Free tutoring templates: cancellation policy, lesson agreement and invoice

How do I use these templates?

To use these tutoring templates, copy the text, replace the [brackets] with your details and send it to the student before the first lesson.

1. 1

   Copy the template

   Click Copy on the template you need and paste it into an email or message.

2. 2

   Fill in the [brackets]

   Replace every [bracket] with your own details: names, price, notice period and payment method.

3. 3

   Send it before the first lesson

   Share it when the student books, so the rules are clear before anything goes wrong (not after, with the lesson already lost).

4. 4

   Keep an accepted copy

   Ask the student (or their legal guardian, if applicable) to reply "I agree" and save that message as your record. That's it.

Tutoring cancellation policy template

A tutoring cancellation policy should state the notice period, what you charge for late cancellations, what happens when you cancel and when packs expire.

A written policy turns an awkward conversation into a rule everyone agreed to at the time. There's nothing "personal" about it: these are the terms of your service, just like at the hairdresser's. Paste it into an email or message, adjust the numbers to your schedule and send it with the first booking.

How to adapt it

• Choose a notice period you can stick to. If your schedule fills up fast, ask for more notice. If it's flexible, ask for less.
• Apply it to everyone. If you make an exception for one student, the others will soon ask for the same.
• Send it before the first lesson, not after the first missed one (by then it's too late).
• Be careful with pack expiry: in many countries, keeping the money for lessons not given (for example, a pack that expires without a refund) can be an unfair term when the student is a consumer. Each country has its own rules, so check with your gestor or lawyer.

Tutoring contract template (lesson agreement)

A private lesson agreement can fit on one page: the lessons, the price, how you get paid, cancellations and how either side can stop.

Relax: private lessons never need a ten-page contract. One page covering the lessons, the price, how and when you get paid, cancellations and how to stop is enough for most teachers, and it avoids almost every argument.

Before you send it

• If the student is under 18, address it to their legal guardian and send it to that person.
• Ask them to reply "I agree" and save that message as your proof.
• If everything is agreed remotely (by message, email or phone), in many countries the student has the right to withdraw within 14 days (for example, in the EU and the UK). Tell them and, if the lessons start sooner, ask them to request that expressly. Each country has its own rules, so check with a professional.
• Line 6 (contact) does not replace the data protection information required by the GDPR (art. 13).
• For large sums or long commitments, ask your gestor to read it first.

What must a tutoring invoice include?

A private lesson invoice in Spain includes a number, date, name, address and tax ID (NIF) of both parties, a description and the tax breakdown (Real Decreto 1619/2012, art. 6). Up to €400 (IVA included), a simplified invoice will do (arts. 4 and 7). Each country has its own rules.

Time to get serious: the required details depend on the country where you work. This table sums up what the invoicing rules of Spain and GOV.UK (UK) ask for, checked 10th of October 2026. If you teach in another country, look up its tax authority's information.

Do private language lessons pay IVA in Spain?

In Spain, article 20.Uno.10 of Ley 37/1992 (BOE, checked 10th of October 2026) exempts from IVA, among other things, lessons given by individuals on a private basis on subjects included in the study plans of any level of the education system. Lessons that require registering under the IAE business or artistic activity tariffs are not considered private lessons. Language teaching appears in the IAE tariffs as a professional activity (heading 826) and as a business activity (heading 933.9): if the business one applies to you, the exemption doesn't. It also only applies to individuals: a company or academy can only be exempt under article 20.Uno.9 if it is an authorized private entity. Whether your language lessons qualify depends on your case, so check with your gestor before deciding. If they are exempt, you don't have to issue an invoice, unless the customer is a business, a professional or a legal entity, or asks for one. If you do issue one, it must state the exemption, for example by citing that article. This applies to Spain only: other countries have different rules, so look up their tax authority's information or ask a local professional.

Fair warning: SmartCookie sends payment requests and tracks lesson packs, so you can see who has paid, but it doesn't issue legal invoices. Even so, you may not need one: if you meet the three criteria language teachers usually meet (you teach as an individual on a private basis, the subject is in the study plans of the education system and you don't have to register under the IAE as a business activity), your lessons are exempt from IVA and no invoice is needed, unless the customer is a business, a professional or a legal entity, or asks for one. If in doubt, stay with your gestor.