Version 1.0 · in force from 1 September 2026
Refund and scope policy
This is a public page because a refund policy you can only read after paying is not a policy, it is a surprise. It is written to be understood rather than to be difficult.
Every fee block on this site links here, and the one page scope document you sign before paying repeats the parts that apply to you.
What you are buying
You are buying professional time and work product: an assessment, a plan, documents prepared and reviewed, coaching, and a file built to the standard the receiving body expects.
You are not buying an outcome. Admission is decided by a university, a job offer by an employer, a visa by a government, and a test score by an examiner or an algorithm. None of those four decisions is ours to sell.
Every package on this site lists exactly what is included and what is not. That list, made specific to you, is your scope document.
What we commit to
- A written scope before you pay, naming deliverables, dates and exclusions.
- The price published on this website, with nothing added later that is not on your scope.
- An honest assessment of your chances, including when the answer is that you should not proceed.
- The named person on your scope document doing the work, or notice if that changes.
- A reply to any message within one working day during the engagement.
- Your documents returned in one folder you keep, whatever the outcome.
Timelines
How long each step takes, and what counts as late
- Assessment call booked
- Within 5 working days of your request
- Written assessment
- Within 2 working days of the call
- Scope document issued
- Same week as the assessment
- First milestone after payment
- Named on your scope, typically 7 to 14 days
- Document review turnaround
- 3 working days per submission
- Reply to any message
- 1 working day
- Refund paid once approved
- Within 10 working days
- File closed after no contact
- 60 days and 3 attempts to reach you
Refunds
What triggers a refund, and what does not
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| You change your mind within 7 days and we have not yet delivered the first milestoneThe first milestone is named on your scope document. For most packages it is the written assessment, the shortlist or the checklist. Ask us and we will tell you where you are. | Full refund |
| We miss a deadline written on your scope document by more than 14 days, through our own faultYou choose the refund or a continuation with a revised date. Delays caused by a document you have not sent us, or by a government or university timeline, are not our fault and are not covered here. | Full refund |
| A visa or admission application is refused because of an error we made in the documentationIf reapplying is not possible or not sensible, you get a full refund of our fee instead. Government and third party fees are not refundable by us because we never held that money. This applies to errors in the file, not to a decision that went against you on the facts. | We redo the work at no charge |
| You stop the engagement after some milestones are completeYou pay for the milestones delivered, at the proportions listed on your scope document, and we refund the rest. Work in progress on the current milestone is charged at half. | Partial refund |
| You cancel a language batch more than 48 hours before it startsNo questions asked, no administration fee. | Full refund |
| You attend the first class of a language batch and tell us it is not right for youTell us within 24 hours of that first class. You keep nothing from the course, including recordings and materials. | Full refund |
| You leave a language batch after the second classPro rata on the classes not yet taught, less a 15 per cent administration charge, because the seat cannot be resold once a batch has started. | Partial refund |
| A visa, admission or job application is refused, and the file was correctWe are paid to prepare your file properly and to tell you the truth about your chances beforehand. The decision itself belongs to a government, a university or an employer, and no consultant controls it. If our written assessment told you the risk existed, this is that risk. | No refund |
| You do not get the test score you wantedCoaching is teaching, not a score. We will tell you honestly during the course whether your target looks reachable, and you can decide about a retake with that information. | No refund |
| You stop responding for more than 60 daysAfter three attempts to reach you across 60 days we close the file. Contact us afterwards and we will reopen it once at no charge, provided the route is still available to you. | No refund |
| Government, embassy, test, university or third party feesYou pay these directly to the body concerned and we never hold the money. Their own refund rules apply, and most of them do not have any. | Never refundable by us |
| You gave us information that was not true, and it comes outWe will not work on a file we believe to be untrue. This is the one situation where we end an engagement without notice. | No refund, and we stop work |
How to request a refund
- 01
Email us
Write to info@skillvelop.com with your name, your package reference and one line on why. You do not need to justify a decision that falls inside the seven day window.
- 02
We reply within one working day
With which row of the table above applies to you, and the amount. If we disagree with your reading, we say so in writing and explain why.
- 03
You confirm
If you accept the amount, we process it. If you do not, escalate it in the same thread and the founder reviews it personally within three working days.
- 04
We pay within 10 working days
To the account the payment came from. We do not offer credit notes in place of a refund unless you ask for one.
Why some things are not refundable
Two categories are never refundable by us, and it is worth being clear about why rather than burying it.
Money we never held. Government fees, embassy fees, test fees, university application fees, credential evaluation fees and translation charges are paid by you directly to those bodies. We cannot refund money that never reached us, and most of those organisations do not refund it either.
Work that was done correctly. If we assessed you honestly, told you the risks in writing, and prepared a file with no errors in it, then an adverse decision is the risk you were told about. Refunding in that situation would mean pricing every engagement as though it might be free, which would make the service more expensive for everyone.
If you think we got the work wrong rather than the outcome, say so. That is row three of the table and we take it seriously.
This policy sits alongside our terms and privacy policy. Where your scope document says something more specific than this page, the scope document applies to your engagement. Last updated 1 September 2026.
What happens next
Read the policy first, then decide
If anything on this page would stop you from buying, that is the page doing its job. Ask us about it on the assessment call, or on WhatsApp, without booking anything.
- 01Free assessment
- Thirty minutes on video with the person who would actually handle your file. Education, work history, language levels, savings, timeline. We tell you which routes are open to you and which are not.
- 30 minutes, no cost
- 02Written plan with your realistic odds
- Your profile scored against the published criteria, the routes worth pursuing, the total cost including every fee that does not come to us, and our honest read on your chances. Some of these plans say the answer is no.
- Within 2 working days
No obligation to buy anything, and we will not call you repeatedly afterwards.