Terms of Service

These terms and conditions apply when you book an online German course or private German lessons from Geistzeit Ltd, trading as German Academy Zurich (german-academy-zurich.ch). By registering for a course or booking lessons you accept these terms.

Version of 27 August 2026. This version replaces the terms of 1 November 2022, which described in-person group courses held on the provider’s premises. German Academy Zurich no longer offers in-person or group teaching.

Scope

These terms govern all courses and lessons offered by German Academy Zurich on german-academy-zurich.ch and on the learning platform at course.german-academy-zurich.ch. Teaching is delivered entirely online. We do not offer in-person courses, group courses or lessons on our own premises.

What you book

Our online courses combine self-paced access to the learning platform with private one-to-one lessons, depending on the package you choose:

• Basic: access to the learning platform, no private lessons.
• Standard: platform access plus 10 private lessons.
• Premium: platform access plus 20 private lessons.

Private lessons can also be booked separately, individually or as a package. All lessons are one-to-one with your teacher and are held by video call. A private lesson comprises 45 minutes of one-to-one teaching between student and teacher. The lesson price additionally covers 15 minutes of the teacher's preparation time, so each lesson corresponds to one hour of the teacher's working time.

Registration and conclusion of contract

Registration is made in writing through the checkout on our website. Confirmation by email is legally valid. The contract comes into effect when we confirm your registration. The course fee is a one-time payment and is due at purchase; we do not offer subscriptions or monthly instalments.

Payment methods are shown at checkout. On request, and no later than 24 hours after purchase, we issue a confirmation of enrolment for submission to the authorities.

Terms of payment, default and reminder fees

Where an invoice is issued instead of payment at checkout, it is due within 10 days of the invoice date. If no payment is made by the due date, you receive a first reminder free of charge. If that reminder is not complied with, German Academy Zurich may charge a reminder fee of CHF 20 for each of the second and third reminders. If payment is still not made after the third reminder, debt collection proceedings may be initiated.

Course delivery

Courses are self-paced. You decide when and how quickly you work through the material, and platform access for the level you purchased is not time-limited. We may improve, extend or restructure course content, and we may assign a substitute teacher, for example in the event of illness.

Private lessons: scheduling and cancellation

Private lessons are arranged directly with your teacher and can be scheduled flexibly around your own commitments. Booked lessons may be cancelled or rescheduled free of charge up to 24 hours before the agreed start time. A lesson cancelled less than 24 hours before the start counts as taken and is charged in full.

If your teacher has to cancel, the lesson is rescheduled at no cost to you or a substitute teacher is arranged. If the match with your teacher does not feel right, you can ask us for a different teacher free of charge.

30-day money-back guarantee

You may withdraw from a purchased course within 30 days of purchase and receive a full refund, or until you book your first private lesson, whichever comes first. Once a first private lesson has been booked, the guarantee no longer applies, because the school has then incurred costs. No reason needs to be given. Send your request in writing to info@german-academy-zurich.ch.

For courses purchased before their published start date (pre-sale), the 30-day period begins on the day the course becomes available, not on the day of purchase.

Outside this window, and for private lessons already paid for and not used, no refund is given, except under the exam guarantee below.

Exam guarantee

German Academy Zurich offers an exam guarantee exclusively to students on the Standard or Premium packages. The following conditions all have to be met:

1. The student has completed all chapters and lessons of the course they enrolled in.
2. The student has attended and taken part in all scheduled private lessons of their course plan.
3. The student has sat the official exam at telc, Goethe or fide within three months of completing the course.

If a student who meets all of these conditions does not pass their official exam, German Academy Zurich refunds the full course fee paid for that Standard or Premium course. To claim, please provide:

• proof of exam participation and the official exam result; and
• a written claim to info@german-academy-zurich.ch within three months of receiving the official result.

The guarantee is personal to the registered participant and is not transferable. It applies only to the official exams named above and not to any other language assessment or to our own internal tests. Each claim is reviewed individually.

We prepare you for the language requirement of an exam. We have no influence on the decisions of examination bodies or of any authority, and we do not promise any permit, visa or naturalization outcome.

Our right to cancel

German Academy Zurich reserves the right to terminate the contract with a customer in the interest of the company and of its other students. Any course fee paid for services not yet delivered is refunded on a pro rata basis in that case.

Course confirmation and certificate

On completing the course you receive a certificate from our language school confirming the level you reached. This is a school certificate. The official telc, Goethe and fide certificates are issued by those examination bodies after their own exams, which are booked and paid for separately.

Copyright

All course material provided to you, on the platform or as a download, is protected by copyright. It is intended for your personal use in the course and may not be copied, passed on, published or made available to third parties.

Changes

We reserve the right to change our prices, our course offering and these terms at any time. The terms in force at the time of your purchase apply to that purchase.

Data protection

Protecting your personal data is important to us and we comply with the applicable data protection law. How we process personal data is set out in our Privacy Policy.

Limitation of liability

German Academy Zurich is liable for damage caused intentionally or through gross negligence. Liability for slight negligence is excluded to the extent permitted by law. We are not liable for interruptions caused by your internet connection, your device or third-party services, nor for the learning outcome you achieve, which depends on your own participation.

Jurisdiction and applicable law

These terms are governed by Swiss law. The exclusive place of jurisdiction is Zurich, Switzerland.

If you have questions about these terms or about how we handle personal data, please contact:

Geistzeit Ltd

German Academy Zurich

Im Bachofen 1

8304 Wallisellen

Switzerland

info@german-academy-zurich.ch

We aim to respond within 30 days of receiving your message.