Terms and Conditions
Alfaskolen’s school regulations
1. General:
1.1. The school is anti-racist, apolitical and non-religious. Alfaskolen is proud to accept all students for who they are, regardless of what they look like, believe in or who they love. Students and teachers come here to learn and not to convince others of their beliefs or convictions.
1.2. Both teachers and students should work in pleasant conditions. Quarrelling, swearing, and using offensive language are not tolerated. We expect everyone in our school to treat each other with respect. Do not laugh at or criticize other classmates’ mistakes. Remember that everybody is here to learn.
1.3. Course registrations are limited to students celebrating 18 years of age or more during the calendar year in which the course in question is taking place for classroom courses. For online courses, the minimum age is 15 years of age. Students under this age limit can only be admitted to our courses by special acceptance from the Alfaskolen administration. For all students under the age of 18, their legal guardian or parent must send a written confirmation by email.
1.4. Course attendance at Alfaskolen is restricted to registered participants. Family members, children, friends, and so on, are not permitted to audit classes. To stay unaccompanied in Alfaskolen’s common areas, children must be over the age of 12. Pets are not allowed on the premises of Alfaskolen.
1.5. Alfaskolen provides courses in Norwegian and Social Studies to both students who are covered by the Norwegian introductory program and those who are not covered by the program. Both groups of students must pay for courses as Alfaskolen is a private provider of Norwegian lessons.
1.6. It is forbidden to smoke inside the building. Persons smoking outside the building are asked not to throw any cigarette ends or anything else on the building stairs or around. Persons caught smoking inside the building will be charged a fine of 2500, – NOK.
1.7. Persons under the influence of alcohol and/or any other substances will be asked to leave the school with no right to compensation for missed lessons.
1.8. Violation of rules #1.1.- #1.6. will be followed by an official warning; repetitive behavior will lead to expulsion from the school with no right to any refund of the value of the remaining classes of the participant’s course.
1.9. Teachers are there to help the students within the school’s syllabus. They do not translate letters or other texts, nor do they fill out application forms, etc. The teacher’s task is to teach according to the Norwegian syllabus.
1.10. There may be information on our websites that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions, including descriptions, pricing, availability, and various other information. Alfaskolen reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update information on the websites at any time, without prior notice.
2. Courses and lessons:
2.1. All courses are taught purely in Norwegian with fast progression unless a course description states otherwise. Familiarity with the Latin alphabet is required (fast progression, spor 3).
2.1.1. The length of our courses is stated in lesson hours per session. One lesson hour lasts 45 minutes.
2.1.2. Our courses and the school are approved by Norwegian Directorate for higher education and skills (HK-dir). Specific rules apply to persons covered by the Introduction program. If you are entitled or obliged to complete hours of approved tuition, you must inform the school about this when signing up for a course. The school cannot issue certificates with approved hours if you have not requested this before the course starts as the process requires mapping your skills and requirements beforehand.
2.1.3. Classroom-based courses cannot be filmed and attended remotely. No classes are recorded and archived as this goes against the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
2.2. Keep class disturbance to a minimum; this includes coming to class on time with your phone and other devices on silent. Participants who repeatedly disturb the class can be asked to leave without any refund.
2.3. Attendance is considered valid only when participants actively engage in the class, including active participation in both individual and group activities. If you are attending online, your audio and camera must be on for the entire class. The teacher’s assessment determines whether your participation meets the criteria for active attendance.
2.4. Questions regarding the lesson should be asked during the lessons. The teacher has the right and obligation to rest during breaks.
2.5. Any administrative questions, for example, regarding course dates, fees or school opening times should be directed at reception, not to the teachers.
2.6. Students are responsible for signing up to the correct course level. To estimate your level, you may take a free placement test provided by Alfaskolen to assess your level before signing up for a course. If you sign up for an incorrect level due to your own mistaken estimate of a course level, you will be charged applicable course changing fees for changing your course level, see section 4.
2.7. A scheduled course will start when the required minimum number of participants has signed up and confirmed their participation. The school reserves the right to cancel or postpone a course when the number of confirmed participants is lower than required. The school also holds the right to change/adjust start dates, times, and teachers.
2.8. The use of course books or digital resources is obligatory. The cost of books for classroom-based courses is NOT included in the course fees. Assigned books can be purchased at our school within the receptions opening hours, in Norwegian bookshops or online. Only when the school clearly provides the information that the course materials are included in the price, will there be no need to purchase books.
2.9. A digital course certificate will be provided to all students who have attended a minimum of 80% of the lesson hours. For a certificate of approved hours, see rule #2.1.2. As an addition to, or instead of, the regular course certificate, the reception can issue a certificate indicating the number of hours attended. There is a fee of 265 NOK for this certificate. This fee applies to any document that is manually produced by the administration.
2.10. If you have booked a course with one-to-one access to an online teacher, you have access to your online teacher only during the course period. The Zoom-meetings and the written exercises must therefore be completed during this course period. In addition to Zoom-meetings (45 minutes each), you may contact your online teacher with questions related to the course or meetings by e-mail in the course period.
2.11. If your purchased course includes access to a digital resource, your access is limited to the period from the date you receive your user account information to the end-date of the course. This is your private user account and must not be shared with anyone. If you share this account with another person, you will lose access to the digital resource.
2.12. If you wish to extend your access to the online resources, have additional Zoom-meetings and/or written exercises, you must contact Alfaskolen.
2.13. All course schedule times are stated in Norwegian standard time (Central European Time or Central European Summer time). All other, one-to-one Zoom-meetings must be scheduled in the period 08:00 – 20:00 (Norwegian standard time), Monday to Friday unless you and your online teacher have agreed otherwise.
2.14. You are responsible for the working order of your own equipment (such as computer, microphone, keyboard, and internet connection). If there are problems with your equipment or internet connection, the meeting will be considered lost. If your online teacher has problems with their equipment or internet access, you can schedule a new online meeting without extra costs.
3. Registration and payment:
3.1. Participants are personally responsible for checking whether they are covered by the Norwegian introductory program and for providing Alfaskolen with correct data during the registration process. Alfaskolen does NOT take responsibility for incorrect or incomplete personal information provided by participants during the registration process. Please address all questions concerning the introductory program to UDI.
3.2. A registration for the course is binding when the school has received one of the following:
a) A completed online registration through Alfaskolen’s websites, www.alfaskolen.no or www.learnnorwegian.online.
b) An e-mail which includes the applicant’s full name, address, phone number, date of birth, the name and start date of the course, and confirmation that he/she has read and accepts Alfaskolen’s school regulations.
3.3. Participants may purchase access to ongoing lessons, so-called drop-in classes, if there is a place available. The price for drop-in sessions is 660 NOK per session (courses held on Saturdays count as two sessions).
3.4. Participants are responsible for providing Alfaskolen with updated information on telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, home address and any other important changes in personal data.
3.5. Alfaskolen cannot be held responsible for administrative emails (course links, homework, etc.) being diverted into the participants’ spam folder. Participants should ensure that emails from the domain ‘@alfaskolen.no’ are not marked as spam.
3.6. All course payments should be made on www.alfaskolen.no or www.learnnorwegian.no. Payment by invoice is accepted when a company is paying for the course. Private persons can receive an invoice only by special requests and are subject to an additional fee of 85 NOK per invoice. This option applies only to persons with residence in Norway and who have a Norwegian Personal number. Course fees paid by cash at our school are subject to an additional fee of 85 NOK.
3.6.1. In all cases, the responsibility of payment falls to the registered participant. If payment is late or withheld, Alfaskolen reserves the right to send an invoice to the student with a 7-day due date. We strongly discourage signing up for a course without explicit written acceptance from a third-party payer.
3.7. It is possible to divide the payment into two installments for an additional fee of 300 NOK. This option applies only to persons with residence in Norway and who have a Norwegian Personal number. Due to administrative reasons, this option is only available when the participant informs the school about this when signing up.
3.8. The course fee for the One-Year Programs can be paid in four equal instalments, after consultation with the reception. The first instalment will include a fee of 400 NOK. This applies only to persons with residence in Norway and who have a Norwegian Personal number. Due to administrative reasons, this option is only possible when the participant informs the school about this when signing up.
3.9. Invoices/payments which are not paid by the due date (‘betalingsfrist’) will be processed in accordance with Norwegian law and the amount due will be registered in the Norwegian debt collection office (‘Inkasso’). The ‘Inkassobyrå’ is an external institution that calculates and charges late fees and accrued interest. Once an outstanding payment has been sent to inkasso, Alfaskolen can no longer administer any fees or deadlines attached to the payment.
3.10. Alfaskolen reserves the right to withhold the participant’s course certificate (‘kursbevis’) after the last lesson, if the participant’s course has not yet been paid.
3.11. Alfaskolen does NOT cover additional costs when making a payment from an international bank: the service fees plus any fees charged by the course payer’s own bank are to be covered by the course payer. In cases where the bank fees are significant, Alfaskolen will request the missing amount.
3.12. For courses which are on special offer, the conditions of the promotion given apply. Each participant is expected to make themselves acquainted with the general school regulations before enrolling in a course even if it is on special offer. Promotions cannot be combined with other discounts/promotions.
4. Resignation, course changes and cancellation fees:
4.1. Norwegian “angrerett”: Registrations carried out on Alfaskolen’s website are subject to the Norwegian «right to withdraw» (Angreretten) kap.6 § 20. The withdrawal deadline is 14 days (as in kap.6 § 21) from the day the course participant receives the email confirming the registration. The withdrawal form may be filled out and submitted at the latest on the day of the deadline. The form can be sent by email to info@alfaskolen.no, or delivered to Kongens gate 15, 0153 Oslo. According to § 26 of “Angreretten”, the participant is obligated to pay for all sessions held before the date of exercising the right to withdraw.
Registrations carried out on Alfaskolen’s premises are subject only to Alfaskolen’s own resignation conditions:
4.2. Resignations for courses are only accepted when they are presented on time in a written form, either by e-mail, through the school’s website or delivered to the reception. The school does not accept any resignations over the phone. A registration for a course will be considered as binding until a written resignation is received by the school.
4.3. Alfaskolen has the following policy regarding resignations and changing courses (does not apply to visa applicants, see section 5.
a) Free of charge: Alfaskolen allows resignations from the course free of charge when the resignation is received in written form 8 or more calendar days before the course start date. A full refund can be made by request. Example: if a course starts on 15 January, the participant can resign from the course free of charge up to and including 7th of January.
b) Late cancellation fee: Registrants resigning from the course 7 calendar days or less before the course start date will not be charged the full course amount, but WILL be charged a resignation fee (see rule #4.4.). Example: if a course starts on 15 January and the participant resigns in the period 8th-14th of January, he/she will be charged a resignation fee.
c) No refund: Resignations received on or after the first day of the course are not accepted. The full course fee will not be refunded, and any outstanding payments will need to be made by the set due date.
d) Registrants who have been accepted to One-Year Programs and do not require a visa can cancel their registration up to 30 calendar days before the program start date. An additional resignation fee applies (see rule #4.4.). Resignations received 29 calendar days or less before the program start date are not accepted.
4.4. Alfaskolen’s resignation and change of course fees are as follows:
a) One-Year Programs: 10% of the full course fee.
b) Summer courses: 25% of the full course fee.
c) All other courses: 35% of the full course fee
d) Other than rule #4.1., the participant holds no right to any form of refund or compensation for the course amount paid or amount due in case he/she leaves the course earlier than the course end date.
4.5. (Does not apply to One-Year Programs) It is possible to change from one ongoing course to another due to external, unexpected circumstances (e.g., illness of a close family member) by paying an administrative fee. The participant will continue lessons in an equivalent group, starting from where they left off in the previous group. Please note that a course group change can be arranged only after the reception has received and approved a valid written reason, such as a doctor’s note regarding illness. The school does not accept course change requests by phone.
The fees for changing a course are as follows:
a. Summer courses: 25% of the first week’s course fee.
b. All other courses: 35% of the full course fee
4.6. If the student is no longer able to participate in the course due to illness, they need to present a doctor’s note to the reception to be allowed to change to another course group free of charge or have the remaining hours of the course refunded. The refund amount will be calculated from the day the school received the documentation (NOT from the date stated on the document). An administrative fee of 35% will be deducted from the refund.
4.7. Participants taking part in 1-on-1 individual lessons and drop-in sessions can postpone a lesson at the latest 24 hours before the scheduled meeting. In cases where the school is notified too late or in case of a no-show, the participant will be charged for the missed lesson.
4.8. Any interest accrued on funds held in any of Alfaskolen’s bank accounts is the sole property of Alfaskolen AS.
4.9. Alfaskolen refunds within 7 working days. Please note that international transactions may take several days or weeks, depending on the receiving bank.
5. Visa and Student Deposit Account:
5.1. Applicants needing an official admission letter from the school for visa/permit applications, are obliged to sign up and pay the full course fee of a full-level course (96 hours) before such a document will be issued and sent.
This payment is considered an “open payment” and is valid for 12 months. Please note that if you received an admission letter before August 2023 for a course shorter than 96 lesson hours, the payment is completely non-refundable.
5.2. If you need to change courses, Alfaskolen must be notified a minimum of 14 calendar days before the start date. Changes made 13 or less calendar days before the start day will be subject to the late changing fee, see section 4.
5.2.1. Your payment includes a 35% non-refundable cancelation fee. You will be refunded 65% of the course fee only in case your visa application is denied (a copy of the letter from UDI confirming that your visa was denied is required).
5.3. Alfaskolen can never guarantee that a student will be granted a visa; Alfaskolen is thus not liable in the event of visa refusal or expiry.
5.4. It is up to the applicant to research the possibilities and requirements regarding visa. This can be done at the local Norwegian Embassy / Consulate or at the Norwegian Immigration Department (www.udi.no). Alfaskolen only provides information about its school and courses and not about visa regulations and conditions.
5.5. Alfaskolen has established a Student Deposit Account (from now on called SDA) for course applicants, who in order to apply for a visa/permit need to store a certain amount of money on a Norwegian bank account. The deposited amount is in Norwegian currency. The SDA is available ONLY for applicants who have signed up for a minimum of 96 hours and need to apply for a visa/permit.
5.5.1. The full course fee and the deposit amount due to be paid to the SDA are two separate items: the course fee is NOT a part of the deposit amount.
5.5.2. Students are obliged to open a personal bank account in their name in a Norwegian bank within three months after arrival to Norway. ONLY after the student has presented official documentation from the bank that a new account has been established in the student’s name, Alfaskolen will transfer the full deposit amount from the SDA to the students own Norwegian personal bank account.
5.5.3. Other than rule #5.5. Alfaskolen does not allow ANY other transactions to be made on the SDA.
5.5.4. In case of refund, Alfaskolen will only transfer the full deposited amount from the SDA to the original bank account from which it was deposited. The applicant cannot claim the accrued interest on the course fee and deposit.
5.6. This clause applies exclusively to participants in the One-Year Program and takes precedence over all other terms. Applicants requiring an official admission letter from the school for visa/permit applications must sign up and pay the full program fee. In the event of cancellation or a visa rejection, Alfaskolen permits withdrawal up to 30 days before the course start date and will refund 90% of the full program fee. The remaining 10% of the total program fee is non-refundable and will be retained as an administrative fee.
Complaints procedure and policy:
6.0. Alfaskolen Complaints Procedure: If you wish to make a complaint to Alfaskolen please send an email to info@alfaskolen.no. Please ensure that the email complaint includes:
- Your name and contact details
- A description of the complaint
- A suggested solution
6.1. The complaint will be acknowledged within 2 working days (Monday to Friday). You can expect a substantive response within 5 working days and in accordance with the following Alfaskolen Complaints Policy.
6.2. Alfaskolen Complaints Policy: Alfaskolen considers complaints as a chance to put things right for the person that has made the complaint, as well as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future.
6.3. The aim of our policy is to:
– Provide a complaints procedure that is fair, clear, and easy to use.
– Publicize our complaints procedure so that people can contact us to make a complaint.
– Make sure all employees at Alfaskolen know what to do if a complaint is received.
– Make sure that all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely manner.
– Make sure that complaints are, if possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired.
– Gather information that helps us to improve what we do.
6.4. Definition of a complaint: A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about any aspect of Alfaskolen and the services it provides.
6.5. Confidentiality: All complaint information will be handled sensitively, involving only those who need to know and follow any relevant data protection requirements.
6.6. Responding to complaints: All persons making a complaint will be treated with respect. Where possible, complaints will be resolved by agreement between the complainant and our staff.
6.7. Escalation of unresolved complaints: If the grievance cannot be resolved by agreement, Alfaskolen will inform complainants where, externally, they may take further action.
6.8. Responsibility: Overall responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the Inspector for Quality Assurance of Alfaskolen.
Data protection/GDPR:
7.1. Information storage and deletion: On July 20, 2018, the new Personal Data Act came into force in Norway. It is prohibited to retain personal data for longer than necessary for the purpose for which they were collected. Information must be deleted, even if you have not requested this. At Alfaskolen we will delete all your personal data 5 years after you completed your last course with us. This period is set to comply with the five-year storage obligation in accordance with the Norwegian Accounting Act.
*Last updated: May 2024
