Here is some additional information regarding accommodation. General Terms and Conditions are also applicable.
By receiving and/or downloading the form, you fully declare, acknowledge and accept both the above General Terms and Conditions and the Accommodation Terms and Conditions. Speak Up London does not offer its own accommodations but works with agencies who are either registered with the British Council or are members of English UK.
Bookings: Bookings are only guaranteed after full payment, including the accommodation placement fee, has reached Speak Up London’s bank account and a written booking confirmation has been issued.
Availability: All accommodation is subject to availability. If the option is no longer available, we reserve the right to cancel any booking for any reason with a full refund before your arrival day. If, in exceptional circumstances, the accommodation booked becomes unavailable for reasons beyond our control, an alternative will be arranged. However, details may differ. The Accommodation is valid only for the person and dates specified.
Confirmation: We can only confirm the period of stay that we have received payment for. We reserve the right to cancel any booking for which we have not received full payment by the due date.
Minimum stay: All bookings must be 2 weeks minimum. A shorter stay (minimum 1 week) is possible upon request.
ETO: Educational Travel Operator
Payment method: Payments must be made in UK Pound Sterling (GBP) as all our payments are invoiced in UK Pound Sterling (GBP). Payments must be made by bank transfer, credit card or cash and must be received by us a minimum of 2 weeks before the student’s arrival date. We can guarantee the booking only after receiving the full payment for it. All payments must include all bank transfer charges (including intermediary bank charges).
Accommodation placement fee: All bookings are subject to a non-refundable £50 booking fee.
Date: In case the student requires to change the check-in date, Speak Up London must be notified at least two weeks before the original check-in date. All changes are subject to availability and a standard £50 administration fee. We reserve the right to refuse the student’s request and cancel the booking with a partial or full refund (depending on the notice given) minus £50 administration fee in case we are unable to find an alternative solution.
Supplement payments:
A £40 per week (pw) supplement is charged for each student staying over the Christmas Period (20.12.2025 – 04.01.2026).
A £35 per week supplement applies for the Summer Period (01.06.2025 – 01.09.2025).
A £50 per week special diet supplement is added for special dietary requests.
For other supplement payments, please refer to the accommodation pricelist.
Arrival details: When booking the accommodation, the student must inform us of the estimated arrival time at least 3 days’ prior to the scheduled arrival date. This is to ensure that someone is at the home/residence when the student arrives. Failure to inform us of the arrival time may cause delays in welcoming the student and we cannot be held responsible in any manner as a result of this.
For homestay: The student must contact the host directly at least 3 days before arrival or, as soon as possible, in case of delays. Their contact details will be included in the confirmation letter.
Should the student wish to extend their stay, Speak Up London must be given a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice. Extensions are subject to availability. All extensions to a student’s stay must go through Speak Up London directly, never through the host/residence/flat or ETO.
General: The cancellation policy may vary since we rely on different accommodation providers.
All bookings are subject to a non-refundable £50 accommodation placement fee.
Any refund agreed upon will be made within 30 days from the check-out date as originally booked.
Any refund will be paid using the same method the student used to pay for accommodation services. Please note that the student will be responsible for any bank charges/handling fees in processing the refund.
Cancellation Notice: All cancellations must be made in writing to [email protected] and take effect from the date we receive such notice. Cancellation notice must be received within normal working hours, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (excluding national holidays and the days between Christmas and New Year).
Please note that the check-in date is based on the first date chosen on the original booking.
ETO Bookings: If the student has made a payment to an ETO, it is the responsibility of the ETO to deal with that refund request. If the guest has booked through an ETO but paid the school directly, any refunds will be calculated by deducting any commission paid to the ETO.
Visa Students: Once a visa letter has been issued by Speak Up London, no refund will be given unless the student provides the school with a copy of the original visa refusal letter. In this event the cancellation policy below will apply.
a) Cancellation homestay
If you cancel… | What cannot be refunded | What will be refunded |
From the moment you book accommodation up to 1 week before your arrival date | 2 weeks’ accommodation fee £50 acc. placement fee | The remaining accommodation fee |
3 days before your arrival date up to your arrival date; or if you do not arrive on your arrival date (‘no-show’) | 4 weeks’ accommodation fee £50 acc. placement fee | The remaining accommodation fee. No refund if the booking is for less than 4 weeks. |
After arrival date | No refunds unless we deem circumstances to be extenuating. The student will have 24 hours after the original arrival date to contact Speak Up London about any issues. |
b) Cancellation Residence and Flat share
If you cancel… | What we must keep | What we will refund |
From the moment you book accommodation up to 4 weeks before your arrival date | 4 weeks’ accommodation fee £50 acc. placement fee | The remaining accommodation fee |
4 weeks before your arrival date up to your arrival date; or if you do not arrive on your arrival date (‘no-show’) | No refund | N/A |
After arrival date | No refund | N/A |
Please note that additional Terms and Conditions may apply for specific providers and will be shared at the point of sale.
If the student has to shorten their stay, please be aware that all accommodation changes are non-refundable once they have been paid. Should the accommodation be unsuitable, we will make every effort to supply the student with a suitable alternative, but we cannot guarantee it. In any case, we cannot guarantee the student will be able to relocate prior to 1 week after lodging the complaint. In the case that we find an alternative, the student will not be able to move again and try a third accommodation solution, except for in extenuating circumstances, which have to be proven.
Complaints must be genuine and serious, subject to our evaluation. In case of genuine and serious complaints, the student should fill in our arrival feedback form and provide us with a written explanation. We will immediately contact our providers and try to find a solution within 7 working days.
We will call our provider and the host/residence director concerned in order to ascertain their perspective on the complaint. If the issue is resolvable we will suggest the host/residence director to deal with the issue directly.
If the host/residence director is unable to do this and, after hearing both sides, we deem that there are grounds for relocation, we will aim to find a suitable alternative after at least 1 week’s notice (except in the event of emergencies). We reserve the right to provide alternative accommodation or another option. However, details may differ from the original booking.
Only after attempting all solutions, we may offer a refund for the remaining time booked. Please note that the £50 accommodation placement fee, the period already spent in the accommodation and current week of residence are non-refundable.
We will not pay for a hotel or any other accommodation solutions if the student decides to book if they choose not to take the alternative accommodation we offer.
We will not provide a refund in the case that the student decides to depart from the accommodation suddenly, without giving us at least 1 week’s notice.
We and our providers reserve the right to move a guest from their accommodation or refuse to accommodate any student should we find their behaviour unacceptable.
In the event of an emergency, we reserve the right to cancel accommodation without prior notice, or to change the accommodation without prior consent. We also reserve the right to change the allocated accommodation before or during the course if this becomes necessary.
If the student experiences a problem related to services provided by a third party, including but not limited to the accommodation and airport transfer, we do only act as an intermediary between the student and travel and accommodation agencies. We will not be liable to the student for any losses arising from any delays or failures relating to travel and accommodation arrangements, unless it is due to our negligence.
We will, however, do our best to defend the student’s interests and meditate on their behalf in the event of any breach of contract on the part of a travel and accommodation agency.
All accommodation providers may change their policies, prices and regulations, which may be out of our control. We do our best to keep as up-to-date as possible with all accommodation solutions but rely on information from our providers. Therefore, in the event of a policy change, the student may be required to pay an extra charge for the services offered. Under no circumstances can we be held responsible for any injury, damage, loss, misadventure, delay or accident which may happen during the student’s stay in their accommodation, or as a result of activities they take part in during their stay, or whilst travelling to and from the student’s house or their accommodation or loss of property.
The student is strongly advised to purchase travel insurance (which will cover them for loss of course fees, accommodation/home tuition & transportation charges, as well as injury).
The student is strongly advised to take out their own insurance policies on their personal property, i.e. laptops, jewellery and other expensive items.
The student is recommended to respect the family members/accommodation providers and other paying guests and not make unnecessary noise or create disturbance.
All damages and breakages the student may cause will result in the student paying for the damage directly to the accommodation provider or homestay.
We believe the information provided to the student regarding the accommodation at the time of booking is correct and is provided in good faith. However, we are not responsible for any inaccuracies that may result in any change of circumstances to the accommodation that has not been relayed to us. Any travel information given including nearest stations, information on buses/trains, walking times and distances are given in good faith and are approximations based on information provided by our partners.
We cannot be liable for any complaints regarding the location/distance/travel zone.
Visitors are not allowed to enter the house/residence/flat-share, unless by express permission.
For homestay option: Use of kitchen, phone, wi-fi and appliances are at the discretion of the host. Use of washing facilities is guaranteed once a week.
Speak Up London is very careful when dealing with visitors who are under 18. The minimum age of students to stay with a homestay is 16. We only accept under 16s in closed groups.
For under 18s, we inform hosts of any specific requests and requirements which have previously been provided by parents/guardians. However, we reserve the right to accept or decline specific requests in connection to our accommodation provider.
Under 18s will be given curfew times depending on their age. Under 18s must follow the curfew times. If the Under 18 guest is aware that they will miss their curfew, they must inform their host immediately.
If a host decides that the set curfew times are not appropriate and wishes the under 18 to return home earlier, their say is final.
If no curfew time has been specifically set for the student, then the curfew time for all students aged 16 – 17 years of age is 22:00. Students must ensure they have returned to the homestay by or before this time on a daily basis without fail. If they are not adhered to, the students will no longer be allowed to go out in the evenings or may be asked to leave the homestay to return to their parent/ guardian.
Under 16 (only in closed groups): curfew times to be agreed with group Leaders. If the student fails to arrive home by the arranged time, then the host must contact the emergency number provided on the accommodation booking form.
Please refer to our General Terms and conditions.
To ensure that the student does not incur any cancellation charges, we strongly advise you to allow sufficient time between visa application, interview date and arrival date in the UK . This will allow us sufficient notice in the event of cancellation/ change of arrival date and for you to avoid cancellation charges.
Should Speak Up London receive the result of a successful visa application fewer than 7 working days prior to arrival, we reserve the right to offer alternative accommodation.
Speak Up London cannot be held responsible for decisions taken by embassies or immigration police regarding entry visas or visa extensions.
In any circumstances, once a visa letter has been issued no refund will be given unless the student provides proof of their visa refusal letter– in this event, the above cancellation paragraph policy will apply (PAR V. a/b). No refund will be given if the reason for the refusal states fraudulent documentation has been submitted as part of the application to us or to Immigration authorities. This also includes documentation that cannot be verified as being authentic, genuine or if the pre-arrival form is inaccurate.
There is a £90 charge each time documents have to be sent by courier.
Should the original check-in date be postponed due to delayed visa applications, we cannot guarantee the original accommodation offered. We will arrange alternative accommodation. However, details may differ from the previous one.
We do not want bad actions in the accommodation. Bad actions include bullying, sexual and physical assault, racism, harassment and discrimination of age, sex, gender, religion, faith and ability.
In this situation, we may ask you to leave the accommodation. Some examples of other unacceptable behaviour include:
1. You break the law, e.g. take drugs in the accommodation
2. You have been abusive/shown bad behaviour to members of staff or the host (family members of the host)
3. You have consistently not followed the rules of the accommodation.
You will not receive any refund if you are asked to leave and your accommodation will not be transferred or replaced with another.