Consumer general terms and conditions of the Dutch Council for Training and Education (NRTO)

These Consumer General Terms and Conditions of the Industry Association Dutch Council for Training and Education (NRTO) have been established in consultation with The Consumers’ Association in November 2020 and will come into effect no later than September 1, 2021.

Article 1 – Definitions

Subscription: An arrangement where a one-time or periodic payment is made, which gives the right to unlimited use of a learning offer during a certain period.

Distance Learning: A form of education where the teacher and you are not simultaneously present in person.

Contact Education: A form of education with direct interaction between teacher or trainer and student or learner.

Educational Service: The provision of education, training and/or training and/or the delivery of teaching materials and/or offering (part) exams and/or an EVC (Recognition of Prior Learning) trajectory and/or another form of assessment.

EVC: Acquired competencies gained during previous work experience or education. EVCs are determined through assessments and can lead to shortened (accelerated) educational trajectories.

Formal Education: Education that is regulated by specific educational legislation and that is concluded with a formal diploma, being a legally recognized diploma.

Non-formal Education: Education that is not regulated by specific educational legislation.

Education: Education, training, course, and/or training, whether distance learning, contact education, or education in the form of a subscription.

Agreement: An agreement as referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1.

Distance Agreement: An agreement that is concluded between the entrepreneur and you within the framework of an organized system for the remote sale of products, digital content, and/or services, where only one or more techniques for communication at a distance are used up to and including the conclusion of the agreement.

Startup Costs: The costs incurred by a provider for the execution of the study agreement in advance. A provider always incurs startup costs for you. These costs include: administrative costs, IT costs, marketing costs, personnel costs; rental of training location; sending and follow-up on the documents to be sent or delivered by the student including the educational agreement; if applicable, taking an intake test and/or conducting an intake interview; planning and assembling group divisions timetables and recruitment and planning of the teachers; specific information provision; the distribution of information material; administrative processing of the registration; setting up a student file; setting up and arranging the student account in the online learning environment; preparations for and execution of any introduction; related expenses such as postage, online license costs, costs for intake tests, information material, etc. Or other costs to the extent a provider can demonstrate.

Article 2 – Applicability

1. These General Terms and Conditions apply to all agreements between the entrepreneur and you concerning an educational service, both regarding formal education and non-formal education.
2. If the entrepreneur also uses other (industry-related) general terms and conditions and those conditions have not been established in consultation with consumer organizations, then those conditions are not applicable to the agreement. This does not apply if there are provisions included on which nothing is regulated in these general terms and conditions. All documents are part of the agreement, but there must be no conflict. Consider the provisions stated in the Education and Examination Regulations (OER), the educational agreement, or the registration form. In case of conflict, the most favorable provision for you applies. However, the entrepreneur may always deviate in your favor also with respect to the general terms and conditions. If only (part) exams, EVC trajectories or other forms of assessment are offered, the provisions in Articles 3 paragraph 3 sub b, 5 paragraph 1, 8 paragraph 1, 8 paragraph 2 sub b, and 9 paragraph 1 are not applicable. If only (part) exams are offered, the provisions in Article 5 paragraph 1 and paragraphs 3 to 7 are not applicable.
3. The entrepreneur may also use other general terms and conditions that have been established in consultation with one or more consumer organizations. In that case, the dispute committee mentioned in Article 16 determines which conditions apply to the agreement based on what the parties have agreed upon at the conclusion of the agreement.

Article 3 – Offer

1. The entrepreneur makes the offer (preferably) in writing or electronically.
2. The offer contains a complete and accurate description of the educational service and/or the teaching materials that are part of the educational service. The offer also indicates whether the use of this teaching material is mandatory.
3. Each offer must contain such information that it is clear to you what rights and obligations are connected to the acceptance of the offer. The offer states at least the following data in a clear and comprehensible manner;a. in the case of an agreement that concerns an educational service: – the manner of execution of the agreement; – when the educational service starts; – the conditions under which the educational service may not proceed; – if applicable: the admission requirements to participate in the education; – the price including all additional costs and taxes; – the method of payment; – the duration of the agreement,b. or in the case of an agreement that concerns the purchase of teaching materials:
   • the price including all additional costs and taxes;
   • the method of payment, delivery of the teaching material, and/or execution of the agreement;
   • the delivery time of the teaching material.
4. These general terms and conditions are made expressly known to you prior to the agreement and form an integral part of the general information provided by the entrepreneur.
5. The entrepreneur may condition the issuance of an offer and/or the acceptance of an assignment on the provision of personal data by you, and if and insofar as legislation by public authorities necessitates and/or allows it, a copy of a valid passport or a valid identity card.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions in paragraphs 1 to 5, the offer in the case of a distance agreement also includes the following information:a. the identity and address of the entrepreneur, including the address of the entrepreneur’s establishment;b. your right to dissolve the agreement within fourteen days in accordance with Article 5 paragraph 5 and 6;c. if additional costs are charged for contacting the entrepreneur by phone or internet: the height of the applicable rate;d. the validity of the offer.

Article 4 – Agreement

1. The agreement is concluded by your acceptance of the offer. After the conclusion of the agreement, you will receive a confirmation in writing or electronically.
2. In the case of electronic order placement, the entrepreneur sends an electronic confirmation to you; as long as the receipt of an electronically accepted order has not been confirmed by the entrepreneur, you can cancel the order.
3. After a distance agreement has been concluded, the data referred to in Article 3 paragraph 3 and paragraph 6 are provided in writing or on another, durable data carrier available to you and accessible to you.

Article 5 – Cancellation & (interim) termination of the agreement

1. You can cancel an agreement concluded for a fixed period at any time and terminate it. The entrepreneur will send you a confirmation of this. If there is an agreement regarding contact education with a fixed start date, the following cancellation arrangement and interim termination arrangement apply after the expiry of the possible reflection period. You then pay a reasonable fee for the work already done, including the Startup Costs. For clarity, below is an overview of these costs as a percentage of the agreed price. These percentages represent the maximum payable compensation. If the reasonable fee to be paid is lower, you will be charged a lower fee. The amount of the fee will be substantiated by the entrepreneur at your request (See here the fees)

*NRTO members may deviate from the percentages in the table above, either standard or in individual cases, in your favor.

2. Cancellation before the education has started or at interim termination, takes place in writing or electronically;
3. If there is an agreement regarding only a (part) exam or an EVC trajectory, the following cancellation arrangement applies after the expiry of the possible reflection period:a) cancellation before the start takes place in writing or electronically;b) in case of cancellation up to six weeks before the start, you owe the administration costs with a maximum of € 50,-. In the case of so-called computer-based exams, this period is two weeks before the start;c) in case of later cancellation, you owe the full agreed price. Unless the reasonable fee for the work already done is lower, in which case you will be charged this lower fee. The amount of the fee will be substantiated by the entrepreneur at your request.
4. In distance education, once the agreement has been concluded and after the expiry of the reflection period, cancellation is possible, but you remain obliged to pay the agreed price in full. Unless the reasonable fee for the work already done is lower, in which case you will be charged this lower fee. The amount of the fee will be substantiated by the entrepreneur at your request. Subscriptions can be canceled free of charge after the agreed subscription period in the event of automatic renewal with a notice period of a maximum of one month.
5. During fourteen days after concluding a distance agreement regarding an educational service, you have the right to dissolve the agreement without stating reasons. If the entrepreneur has not provided all legally required data, including those referred to in Article 3 paragraph 6, then this period is fourteen days after providing them, up to a maximum of twelve months after concluding the agreement.
6. In the case of a distance agreement that mainly concerns the purchase of teaching material, you have a period of fourteen days within which you can dissolve the agreement without stating reasons. This period starts the day after the day of receipt of the teaching material. However, if the teaching material is delivered periodically, such as a series of books or magazines, the period of reflection starts on the day after the day on which the first product from the series or the first issue of the magazine is received.
7. If the entrepreneur has not provided all legally required data regarding the distance agreement, including those referred to in Article 3 paragraph 6, then this period is fourteen days after providing them, up to a maximum of twelve months after the conclusion of the agreement. If all data has been provided, you can still dissolve the agreement within fourteen days of the provision.

8. Right of withdrawal in case of immediate or scheduled start

   When enrolling in an online or partly online program, the participant has the statutory right of withdrawal of 14 days after concluding the agreement.

   If the participant either:

   – explicitly requests the program to start within this withdrawal period, or

   – enrolls in a program with a scheduled start date that falls within the 14-day withdrawal period,

   the participant agrees that the program starts immediately or on the scheduled start date, and that the right of withdrawal expires once access to the learning environment has been granted and/or the program has started.

   After the start of the program, withdrawal based on the right of withdrawal is no longer possible.