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Benchmark.Pulse

Data protection pack

Terms of service

Draft for solicitor review. Placeholders in [square brackets] must be completed before launch. Version: draft v1.3, 12 October 2026

These terms are between After Hours Education Ltd, trading as Benchmark.Pulse ("we"), and the school or trust that opens an account ("you"). The data processing agreement forms part of these terms.

1. The service

Running a survey is free. You can build, send and close surveys free of charge. Free use includes the headline result with strengths and priorities, one national comparison figure, the results download and safeguarding alerts. Full reports, and the Annual plan, are paid for at the prices published on our website when you buy.

2. Prices and payment

  • We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is charged. If that changes, we will tell you before VAT is added to any new order.
  • A report is the full report for one closed survey. You can buy it once the survey has closed and enough people have responded for results to be shown.
  • A follow-up report is charged at the lower price published on our website. It applies to a survey of 12 questions or fewer. It also applies to a re-run of the same survey when you had a full report for that survey in the previous 12 months, whether bought on its own or included in the Annual plan. A refunded report does not count, and nor does a survey that only had the free result.
  • The Annual plan includes the full report for every closed survey you unlock while the plan is active. A plan runs for 1 or 3 years from its start date. A survey unlocked after the plan has ended is charged as a report. Only the account owner can buy the Annual plan.
  • A three-year plan is paid in one payment at the start. It costs three times the one-year price, less 10%, so the price is fixed for all three years.
  • The Annual plan does not renew automatically. We will remind you before it ends. You can buy the next term before then, and it starts the day after the current one ends.
  • Trusts with 3 or more schools taking the Annual plan get the discount published on our website. It is applied on invoice when you ask. A card payment online is at the full price. Each school has its own account and its own plan.
  • You can pay by card, or by invoice with 30-day terms. We issue invoices ourselves. Invoiced purchases are delivered straight away.

3. Refunds

  • The account owner can ask for a full refund of any report you paid for, within 30 days of buying it, for any reason or none. We do not ask why and we do not refuse. A report included in the Annual plan is not refunded on its own.
  • For the Annual plan, a full refund is available within 30 days of the plan's start date if no full report has yet been opened under the plan. A report counts as opened the first time anyone at your school views the full report or its slides.
  • You can ask for a refund once for each purchase.
  • Card payments are refunded to the card. An unpaid invoice is cancelled and we issue a credit note. An invoice already paid is refunded to the account it was paid from.
  • When a report is refunded, it is locked again. When the Annual plan is refunded, the plan ends and the reports unlocked under it are locked again. Your surveys, their responses and their free results are not affected.
  • We confirm by email [check: refund confirmation email template approved before launch] and refund within [5] working days [check: confirm the working-day promise, since a refund of an invoice paid by bank transfer is made by hand].

4. Your responsibilities

You are the data controller for survey responses. You agree to give respondents the privacy information we provide templates for, to name a safeguarding lead before any survey opens (every survey checks comments for safeguarding concerns), and to follow your own safeguarding policy when an alert arrives.

5. Our responsibilities

We will provide the service with reasonable skill and care, keep it secure, process survey data only on your instructions under the data processing agreement, and tell you without undue delay, and in any event within 24 hours, about any personal data breach.

6. Safeguarding alerts

Alerts are automatic and based on the words used. They will not catch every concern and are not a substitute for your school's own safeguarding procedures.

7. Liability

[Liability cap and exclusions to be drafted by a solicitor.]

8. Ending your account

You can close your account at any time. There is no way to do this in the product yet: email us at hello@benchmarkpulse.co.uk. Download your results first. We delete your survey data when you ask, and otherwise in line with the retention schedule. Records of purchases and invoices are kept for as long as the law requires.

9. Changes

We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any change to these terms. Prices for an Annual plan term you have already bought do not change.

10. Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

[Date of these terms]