NEOby Nudge Education

Nudge Education Policy Library

NEO — Withdrawal Policy

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DateAugust 2026
Review DateAugust 2027
OwnerDirector, Nudge Education Online & Head of School
Approved byThe Proprietor (CEO of Nudge Education Ltd)
Versionv08.26

A fully online school for learners aged 11–18

1. Purpose and Scope

This policy explains how a placement or service with Nudge Education Online (NEO) comes to an end: who may give notice, how much notice is required, what is payable, what is refundable, and how NEO supports the learner through the transition. It is written for parents and carers, commissioners and staff, and it should be read alongside the NEO Terms of Business — Commissioned Placements (for Local Authorities, schools and other commissioners) and the NEO Consumer Terms and Conditions (for parents and carers), which together replace the former unified Terms and Conditions.

NEO is a fully online alternative provision for learners aged 11–18, operated by Nudge Education Ltd (Company Number 10192753). NEO is pursuing accreditation under the DfE Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS). NEO is not a DfE-registered independent school and is not subject to ISI inspection. Statutory responsibility for a learner remains with the commissioning Local Authority and, where applicable, the young person’s home school.

This policy applies to:

  • Full-time placements, whether family-funded or commissioned, including learners in the Discovery Phase;
  • Short-term and transitional placements;
  • Tuition Packages (one-to-one tuition, where the learner remains on roll at their existing setting);
  • Curriculum Access and other bolt-on services.

Where a placement is commissioned by a Local Authority or another commissioner under a framework or contract, the terms of that framework or contract prevail over this policy to the extent of any conflict (see Section 5).

2. Our Approach

Withdrawal is part of school life. Learners move on because a mainstream return is ready, because a family’s circumstances change, or because a placement has done its work. NEO’s approach rests on four commitments:

  • We will never bind a learner into unwanted provision. Our notice period exists to allow an orderly handover, not to hold families or commissioners in a service they no longer want. It is deliberately short — one calendar month.
  • Withdrawal is never punitive. However a placement ends, the learner is treated with warmth and respect. There is no version of leaving NEO that involves a learner being made to feel they have failed.
  • Money conversations are never learner-facing. Fees, notice and any dispute about payment are managed between NEO, the commissioner and the family. No learner’s access to learning is withdrawn as a first response to a payment issue (see Section 7).
  • Every ending is a transition. We plan the learner’s next step with the family, the commissioner and the receiving setting, and we pass on the records the next setting needs to keep the learner safe and learning (see Section 8).

3. Notice Period

The notice period for withdrawal from any NEO placement or service is one calendar month, given in writing.

  • Notice may be given by the parent or carer (for family-funded placements), by the commissioner (for commissioned placements), or by NEO (see Section 7).
  • Notice must be given in writing — email is sufficient — to the learner’s Practitioner-Mentor or to the NEO admin address given at enrolment. NEO will acknowledge notice in writing within two working days; the notice period runs from the date the written notice is received.
  • Fees remain payable in full for the whole of the notice period, whether or not the learner attends during it. NEO will continue to deliver the learner’s provision throughout the notice period unless the family or commissioner asks us not to.
  • The same one-calendar-month notice applies to tuition and bolt-on services, and to a material reduction in a placement (for example, stepping down from a full-time placement to a Tuition Package), which is treated as a variation agreed in writing rather than a withdrawal.

NEO may waive or shorten the notice period at its discretion where holding to it would serve no one — for example, where a learner has secured an immediate start at a new school and the family, commissioner and NEO all agree.

4. Family-Funded Placements

4.1 Cooling-off period

Family-funded placements are consumer contracts made at a distance. Parents and carers have a 14-day cooling-off period from the date the contract is made, under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, as set out in the NEO Consumer Terms. If provision begins within the cooling-off period at the family’s request and the family then cancels, a proportionate charge applies for the provision delivered up to the point of cancellation.

4.2 Fees on withdrawal

NEO bills monthly in advance, over ten months from September to June. On withdrawal:

  • Fees are payable in full to the end of the notice period. Where the notice period ends part-way through a billing month, that month’s instalment is payable in full and is the final instalment.
  • Any instalment already paid for a period entirely after the end of the notice period is refunded in full within 14 days of the placement end date.
  • The registration fee is non-refundable once the cooling-off period has ended. Its treatment where a family cancels within the cooling-off period is as set out in the Consumer Terms. Where a learner steps up from a Tuition Package to a full placement, the registration fee already paid that year is credited against the full place.
  • Missed timetabled sessions during the notice period are not rescheduled and are not refundable, in line with the Terms and Conditions and the Attendance & Engagement Policy.

5. Commissioned Placements

Where a placement is commissioned by a Local Authority or another commissioner:

  • The commissioning framework or contract prevails. Many commissioners purchase NEO places under their own framework terms, which may set their own notice and termination provisions. Where they do, those provisions apply. Where the framework or purchase order is silent on notice, the one-calendar-month notice in this policy applies.
  • Notice is given by the commissioner, in writing. NEO asks commissioners to inform the family and, where appropriate, involve them in transition planning before notice is served; NEO will support that conversation.
  • Invoicing is reconciled against the purchase order. Monthly invoices are drawdowns against the commissioned period. NEO invoices to the end of the notice period and no further; any remaining commissioned value is simply not drawn down.
  • A learner’s withdrawal never waits on paperwork. Where a commissioner confirms a decision to withdraw, transition planning starts immediately, with formal notice following.

Where a commissioned placement ends, NEO provides the commissioner with a closing summary of attendance, engagement and progress, in line with the reporting arrangements agreed at the point of referral.

6. Withdrawal During the Year and Examinations

Where a learner withdraws part-way through a course of study, NEO will advise the family and commissioner honestly about the implications for qualifications — including what can be banked, what can continue elsewhere, and what will lapse.

Examination entries are made through NEO’s approved exam centre partner, and the contractual relationship for examinations is between the family (or commissioner) and that partner. Withdrawal from NEO does not automatically cancel examination entries. Families and commissioners should contact the exam centre partner directly about entries, refunds or transfers, which are governed by the partner’s policies and awarding-body rules. NEO will support this with advice and, with consent, a handover of relevant coursework or assessment evidence.

7. Withdrawal or Suspension by NEO

NEO may end or pause a placement in limited circumstances. Wherever possible, NEO gives the same one calendar month’s written notice it asks of others, and works with the family and commissioner on next steps before notice is served. The circumstances are:

  • The placement is no longer meeting the learner’s needs. Where reviews show that NEO is not the right setting for a learner, we say so honestly and help the family and commissioner find a better-fitting provision. This is a planned, collaborative ending, not an exclusion.
  • Safeguarding. Where continuing provision would place the learner or others at risk, provision may be suspended immediately while the concern is managed under the Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy. Any such decision involves the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). Statutory partners and the commissioner are informed in line with KCSIE 2026 and local arrangements.
  • Serious or persistent breach of the Terms and Conditions. Including sustained abusive conduct towards staff by an adult connected with the placement, managed under the Terms and Conditions and relevant policies.
  • Non-payment — as a last resort, and never learner-facing. Payment issues follow a graduated, adult-to-adult escalation: reminder, then finance-to-commissioner or finance-to-family contact, then Director involvement. A pause in provision on payment grounds happens only after that dialogue has been exhausted, is a governed decision taken in consultation with the DSL with the learner’s welfare weighed explicitly, and is communicated to the adults — never enforced by cutting off a learner’s access without warning.

Suspension is a pause, not an ending. If a suspension cannot be resolved and the placement must end, notice is served under this policy and transition support applies in full.

8. Transition, Records and Children Missing Education

8.1 Transition support

For every withdrawal, NEO offers:

  • An exit conversation with the family (and the learner, where appropriate) — to close the placement well and to hear feedback;
  • Transition planning with the receiving school or provision, including a handover conversation between settings where the family or commissioner consents;
  • A closing summary of attendance, engagement, progress and achievements, provided to the family and, for commissioned placements, the commissioner.

8.2 Records

The learner’s safeguarding file is transferred securely to the receiving setting in line with KCSIE 2026, promptly and separately from the general learner file. Educational records are transferred with appropriate consent. Records NEO must retain are kept in line with the Data Protection Policy and published retention schedule, then securely destroyed.

8.3 Children missing education

If a family-funded learner is withdrawn without a confirmed onward school, provision or home-education arrangement, NEO will notify the learner’s home Local Authority, in line with the statutory guidance on children missing education and NEO’s safeguarding duties. For commissioned placements, the commissioning Local Authority already holds this responsibility; NEO’s role is to ensure the commissioner has full and prompt information at the point of withdrawal. NEO applies this consistently: no learner should simply disappear from education when they leave us.

9. Devices and NEO Property

  • Devices funded and issued by NEO remain the property of Nudge Education Ltd and must be returned within 14 days of the placement end date, using the prepaid return packaging NEO provides. Returned devices are securely wiped in line with the Data Protection Policy.
  • Where a refundable device deposit was taken, it is returned within 14 days of NEO receiving the device in reasonable condition, fair wear and tear excepted. The cost of repairing damage beyond fair wear and tear, or of an unreturned device, may be deducted from the deposit or, for commissioned placements, charged as set out in the purchase order.
  • Where a device was funded by a commissioner, its treatment at the end of the placement follows the purchase order or framework terms.
  • Learner access to NEO platform accounts is closed at the placement end date. Learners are supported to export their own work beforehand, and NEO can provide copies of a learner’s work on request within the retention period.

10. What Is Payable and Refundable — Summary

ItemPosition on withdrawal
Notice period feesPayable in full — one calendar month, billed through, whether or not the learner attends.
Instalments paid beyond the notice periodRefunded in full within 14 days of the placement end date.
Registration fee (£250/learner/year)Non-refundable once the cooling-off period has ended (cooling-off treatment: see Consumer Terms). Credited against a full place on step-up from a Tuition Package within the same year.
Cooling-off cancellation (family-funded, first 14 days)Full refund, less a proportionate charge for provision already delivered at the family’s request.
Missed timetabled sessionsNot rescheduled and not refundable.
Device deposit (where taken)Refunded within 14 days of the device being returned in reasonable condition.
Examination feesPaid to, and governed by, the exam centre partner and awarding-body rules — not held by NEO.

All fees are quoted exclusive of VAT; VAT is added where chargeable. Family-facing prices are communicated inclusive of any applicable VAT.

11. Roles and Responsibilities

RoleResponsibility under this policy
The Proprietor (CEO of Nudge Education Ltd)Approves this policy; final decision-maker where NEO ends a placement other than by agreement.
Director, Nudge Education Online & Head of SchoolOwns this policy; oversees every withdrawal; decision-maker for waivers of notice and for the non-payment escalation ladder.
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)Consulted before any suspension or pause in provision; leads safeguarding-related decisions and the safeguarding file transfer.
Practitioner-MentorThe learner’s named mentor and the family’s first point of contact for notice; supports the learner through the transition; contributes to the closing summary. Does not deliver lessons and does not handle fee matters.
Finance teamIssues final invoices and refunds; manages the adult-to-adult payment escalation; reconciles commissioned placements against purchase orders.
CommissionersGive notice for commissioned placements; lead statutory next-step planning; receive the closing summary.
Parents and carersGive notice for family-funded placements; support transition planning; return NEO property; keep contact details current to the end of the placement.

This policy should be read alongside:

Questions about this policy, or about a withdrawal in progress, should be raised first with the learner’s Practitioner-Mentor, or with the Director, Nudge Education Online & Head of School.

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