1. Vacancies are allocated strictly in the order that complete and valid intake forms are received. An intake form without the course payment or invoice request will be invalid and no course enrollment/exam booking will be made unless the full payment has been received prior to any deadline set or all vacancies being filled.
2. All applications will be automatically registered and confirmed for a place in the exam taking place in Napa, California as outlined in the Unit product description. Any applicant who wishes to postpone their exam will be required to pay an administration charge of $75 USD per exam (for requests made before the relevant exam registration deadline) or the full exam retake fee (when request is made after the registration deadline, subject to price changes from WSET in the UK), which may be subject to change according to the relevant academic year fee schedule. Candidates who have already taken and passed an exam will not be permitted to retake the exam. Candidates who have not successfully passed the exam may retake it as many times as required to achieve a pass grade, although candidates must do so within their allotted 3-academic year program window. For any exam registrations made outside of the 3-year program window, a WSET re-registration fee will apply. Candidates who have postponed their exam(s) may still register and take other unit classes and exams, with the exception of Unit 2 (to be renamed D1 as of August 1, 2019).
3. If a candidate is unable to attend an in-class session, no make-up session will be available, except in exceptional cases in which Napa Valley Wine Academy, at its sole discretion, will make the final decision on whether or not a candidate is permitted to make up the particular session(s). This is subject to said session(s) being available and still fit the schedule leading to the registered exam. Any individual session change will incur an administration charge of $175 USD per session. No requests will be processed without a proper written request, payment in advance and written confirmation from Napa Valley Wine Academy that a makeup session can be arranged. [Note: Make-up sessions for the WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines course are generally not permitted].
4. Candidates requiring special examination conditions because of learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia) or for other medical reasons must submit their request at the time of enrollment in their first Diploma course with the Napa Valley Wine Academy. Such requests must be supported and verified by a medical doctor’s certificate or similar document. Special considerations for examinations are at the sole discretion of the WSET.
5. Napa Valley Wine Academy reserves the right to change the published prices of its program or materials or cancel courses or examinations if necessary. The WSET requires a minimum of 6 students for each examination. If enrollment in an exam is less than 6 students, the Napa Valley Wine Academy must cancel it. Every effort will be made to offer suitable arrangements for students in the event of a cancellation.
6. Once an intake form for the WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines course has been received, no cancellation of the intake form will be permitted and any course fees (including any exam fees) will be forfeited. If it is found that the student has provided false information on the intake form and are subsequently found to be ineligible to enroll in the WSET Level 4 Diploma, the Napa Valley Wine Academy will void the respective transaction less a 20% administrative fee.
7. Any candidate who requests to defer their WSET® Level 4 Diploma course and/or exam to a future course and/or exam date for any reason whatsoever will generally not have their request accepted except in very exceptional cases and with the agreement of Napa Valley Wine Academy. Even if accepted, this will only be possible if there are any vacancies in the subsequent course and/or exam sessions. Such instances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Should Napa Valley Wine Academy agree to such an exceptional case, the candidate will be required to submit the WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines Deferral Request Form available from Napa Valley Wine Academy and together with the respective unit’s or exam’s transfer fee.
8. All course deferral requests MUST be submitted to Napa Valley Wine Academy for approval BEFORE the registration period for the course (in-class or online) session or exam of the relevant Unit(s) closes. Napa Valley Wine Academy may, at its sole discretion and without giving reasons, reject any application for deferral of the Unit course(s). The transfer fee will be refunded should the request for deferral be rejected. Please note that NO refund request of paid WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines course fees will be accepted under any circumstances. Should Napa Valley Wine Academy accept any deferral request, the candidate will have to purchase any new course materials if WSET® has changed the version of the materials since the candidate’s original application. Please note that it is the CANDIDATE’S responsibility to ensure that they have the study materials relevant to the exams they will be sitting in the event of any deferral. Napa Valley Wine Academy accepts NO responsibility whatsoever for candidates who endeavor to take an exam based on outdated study materials. The candidate will also be required to pay any new exam fees due to any change in exam fees since the candidate’s original application.
9. No deferral requests will be valid without a proper written request through a WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines Deferral Request Form available from Napa Valley Wine Academy, payment of the administration charge in advance, and written confirmation from Napa Valley Wine Academy that the deferral has been granted.
10. Minimum numbers of fully paid students are required for a particular course, including Intensive In-Class Program and Online Learning Programs, to run. If upon reaching the application deadline, there are insufficient students to run a particular course or program, that course or program will be canceled, and a full refund will be arranged for those students who have already paid. Students must note that refunds can take six to eight weeks to process. Faculty who teach the WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines course are highly experienced and qualified professionals and, therefore, it is very difficult to find a replacement educator for a particular lesson if the scheduled instructor is ill or for any other reason unavoidably unable to teach the lesson that day. For this reason, there may be the very rare occasion whereby a class will be canceled in which case it will be re-scheduled to a date and time at the discretion of Napa Valley Wine Academy. Napa Valley Wine Academy will make every effort both to keep such occasions to an absolute minimum and to reschedule to a date and time as convenient to the majority of students as is possible. It must be noted, however, that NO REFUND will be made to ANY student who is unable to attend the rescheduled lesson for whatever reason.
11. It is a WSET® requirement that candidates show proof of Identification with a valid government-issued photo ID on the day(s) of the in-class course and the examination. Candidates will not be permitted to take part in the course or exam if they are unable to produce a valid form of photo ID.
12. If an organization requests an invoice for a place on a course for one of its employees and that employee, at any time subsequent to the invoice being created, leaves the organization’s employ, for whatever reason, the organization which requested the invoice remains liable to pay the full course fee.
13. Please note that the WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines course is 100% non-refundable and non-transferable. You are enrolling in the WSET® Level 4 Diploma in Wines course offered by Napa Valley Wine Academy and in doing so you are committing to completing the Diploma level in its entirety with the Napa Valley Wine Academy. You have also agreed to make the full payment of Tuition for the selected course of study and exams regardless of your attendance. No refunds will be issued as registration for this course is limited. No transfers to another session will be permitted.
14. In the event you have any overdue invoices or tuition payments with Napa Valley Wine Academy, we will NOT be able to issue you any exam results until such outstanding payments are settled. Furthermore, we reserve the right to deny your participation in any course days or access to online course materials until such outstanding payments are settled.