Terms and Conditions.

How these terms bind institutions and the users they authorise.

1.1 The parties. These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern access to and use of the Pocket Debate platform (the “Service”) provided by Pocket Debate Ltd (“Pocket Debate”, “we”, “us”, “our”), a company in the process of incorporation in England and Wales. They apply to each school, sixth form, university society, or other organisation that subscribes to the Service (each an “Institution”) and to every individual whose access to the Service is authorised by an Institution (each an “Authorised User”).

1.2 Acceptance by Institutions. An Institution accepts these Terms by executing an Order Form referencing them, by permitting its Authorised Users to access the Service, or by otherwise using the Service, whichever occurs first.

1.3 Acceptance by Authorised Users. An Authorised User accepts these Terms by accessing or using the Service. Each Institution is responsible for ensuring that its Authorised Users are made aware of these Terms and comply with them.

1.4 Current version. The version of these Terms published at pocketdebate.com/terms is the current version and governs all use of the Service. Section 16 describes how these Terms are updated and how changes are notified.

The meaning of capitalised terms used throughout this document.

The platform Pocket Debate provides and its continuing development.

3.1 Description. The Service is a competitive debate platform for educational use. It enables Authorised Users to participate in structured debate formats, both online and in physical settings, with real-time audio between participants. Spoken contributions are transcribed and evaluated by Arbiter AI, which generates written feedback and indicative scores. The Service maintains ELO-based rankings, institutional leaderboards, and tournament records, and provides teachers and administrators with individual and cohort reporting.

3.2 Continuous development. Pocket Debate is under continuous development. Features may be introduced, improved, modified, or withdrawn over time as the platform evolves. Section 12 describes how changes to the Service are handled and notified.

3.3 Educational purpose. The Service is provided for educational use within the context of the subscribing Institution. Pocket Debate is not an awarding body and the Service does not confer qualifications of any kind.

Accounts, eligibility, and the responsibilities of each institution.

4.1 Authentication. Access to the Service is provided either through the Institution's own single sign-on provider (such as Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace for Education, or another identity provider the Institution operates) or, where an Institution does not operate a supported single sign-on provider, through a Pocket Debate account secured by a password. Where single sign-on is used, authentication, including any multi-factor requirements, is managed within the Institution's own identity provider, and revoking a user's access there prevents further login to the Service. Where a password is used, it is stored by Pocket Debate only in salted, hashed form; Pocket Debate does not store or have access to any password in plain text.

4.2 Provisioning. All accounts are created and managed by the Institution's administrators. Individuals cannot self-register. The Institution controls which of its members are Authorised Users at any time.

4.3 Eligibility. The Service is restricted to individuals aged fourteen and above. The Institution must confirm that every Authorised User meets this threshold before their account is created.

4.4 Institutional responsibilities. Each Institution is responsible for the matters set out below in respect of its own Authorised Users.

The annual subscription cycle and pilot arrangements.

5.1 Term. Unless the Order Form states otherwise, each subscription runs for a term of twelve months aligned to the academic year, commencing in September.

5.2 Renewal. Subscriptions renew for successive twelve-month terms unless either party gives written notice of non-renewal at least thirty days before the end of the then-current term.

5.3 Pilots. An Institution may begin with a Pilot, which runs for one school term or three months as specified in the Order Form and is subject to the Pilot fee stated there. These Terms apply in full during a Pilot. At the end of a Pilot, either party may decline to continue, and the engagement converts to a full subscription only by written agreement of both parties.

Invoiced institutional fees and how they are handled.

6.1 Fees. Fees are as set out in the Order Form and are invoiced to the Institution. Unless the invoice states a different period, invoices are payable within thirty days of the invoice date.

6.2 Taxes. Fees are stated exclusive of VAT and any other applicable taxes, which are payable in addition where they apply.

6.3 No in-platform payments. The Service does not collect, transmit, or store card details, banking information, or any other financial data. All payments are handled by invoice outside the platform.

6.4 Non-payment. If fees remain unpaid after the due date, Pocket Debate may, after giving written notice and a reasonable opportunity to pay, suspend the Institution's access to the Service in accordance with Section 13 until payment is received. Fees properly invoiced remain payable notwithstanding any suspension.

The standards of conduct required of every user of the platform.

7.1 Standards. The Service exists to support structured, competitive, and respectful argument. Debate necessarily involves disagreement, and robust challenge of ideas is welcome. The conduct described below is not, and each Authorised User and Institution must not engage in it or assist others to do so.

7.2 Responsible disclosure. Security researchers and users who identify a vulnerability in good faith should report it through the responsible disclosure route published on the Pocket Debate website rather than exploiting or publicising it.

7.3 Sanctions. Pocket Debate applies sanctions proportionately, ordinarily progressing from a warning, to suspension, to termination of the relevant account. Where a student account is warned, suspended, or terminated, the Institution is notified. Pocket Debate may act immediately, without prior warning, where conduct presents a serious risk to other users, to an Institution, or to the security or integrity of the Service.

Ownership of debate content and the limited licence granted to Pocket Debate.

8.1 Ownership. Authorised Users and Institutions retain all rights they hold in the speeches, arguments, and other content they contribute to the Service (“User Content”). Ownership of student personal data is addressed in the Privacy Policy, under which schools own all student personal data processed through the platform.

8.2 Licence to Pocket Debate. Each Institution and Authorised User grants Pocket Debate a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, transmit, transcribe, process, display, and store User Content solely to the extent necessary to operate, provide, secure, and support the Service. This licence ends when the relevant content is deleted in accordance with the retention periods described in the Privacy Policy.

8.3 No AI training. User Content and personal data processed through the Service are not used to train, fine-tune, or improve any AI model, whether operated by Pocket Debate or by any third party.

8.4 Moderation. Debate transcripts may be reviewed within the limited retention window described in the Privacy Policy to identify content raising safeguarding, welfare, or acceptable use concerns.

Ownership of the platform, Arbiter AI, and the ranking system.

9.1 Platform ownership. Pocket Debate and its licensors own all intellectual property rights in the Service, including the platform software, Arbiter AI, the adjudication and ranking methodologies, the ELO system, the design of the platform, and all associated documentation. No rights are granted to any Institution or Authorised User except the limited right to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.

9.2 Feedback records. AI-generated verdicts, feedback, scores, and rankings relating to an Institution's students form part of that Institution's student data records, as described in the Privacy Policy, and may be used by the Institution and its Authorised Users for internal educational purposes.

9.3 Restrictions. No Institution or Authorised User may copy, resell, sublicense, or make the Service available to any third party, nor use the Service or its outputs to develop a competing product or service.

9.4 Suggestions. Pocket Debate may use suggestions and feedback about the Service, without restriction or obligation, to improve the platform. This clause does not apply to personal data, which is governed by the Privacy Policy.

9.5 Branding. The Pocket Debate name and the P. mark may not be used without Pocket Debate's prior written consent, except to identify the Institution's use of the Service in a factual manner.

The formative nature of automated judging and the human oversight around it.

10.1 Nature of Arbiter AI outputs. Arbiter AI generates written feedback and indicative scores for learning, coaching, and competitive ranking within an educational debate context. Its outputs are formative and are not determinative of any outcome with legal, disciplinary, or similarly significant effect.

10.2 Human oversight. Human oversight is embedded in the design of the Service. Where a score contributes to a tournament outcome, the relevant teacher, administrator, or tournament adjudicator retains the ability to review, query, and override the AI output before any final result is communicated. A human review of any AI output may be requested as described in the Privacy Policy.

10.3 Limits. Arbiter AI outputs may contain errors, and Pocket Debate does not warrant that scoring will be consistent between sessions, motions, or participants. Outputs must not be relied upon as formal academic assessment, and Institutions must not use them as the sole basis for decisions concerning qualifications, admissions, discipline, or any matter with a significant effect on an individual.

10.4 No professional advice. Nothing generated by the Service constitutes professional advice of any kind.

Where the processing of personal data is governed.

11.1 Governing documents. The processing of personal data through the Service, including the data collected, the purposes and lawful bases of processing, the sub-processors engaged, international transfers, retention periods, and security measures, is governed by the Privacy Policy. The process for exercising data subject rights and raising data protection concerns is published at pocketdebate.com/privacy/data-subject-rights.

11.2 Roles. Institutions act as controllers of the student personal data processed through the Service, and Pocket Debate processes that data as processor on the Institution's instruction. Pocket Debate acts as controller only for the limited categories of data described as such in the Privacy Policy, such as institutional contact and communications data.

11.3 Data processing agreements. Where a DPA has been executed between Pocket Debate and an Institution, that DPA governs the processing of personal data on the Institution's behalf and prevails over these Terms to the extent of any conflict on data protection matters.

Service availability, maintenance, and the evolution of features.

12.1 Availability. Pocket Debate uses reasonable endeavours to make the Service available at all times. The Service may nonetheless be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond Pocket Debate's reasonable control, including failures of third-party services on which the Service depends.

12.2 Maintenance. Planned maintenance likely to cause significant interruption is scheduled outside typical school hours where reasonably practicable, and Institutions are given advance notice of it.

12.3 Changes to the Service. Pocket Debate may change the Service at any time to improve, extend, or maintain it. Where a change would materially reduce the core functionality available to an Institution during its current term, Pocket Debate will give the Institution at least thirty days' notice.

When access may be suspended or ended, and what happens on exit.

13.1 Suspension. Pocket Debate may suspend an account, or an Institution's access to the Service, where reasonably necessary to address a breach of Section 07, a security risk, suspected unlawful use, or non-payment under clause 6.4, or where the relevant Institution instructs the suspension of one of its Authorised Users. Suspensions are limited in scope and duration to what is reasonably required.

13.2 Termination by Pocket Debate. Pocket Debate may terminate an Institution's subscription with immediate effect on written notice if the Institution commits a material breach of these Terms and, where the breach is capable of remedy, fails to remedy it within thirty days of being notified, or if the Institution becomes insolvent or ceases to operate. Pocket Debate may terminate an individual account in accordance with the sanctions described in clause 7.3.

13.3 Termination by the Institution. An Institution may end its subscription by notice of non-renewal under clause 5.2, or with immediate effect on written notice if Pocket Debate commits a material breach of these Terms and fails to remedy it within thirty days of being notified.

13.4 Effect of termination. On termination or expiry, access to the Service ceases for the Institution and its Authorised Users. Fees properly invoiced for the period up to the effective date of termination remain payable, and fees already paid are not refundable except where the Institution terminates for Pocket Debate's unremedied material breach, in which case Pocket Debate will refund a proportion of prepaid fees reflecting the unused remainder of the term.

13.5 Data on exit. On or before exit, an Institution may request a full export of its data in CSV or JSON format and may request deletion of all data associated with the Institution, each as described in the Privacy Policy, which also sets out the retention periods that apply after the subscription ends.

13.6 Survival. Sections 08 to 11 and 13 to 19 survive termination or expiry of these Terms to the extent relevant.

The warranties excluded and the cap on Pocket Debate's liability.

14.1 As available. The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, all conditions, warranties, and terms implied by statute, common law, or otherwise, including any implied warranty of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement, are excluded.

14.2 Liability that is not limited. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

14.3 Excluded losses. Subject to clause 14.2, Pocket Debate is not liable, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for any indirect or consequential loss, nor for loss of profits, revenue, anticipated savings, goodwill, or opportunity, nor for loss or corruption of data beyond the cost of restoring it from the most recent available backup, nor for any loss arising from reliance on Arbiter AI outputs contrary to Section 10, from the Institution's or an Authorised User's breach of these Terms, or from the unavailability or failure of third-party services outside Pocket Debate's control, including any single sign-on provider used by the Institution.

14.4 Cap. Subject to clause 14.2, the total aggregate liability of Pocket Debate to an Institution and its Authorised Users taken together, arising out of or in connection with these Terms and the Service, is limited to the total fees paid by that Institution to Pocket Debate in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim or, where no fees have been paid in that period, to one hundred pounds sterling.

14.5 Reasonableness. Each party acknowledges that the allocations of risk in this Section 14 are reflected in the level of the fees and are reasonable in the context of an educational platform of this nature.

How concerns are raised and escalated.

15.1 Complaints. Any complaint concerning the Service or these Terms should be sent to contact@pocketdebate.com. Pocket Debate acknowledges complaints within five working days and responds substantively as soon as reasonably practicable.

15.2 Data protection concerns. Concerns relating to personal data should be raised through the process published at pocketdebate.com/privacy/data-subject-rights, which also describes the right to complain to the relevant supervisory authority.

15.3 Escalation. Before commencing proceedings, the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through discussion between appropriate representatives for a period of thirty days. Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive or other interim relief.

How updates are made and communicated.

16.1 Updates. Pocket Debate may update these Terms from time to time. The current version is published at pocketdebate.com/terms and its version number identifies it.

16.2 Material changes. Changes that materially reduce the rights of Institutions or Authorised Users, or materially increase their obligations, take effect no earlier than thirty days after notice is given to affected Institutions. Continued use of the Service after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of it. An Institution that objects to a material change should contact Pocket Debate before the change takes effect, and may decline to renew under clause 5.2 in any event.

The law that applies and the courts that hear disputes.

17.1 Governing law. These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation, including non-contractual disputes or claims, are governed by the law of England and Wales.

17.2 Jurisdiction. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute or claim, except that Pocket Debate may seek injunctive or equivalent protective relief in any court of competent jurisdiction where necessary to protect its intellectual property or the security of the Service.

Precedence, assignment, notices, severance, and related matters.

18.1 Order of precedence. If there is a conflict between these documents, it is resolved in the following order: for data protection matters, the DPA prevails; for commercial matters, the Order Form prevails; in all other respects, these Terms apply.

18.2 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the applicable Order Form, the DPA where executed, and the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between Pocket Debate and each Institution concerning the Service, and supersede all prior discussions and understandings on the same subject matter. Nothing in this clause limits liability for fraud.

18.3 Assignment. Pocket Debate may assign or novate its rights and obligations under these Terms to a successor entity, including in connection with the completion of its incorporation, a reorganisation, or a transfer of the business, provided the successor honours these Terms. An Institution may not assign its subscription without Pocket Debate's prior written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld.

18.4 Company in formation. Pocket Debate Ltd is in the process of incorporation in England and Wales. On incorporation, the rights and obligations under these Terms vest in the incorporated company, and references to Pocket Debate Ltd are read accordingly.

18.5 Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delay or failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control, provided it notifies the other party and uses reasonable endeavours to mitigate the effect. This clause does not excuse an Institution's payment obligations.

18.6 Waiver and severance. A failure or delay in exercising a right under these Terms is not a waiver of it. If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remainder of these Terms continues in full force.

18.7 Notices. Notices to Pocket Debate must be sent to contact@pocketdebate.com. Notices to an Institution are sent to the administrative contact identified in the Order Form or through the Institution's administrator account. Notices sent by email are deemed received on the next working day.

18.8 Third-party rights. Except as expressly stated, a person who is not a party to these Terms has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of their provisions.

How to reach Pocket Debate.

Questions about these Terms, the Service, or an Order Form should be directed to contact@pocketdebate.com. Data protection questions and requests are handled through the process published at pocketdebate.com/privacy/data-subject-rights.