Parents will sometimes request refunds for Outschool classes. Our Standard Refund Policy details this process on the parent side, but this article details the process for teachers, providing specific guidance on how you should handle certain types of refunds.
We encourage you to proactively provide refunds in the following scenarios (which as you already know, makes for a better customer experience).
You canceled a class meeting, missed a class meeting, or shortened a section, and you were unable to reschedule or transfer the learner
You are running a specific teacher discount
A learner had a poor experience in class, and you were at least partially responsible
If a parent enrolls the wrong learner and then wants to switch the enrollment, you should fully refund the incorrect enrollment once the correct learner is enrolled.
Before you’re paid for the class section, you should use the “change enrollment” button in your sections to issue these refunds. If you’ve already been paid, please contact Support at https://outschool.com/help to issue the refunds and send back any necessary funds to Outschool.
1-on-1 Class Refunds
Please note that any teacher cancelation in a 1-on-1 class automatically refunds the family. Teacher cancelations include teacher schedule changes, unexpected emergencies, and instances where you cannot proceed with the session (e.g. the family did not provide homework or tutoring materials).
You may ask families to submit homework or tutoring materials at least 24 hours before class meets, allowing you to cancel with at least 24 hours' notice if you do not have the necessary tutoring content. If your class relies on learner-provided content, we recommend communicating deadlines and expectations with parents in advance. As a reminder, Outschool policy still requires that classes requiring learner content be canceled with at least 24 hours' notice to enrolled families to avoid being penalized for a late class cancelation.
If a parent requests cancelation in a 1-on-1 class, they should cancel the meeting using the parent instructions outlined here. Families will receive an automatic refund if eligible according to Outschool refund policies. Alternatively, parents and teachers can reschedule class meetings up to 48 hours in advance.
Outschool Issued Refunds
In some specific scenarios, Outschool may process refunds without communicating with you prior to issuing the refund. Outschool will make these refunds upon parent request. If you have already been paid, we will contact you to request a return of your 70% portion of the enrollment fee; Outschool will cover the remaining portion from the 30% service fee. You are expected to return funds within 7 days. The following are the specific cases where Outschool will initiate refunds:
Your class didn’t occur as originally planned. Parents receive a prorated refund for any of the following situations:
You missed, canceled, or attempted to reschedule a class time. In the event that the parent is unable to attend the rescheduled meeting, they can request a refund.
If a class starts more than 5 minutes late or ends more than 5 minutes early, parents can request a refund for the class meeting.
If part of a multi-day class is rescheduled and the learner is unable to attend the rescheduled meeting(s), parents can request a refund based on the number of meetings that were rescheduled.
For legacy flex classes, if you do not post in the classroom or communicate with enrolled families within the first day (24 hours) of your class start date, parents are eligible for a full refund upon request.
If you do not teach the slated number of class meetings, parents can request a prorated refund.
When making a change to the number of class meetings per week while an ongoing class section is active, enrolled families should stop their subscription and re-enroll to receive the updated, accurate price.
If you experience an unexpected emergency and contact the support team for assistance in canceling classes, we will default to canceling and refunding the parents, unless you specifically state that you will reschedule when you contact support.
For any other situation, parents are encouraged to directly contact Outschool for a refund, and Outschool may cover the cost of the refund in full.
Note that in the rare case where your class(es) are associated with an excessively high rate of refunds, Outschool will process all future refund requests from a combination of your earnings and Outschool’s share.