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Drafting general terms and conditions for companies selling training and courses involves regulating the risks of your specific offering one by one: registration, cancellation, and rescheduling with a clear scale; the statutory cooling-off period for consumers; payment and payment terms; intellectual property rights regarding your teaching materials; limited liability; and a no-show policy. If you work with open enrollment for private individuals, the consumer rules (14-day cooling-off period, no unreasonably burdensome clauses) must be explicitly included. Below is exactly what should be included and which mistakes to avoid.
The short answer
- Registration and formation: how a booking is legally created and confirmed.
- Cancellation and rescheduling: tiered system with percentages plus the option to reschedule.
- Consumer cooling-off period: 14 days for distance registration, subject to the rules for early commencement.
- Payment: installment, prepayment, interest and collection costs for late payment.
- Intellectual property: course material remains yours; use only for your own learning purposes.
- Liability and no-show: limited liability and consequences of non-appearance.
Drafting general terms and conditions for companies selling training and courses: where do you start?
Don't start with a random template, but with your own offering. Do you sell individual open courses, multi-day programs, in-company training, or online modules? To consumers, to businesses, or both? These choices determine which terms you need. A set exclusively for business in-company training looks different from a set for open enrollment attended by private individuals.
First, map out your risks: which cancellations cost you money, how do you pay teachers and the venue in advance, and how valuable is your teaching material? Then, translate each risk into a clause.
Registration and formation
Specify when an agreement is formed: upon confirmation by you, after online payment, or after signing the quotation. Also arrange:
- Which data the participant provides and that it must be correct.
- That you may refuse a registration or cancel a course due to insufficient participants.
- How you offer the terms and conditions so that the duty to provide information (Art. 6:233/6:234 BW) is fulfilled.
Cancellation and rescheduling: the core
This is the clause you fall back on most often. Work with a sliding scale based on the time prior to commencement, for example:
- Up to four weeks in advance: free of charge or for an administrative fee.
- Four to two weeks in advance: a portion of the course fee.
- Within a week or at the start: the full amount.
Additionally, offer rescheduling : a one-time rescheduling free of charge to a later date, after which a fee will apply. This is more balanced for consumers and keeps the participant engaged. Avoid a rigid 100% clause without an alternative; consumers are vulnerable to invalidation with such a clause.
Cooling-off period for the consumer
If you sell to private individuals via online or telephone registration, a mandatory 14-day cooling-off period applies. Include the following in your terms and conditions:
- That the consumer may cancel free of charge within 14 days, unless the service has already been completed with his consent.
- That if he expressly asks to start the course within that period, you may charge a proportionate part in the event of early termination.
- A reference to or attached model form for dissolution.
You may not exclude or shorten this right. If you do, that clause is invalid.
Payment
Rule clearly:
- Payment term (for example, 14 days after invoice or prepayment before commencement).
- Prepayment for open courses, so that you are assured of participation.
- Consequences of late payment: statutory (commercial) interest and collection costs in accordance with the WIK, plus the right to suspend participation until payment.
Intellectual property of teaching materials
Your readers, slides, assignments, and online modules are protected by copyright. Include that:
- All rights to the course material remain with you (or your company).
- The participant may use it exclusively for their own learning objective.
- Copying, distributing, publishing, or commercially reusing without permission is prohibited.
Without this clause, your material can be shared unchecked or even used by a competitor.
Liability and no-show
Limit your liability, but not without limits. The common practice is:
- Liability is limited to the invoice amount of the relevant course.
- Exclusion of indirect damage (lost revenue, consequential damage).
- No exclusion in case of intent or conscious recklessness — that does not hold up.
For no-shows: stipulate that a participant who fails to appear without timely notification remains liable for the full course fee and is not entitled to make up the course. This equates it to a late cancellation.
Brief practical example
A language institute sold open evening courses to private individuals with only a 100% cancellation clause and no cooling-off period clause. When a consumer cancelled within two days of online registration and invoked their cooling-off period, the institute was still required to issue a refund. After adding a cooling-off period clause, a rescheduling option, and a tiered cancellation policy, subsequent cancellations could be handled without dispute.
Honest recommendation
If you sell exclusively to business purposes (in-company to other companies), with a single course format and clear payment and cancellation agreements, you can easily draft a solid set yourself based on a good structure — a lawyer is not strictly necessary in that case. However, as soon as consumers participate, you allow online payments to expire, you work with certification or valuable proprietary teaching materials, or you operate internationally, the risks increase. In that case, have the cooling-off period, liability, and IP clauses reviewed, because it is precisely these points that will fail if they are incorrect.
Ready to get started? View the general terms and conditions for training providers and course providers , read what these conditions are first , or compare with having them drafted .
Frequently Asked Questions
At a minimum: registration and conclusion, cancellation and rescheduling (with a sliding scale), cooling-off period for consumers, payment and payment terms, intellectual property of the course material, limited liability, and a no-show policy. These points cover the risks specific to courses and training programs.
Link the compensation to the time prior to commencement: lower costs further away, higher costs closer. For example, free of charge up to four weeks, a portion between four and two weeks, and 100% within a week. Add a rescheduling option, as this makes the scheme more balanced and less susceptible to annulment for consumers.
No. The statutory 14-day cooling-off period applies only to consumers who register remotely. If you sell exclusively to businesses, this clause does not need to be included. However, if you are unsure whether private individuals will also register, include it to comply with mandatory consumer regulations.
Include an intellectual property clause: all rights to readers, slides, and online modules remain with you; the participant may only use the material for their own learning purposes and may not copy, share, or commercially reuse it. Without this clause, your content can be freely distributed.
No. You may limit liability, for example to the invoice amount and excluding consequential damages, but you may not exclude it in cases of intent or willful recklessness. Moreover, for consumers, an overly broad exclusion is unreasonably burdensome and therefore voidable. Therefore, keep the limitation balanced.
Set the payment term and consider prepayment for open courses. Stipulate that statutory (commercial) interest and collection costs are due in the event of late payment, and that you may suspend participation until payment is received. This way, your financial position is secured before the course starts.
Stipulate that a participant who fails to appear without timely cancellation remains liable for the full course fee and is not entitled to make up the missed session. Treat the no-show as a late cancellation. Make the cancellation deadline explicit so that it is clear afterwards when the full amount is due.
