Terms of Use and Disclaimer

In this document, the "Website" means the SOAS website at www.soas.ac.uk. "SOAS" means SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies).

1. Access agreement between users of the Website and SOAS

The Website is offered as a free service to you, the user. By using the Website you agree to these terms of use. If you do not agree to these terms, do not use this Website.

The information provided on the Website has been provided in English, which is the home language of the Website. Some pages also offer information in other languages (for example, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic etc.), if provision of such information is relevant for users.

2. Operator details

The Website is operated by the SOAS University of London (called SOAS in this agreement), who are situated at Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG. SOAS can be contacted by post to Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG. You can reach us by telephone at +44 (0)20 7637 2388.

3. Intellectual Property Rights

All of the Website logos are the property of SOAS (unless otherwise stated) and unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. Other product and company names mentioned on the Website or other websites or services accessed through the Website may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Unless otherwise stated, all contents of the Website including this access agreement are copyright School of Oriental and African Studies, are protected by database rights and may also be protected by other means.

Copyright and other intellectual property rights in these web pages belongs to SOAS unless otherwise indicated. Unless otherwise stated, information on this website may be freely downloaded and printed out without restriction for private research and other non-commercial purposes, and may be quoted to a reasonable extent in other works provided the source of the quotation is fully acknowledged. Any other use of content from this website (including repackaging, distribution, issuing copies to the public, communication to the public, performance, adaptation, sale, rental or lending of content) without the prior written permission of SOAS is expressly prohibited, except as permitted by UK copyright law.

4. Data protection

SOAS processes data under the Data Protection Act 1998 and will at all times adhere to the data protection principles outlined in the Data Protection Act 1998. Please see our privacy policy for further details.

By giving any personal details via this Website you are deemed to consent to use of such details you give for SOAS's purposes in accordance with the website’s Privacy Policy.

5. Download times

To make the site as user friendly as possible we may from time to time use software other than standard HTML web pages. This may mean that you will need to download additional software onto your machine (such as Flash or Adobe Acrobat). Without limitation to the rest of this agreement you understand that:

  1. in the UK the time it takes to download the software and the time it takes to access this type of file after you have installed the software can be longer than in the US where most of the software originates. This means not only that it might take longer to see the information you want but also that if you are paying for internet connection time or the telephone line to access the internet it might cost you more
  2. while SOAS makes every practical effort to make its site accessible to all some software may not be compatible with other access technology;
  3. in some cases it may be more beneficial to you to access this type of information by another means, such as by telephoning the relevant department of SOAS or visiting or contacting them for a prospectus.

Use of any software available for downloading from the Website is governed by the terms of any applicable licence accompanying or included with the software.

6. Limitation on types of use

You may not use the Website for anything other than the purposes outlined in this access agreement and you may not use spiders or other robotic software tools to gather information from the Website or use any applications which could lead to harm to the Website. You may not use or link to the Website in a manner which suggests an association with the Website or SOAS without SOAS's prior written consent.

7. Liability disclaimer

Please read carefully as this clause limits your ability to claim damages.

The main purpose of the Website is to provide information to users in relation to the educational services SOAS provide.

SOAS makes every effort to check the accuracy of information published on the Website. You should note however that SOAS does not give any warranty that any information will be accurate or up-to-date and the user acknowledges that the information and services offered on the Website is offered on an "as is" basis. In particular, and without limitation to the rest of this agreement, SOAS is not able to guarantee that its service will continue or be accurate during time of server failure.

Information contained in, or accessible via, the Website changes on a regular basis. SOAS may make improvements or alterations to the Website at any time and without notice. SOAS is not responsible in any way whatsoever for the content of any site accessed using the Website, nor can it warrant that use of the Website will be free from virus contamination and you should take adequate steps to ensure that you virus check regularly when using the Website on any device.

SOAS makes no representations about the suitability of the information and services contained on, or accessed via, the Website for any purpose. All warranties, terms and conditions with regard to this information and services, including all warranties, terms and conditions, implied by statute, collaterally or otherwise, of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

SOAS shall not in any event be liable for any damages (whether indirect, incidental, special, consequential or otherwise) arising out of, or in any way connected with, the use of the Website, or with any delayed access to, or inability to use the Website, or for any information and services obtained through the Website, or otherwise arising out of the use of the Website, whether based on contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, even if SOAS has been advised of the possibility of damages. This does not affect the statutory rights of any person dealing as a consumer nor shall anything in these terms and conditions exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence or for fraudulent misrepresentation.

7.i Accuracy of this website, changes or withdrawals to programmes, courses and modules

Every effort is made to ensure that the information on this website is accurate and up to date. However some changes, for example to programmes, modules, courses, facilities or fees may become necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons.

In such circumstances SOAS will:

  1. endeavour to keep any changes to a minimum;
  2. take all reasonable steps to minimise disruption to students; and
  3. keep students informed appropriately by email advising you of where to seek further information if required.

If applicants require further information or confirmation of any matter, they should contact the Student Admissions Office:

All offers of admission to pursue a programme of study as a registered student of SOAS are made by the Director of Academic Services or their officially authorised deputy.  No promise or purported offer made otherwise has any validity.

9. Messages from SOAS

Any e-mail or other form of communication between representatives of SOAS and other parties will be deemed covered by the terms of this agreement.

10. No unlawful or prohibited use

As a condition of your use of this website, you warrant to SOAS that you will not use the Website for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices.

SOAS provides message boards to enable you to post and respond to comments displayed on the Website. Posts are usually organised into threads and are sometimes arranged by topic area. You must register a username, password and email address before you can post a message to the Website.

SOAS does not moderate or screen messages before they are posted. The responsibility for the content of messages resides with you, the end user. To reinforce this, you will see the following disclaimer displayed on all message boards:

"Comments posted on this message board are made by independent individuals and do not reflect the opinions of the SOAS, University of London."

If a message is added which is deeded to be offensive or inappropriate, SOAS will remove it as soon as it becomes aware of the problem. It may also be necessary to disable your account, if you post such a message to the website.

11. Other general terms

This agreement is governed by the laws of England. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of the Website. Use of the Website is unauthorised in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including without limitation this paragraph.

You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and SOAS as a result of this agreement or use of the Website. Each and every provision of this agreement is separate and severable. If any part of this agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set out above, then the validity and enforceability of the remainder of the terms and conditions shall not be affected.

This agreement and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and SOAS with respect to the Website and they supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral, or written, between you and SOAS with respect to the Website. A printed version of this agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. You will be responsible for all charges, fees, duties, taxes, and assessments arising out of the use of the Website.

12. Variation of these terms and conditions

SOAS reserves the right to change the terms, conditions, and notices under which the Website is offered. We will do this by altering the access agreement on the Website and this alteration will then be of immediate effect. For this reason you should regularly visit the access agreement on the Website as the current version will be binding on you.

13. Responsibilities

Communications within the Directorate of Marketing, Student Recruitment and Communications has overall responsibility for the School's Website.