General information

ECCTIS Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales at Companies House with company number 02405026. Our VAT registration number is GB 535 71 04 56.

ECCTIS Ltd operates services branded as both Ecctis and UK ENIC. These Terms and Conditions cover services offered under the following web domains:

• www.ecctis.com
• www.enic.org.uk

Our registered office is at Suffolk House, 68-70 Suffolk Road, Cheltenham, United Kingdom, GL50 2ED.

In these Terms and Conditions:

• “We”, “Us” or “Our” means ECCTIS Ltd also trading as UK ENIC.
• “You” or Your” means the person applying for a Service from Us.

You must be aged 16 or over to apply for any of ECCTIS Ltd’s Services.

These “Terms and Conditions” cover all Our services for individuals (“Service(s)”), including:

• Statement of Comparability
• Visas and Nationality Services
• Early Years Advisory Service
• Early Years Statement
• Industry Skills Statements
• Translation Waiver Service
• UK Qualification Reference Statement
• Replacement Statements
• Replacement Statements with Additional Qualifications.
• Fast Track service options

You can only apply for ECCTIS Ltd’s Services if You are the person whose qualifications are being assessed.

Organisations applying on behalf of an individual must apply via Our services for organisations.

We reserve the right to cancel any individual application we believe to be linked to an organisation applying on your behalf via an incorrect route. Any refund will be subject to review under these Terms and Conditions.

When buying a Service from Us, You agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions and any other documents referred to in them.

Your information, and communications with You

You are responsible for ensuring the information provided to Us is correct and up-to-date for the duration of the Service.

Any information that You provide about yourself to support an application for a Service will be processed in accordance with Our Privacy Notice.

We will send You updates, and may need to communicate with You at any time regarding Your application. We will communicate by email and/or via the online registration portal. We may also contact You by telephone. We may also send satisfaction surveys – You can opt out of these at any time. We will not send marketing communications unless You indicate, via an opt-in, that You wish to receive them.

Ordering Services

A contract will be formed between You and Us once You have made payment for a Service and confirmed Your order. At this point You will receive an Order Confirmation from Us via the online registration system and/or email.

You must make sure that You apply for the correct Service, and check that You meet any eligibility requirements before You submit Your order. Information on the Services, and example documents can be found on the Service specific pages of the appropriate website. A Service Description is also provided on Your Order Summary and Order Confirmation.

We can start work on delivering Your Service at any point following the start of the contract. Fees can become chargeable as soon as the contract has formed.

Supporting documentation

You must provide all the necessary documentation to support Your application otherwise We will be unable to process Your order. The necessary documentation is listed during the application process for the relevant Service.

You must not send original documentation in support of Your order, unless requested by Us. You should upload clear colour photographs to support Your order. Original documents received by Us will be destroyed after use and, at the latest, after a period of 91 days, from completion of Your order. If We receive a request from You to return Your original documents prior to their destruction, We will charge You an appropriate postage and packing fee.

Our responsibilities to You

We will complete and send the Service requested by You in the form of a written statement ("Statement”). The Statement will meet the Service Description which You can find in Your Order Confirmation. You can find examples of the Statements that We provide for each Service in the relevant section of Our websites. Once Your Statement has been sent to You, this contract will have been completed.

We will provide the Services to You with reasonable skill and care to ensure that the information We provide is accurate.

Time estimates for completing Services

Your Order Confirmation will provide an estimated completion and dispatch time. Time estimates are calculated as follows:

FOR FAST TRACK SERVICES:

• The timeframe for the service will start once We have confirmed to You that We can complete the application (having checked Your supporting documents) and We have received payment from You.
• Your Statement will be completed 1 or 2 working days after the day of payment, (depending on which Service You have applied and paid for). Please note that time will not run between midnight on Friday to Midnight on Sunday (or any other day where the office is closed – public holidays or other advertised office closures), and are based on office hours, for completion by the end of working day indicated in your online application
• Working days do not include weekends (Saturday or Sunday), bank holidays or periods of office closure, including staff training days and Christmas closures
• Time estimates are for completion of Your Statement. They do not include the time taken for delivery. Depending on the time of day that Statements are completed (before or after collection by the courier), they will be sent to You either the same day as they are completed, or the following working day.

FOR ALL OTHER SERVICES:

• If all the necessary documents have been received, time will start running on submission of Your paid order.
• Where the necessary documents have not been received on submission of your application, time will start running on receipt of all the necessary documentation.
• Your Statement will be completed within the number of working days specified for the Service.
• Working days do not include weekends (Saturday or Sunday), bank holidays or periods of office closure, including staff training days and Christmas closures.

Time estimates are for completion of Your Statement. They do not include the time taken for delivery. Depending on the time of day that Statements are completed (before or after collection by the courier or postal service), they will be sent to You either the same day as they are completed, or the following working day.

Sometimes research will be required in order to provide a Service. We will inform You as soon as is practically possible if this is the case. Research cases will require Us to gather information from third parties, including education institutions, awarding organisations, qualifications regulators etc. It is not possible to provide time estimates where research is required.

Apart from the FAST TRACK Services, all time limits are estimates. Whilst We try to comply with time estimates, unusually high demand for Our Services and circumstances that are outside of Our control may sometimes make it impossible to do so. Refunds will not automatically be issued where We are unable to comply with time estimates for these reasons.

Pricing and payment

The cost of the Service will be listed during the application process and Order Summary and confirmed in Your Order Confirmation.

Payment will be made in Great British Pounds (£/GBP).

Payment can be made by credit or debit card online or over the telephone. Debit and credit card payments are taken using a third-party online payment company, Stripe. No card payment details are recorded, collected, or stored by Us, however we may use some information collected for the purpose of fraud prevention.

Once payment has been received by Us, You have 12 months to either:

• supply us with all the documentation and other information necessary to complete your application; or
• submit a request to cancel the service and receive a refund. Note that fees will be deducted from any refund depending on the stage your application has reached (see below).

Should you not complete your application within this 12 month time period then you will need to submit a new application, including payment, and we will not be able to issue a refund.

Where VAT or other taxes are required to be paid, these will be listed on both the Order Summary and Order Confirmation.

Postage and packing and delivery

eStatements are recommended as the default method of providing your Statement to You. This is a secure, digitally signed document, that is issued directly to your Ecctis account, for download. We do not issue Statements by email.

eStatements are available to download for a period of 18 months from issue and are chargeable per service. Should you require an eStatement after the 18-month period, you will need to order a replacement, which will be chargeable. If ordering a physical copy, the time taken for Your Statement to be delivered will vary depending on the method of delivery, and You should check with Your chosen postal delivery provider or courier for details on delivery times.

Should you order a physical copy of the Statement, You will need to pay a postage and packing fee in addition to the fee for the Service(s). The charge for Your chosen delivery method will be itemised in Your Order Summary and Order Confirmation.

Your Statement will be sent via Your chosen delivery method, and You should choose a method of delivery that suits Your needs. For physical Statements, We suggest that You use a tracked delivery method.

Once Statements have left Our offices, it is the responsibility of the postal delivery provider or courier to deliver it, and We are not responsible for any Statements that are lost in transit. We may charge You to reprint and resend Your Statement.

Application progress, cancellation and Service changes

Once You have placed an order, Your application will go through the following stages:

1. A. We have received Your application but work has not started on it (note that work may start immediately after receiving Your application).
2. B. Your application will be checked to ensure You have submitted all the required documents, and You are eligible for the Service in question. If We have not received all the documentation We need, We will ask You for it.
3. C. You will receive a notification that We can proceed with Your order based on the information provided by You. Your application will be “In Progress”.
4. D. Your application will be completed and sent to You.

If You have ordered the incorrect Service, we are unable to make a Service change once payment has been made, and You will need to request a cancellation of Your order. You can then apply for the correct Service.

If You ask to cancel the Service You have applied for, the following fees (plus VAT or other taxes if they apply) will be charged depending on the Service selected by You and the stage Your order has reached:

Service name	Stage A)	Stage B)	Stage C)	Stage D)
Statement of Comparability, English Language Assessment, Visas and Nationality Service (English Proficiency), Qualification Reference Statement Industry Skills Statement with Skills Mapping (stage 1) , Translation Waiver Service	No fee	10GBP (even if You do not meet the requirements for the Service).	20GBP	The full Service fee.
Visas and Nationality Service (PhD), Visas and Nationality Service (PhD with English Proficiency), Visas and Nationality Service (High Potential Individual services (with and without English Proficiency)), Industry Skills Statement for Academically Qualified Persons, Early Years Statement, Industry Skills Statement with Skills Mapping (stage 1)	No fee	10GBP (even if You do not meet the requirements for the Service).	135GBP	The full Service fee.
Industry Skills Statement with Skills Mapping (Stage 2)	No fee	N/A	135GBP	The full Service fee.
Fast Track add-on service (24-hour and 48-hour)	No fee**	10GBP (even if You do not meet the requirements for the Service).***	The full Service fee**	The full Service fee.

These fees represent a charge to cover work already undertaken on the Service and/or to cancel the Service.

*For more information about the stages of the Industry Skills Statement services see the Service Description in your Order Summary / Confirmation.

**FAST TRACK SERVICES – because of the speed at which these are processed, fast track fees will only be refunded if no work has been undertaken on Your order.

*** FRAUDULENT APPLICATIONS – should We suspect that YOU are providing false information, or We detect or suspect fraudulent activity, We will act in accordance with the section below entitled “Acceptable behaviour and fraud”. Please note that this applies to all Our Services.

Any requests to cancel Services should be made in writing by sending a message via the online application system. Where a request is made by telephone, We will ask You to confirm this in writing.

If You request to cancel a Service, any fees owed to You will be refunded to the payment card used for the original purchase.

Reprints and replacement documents

Any replacement Statements or additional copies requested by You following completion of a Service will require payment of a fee to cover the costs of doing so.

The fee will vary depending on the Service, and whether We have destroyed or deleted supporting documentation.

If it has been a period longer than 3 months from the original purchase we will require you to provide further copies.

Reliance on information provided by Us

The information provided by Us when delivering Our Services is an evidence-based opinion arrived at using expertise in the field and a well-developed method of comparing international qualifications.

Unless otherwise stated, We provide a general level of qualification that is not specific to the subject studied, the institution or organisation that issued the qualification, or grades that were obtained.

When You provide Your Statement to a third party, they may or may not choose to rely on the assessment We make, and they cannot be compelled to agree with or rely upon Our opinion.

WE WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY FINANCIAL LOSS THAT YOU MAY SUFFER WHEN SOMEONE RELIES ON, OR CHOOSES NOT TO RELY ON, THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN DELIVERING SERVICES, OR IN OUR STATEMENTS.

Errors, appeals, complaints and disputes

You should contact Us immediately if:

• You think We have made a factual error on Your Statement
• You would like Us to clarify information on or regarding Your Statement
• You are unhappy with the result of the assessment We have made.
• You have some other complaint regarding any aspect of Our Service.
• You would like to appeal a fraud decision.

Any issues raised by You will be dealt with as set out in Our Application Procedures.

The laws of England and Wales will apply to this contract. Should a dispute arise, that cannot be solved in any other way, it will be decided exclusively in the courts of England and Wales.

Contacting issuing institutions for research and confirming completion of studies

Where it is necessary to deliver the Service, or to prevent fraud, We will contact the institution or organisation that issued Your qualification for the following reasons:

• a) Where We need to undertake further research or gather further information in order to provide Our Services because:
  • i) It is a requirement of the Service You have applied for (e.g. for the Industry Skills Statement); or
  • ii) It is a new qualification that We have not encountered before and need to establish a comparison level in order to complete the Service./li>

• b) Where We need to confirm You have completed the course and/or graduated from the institution (We call this Primary Source Verification), either because:
  • i) It is a requirement of the Service (e.g. for the Industry Skills Statement)
  • ii) We are concerned that the documentation provided to Us is fraudulent.

When gathering further information for research purposes (point a) above) We will:

• If it is possible to do so, request information on an anonymous basis – i.e. We will neither share, nor request any personal information relating to You.
• If anonymous information is not sufficient, We will request the information directly from the institution if We are able to lawfully, or You may need to either:
  • Contact Your issuing institution yourself, asking them to send specific information directly to Us; or
  • Sign a declaration authorising Your issuing institution to send Us specific information.

When Contacting institutions for the purposes of confirming that You have completed a qualification and/or graduated (point b) above), We will either:

• If We are able to do so lawfully, contact Your institution directly, or via a third-party Primary Source Verification company, requesting they confirm that You completed Your studies and/or have graduated; or
• Ask You to Contact Your institution yourself, asking them to send Us confirmation in writing that You have completed Your studies and/or graduated; and/or
• Ask You to sign a declaration authorising Your issuing institution to send confirmation in writing to Us that You have completed Your studies and/or graduated.

Confirming contents to third parties

When You give or show a Statement to a third party (for example a potential or existing employer or educational institution), they may wish Us to confirm the contents against Our records as a fraud prevention measure. Where We are presented with Your Statement, We will confirm whether or not the Statement matches Our records. We will not provide any information to them about You that they do not already have in their possession.

Acceptable behaviour and fraud

In agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, You agree:

• To use Our individual Services only for Your personal, non-commercial and lawful purposes.
• That You will treat Our staff with respect.

We may stop or suspend providing You with Our Services if You do not comply with Your responsibilities as set out in these Terms and Conditions.

If We suspect that You are providing false information, or We detect or suspect fraudulent activity, We will stop or suspend providing You with Our Services and We reserve the right to pass Your information to the police or other fraud prevention agencies, or Government departments. Some or all of the fees paid for the Service may be retained.

Protecting Your data

We will always comply with relevant data protection legislation when processing Your personal data and when sharing Your personal data with third parties. Information about how We process information We hold about You, can be found in Our Privacy Notice.

Effective – 14/12/2023