Website and Account Terms of Use

Operator and contact details

The website at ukaas.org and the UKAAS Membership and Events service are operated by UK ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, company number 17399439, a private company limited by guarantee without share capital, registered in England and Wales and using The UK Academy of Arts & Sciences (“UKAAS”, “we”, “us” or “our”) as its public-facing name. The registered office is 128 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX. General enquiries may be sent to contact@ukaas.org.

UKAAS is an independent private membership and honours organisation. It is not a charity, government body, statutory regulator, national academy, royal body, university or degree-awarding body. No page, account, title or status should be represented otherwise.

Scope and contract hierarchy

These Terms govern the public website, account, authentication, dashboard and general online functions. They do not by themselves confer Membership, Fellowship, Honorary Fellowship, an event booking, a benefit, a qualification or a licence to use UKAAS marks.

Member applications are additionally governed by the Membership Terms, category information, price, cancellation rules and checkout summary. Fellowship is governed by the Fellowship Regulations, criteria, assessment procedure, fee and decision notice. Honorary Fellowship is governed by the honorary process, invitation and acceptance record. Events and other paid services may have specific terms presented before order.

For a specific transaction or status, priority is: the final application or order summary; the product-specific terms or regulations accepted for that route; these Terms; and general informational pages. A later document prevails only to the extent it expressly and lawfully changes the earlier one.

Acceptance and records

By creating an account, selecting a social sign-in button after the accompanying notice, or otherwise using a restricted account function, you agree to the version of these Terms presented at that time and acknowledge the Privacy Notice. UKAAS records the version, time and relevant account event. Public browsing remains subject to provisions necessarily governing website use, including intellectual property, acceptable use and liability.

If you do not agree, do not create an account or use a restricted function. A material term for a paid contract must be presented before payment; it is not imposed merely because it appears later on a website.

Eligibility and authority

• You must be aged 18 or over to create a Community account or enter a paid Community contract.
• You must provide accurate, current information and must not impersonate another person or conceal a material conflict, sanction or eligibility fact.
• An individual account is personal. An institutional representative or Honorary Fellowship nominator must have the authority claimed and may use information about another person only lawfully and for the stated process.
• Use from outside the United Kingdom is permitted where the route is described as international, but UKAAS may decline a service where sanctions, export controls, payment restrictions or local law prevent lawful supply.

Account security and recovery

UKAAS may require re-authentication, email verification or proportionate identity evidence before releasing protected information, changing a critical account field, processing a rights request or restoring access. UKAAS will never ask for your Google or Microsoft password.

• Use a valid email address you control and keep recovery information current.
• Choose a strong password where email sign-in is used; do not disclose credentials, recovery links, one-time codes or active sessions.
• Notify UKAAS promptly if an account, email address or identity provider may have been compromised.
• Do not create deceptive duplicates, share an individual account, automate account creation or bypass identity, rate-limit or access controls.

Google and Microsoft authentication

Google and Microsoft sign-in are optional authentication methods supplied by independent providers. By selecting one, you instruct UKAAS to request the account attributes described in the Privacy Notice and you also use the provider under its own terms. UKAAS is not responsible for the provider's general service, account rules or outage.

A provider account is not the UKAAS account. Ending provider access may prevent that sign-in method but does not cancel an application, Membership, Fellowship, event booking or payment obligation. Where technically and legally available, UKAAS will provide an alternative recovery or sign-in route after appropriate verification.

Applications and decisions

You are responsible for checking published eligibility, evidence, fee and process before submitting. An application is complete only when required fields, declarations and material have been received. UKAAS may request proportionate clarification, verify public claims, correct an obvious category error or pause processing where a material discrepancy, security issue or conflict requires resolution.

Member status follows the category terms and successful payment. Fellowship is not automatic: it requires direct application, evidence-based assessment and approval under the Fellowship Regulations. Honorary Fellowship is conferred only through an authorised nomination or Academy invitation and does not arise from an account, payment or self-application.

A decision notice states the outcome and any review or appeal route. UKAAS does not guarantee approval, a particular assessor, a response outside the published timetable, or a benefit expressly subject to capacity or separate selection.

Prices, payment, renewal and cancellation

Before a consumer is bound, UKAAS will identify the legal trader, status or service, total price and taxes, contract term, payment timing, renewal setting, cancellation method and other information required by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 and applicable consumer law. The final order summary and accepted terms will be supplied on a durable medium where required.

Auto-renewal is not selected by default. If offered, it requires a separate affirmative choice and must be capable of being turned off online without ending the already-paid term. Renewal amount and date must be communicated before collection. UKAAS will update the process before the subscription-contract provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 apply to the relevant contract.

A consumer entering a distance service contract normally has 14 days from the day after the contract is made to cancel without giving a reason, subject to statutory exceptions. If the consumer expressly requests service during that period, a lawful proportionate charge may apply for service supplied before cancellation; the right may be lost only where law permits and the required express request and acknowledgement have been obtained. Route-specific Cancellation and Refund Rules and model cancellation information apply.

Turning off renewal prevents a future renewal but does not retrospectively cancel the current paid term. Nothing in these Terms limits a statutory refund, repeat-performance, price-reduction or other consumer remedy.

Status, directory and post-nominals

Only a current status shown in the authoritative UKAAS record may be claimed. Member status carries no post-nominal. A person may use FAAS(UK) only while holding Fellow status and subject to the Fellowship Regulations. Honorary Fellow wording and any post-nominal are governed by the invitation and honorary rules. Life Fellowship concerns the subscription route and does not create a higher academic rank.

A Member directory profile is optional and private by default. A limited Fellow verification record and an accepted Honorary Fellowship citation may be published under the applicable rules and Privacy Notice. You must not alter a certificate, imply professional accreditation, describe UKAAS as a regulator or university, or use status to guarantee the quality, legality or safety of your work.

Permitted use and licence

UKAAS grants a limited, revocable, non-exclusive and non-transferable permission to access the website and account for personal, professional or expressly authorised institutional use in accordance with these Terms. It does not transfer ownership of software, data, publications, images, the crest, trade marks or other material.

• You may quote a reasonable extract for lawful criticism, review, private study or another use permitted by law, with accurate attribution where appropriate.
• You may download a certificate, invoice, decision notice or account record made available to you for its intended personal or administrative use.
• You may link to a public page fairly, without implying endorsement, framing the site, obscuring the source or misrepresenting the content.

Prohibited conduct

• Introducing malware; probing, scanning or circumventing security; abusing recovery or OAuth flows; overloading infrastructure; or obtaining data beyond authorised access.
• Scraping a restricted directory or application, compiling profiles, harvesting contact details, sending unsolicited communications or using site data to train a model without written authority.
• Submitting unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, deceptive, infringing, confidential or irrelevant material, or material you have no right to disclose.
• Falsifying identity, evidence, payment, status, citation, certificate or assessment; offering payment for an honour; or suggesting that a donation, subscription or commercial relationship guarantees recognition.
• Using UKAAS names, crest, marks, design, post-nominals or officer titles beyond written brand and status permissions.
• Interfering with another applicant, assessor, Member, Fellow, nominee, event participant or staff member, or retaliating against a good-faith complaint or conflict declaration.

Material you submit

You retain ownership of original material you submit. You grant UKAAS a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence limited to receiving, securing, copying, formatting, assessing, verifying and administering it for the relevant application, account, status, event, complaint or legal record. This administrative licence lasts only as long as the material is lawfully retained.

Publication requires a separate basis. If you approve a biography, image, citation, article or recording for publication, the publication notice will state the intended channels and any additional licence. You warrant that you have necessary rights and permissions and will identify third-party confidentiality or copyright restrictions before submission.

UKAAS may preserve material needed for an active dispute, remove unlawful or unsafe material, and disclose it where law requires. A confidential Fellowship assessment is not public content merely because it was uploaded through the site.

UKAAS content and intellectual property

The website, software, databases, text, selection and arrangement, crest, graphics and institutional materials are owned by or licensed to UKAAS and protected by intellectual-property law. Except for the limited permission above or an express open licence, you may not reproduce, adapt, publish, sell, sublicense, create a misleading derivative, remove rights notices or exploit them commercially without written permission.

A factual status record may be referenced accurately. It does not authorise use of the crest or a claim of institutional endorsement. Third-party names and marks remain their owners' property.

Third-party services and links

The site may link to an identity provider, payment processor, event platform, publication, public register or external resource. A link does not by itself endorse the third party or make UKAAS responsible for its independent content, availability or processing. Review the third party's terms before use.

Where UKAAS selects a processor, UKAAS remains responsible for its controller obligations and uses an appropriate contract. Where the third party acts as an independent controller, its notice applies to that processing.

Accuracy, availability and changes

UKAAS takes reasonable care to keep institutional and status information accurate. General articles, event materials and external links may become out of date and do not constitute legal, financial, medical, academic-admission or regulated professional advice. Obtain independent advice before relying on information for a material decision.

UKAAS does not promise uninterrupted or error-free availability. It may maintain the service, correct an error, replace a provider, restrict an unsafe function or change prospective features. It will not use a general website change to remove a consumer right or rewrite an existing paid contract without a lawful contractual basis and any required notice or consent.

Restriction, suspension and account closure

UKAAS may temporarily restrict an account where reasonably necessary to protect security, investigate credible fraud or misuse, comply with law, preserve evidence or prevent harm. It uses proportionate measures and, unless notice would prejudice security, law or an investigation, explains the basis and response route.

Account access, Community status and disciplinary status are distinct. Closing an account does not cancel a paid contract, remove a public verification record, defeat an active sanction or erase lawfully retained records. Suspension or removal of status must follow the applicable regulations and fair procedure, not merely these website Terms.

You may request account closure through the account service or at contact@ukaas.org. UKAAS will confirm the operational effect, any continuing contract and records retained under the Privacy Notice.

Responsibility and liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of statutory title obligations, or any liability or consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. Paid services remain subject to the statutory duty to use reasonable care and skill and remedies under applicable consumer law.

Subject to those protections, UKAAS is not responsible for loss caused solely by your unlawful use, disclosure of credentials, inaccurate submission, unauthorised reliance on general information, or an external service outside UKAAS's reasonable control. UKAAS is not liable for an indirect or unforeseeable business loss arising from free public website use. Product-specific terms may state a lawful and proportionate allocation for that service.

If you use the service wholly or mainly for business purposes, you are responsible for ensuring it suits that purpose and for maintaining your records, security and professional compliance. Consumer protections still apply where you are legally a consumer, regardless of professional title.

General legal provisions

If a provision is unlawful or unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary or removed, and the rest continues. Delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. You may not transfer an account or status; a contract may be transferred only where its terms and law allow. No person other than the parties has a right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce these Terms unless a specific term says otherwise.

These Terms and incorporated documents identified in the contract hierarchy record the agreement concerning website and account use. They do not exclude a representation that cannot lawfully be excluded. Electronic notices may be sent to the verified account email where law permits; keep it current.

Changes to these Terms

UKAAS may revise these Terms prospectively for legal, security, provider or operational reasons. The version and effective date appear at the top. A change affecting an existing paid contract is effective only in accordance with that contract and applicable law. Where a material account change requires notice, UKAAS provides it through the account or verified email before it takes effect. Continued public browsing does not waive a statutory right or retrospectively alter an earlier transaction.