Refund policy

This policy applies to every programme COTHM Dubai delivers, whether you paid online, by bank transfer or in person. It forms part of our terms and conditions. If you want to withdraw or move your start date rather than claim money back, read the cancellation and deferral policy first — a deferral usually leaves you better off than a refund.

How to ask for a refund

Write to [email protected] from the email address on your enrolment, with your full name, the programme, and the date you want the withdrawal to take effect. A refund request takes effect on the day we receive it in writing — not the day you last attended, and not the day you stopped logging in.

We acknowledge within five working days and tell you the amount due and the date it will be returned.

What you get back, and when

The amount depends on how much of the programme has been delivered on the day we receive your written request.

When we receive your request	Tuition refunded
Before the programme start date	100%
Within 7 calendar days of the start date, and no more than 10% of sessions delivered	70%
After that, up to 25% of sessions delivered	50%
More than 25% of sessions delivered	None

“Sessions delivered” means scheduled sessions that have taken place, whether or not you attended them. For a self-paced online programme we count elapsed time against the programme’s stated duration instead.

What is not refundable

• The registration fee, once your place has been confirmed. It pays for processing an enrolment, which has happened.
• Awarding-body fees — registration, examination, certification or membership — once we have registered you with ICM, AHLEI, Qualifi, Highfield, IATA or KHDA. That money has left us and the body’s own rules apply to it.
• Digital materials and eBooks, including Highfield publications, once access has been issued. A licence that has been delivered cannot be returned.
• Printed materials, uniform and equipment that have been issued to you.
• Charges for services already provided — re-sits, re-assessment, replacement certificates, courier.

When you get a full refund

You are refunded in full, including the registration fee, where:

• we cancel a cohort, or cannot run it;
• we make a material change to the programme — the qualification awarded, the mode of delivery, or the total taught hours — and you tell us the change is not acceptable to you;
• we decline your enrolment after taking payment, including where an entry requirement or a document check is not met;
• a payment was taken in error by the institute.

How refunds are paid

Refunds go back by the method you paid, to the same account or card. We cannot refund a card payment to a different card, or to a third party, and we cannot pay a card refund in cash.

Approved refunds are returned within 30 days of approval. Your bank may take longer than that to show the credit.

Refunds are made in UAE dirhams. Where you paid in another currency, your bank’s exchange rate on the day of the refund applies, and neither the institute nor the payment provider is responsible for the difference. Bank charges, transfer fees and currency losses are not recoverable from us.

Chargebacks

If you believe a charge is wrong, contact us before raising it with your bank. A chargeback raised while a refund request is being handled delays the refund rather than speeding it up, because the payment is frozen while the bank investigates.

Visa refusal and other circumstances

Where a student visa or entry permit is refused, we treat the written refusal as the date of the refund request and apply the table above. We will normally agree a deferral instead, at no charge, where the refusal is not the result of information withheld from us.

Students who are excluded

A student suspended or excluded for conduct or academic misconduct is not entitled to a refund. See section 8 of the terms and conditions.

If you disagree with a decision

Write to [email protected] and ask for the decision to be reviewed; set out why you think the amount is wrong. If we cannot resolve it, you may raise it with KHDA. Nothing in this policy affects your rights under UAE consumer protection law.