Fees and payment

Terms of Tuition

Once payment for lessons has been received KMS will provide ten lessons per term on a rolling contract. Tuition can be provided on an individual or group basis in person or online using Google Hangouts. Group tuition is subject to students of the same standard applying and also by the agreement of the school. You may be offered individual tuition if there are no pupils to form a group with and a new charge rate will apply. Similarly, if you are offered a group rate and in time a member leaves the group, you will be offered a new lesson type with an alternative rate, at which point you can choose whether to continue.

For school tuition the Parent/Guardian is responsible at the beginning of each term for checking SpeedAdmin to find out the lesson time the week before the KMS term starts (schools are also notified of these times). Once lessons have been timetabled and confirmed it is expected that pupils will attend all lessons.

In primary schools we collborate to schedule lessons on the basis of room availability and sensitivies to their individual requirements. This time will remian fixed throughout the term. Once the lesson offer has been accepted by the parent/guardian, we cannot guarentee to make any changes.

All secondary school lessons are rotated on a weekly basis to aim to ensure that students do not miss the same lesson each week. SpeedAdmin will show the date of the first lesson - students should liaise with their tutor or check notice boards for times and subseqent dates.

For online tuition your tutor will contact you to organise a mutually convenient time for lessons and confirm this via email. The parent/guardian or adult learner is responsible for creating a Google account to be used with Google Hangouts and for the use of the correct equipment and settings. The guidance will be provided on request. (Please ignore the time and date on SpeedAdmin as this is just a standard entry for online lessons where dates and times have not yet been specified.

Invoices for tuition will automatically be sent to you in advance of the term and you will be required to pay before lessons commence within the 14 day payment period. Lessons will continue to be renewed automatically each term unless you choose to discontinue - see below for details.

Credits and Refunds

If a tutor is absent for a lesson, the music centre is closed or an online lesson could not take place due to technical issues, a catch up lesson will be organised at a later date. If the tutor is unable to make up the lesson, a credit note or refund will be issued by KMS. Catch-up lessons will be conducted online in the event that an in-person catch-up date cannot be arranged. For music centre lessons, all cat-ups will be online.

Refunds will not be given nor lessons made up in the event of pupil absence due to sickness, school trips, exams and dental/medical appointments. In the event of a major global event (pandemic, severe weather, war, famine or similar) where possible, if there is time, KMS will endevour to transfer lessons online following government guidance, providing it is safe to do so. In the event of industrial action, KMS will deliver as many lessons as possible, either in person or online. There may be a number of lessons which cannot go ahead, due to the complex nature of schools part opening, and whilst KMS recognises this is not the fault of children or parents, it is also beyond tutor and KMS control, too. Therefore, regretfully KMS is unable to offer catch up or credits for these sessions. For school closures on the day, no catch-up lessons oe credits/refunds will be arranged/provided.

As a courtesy, parents/guardians/adult learners should give tutors at least 24 hours’ notice if missing a scheduled lesson.

Parents/guardians are responsible for notifying KMS if their child is unable to make a lesson due to a planned whole school closure e.g. INSET day. KMS will make these lessons up if given at least two weeks’ notice. 

Discontinuation of Lessons

To stop having tuition, please send a written cancellation notification indicating the student, teacher, instrument and location of lessons directly to Kingston Music Service (not to your school or tutor) by email to musicservice@kingston.gov.uk with DISCONTINUATION in the subject of the email.

DEADLINE: Written notification must be received by the Friday of week 5 for lessons to be discontinued from the end of that term.  If written notice is not given by this time, you are liable to pay the next term’s fees. For example, to stop lessons at Christmas 2023 we must recieve notice by Friday 20th October 2023.

Instrumental Hire

The Music Service has a range of instruments for hire. The current cost of instrument hire can be found on the KMS website. A terms fee is required as a deposit and will be refunded on return of the instrument. Parents/guardians/adult learners will need to collect the instrument from the KMS office.

Parents are liable to insure the instrument that they have hired and must return the instrument when their child stops lessons, or stops playing in an ensemble. All instruments must be maintained by the hirer and must be returned in the same condition that they were received. 

In the event of a major global event (pandemic, severe weather, war, famine or similar) you may be asked to keep the instrument in your possession until it is safe to return it.  You will not be charged for this additional time.

Tutors

All instrumental and vocal tutors are highly qualified and all appropriate checks are made. The Service monitors quality and provides professional development for tutors.

We reserve the right to alter tutor delivering the lessons but will endeavour to tell you if this is necessary. If we are unable to find a replacement tutor then we will refund or credit the relevant fee as appropriate. All tuition depends on the availability of tutors.

How to pay

All fees must be paid in advance, within 14 days of the date indicated on your invoice. 

Parent/guardians will be sent an invoice via our SpeedAdmin website (where you first applied for lessons). All payments must be made online via the SpeedAdmin website.

Other important information

Parents/guardians and adult learners are expected to provide instruments, accessories, music and equipment necessary for online lessons. KMS does not accept liability for loss or damage to any personal possessions or personal injury, however caused.

Please refer to our Online Code of Conduct for online tuition.