What actually regulates a lessons website
Four things. The safeguarding and background-check regime that applies to people teaching children. Consumer law covering fees, contracts, cancellation and refunds, which bites harder because most students pay in advance for a term. Privacy law, which is stricter than usual because you hold data about children. And the ordinary website obligations: business details, cookies, accessibility.
Teaching is a lightly regulated activity in most of these countries for private providers, and a heavily regulated one for anyone running a registered school, taking international students on visas, or receiving public funding. This is orientation rather than legal advice, and where you are unsure the national regulator and a local adviser are the authorities.
United Kingdom
Vetting and safeguarding. Private tutors and teachers working with children are commonly checked through the Disclosure and Barring Service, with the level of check depending on the role. Say which check was done and when rather than writing "DBS checked" without a date. Organisations working with children are expected to have a safeguarding policy and a designated lead; publishing yours is normal practice.
Consumer law. The Consumer Rights Act on services supplied with reasonable care, and the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which give a fourteen-day cancellation right for contracts agreed at a distance or off premises. That right applies to term enrolments taken through your website, so the cancellation information has to be given in writing. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations cover misleading claims, which is where guaranteed grades and unevidenced results claims land.
Business details. A limited company publishes its registered name, number and office. Sole traders state their trading name and an address.
Privacy and cookies. UK GDPR and PECR. A privacy notice covering student and parent data, retention of lesson notes and recordings, and consent for cookies beyond the strictly necessary. Extra care applies to children's data.
Accessibility. The Equality Act, with WCAG 2.1 AA as the working standard.
United States
Vetting. State law governs background checks, and requirements vary widely by state and by setting. Private tutors are often unregulated while anyone in a school, camp or licensed childcare setting is not. Some states license private tutoring businesses or proprietary schools; check the state education agency.
Consumer law. The FTC on deceptive advertising, which covers score and grade claims. Many states regulate contracts sold in advance, and several regulate prepaid instruction and refund schedules for private schools and vocational providers.
Privacy. COPPA where you collect data online from children under thirteen, which can apply to a booking form completed by a child or an online class portal. FERPA applies to schools receiving federal funds rather than to private tutors. State privacy laws apply above their thresholds, and TCPA rules apply to marketing texts.
Accessibility. The ADA is applied to websites through litigation, with WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard.
Canada
Vetting. Provincial. Criminal record and vulnerable sector checks are the usual mechanism, with the requirement depending on the province and the setting.
Consumer law. Provincial consumer protection acts, several of which regulate contracts for future services such as prepaid lessons, with cooling-off periods and cancellation formulas. Quebec's Consumer Protection Act is strict here and worth reading closely if you enrol students there. Misleading advertising sits under the Competition Act.
Privacy. PIPEDA, with Quebec's Law 25 adding consent and policy requirements. Quebec also requires French on websites serving the province.
Accessibility. AODA in Ontario, the Accessible Canada Act federally, others variously.
Australia
Vetting. State and territory Working with Children Checks, with different names and numbers in each jurisdiction. Where a check has a number, providers commonly state it. Some states require registration to advertise services to children.
Consumer law. The Australian Consumer Law on misleading conduct and consumer guarantees, which applies squarely to promised outcomes. Prepaid services and refund policies attract attention from state fair trading offices.
International students. Providers delivering courses to students on student visas fall under the ESOS Act and the National Code, with registration on CRICOS and specific requirements about the information published, including fees and refunds. This is a genuinely regulated area for language schools.
Privacy and accessibility. The Privacy Act above the threshold, and the Disability Discrimination Act with WCAG 2.1 AA.
European Union
Vetting. National. Most member states have a criminal record certificate process for people working with children, and the mechanism differs in each.
Consumer law. The Consumer Rights Directive, with its information duties and a fourteen-day withdrawal right for distance and off-premises contracts, which covers online enrolment. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive covers claims. Prices are shown inclusive of tax, and many countries treat tuition as exempt.
Business details. The e-commerce information requirements, strictest in the German and Austrian Impressum tradition: legal name, address, contact and registration details on the site.
Privacy. GDPR, with Article 8 setting the age of consent for information society services between thirteen and sixteen depending on the member state, and ePrivacy consent for cookies.
Accessibility. The European Accessibility Act applies to many private digital services above the micro-enterprise threshold.
What is the same everywhere
- Say which background check was done, by whom and when, and keep the renewal date so nothing expires on a live page.
- Publish a safeguarding policy if you teach children, and name the person responsible.
- State fees, term length and what is extra, and give cancellation and refund terms in writing before payment.
- Do not guarantee grades, scores or outcomes, and state the basis for any result you publish.
- Get written permission before publishing a student's name, photograph or result, and never publish a child's full name with an image.
- Keep a privacy notice covering student data, lesson notes and any recordings, with a retention period.
- Build to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Where this sits
Every lessons website we build runs through a country checklist at the content stage covering vetting statements, safeguarding, fee and refund terms, results claims, children's privacy and accessibility. It matters most for language schools taking visa students and for coding classes and other providers teaching children, where the published policy is part of what the parent is buying.