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Exhibitions & Events terms and conditions

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The following terms and conditions (the ‘Terms’) apply to each application for, and all participation in, British Council - Collaborate and Recruit Internationally (CARI) exhibitions organised by the British Council, incorporated by Royal Charter and registered as a charity (under number 209131 in England and Wales and number SC037733 in Scotland), with its principal office at 10 Spring Gardens, London, SW1A 2BN (the ‘Organiser’) to the exclusion of any other terms that you, the Institution (defined below) applying for participation in such an exhibition (‘you’, and ‘your’ shall be construed accordingly), seek to impose or incorporate, or which are implied by trade, custom, practice or course of dealing.

By clicking on the “Accept” button where you are invited to accept these Terms, you agree to these Terms, which will bind you and your employees.  If you do not agree to these Terms, do not click on the “Accept” button and do not apply to participate in the relevant British Council CARI exhibition.

In these conditions:

  • 'Application' is the application form made available by the Organiser and completed and submitted by you to the Organiser in respect of the Exhibition.
  • 'Application Deadline' is the final date for submission of Applications specified in the Event Details. 
  • Consortium’ refers to any two or more Eligible Institutions sharing a stand at the Event, and ‘Consortia’ shall be construed accordingly.
  • 'Eligible Institution' means an educational institution which is accredited by a recognised UK authority as specified in published British Council CARI eligibility criteria.
  • 'Exhibition' is the British Council CARI exhibition for which you submit an Application.
  • 'Exhibition Details' are those details relating to the Exhibition published from time to time on the Organiser's website.
  • 'Institution' means the Eligible Institution, Consortium or Trans-national Education Provider which has submitted an application to the Organiser to participate at the Exhibition.
  • Main Contact’ is the individual indicated as such by you in your Application.
  • Representative’ is an individual appointed by you (or, where your Application is made as part of a Consortium, the Consortium) to represent you (or the Consortium, where applicable) at the relevant Exhibition in accordance with paragraph 5.
  • Trans-national Education Provider’ shall have the meaning given in the British Council CARI eligibility criteria published.
  • Trans-national Education Zone’ shall have the meaning (if applicable) given in the Exhibition Details.
  • 'Venue' is as stated in the Exhibition Details.

1. Permitted applicants

You acknowledge and agree that only Eligible Institutions, Consortia consisting of Eligible Institutions and, where relevant, Trans-national Education Providers shall be permitted to submit an application to exhibit at the Exhibition.

2. Selection criteria

The Organiser shall allocate places at exhibitions on a first come, first served basis.

If the Exhibition is oversubscribed, the Organiser will operate a waiting list system. Institutions will be placed on this waiting list on a first come, first served basis. Exhibition spaces will only be offered by the Organiser to those on the waiting list if additional space has been made available through a cancellation.

For certain Exhibitions, the Organiser may specify additional selection criteria. These will be set out in the Exhibition Details. The Organiser reserves the right to select Institutions to take part in the Exhibition based on these additional selection criteria.

3. Acceptance

The staging of the Exhibition is conditional on the Organiser receiving a sufficient number of Applications to make the Exhibition cost-effective. The Organiser will notify you in writing no later than one week after the Application Deadline whether or not this condition has been fulfilled and whether or not your Application has been successful.

4. Consortium applications

You shall be permitted to submit an Application as a Consortium provided that: 

  • the relevant Application shall specify the names of all the Eligible Institutions making up the Consortium and written confirmation from each of those Eligible Institutions confirming their agreement to participate in the Consortium shall be provided to the Organiser;
  • the relevant Application will designate one of the named Eligible Institutions as the lead Institution for the purpose of organisation and administration.  The lead Institution will be responsible to the Organiser for payment of the fees for the Exhibition and shall be liable for all acts and omissions of the other Eligible Institutions that are members of the Consortium (and their Representatives) as if they were the lead Institution’s own;
  • the Consortium shall be represented by a maximum of three Representatives if a single stand is taken or a maximum of four Representatives if a double stand or larger is taken;
  • the Consortium may have a name that is distinct from the names of its individual members. However, that name must not be deliberately misleading, likely to cause offence or the name of a UK or in-country agent or agency. The Organiser, in its absolute discretion, shall be entitled to require the removal of any name that does not meet these requirements; and
  • the names of the individual Consortium members shall be prominently displayed on the Consortium’s stand and in the literature made available by the Consortium to visitors at the Exhibition.

5. Representatives

You may be represented at the Exhibition by any of the following:

  • your employee(s);
  • an agent, who may represent you at the Exhibition without any of your employees accompanying them. This is with the exception of any Exhibitions in China and India, where agents may not act as sole representative of any Institution, but they may act as a stand assistant; and/or
  • a member of an associate office overseas.

Regardless of the identity of the Representative at the Exhibition, you shall ensure that all communications between the Organiser and you will be conducted in the United Kingdom and not with overseas representatives. You shall be responsible for ensuring that all communications reach your overseas representatives and for fulfilling all obligations under these Terms. You shall remain fully responsible for the actions of any Representative throughout the Exhibition.

Where an agent is representing several Institutions at an Exhibition, they will need to provide separate representatives for each individual Institution’s stand.

You shall ensure that any agent you appoint as your Representative does not take a stand in their own right or in their own name and that such agent does not use an Exhibition for their own commercial interests beyond representing you. The decision of the Organiser as to whether any agent is using the Exhibition other than to represent an Institution shall be final.

6. Code of Practice for Representatives at Study UK Exhibitions

You shall ensure that your Representatives comply with the following provisions (the ‘code’):

  • Representatives must not market the services of any organisation other than the Institution or Consortium they are representing (in any manner including, without limitation, by distributing marketing materials) unless authorised by the Main Contact and with approval from the Organiser.
  • Representatives must only promote UK education.
  • At least one Representative shall remain on your stand throughout the Exhibition in order to provide effective guidance and counselling to visitors. Each Representative shall negotiate breaks with fellow representatives to ensure appropriate cover is in place at all times.
  • Representatives must only collect data from students when a relevant course exists and not collect data from students requesting information on a course which you do not provide unless authorised by the Main Contact and with approval from the Organiser.
  • Representatives must not take money from students for any services other than those provided by you.

If a Representative is deemed not to be complying with the above code the Organiser reserves the right to inform the Main Contact. Continual breaches may result in the Organiser excluding the relevant Representative from the Exhibition. The decision of the Organiser as to whether there is a breach of the code will be final. It is your responsibility to ensure all Representatives are aware of this code.

7. Exhibition fees

You shall pay the fees for participation in the Exhibition as published in the Exhibition Details.  Unless otherwise stated, all fees published in the Exhibition Details are exclusive of VAT, which you shall, where applicable, pay in addition.

You acknowledge and agree that if you have made an application as part of a Consortium, the Consortium will pay a premium of 20 per cent on the normal stand price as published in the Exhibition Details.

The Organiser will invoice you not more than six weeks prior to the Exhibition for the fees payable for the Exhibition (either under this paragraph 7 or under paragraph 8 below, as applicable). In the event that you place an order for any additional items after submission of the Application, these will be invoiced separately.

All invoices shall be paid within 30 days of the invoice date. In the event of late payment, the Organiser reserves the right to charge interest at three per cent per annum above the UK base lending rate of HSBC Bank PLC from the date on which the invoice has become due until the date of payment, calculated on a daily basis. In addition, in the event that any invoices remain outstanding, the Organiser shall be entitled to refuse any other applications made by you to participate in other British Council CARI exhibitions.

8. Cancellation

Cancellation fees will be charged for withdrawal from the Exhibition after the Application Deadline. Such fees will become due and payable on receipt of notice of cancellation.

Cancellation fees are as follows:

  • No fee will be charged for cancellation more than ten weeks prior to the Exhibition.
  • For cancellation between six and ten weeks prior to the Exhibition, the cancellation fee shall be 50 per cent of the full fees payable under paragraph 7.
  • For cancellation less than six weeks prior to the Exhibition, the cancellation fee shall be 100 per cent of the full fees payable under paragraph 7.

The parties acknowledge and agree that these cancellation fees represent a genuine pre-estimate of the Organiser’s loss in the event of cancellation.  Notice of cancellation must be given by e-mailing studyuk.events@britishcouncil.org. You will receive a confirmation message within one week of your cancellation.

9. Accommodation, travel, visas and freight

You acknowledge and agree that the fees for the Exhibition do not include accommodation, subsistence, visas, insurance, freight charges, international or domestic travel costs or other ancillary costs arising out of participation in the Exhibition, unless otherwise expressly stated in the Exhibition Details.

The Organiser will provide you with an exhibitors' handbook in which details of suitable accommodation for the duration of the Exhibition will be included. However, all arrangements for such accommodation shall be made direct with the provider specified and the Organiser shall not be responsible for your accommodation arrangements.

10. Loss or damage suffered by you

Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or restrict the liability of either party to the other for death or personal injury resulting from negligence or for fraudulent misrepresentation or in any other circumstances where liability may not be limited under any applicable law.  Subject to the immediately preceding sentence:

  • the Organiser shall have no liability for the damage, theft or loss of the Institution’s property that occurs at the Exhibition. The Institution shall participate in the Exhibition at its own risk and take out all appropriate insurances;
  • neither the owner of the Venue nor the Organiser accepts any liability for any accident, damage or injuries suffered in any way in connection with the Exhibition by you, your employees, agents, contractors, Representatives, invitees or any other person whatsoever;
  • the Organiser shall not be liable to you for: loss of profits; loss of business; depletion of goodwill and/or similar losses; loss of anticipated savings; loss of goods; loss of contract; loss of use; loss of corruption of data or information; or any special, indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses; and
  • the Organiser's total liability in contract, tort (including negligence or breach of statutory duty), misrepresentation, restitution or otherwise arising in connection with these Terms shall be limited to the fees paid by you to the Organiser under these Terms.

11. Loss or damage caused by you

You shall indemnify the Organiser against all actions, claims, suits, costs, expenses or demands (whether in respect of damage to property, personal injury or otherwise and including all legal costs and other expenses suffered or incurred by the Organiser) which any person may bring or claim arising in relation to the Exhibition caused by your breach of these Terms or any other acts or omissions of you, your employees, agents, contractors, Representatives or invitees.

12. Use of Venue, your stand and conduct at the Exhibition

You must not display literature on behalf of institutions that are not participating in the Exhibition. If requested to do so by the Organiser, you shall submit all promotional materials and displays to the Organiser for approval and to make such changes as shall be agreed. If agreement cannot be reached in respect of such promotional materials and/or displays, you must withdraw the relevant literature, material or display from the Exhibition. The Organiser reserves the right to close down any stand or reception area not meeting the Organiser's requirements. No promotional literature relating primarily to any Representative may be displayed at the Exhibition.

You shall not use the Venue for any illegal or immoral purpose and the Organiser reserves the right to remove all material that in its sole opinion may be considered offensive or obscene. You shall not use the Venue for the purpose of betting or gambling.  You shall not act in any way which may be derogatory or detrimental to the reputation, image and/or goodwill of the Organiser.

All goods and property brought into the Venue are brought in at the owner’s risk.

You are required to occupy your Exhibition stand from the time notified to you by the Organiser and must have completed all work on preparing / dressing the stand in time for the Exhibition opening at such given time. You must not vacate or dismantle your stand before the closure of the Exhibition and must have a representative staffing the stand at all times throughout the Exhibition.  Escalators and passenger elevators shall be dedicated for the use of passengers and you shall not block or use such escalators and passenger elevators to transport freight or equipment or material of any nature during the Exhibition.

You must vacate the stand by the time notified to you by the Organiser, remove all display material, exhibits, and other property from the Venue after closure of the Exhibition and restore each stand you use to its original good order and condition.

If you fail to observe the conditions set out above, the Organiser shall be entitled at your cost and expense to:

  • remove all display materials, exhibits and other property belonging to you or your Representatives and dispose of them in any way it sees fit; and
  • rectify all damage caused by you or your representatives and do all other things necessary to restore the stands and allocated space to good order and condition.

You must pay or reimburse the Organiser for all sums necessarily expended by reason of such default.

The Organiser reserves the right to eject from the Venue any Institution deemed to be acting inappropriately during the Exhibition.

Dress should be appropriate for the country in which the Exhibition is being held and you shall ensure that all Representatives dress accordingly.

You shall comply with all applicable legislation in force in England and Wales and the territory in which the Exhibition takes place.

13. Intellectual property rights

You shall only be entitled to use the Organiser’s name, trade marks and logos for the purposes of promoting your attendance at the Exhibition and in accordance with any style guides or other instructions issued by the Organiser. 

You hereby grant to the Organiser a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use your logos and trade marks (registered or otherwise) for promotional and commercial use in connection with your involvement with the Exhibition (including, without limitation in any promotional materials prepared by or on behalf of the Organiser for the Exhibition).

Except where these Terms expressly state otherwise, nothing in these Terms shall give either party any right title or interest in the intellectual property rights of the other or to any associated goodwill and the parties acknowledge and agree that all such rights and goodwill are and shall remain vested in the other.  Each party shall promptly notify the other of any actual or threatened infringement of any intellectual property rights of the other party which comes to its notice and at the request and expense of the other shall do all such things as may be reasonably required to assist in any proceedings in relation to any such infringement or claim.

14. Data protection

If any Personal Data are disclosed by the Organiser to you in connection with the Exhibition, you shall, in relation to such Personal Data:

  • Process the Personal Data only in accordance with instructions from the Organiser;
  • Process the Personal Data only to the extent, and in such a manner, as is necessary for the performance of your obligations under these Terms or as is required by law;
  • implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the Personal Data against unauthorised or unlawful Processing and against accidental loss, destruction, damage, alteration or disclosure.  These measures shall be appropriate to the harm which might result from any unauthorised or unlawful Processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage to the Personal Data and having regard to the nature of the Personal Data which is to be protected;
  • not transfer the Personal Data to any country or territory outside the European Economic Area without the prior written consent of the Organiser; and
  • take reasonable steps to ensure that such Personal Data are not unlawfully disclosed or Processed as a result of your access to such Personal Data.

In this paragraph 14,  “Personal Data”, “Process” and “Processing” shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the UK Data Protection Act (and GDPR).

15. Exhibition cancelled due to force majeure

Neither party shall be in breach of these Terms if it is prevented from or delayed in performing its obligations under these Terms by acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond its reasonable control (‘Force Majeure’).

If the country or location of the Exhibition becomes unsafe due to an event of Force Majeure, including but not limited to war, earthquake, typhoon, adverse weather, strike, fires, floods, terrorism, pandemics, acts of god and any natural disaster, the Organiser reserves the right to cancel the Exhibition with immediate effect.  In such circumstances, the Organiser shall be entitled to pay any Exhibition costs that cannot be refunded, cancelled or otherwise avoided from the fees paid by Institutions. The fees paid by Institutions would then be refunded by the Organiser less the unavoidable Exhibition costs that have been paid by the Organiser. The balance would be divided equally between all Institutions. You will be responsible for any cancellation charges on flights, accommodation and any other costs that you may incur in respect of such cancellation.

There are circumstances where political tension and local incidents will raise a safety threat but not be sufficient to cancel the Exhibition. In such circumstances, some individuals or Institutions may feel unwilling to visit a country and therefore decide to withdraw from the Exhibition. The Organiser would make every effort to facilitate this with the minimum penalty to the Institution. In the event of such a withdrawal, normal cancellation charges will apply in accordance with paragraph 8, except to the extent that the Organiser is able to reduce the charges without jeopardising the financial viability of the Exhibition.

16. Termination of agreement

The Organiser shall be entitled to terminate on immediate notice its agreement on these Terms with you if:

  • you or any of your Representatives commit any breach of, or fails to observe, any of these Terms;
  • you become (or, in the reasonable opinion of the Organiser, are at serious risk of becoming) insolvent or unable to pay your debts as they fall due;  or
  • you fail to pay any sum due under these Terms.

In the event that the agreement on these Terms is terminated by the Organiser, unless otherwise agreed between the Organiser and you in writing, you shall pay to the Organiser any expenses or loss incurred by the Organiser arising as a consequence of such termination. The Organiser shall have no liability to refund the fees paid by you in whole or in part.

17. Disputes & governing law

Should there be any dispute in relation to these Terms or your participation in the Exhibition, the parties agree that the matter shall be referred to the British Council CARI Account Management team as per the British Council CARI complaints procedure. If either party is dissatisfied with the decision, clause 15 of the standard terms shall apply.

18. Notices

If either party wishes to give notice to the other party under these terms and conditions, the notice shall be delivered by first class recorded delivery mail to (in the case of the Organiser) the address given at the beginning of these terms and conditions or (in your case) the address specified in the Application. The notice will be deemed to have been received the first business day following the date of posting.

19. Child protection code of conduct education fairs

This is not an exhaustive or exclusive list. The principle is that you should not act in any way that constitutes abuse of children and young people, and aim at all times for best practise standards.

ALWAYS: 

  • Listen to and respect children,
  • Be aware of situations which may present risks for children and take appropriate actions
  • As far as possible, be visible when working with children
  • Consider your physical appearance at work. Adults working with children should dress appropriately for the task undertaken
  • Report any concerns you may have about the protection or wellbeing of a child/children to British Council staff at the Fair
  • Observe confidentiality and not talk about any situations of actual or suspected abuse that occurs except in accordance with this policy. This is necessary to protect the privacy of those involved

NEVER:

  • Hit or otherwise physically assault or abuse children
  • Act in ways meant to shame, humiliate, belittle or degrade children
  • Show differential treatment, or favour particular children to the exclusion of others
  • Use language or make suggestions which are inappropriate, offensive or abusive
  • Spend excessive time alone with children away from others
  • Develop relationships with children which could in any way be seen as exploitative or abusive
  • Develop intimate sexual relationships with children
  • Pay for sexual services, of any kind, at any time, with anyone under the age of 18 years old
  • Expose children to pornographic materials in electronic or any other form
  • Permit children to take part in activities that are illegal, unsafe or abusive
  • Whilst working:
    • take or condone the taking of illegal drugs
    • drink alcohol when with children (or prior to contact)
  • Take photos of children participating in British Council activities without getting consent from the child when possible. Consent always needs to be given in writing by the parent/carer.
  • Let allegations go unreported, including any made against them.
  • Use personal email accounts, social networking sites, mobile phones or other means of communication to contact children. Always use business e-mail accounts and copy in parents when sending out communication to children.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and to a policy of equal opportunity and diversity, and expects all staff and stakeholders to share this commitment.