability or confirmation that it complies with these terms and conditions. You purchase and use these resources at your own risk. Abridge Academy accepts no liability or responsibility for any issues which arise from your purchase or use of these resources.
12.4 In the event that we discover the user generated resources in use by you infringe the rights of any third party and notify you of this, you are required to immediately cease all use of the infringing resources and / or destroy any copies of such infringing resources.
12.5 You acknowledge and agree that you shall have no right to cancel your purchase once your order has been placed. All sales shall be final and refunds only available if access to the resource is revoked by Abridge Academy (for example, due to a report that the resource infringes another’s intellectual property rights). All refunds are made at the sole, final and absolute discretion of Abridge Academy.
13: Disclaimer and limitation of liability
13.1 Abridge Academy shall not be liable to you for any breach of its obligations or termination under these terms and conditions for causes beyond its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and other acts of God, terrorism, strikes, industrial action, cyber attacks, computer viruses, government regulations, death or illness.
13.2 No part of the provision of services by Abridge Academy or its employees, directors or agents shall be deemed to be, nor is intended to be, nor should be taken to be, legal or professional advice.
13.3 You expressively acknowledge and agree that your use of our website and services is at your sole risk. Our website and services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Although Abridge Academy aims to provide services to the highest standards, neither it nor its employees or directors accept any liability for inaccuracies or misleading information, any misunderstanding of information, any loss or corruption of data, any loss of profit, sales, revenue or goodwill, or any indirect, special or consequential loss arising from your use of our services.
13.4 Abridge Academy makes no guarantee that the website and services will operate continuously without interruptions or be error free. We accept no liability for its unavailability or technical issues, including, but not limited to, service downtime caused by website updates or maintenance.
15: Indemnity
15.1 You agree to fully indemnify, defend and hold Abridge Academy and its directors, employees or agents harmless, on demand, from and against any and all liabilities, losses, costs, claims and expenses (including reasonable lawyers’ fees) incurred as a result of or in connection with (whether directly or indirectly) your breach of these terms and conditions, any applicable law or regulation and / or the rights of any third party.
15.2 You agree to fully indemnify, defend and hold Abridge Academy and its directors, employees or agents harmless, on demand, from and against any claims brought by a third party against Abridge Academy in respect of infringement of that third party’s intellectual property rights by your content or activities using our services. This includes, but is not limited to, user-generated content and user-generated resources.