General Terms and Conditions of Sale

1 - General Conditions


    1-1 Acceptance of the general conditions

These general terms and conditions of sale (GTC) establish the contractual conditions exclusively applicable to any contract concerning the purchase of our services and products concluded by a buyer with the status of a consumer.


    1-2 Area of application

The present contractual provisions are applicable to products and services ordered, delivered and invoiced to students, regardless of their location.


    1-3 Modifications to the GTC

The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France reserves the right to modify its general terms and conditions of sale at any time. By registering, the student accepts without reservation the general terms and conditions of sale in force.


2 - Registration Conditions


To register at the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France, you must be at least 17 years old. A student under 18 years of age at the start of the course must provide the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France customer service with an authorisation from his/her legal representative and a certificate of insurance prior to registration.


3 - Registration Procedures


3-1    The client can register in one of four ways:

  • Online on the website;;

  • By email ;

  • On site at the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France;

  • By phone.


3-2    Any non-beginner student wishing to enrol in a general French course must take a placement test online or on site. Participation in the placement test is an integral part of the contract and conditions participation in the course. Students who have already taken the placement test for less than 6 months or who are already enrolled in a class at the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France are exempt from this test.


3-3    In the case of online, telephone and email registrations, the client must take the placement test within a maximum of 5 calendar days after accepting the general terms of sale.


3-4    After paying the order and passing the placement test, a seat  in a class will be allocated according to the seats available.


3-5    Registrations for General French courses are made for a minimum of four weeks (unless otherwise indicated) and at least fourteen days before the course starts.


3-6    When the student registers online, by email or by telephone, he/she has a right of withdrawal of fourteen days, without having to give a reason. This withdrawal period runs from the date of acceptance by the student of the General Terms and Conditions of Sale. If the fourteen-day period expires on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it is extended until the next working day. The student wishing to make use of his/her right of withdrawal must notify this, within the legal time limits indicated above, in writing and by post to the following address: Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France, Service Clients, 101 bd Raspail, 75006 Paris, France; or by email to scolarite@alliancefr.org .


4 - Payment and Invoicing Procedures


4-1    Participation in the services of the Alliance Français de Paris requires the payment of:

  • Registration fees: these flat fees cover administrative costs and the Cultural Advantages. They apply to all courses and workshops taken at the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France for a period of one year (from date to date as of the start date of the course). The annual registration fee, payable at the time of ordering, is not refundable;

  • Tuition fees covering courses and examinations.


4-2   Textbooks and exercise books used in the courses are not included in the tuition fees or in the registration fees. Textbooks will not be returned or exchanged.


4-3    During public holidays, courses are neither refunded nor made up.


4-4    Registration is validated when the totality of the order is paid and when, in the case of non-beginners, the placement test is passed. Failure to pay for an order will result in its cancellation.


4-5    Payment is made :

  • By credit card ;

  • By bank transfer ;

  • In cash in Euros up to a maximum of 10,000 Euros. For orders over 1000 Euros, a certificate of origin must be completed and signed by the customer;

  • By online payment via the online payment platforms used by the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France..

In all cases, the fees of the financial intermediaries are at the student's expense.


5 -Conditions for Postponement of Registration for Group Courses at the Student's Request


5-1    No postponement will be accepted during a session already started.


5-2    Registration for courses can be postponed for a maximum of 6 months provided that the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France receives a written request at least seven days before the beginning of the course by email or on site.


5-3    Only one postponement with new dates is authorised. A postponement fee will be charged..


5-4    In case of postponement, if the new dates of the course are fixed, the fee will be maintained. If the new dates are not set, the original fee may change.


5-5    Any rescheduled course is non-refundable and non-transferable to another account..


5-6    No reason for absence can be made up.


6 - Conditions for Cancellation of Registration for Group Courses at the Student's Request


Before the beginning of the course


    6-1    All cancellations must be made in writing by email to scolarite@alliancefr.org or by post delivered on site.

Cancellation fees :

  • Cancellation more than 45 days before the first day of the course:

    • refund of 100% of the tuition fees;

  • Cancellation between 45 and 14 days before the first day of class:

    • refund of 50% of the tuition fee;

  • Cancellation less than 14 days before the first day of class:

    • no refund.


    6-2    Annual registration fees are not refundable.


After the start of the course


    6-3    No cancellation will be accepted for the current month.


6-4    In case of absence from one or more classes once the classes have started, no refund will be accepted for any reason whatsoever, except for medical reasons (see next point).


    6-5    Upon presentation of a medical certificate preventing the student from attending the course for a minimum of two weeks, the student may request a pro rata refund of the hours not attended or a postponement of the course for a period limited to 6 months after the date of interruption of the course.


    6-6   In case of cancellation for medical reasons, the refund will be calculated on the basis of the number of hours actually attended.


    6-7    The written request accompanied by the supporting documents must reach the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France at the latest seven days after the date of interruption of the course not attended, either by email to scolarite@alliancefr.org or by handing in a letter on the spot.


    6-8      The annual registration fees are non-refundable.


7 - Conditions for Postponement and Cancellation of Tailor-made Courses and Phonetics Laboratory Sessions


7-1    Postponements are permitted provided that the dates of the postponed courses are between the start and end dates of the original contract. No postponement of the end date of the course will be accepted.


7-2    The request for a postponement must be made in writing at least 72 hours before the time scheduled for the course (not including weekends).


7-3    In the case of groups: the request for cancellation/postponement of a session applies exclusively to the group and not individually.


7-4    In the event of a student's absence from one or more classes, no individual postponement or refund will be accepted for any reason whatsoever.


7-5    The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France reserves the right to cancel a registration for a tailor-made course or a phonetics session. In this case, the totality of the corresponding tuition fees will be refunded. If the cancellation affects all the courses chosen, the annual registration fee will also be refunded.


8 - Conditions of Cancellation at the Initiative of the Alliance Française


In the event of cancellation of a course or service at the initiative of the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France (notably due to a lack of students or absence of the teacher), the student will be offered a postponement of the course or service to a later date in the session or contract dates. If the client does not agree, the corresponding tuition fees will be refunded to the student on an hourly basis.

In all cases, the cancellation or postponement of services cannot give rise to the payment of damages by the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France, for any reason whatsoever.


9 - Changes to the Programme


9-1    Any change of pace or schedule initiated by the client and validated by the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France which implies a lower rate than the initial order will give rise to a credit valid for six months.


9-2    The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France also reserves the right to modify, if necessary, the timetable and calendar of courses, subject to informing the student in advance.


9-3    The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France reserves the right to modify, in case of necessity, for example for health reasons, the modality of the courses (face-to-face, hybrid or distance learning), before or during a course session, subject to informing the student in advance.


10 - Pedagogical and Computer Equipment


In the case where the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France provides an online pedagogical platform which can be composed of several elements: course management software, video-conference software, etc.

The Platform is accessible both:

  • on a desktop or laptop computer, via the Internet;

  • on mobiles and IOS and Android tablets, via mobile applications. This use is not recommended to follow the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France training courses.

All costs related to accessing the Platform, whatever they may be (notably hardware costs or Internet access) are exclusively the responsibility of the student, who is solely responsible for the use and proper functioning of his or her computer equipment and Internet access.

The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France uses all reasonable means at its disposal to ensure access to the Platform, but is under no obligation to do so. The Alliance Française Paris reserves the right, without prior notice, to suspend permanently or temporarily the use of all or part of the Platform, in particular in order to update, modify or maintain it, and, in general, for any other technical or organisational reason.

Consequently, the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France shall not be held liable in any way whatsoever, and for any reason whatsoever, in particular in the event of the temporary or total unavailability of all or part of the Platform, a difficulty linked to the response time, or any performance defect of all or part of the Platform.


Connection to the Platform

To connect to the Platform, you must be a user, i.e. the holder of an account. The user, being the student who has an account, connects to the platform by entering a valid email address and a password. These identifiers are confidential and cannot be shared with anyone, whether free of charge or not.

The student undertakes to make every effort to keep his/her identifiers secret and not to disclose them to anyone. In the event of disclosure, loss or fraudulent use of these identifiers, it is the student's responsibility to inform the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France immediately, so that the latter can proceed to change them.


11 - Disclaimer of Liability and Force Majeure


The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France cannot be held responsible in the event of non-execution or poor execution of the contract due either to the student's fault, or to the insurmountable and unforeseeable act of a third party to the contract, or to a case of force majeure.


12 - Complaints


The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France will study any complaint with the greatest attention. They must be made in writing on the spot or by email to scolarite@alliancefr.org .


13 - Image Rights


The Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France may take photos of students in order to use them to illustrate a brochure, its social networks, publicity or its website, unless the student advises otherwise. This notice must be given in writing, at the latest at the time of registration.


14 - Insurance


Health, accident and liability insurance is compulsory. For students staying in residences or with host families, it is compulsory to subscribe to a home liability insurance. This document may be requested on arrival.


15 - Social Security


All students enrolled for more than three months and under the age of 28 must ensure that they are covered by the student social security system.


16 - Exclusion


In case of breach of the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France rules and regulations, which can be consulted on the Alliance account (aurion.alliancefr.org/faces/Login), the Alliance Française Paris Île-de-France reserves the right to interrupt the student's course without notice and without reimbursement of the course fees.


17 - Language and Applicable Law


The language of the contract is French.

The law applicable to the contract is French law.