Pre-contract and cancellation information
Prices including VAT, cancellation rights and a cancellation form, shown before a buyer commits to an online purchase. It is a duty on any organisation that sells to consumers online, and is only checked for a school when an online shop is found.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- Every school and trust website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Only applies to
- Anyone selling goods or services to consumers online; not scored for schools unless an online shop is found
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When is it due?
- Renewal
- No fixed date
The official sources set no renewal date. Keep it accurate whenever it changes.
What's needed
Publish total prices including VAT, plus cancellation and refund information, on every page where parents or the public buy goods, tickets or lettings online.
What it must contain
6 parts- Gives the Schedule 2 pre-contract information in a clear and comprehensible wayMust
- Provides a cancellation form when what's sold can be cancelledMust
- Sets out how to cancel and the time limit, if what's sold can be cancelledMust
- Says when there's no right to cancel, or when it can be lostMust
- Names who pays to return goods if you cancelMust
- Says what costs apply if you cancel a service you asked to start earlyMust
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134)
1 Before the consumer is bound by a distance contract, the trader— a must give or make available to the consumer the information listed in Schedule 2 in a clear and comprehensible manner, and in a way appropriate to the means of distance communication used, and b if a right to cancel exists, must give or make available to the consumer a cancellation form as set out in part B of Schedule 3.
Must§ reg. 13(1)(a)-(b)
o where under regulation 28, 36 or 37 there is no right to cancel or the right to cancel may be lost, the information that the consumer will not benefit from a right to cancel, or the circumstances under which the consumer loses the right to cancel;
Must§ Sch. 2 para (o)
Show 5 more from this source
4 Where a distance contract is concluded through a means of distance communication which allows limited space or time to display the information— a the information listed in paragraphs (a), (b), (f), (g), (h), (l) and (s) of Schedule 2 must be provided on that means of communication in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2), but b the other information required by paragraph (1) may be provided in another appropriate way.
Must§ reg. 13(4)(a)-(b)
l where a right to cancel exists, the conditions, time limit and procedures for exercising that right in accordance with regulations 27 to 38;
Must§ Sch. 2 para (l)
n that, if the consumer exercises the right to cancel after having made a request in accordance with regulation 36(1), the consumer is to be liable to pay the trader reasonable costs in accordance with regulation 36(4);
Must§ Sch. 2 para (n)
2 If the contract places the consumer under an obligation to pay, the trader must make the consumer aware in a clear and prominent manner, and directly before the consumer places the order, of the information listed in paragraphs (a), (f), (g), (h), (s) and (t) of Schedule 2.
Must§ reg. 14(2)
m where applicable, that the consumer will have to bear the cost of returning the goods in case of cancellation and, for distance contracts, if the goods, by their nature, cannot normally be returned by post, the cost of returning the goods;
Must§ Sch. 2 para (m)
Questions schools ask
Does every school have to publish the pre-contract and cancellation information?
The official sources we check set no requirement for academies. The official sources we check set no requirement for maintained schools. It only applies to anyone selling goods or services to consumers online; not scored for schools unless an online shop is found.
When does the pre-contract and cancellation information need to be published?
Renewal: No fixed date. The official sources set no renewal date. Keep it accurate whenever it changes.
What must the pre-contract and cancellation information include?
Gives the Schedule 2 pre-contract information in a clear and comprehensible way; Provides a cancellation form when what's sold can be cancelled; Sets out how to cancel and the time limit, if what's sold can be cancelled; Says when there's no right to cancel, or when it can be lost; Names who pays to return goods if you cancel; Says what costs apply if you cancel a service you asked to start early.
Where does the requirement for the pre-contract and cancellation information come from?
It is set out in Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134).
Changes to the official sources
The sources for this item do not publish dated change notes. Their current versions are listed above.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
We check your site the way an inspector or a parent would find it: page by page, against the official wording of each requirement. If it's there, you get the page and the words we found. If it isn't, you get every place we looked.
Check this one requirement free, or scan your whole site against every requirement.
Official wording that does not apply to schools (1)
2 Paragraph (1) does not apply to a contract which involves a day-to-day transaction and is performed immediately at the time when the contract is entered into.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4