Terms of Service

By accessing and using the Swiss Private Schools website and services, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use our services.

We may change these terms. For a change that materially affects your rights we will give at least 30 days' notice, by email to the account owner and on this page, and it takes effect at the end of that notice — not on posting. Minor corrections take effect when published. If you do not accept a material change you may close your account before it takes effect. The date above always reflects the current version.

These terms apply to all visitors, users, and others who access or use our services, including families, schools, and educational consultants.

Directory Services

Swiss Private Schools provides an online directory of private schools in Switzerland. We offer information about schools, their programs, facilities, and contact details to help families make informed decisions about education.

What we do not do

We are a directory and a set of tools, not an agent or an adviser. We do not offer paid placement consulting, we do not represent families to schools or schools to families, we do not assess a child's suitability, and we take no fee or commission from a school when a family enrols. Our relationship with a school is a software subscription and nothing else.

Information Accuracy

While we strive to maintain accurate and up-to-date information, school details may change. We recommend verifying all information directly with schools before making decisions. Swiss Private Schools is not responsible for inaccuracies in school-provided information.

School subscriptions

Access to the school dashboard is provided under a subscription, billed monthly or annually at your choice, at the prices shown on our pricing page. The Bespoke tier is agreed individually. A subscription renews for the same period unless cancelled before the renewal date, and you can cancel at any time from your billing settings — cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid period, and we do not refund the remainder of a period already paid unless the law requires it. Prices are quoted net of Swiss VAT; see below.

Controller and processor roles

When a school collects or manages the personal data of families, applicants, and students through the platform — including inquiries, tour bookings, and admission applications — the school acts as the data controller and Swiss Private Schools acts as the processor on the school's documented instructions. Our Data Processing Agreement, available at www.swissprivate-schools.ch/dpa, is incorporated into and forms part of these Terms for that processing, and each school is required to accept it.

School responsibilities

Each school is responsible for having a lawful basis and any required consents for the personal data it collects through the platform, for limiting collection to what is necessary, and for handling the data-subject requests for which it is the controller. Processing without a lawful basis, or other misuse of the platform, may result in suspension in accordance with these Terms.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

All subscription prices are quoted and billed net of Swiss Value Added Tax (VAT/MWST/TVA/IVA). Where Swiss VAT applies, it is added to the invoice in addition to the stated price. If Swiss Private Schools becomes liable for Swiss VAT, or the applicable rate changes, VAT at the then-applicable rate will be added to all invoices issued on or after the effective date of that liability or change, without affecting invoices already issued. Our VAT registration status and, where applicable, our VAT number are shown on each invoice.

Term and renewal

A school subscription runs for the period you chose — one month or one year — and renews automatically for the same period at the price then published, unless it is cancelled before the renewal date. We will give at least 30 days' notice before a renewal at an increased price, and you may cancel within that notice without the increase applying. A family account has no term and costs nothing.

Ending it from your side

You can cancel a subscription at any time from your billing settings; it then ends at the close of the period you have already paid for, and we do not refund the remainder of that period unless the law requires it. You can close a family account at any time from your account settings. Export whatever you need first — see the Data Processing Agreement for what we do with the data afterwards. Any statutory right of withdrawal you have as a consumer is unaffected by this section.

Suspension and termination from our side

We may suspend or end an account for material breach of these terms, for non-payment that is not cured after written notice, or for use that is unlawful or endangers other users or the service. Except where the law or an immediate risk requires otherwise, we will tell you what the problem is and give you a reasonable opportunity to fix it before acting. If we end a school subscription other than for your breach, we refund the unused part of the period you paid for.

Free Services

Access to our school directory and basic information is provided free of charge. Some features or services may require payment, which will be clearly indicated.

Application fees collected for schools

Where a school charges an application fee, we may collect it on that school's behalf through our payment provider. The fee is the school's, set by the school, and its refund policy is the school's — ask them, not us. We are not a party to your contract with a school, and we hold no fee beyond passing it on.

School Fees

Any fees displayed for schools are indicative only and subject to change. Actual tuition and fees should be confirmed directly with the respective schools.

Acceptable Use

You agree to use our services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these terms. You will not use our services to harm, harass, or deceive others, or to violate any applicable laws or regulations.

Prohibited Activities

You may not: (a) copy, modify, or distribute our content without permission; (b) use automated systems to access our services; (c) attempt to interfere with or disrupt our services; (d) impersonate others or provide false information; (e) use our services for commercial purposes without authorization.

User Content

If you submit reviews, comments, or other content, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, display, and distribute such content. You are responsible for ensuring your content does not violate third-party rights.

Our Content

All content on the Swiss Private Schools website, including text, graphics, logos, images, and software, is the property of Swiss Private Schools or its content suppliers and is protected by Swiss and international copyright laws.

Trademarks

“Swiss Private Schools”, our logo and the look of this site are ours. We hold no registered trademark and do not claim one, but unregistered signs are protected against confusing use under Article 3 of the Swiss Unfair Competition Act — so please do not present yourself as us, or use our name or logo in a way that suggests we endorse you. School names, logos and marks appearing in the directory belong to those schools and are used to identify them factually, which is permitted; their appearance here does not mean the school endorses us or is a customer.

Limited License

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use our services for personal, non-commercial purposes. This license does not include the right to modify, copy, distribute, or create derivative works.

No Guarantees

Our services are provided 'as is' without warranties of any kind. We do not guarantee admission to any school or the accuracy of any information provided. School selection decisions are ultimately your responsibility.

Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of these external sites. Linking does not imply endorsement.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Swiss Private Schools shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of our services, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

What we never limit

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury, for unlawful intent or gross negligence, for fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else the law does not permit to be limited in advance — Article 100 of the Swiss Code of Obligations makes such an advance exclusion void, and we do not attempt one. If you deal with us as a consumer, your mandatory statutory rights come first and this section does not reduce them.

The limit that does apply

Subject to the paragraph above, our total liability to a school arising out of or in connection with the service in any twelve-month period is limited to the subscription fees that school paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim. Because families pay us nothing, our liability to a family is limited to direct damage actually suffered. Application fees we collect on a school's behalf are that school's money and not a fee paid to us.

Indirect loss, and your responsibility for your own content

Neither party is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of goodwill, or loss of an opportunity — including a school not filling a place, or a family not securing one. A school is responsible for the content it publishes and for the personal data it chooses to collect through its own form, and will hold us harmless against third-party claims arising from either, except to the extent the claim results from our own breach.

Events outside our control

Neither party is in breach for a failure caused by something genuinely outside its control — outages at an infrastructure provider, network failure, natural events, industrial action, or governmental measures. We will tell you what has happened and work to restore the service. If a material interruption lasts more than 30 days, either of us may end the affected subscription and we refund the unused period.

Assignment and subcontracting

You may not transfer your rights under these terms without our written consent, which we will not unreasonably withhold. We may transfer ours to a successor of the business, on notice to you; if that happens your data protection position is governed by the corresponding clause in the Data Processing Agreement and our privacy policy. We use the sub-processors listed in that agreement and remain responsible for their performance.

Severability, waiver and the whole agreement

If a provision is found unenforceable, it is limited to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the rest continues in force. Not enforcing a right on one occasion does not waive it. These terms, together with the Data Processing Agreement, the privacy policy, the cookie policy and any order form or written quotation, are the whole agreement between us and replace anything discussed beforehand — except that nothing here excludes liability for a fraudulent statement.

Notices, and which language governs

We give notice by email to the address on your account and, for changes affecting everyone, by publishing it here; you give notice to legal@swissprivate-schools.ch or by post to the address below. These terms are published in English, French, German and Italian, and the version in the language you contracted in is the one that binds you. Where the versions conflict on a point of interpretation, the English text prevails — save that this never deprives a consumer of the protection of the version in their own language.