Terms of Service

Last updated: September 2026

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The Full Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Mr Sear's Spelling ("the Service"), a web-based classroom spelling test application created and operated by Daniel Sear, with access provided by Sear Education ("we", "us", "our").

By using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you are using the Service on behalf of a school or organisation, you confirm you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

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1. What Is the Service?

Mr Sear's Spelling is an educational tool for running live spelling tests with a class. The teacher types a word and sends it. Each pupil's screen shows a "Get Ready" waiting screen, then a typing screen with an on-screen keyboard, where the pupil types the spelling and submits it.

Mr Sear's Spelling is a sister product to Mr Sear's MTC, from the same company. The two share one account and pupil system, but each keeps its own learning information.

What's included:

• Live spelling tests, with the teacher sending each word and ending the test when finished
• An optional 10-second timer
• Each pupil's status shown live on the class seating plan (waiting, typing, correct or incorrect)
• Test results the teacher can download as an Excel file to their own computer
• Seat designs and tokens, shared with Mr Sear's MTC
• Reading tools, including a dyslexia-friendly font, larger text and higher contrast

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2. How Do Accounts Work?

Invite-only access:

The Service is not open to the public. Access is by invitation only from Sear Education.

One shared account:

• Teachers use one account across Mr Sear's MTC and Mr Sear's Spelling, with the same email and password
• Schools, classes, teachers, pupils, class logins and pupil PINs are shared between the two products
• A pupil added once appears in both products and is the same child in both
• Invitation emails to teachers come from the shared account system

Account security:

• Teachers are responsible for keeping their login details secure
• Pupil accounts only need: first name + 4-digit PIN (no email addresses or other personal identifiers required)
• Class logins and pupil PINs should be kept confidential and only shared with authorised users (pupils in the class)

Who can see what:

• The class teacher can see all the children's names, status and results in their class
• School leads can see the classes in their school
• Pupils sign in with the class login and their own PIN, and only enter as themselves

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3. How You Should Use the Service

You agree to use the Service only for its intended educational purpose.

You must NOT:

• Use the Service for anything illegal
• Try to hack the Service or access other people's accounts
• Do anything that could damage the Service or stop other users from using it
• Enter false, misleading, or inappropriate information (such as offensive pupil names or display names)
• Share class logins or pupil PINs with people outside your class

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4. Your Data and Privacy

Who's responsible for what:

YOUR ORGANISATION is the Data Controller

• Your organisation decides what personal data to collect and why
• Your organisation determines how the data is used
• Your organisation is ultimately responsible for the data

SEAR EDUCATION is the Data Processor

• We process and store data on your organisation's behalf
• We only use data according to your organisation's instructions
• We keep it secure but your organisation is in charge
• Sear Education staff may access data only where necessary for running the Service or for support

Kept separate from Mr Sear's MTC:

Your MTC learning information (such as maths results) and your Spelling learning information are kept separate. Mr Sear's Spelling does not read or change MTC's maths results.

What you need to do:

• Review our Data Processing Agreement which governs how we handle data on your organisation's behalf
• Read our Privacy Policy to understand how we handle data

This arrangement follows UK GDPR requirements.

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5. Who Owns the App?

We do:

• The Service, including its design, features, and content, is owned by Sear Education
• It's protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws

What you can do:

• You can use the Service for teaching and educational purposes
• This is a licence to use it, not to own it

What you can't do:

• You cannot copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service
• You cannot reverse-engineer it or try to extract the source code
• You cannot claim it as your own work

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6. Will the Service Always Be Available?

Our aim:

We aim to keep the Service available at all times.

The reality:

• The Service may be unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our control
• We'll try to give you notice of planned maintenance where possible
• Unless we've agreed otherwise in writing, we don't offer guaranteed uptime

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7. What We Can't Promise

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" - which means:

• We don't guarantee it will meet your specific needs
• We don't guarantee it will be completely error-free
• We don't guarantee that all errors will be fixed
• We don't guarantee any particular spelling results (the Service is a classroom tool, and we can't promise that using it will lead to any specific outcome)

We'll do our best to make it great, but we can't make legal promises about perfection.

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8. If Something Goes Wrong - Our Liability

What we're NOT liable for:

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sear Education is not liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from your use of the Service. This includes things like:

• Lost profits or business opportunities
• Data loss (unless caused by our negligence)
• Damage to reputation
• Other indirect consequences

Maximum we'll pay:

If you have a valid claim against us, the maximum we'll pay is the amount you've paid us (if anything) in the 12 months before the claim.

Important exception:

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:

• Death or personal injury caused by our negligence
• Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation
• Anything else that UK law says we can't exclude

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9. Changes to the Service

We may:

• Update, modify, or discontinue features at any time
• We'll try to give you reasonable notice of significant changes

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10. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time:

• We'll update the "Last updated" date at the top
• For material changes, we'll email you or put a notice on the Service
• If you keep using the Service after changes take effect, you're accepting the new Terms

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11. Ending Your Use of the Service

You can stop anytime:

• You can stop using the Service whenever you like
• No penalties, no questions asked

We can stop you if:

• You breach these Terms
• We're required to by law

What happens to your data:

Upon termination, data will be handled according to our Privacy Policy and any Data Processing Agreement in place.

How long Spelling information is kept:

• Live test information (the words sent, what each pupil typed and whether it was right) is cleared when the teacher ends or resets the test.
• Mr Sear's Spelling does not keep a long-term history of spelling results on the server. If you want to keep a test's results, download them as an Excel file to your own computer before ending the test.
• Your teacher account, schools, classes and pupils are shared with Mr Sear's MTC, so they are handled as described in the Mr Sear's MTC Privacy Policy.
• If you have questions about removing data, contact info@mrsearmtc.uk.

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12. The Legal Bits

Governing law:

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be dealt with in the courts of England and Wales.

If part of this doesn't work:

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest of the Terms still apply.

The whole agreement:

These Terms are the complete agreement between you and Sear Education regarding the use of the Service.

If we don't enforce something:

Our failure to enforce any right or provision doesn't mean we've given up that right.

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13. Questions?

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Sear Education
Email: info@mrsearmtc.uk

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Quick Guide

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