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Privacy, terms and how we handle your information.
We teach children, which means we hold information about children. This page sets out exactly what we collect, why, who sees it and how long we keep it.
Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
Boost Learning Academy is an independent online tutoring academy operating in South Africa, founded in 2019. In the language of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), we are the responsible party for the personal information described in this policy.
- Registered name — Boost Learning Academy
- Information Officer — Lincoln Matthews, Founder and Managing Director
- Privacy and legal enquiries — legal@boostlearningacademy.co.za
- General enquiries — info@boostlearningacademy.co.za
- Telephone — +27 (0) 61 454 5395
2. What we collect
We collect different information depending on how you deal with us.
If you send an enquiry — your name, email address, telephone number, and whatever you tell us in your message, which may include the learner's grade, curriculum and subjects.
If you register a learner — the learner's full name, grade, school and curriculum; the learner's own email address and telephone number, which we use for lesson bookings and the learner's portal account; the subjects selected; the parent or guardian's name, relationship to the learner, email address and telephone number; information you give us about the learner's academic situation; your payment reference and date of payment; your uploaded proof of payment; and, if you choose to provide it, the learner's most recent report card.
If you apply to tutor — your name and contact details, your curriculum vitae, and your matric certificate or equivalent school-leaving qualification. These documents commonly contain an identity number and a date of birth.
While tutoring is under way — attendance, work submitted, marks and assessment results, and the written progress reports we produce.
If you use the learner portal — the email address and name on the account, the grade and curriculum given at registration, and a securely hashed version of the password. We never see or store the password itself. Once the account is active we also hold the homework set for the learner, any file or note they submit, and the marks and written feedback returned to them.
We do not knowingly collect information we have not asked for. Please do not send us documents containing more personal information than a request requires.
3. Why we collect it
- To answer your enquiry and advise whether we can help
- To place a learner with a suitable tutor, in the correct curriculum, grade and subject
- To teach — planning lessons, setting and marking work, and tracking progress
- To report to you in writing on the learner's progress, where reporting forms part of the package
- To administer the account — invoicing, reconciling payments and keeping records
- To assess tutor applications and verify qualifications
- To meet legal obligations, including tax and accounting record-keeping
We rely on your consent, on the performance of our agreement with you, and on our legitimate interests in running the academy. We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling.
4. Children's information
Most of our learners are under 18. POPIA treats the personal information of a child as a special category and prohibits processing it without the consent of a competent person — in almost all cases, a parent or legal guardian.
- Registrations must be completed by a parent or legal guardian, not by the learner
- By registering, you confirm that you are the parent or legal guardian of the learner, and you consent to our processing the learner's personal information for the purposes set out in clause 3
- We do not market to learners, and we do not contact a learner about fees or account matters
- You may withdraw consent at any time by writing to us, and we will stop processing and delete the learner's information subject to clause 7
- Tutors are given only the information needed to teach the learner they are placed with
- Where a learner uses the portal, their submitted work and marks are visible only to them, to the tutor teaching that subject, and to the academy's administrator
- A parent or guardian may ask at any time to see everything held about their child, or to have it deleted
5. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We share it only with those who help us deliver the service:
- Our tutors — limited to what is needed to teach the learner placed with them
- Our form provider — enquiry and registration submissions are transmitted through FormSubmit, which delivers them to us by email
- Our portal provider — Supabase, which hosts the database, the sign-in system and the private file storage behind the learner portal
- Our email provider — Resend, which delivers the account emails the portal sends
- Our website hosts — Netlify and Google
- The platforms used to conduct lessons — Google Meet and Zoom
- Our bank — for receiving and reconciling payments
- Professional advisers and authorities — where we are legally required to disclose
Some of these providers operate outside South Africa, which means your information may be transferred across borders. We use providers that apply protections comparable to those required by POPIA.
6. Where it is stored
Form submissions reach us by email and are stored in our email account and in our own academy records. Our form provider retains submission data for a limited period on its own systems; uploaded files are delivered to us as email attachments and are not retained by the provider.
Academic records, progress reports and account records are kept in our own systems, under access control, and are available only to those who need them to teach the learner or administer the account.
Portal data — accounts, enrolments, homework, submitted work and marks — is held in our Supabase project, hosted in the European Union. Uploaded files are stored in private buckets that are not publicly addressable; the portal issues links that expire minutes after they are opened, so a copied or forwarded link stops working.
7. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that do not lead to registration — 12 months, then deleted
- Learner academic records and reports — for the duration of enrolment and for three years afterwards, so a past learner can request a record
- Financial and payment records — five years, as required by South African tax legislation
- Unsuccessful tutor applications — 12 months, then deleted
- Proof of payment documents — retained with the financial record for the period above
- Submitted homework, marks and written feedback — for the duration of enrolment and for three years afterwards, with the learner's own record
- Portal accounts — closed when an enrolment ends or a tutor placement closes, and deleted 12 months later
Where you ask us to delete information sooner, we will do so unless we are legally required to keep it.
8. Security
We take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold, including restricting access to those who need it, using access-controlled accounts, and requiring tutors to keep learner information confidential.
In the learner portal specifically: passwords are hashed by our provider and are never visible to us; access is enforced by the database itself rather than by the website, so a learner cannot read another learner's work even using developer tools; every new account is inactive until we approve it by hand; and uploaded files are held in private storage reached only through links that expire.
No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. Where documents contain sensitive information — an identity number on a matric certificate, or bank details on a proof of payment — we ask that you send only what is necessary, and we remove documents from active storage once they have served their purpose.
If a breach occurs that is likely to affect you, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.
9. Your rights
Under POPIA you have the right to:
- Ask what personal information we hold about you or your child
- Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, misleading or out of date
- Ask us to delete information we no longer have grounds to keep
- Object to our processing your information on certain grounds
- Withdraw consent you have given, at any time
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator
Write to legal@boostlearningacademy.co.za and we will respond within a reasonable period, and in any event within the period POPIA requires. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
10. Complaints
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, please tell us first at legal@boostlearningacademy.co.za — most concerns are resolved quickly.
If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa. Complaints must be made in writing, on the prescribed POPIA Form 5.
- POPIA complaints — POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za
- General enquiries — enquiries@inforegulator.org.za
- Website — inforegulator.org.za
- Address — Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191
11. The learner portal
The portal is offered to enrolled learners and appointed tutors. Accounts are created by the person themselves, but grant no access until the academy approves them against its own records.
We use the portal only to teach and to administer the enrolment. We do not profile learners, we do not use their work or results for marketing, and no automated decision is taken about a learner without a person reviewing it.
Accounts for learners under 18 must be created by a parent or guardian, who accepts this policy on the learner's behalf.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the academy changes. The version number and date at the top of this document will change when we do. Where a change materially affects how we handle your information, we will tell enrolled families directly rather than rely on you noticing.
Terms of Use
1. These terms
These terms govern your use of this website and the tutoring services provided by Boost Learning Academy. By registering a learner, you accept them on your own behalf and on behalf of the learner.
2. Our services
We provide online tutoring to learners in Grades 4 to 12 across the CAPS, IEB, SACAI and Cambridge curriculums, in the subjects listed on our Subjects page. Tutoring is delivered in one-on-one sessions, in small group classes capped at eight learners, or as exam intensives.
We are an independent academy. We are not a school, we do not enter learners for examinations, and we do not issue qualifications.
3. Fees and payment
- A registration fee of R240 per learner is payable annually
- Tuition fees are charged per subject, monthly, in advance
- One-on-one starts at R900 per subject per month; group tutoring starts at R480 per subject per month; exam intensives are quoted
- The registration fee and the first month's fees are payable on registration
- Placement is confirmed once payment reflects in our account
- Fees are reviewed annually, and enrolled families are notified before an increase applies
Current fees are published on our Packages & Fees page.
4. Notice and cancellation
- There is no fixed term. You may discontinue at the end of any month
- One calendar month's written notice is required
- A month already paid for is taught in full
- Where lessons are discontinued without the required notice, a cancellation fee of R240 becomes payable
- The registration fee is not refundable
5. Tutor placement
Tutors are appointed by us on the basis of curriculum, subject, grade and suitability. We do not guarantee that a particular tutor will be available, and we may change a tutor where scheduling, availability or the quality of a placement requires it.
Where a placement is not working, you may ask us to change the tutor at no cost.
6. Conduct in lessons
- Learners are expected to attend on time, prepared, and to treat tutors and other learners with respect
- Lessons may not be recorded, photographed or redistributed by learners or families
- Missed lessons should be notified in advance; we reschedule where we reasonably can, but group classes often cannot be moved
- We may withdraw a learner, without refund of fees for the month in question, where conduct is seriously disruptive to other learners
7. Materials and copyright
Worksheets, notes, summaries and other materials we provide remain our property, or the property of their original publisher. They are supplied for the personal use of the enrolled learner and may not be copied, sold, shared or published.
Where our materials reproduce past examination papers or third-party content, those materials remain subject to the rights of their owners.
8. No guarantee of results
We guarantee the standard of our teaching and the quality of our reporting. We do not guarantee a particular mark, symbol, level, pass or admission outcome. Academic results depend on the learner's own work, attendance and circumstances, and on factors outside our control.
9. Liability
To the extent permitted by law, our liability arising from the tutoring services is limited to the fees paid for the month in which the claim arose. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.
10. The learner portal
- Portal accounts are personal. Sign-in details may not be shared, and an account may not be used by anyone other than the person it was issued to
- Materials in the Student and Tutor Hubs are supplied for personal use and may not be copied, sold, shared or published
- Work submitted through the portal must be the learner's own. Where it is not, we will say so in the feedback rather than mark it
- Access ends when an enrolment ends or a tutor placement closes
- We may suspend an account where these terms are not observed, or where doing so protects other learners
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.
Cookie Notice
What this website stores
This website does not set advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not use your browsing behaviour to build a profile of you.
When you sign in to the learner portal, your browser stores a session token so that you are not asked to sign in again on every page. It is necessary for the portal to work, it is removed when you sign out, and it is not used to track you.
Where we add analytics, embedded video or any other third-party service that sets cookies, we will update this notice and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent first.
Our hosts, Netlify and Google, may keep standard server logs — including IP addresses — for security, diagnostics and to keep the site running.
Ask us anything on this page.
If something here is unclear, or you want to know what we hold about your child, write to legal@boostlearningacademy.co.za and we will answer plainly.