Terms of service

Last updated: 2026-10-17

1. Who provides the service

Cork Academy (corkacademy.com) is provided by Łukasz Sowa Consulting, Planetarna 10, 05-825 Kozerki, Poland, a sole proprietorship registered in the Polish business register (CEIDG), REGON 365999950, NIP PL5291771229. Contact: contact@corkacademy.com.

These terms are the "regulamin" within the meaning of the Polish Act on Providing Services by Electronic Means. They are linked from the bottom of every page and available free of charge at corkacademy.com/terms, in a form that lets you read, save and print them. They are available in English and Polish; if the versions differ, the Polish version prevails for consumers in Poland.

2. What Cork Academy is

Cork Academy is a free online study aid for people learning about wine, in particular those preparing for WSET qualifications. The services provided by electronic means are:

• a daily practice set of multiple-choice questions and flashcards, with explanations, and the saving of your answers and streak as a guest;
• reference materials, such as cheat sheets and printable tasting sheets;
• an optional email signup to receive one email when something big ships;
• the option to install the site as a web app on your device.

Cork Academy is an independent, unofficial study aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). WSET® is a registered trademark of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Cork Academy is not a WSET course and does not replace one.

3. Agreement

Cork Academy is for people aged 18 or older.

The agreement for providing the service is concluded in English or Polish, free of charge, when you start using Cork Academy, for example by opening the site or answering a question. These terms are available before you do. The email signup is a separate service, which starts when you submit the form.

You can end the agreement at any time, free of charge and without giving a reason, by stopping using Cork Academy. If you also want your data deleted straight away, write to us; otherwise your guest record is deleted 60 days after you last use Cork Academy. Your past answers stay stored without a link to you, as the Privacy policy explains. The email signup ends once we've sent the one promised email, 24 months after you signed up if we haven't sent it by then, or earlier if you ask us to remove your address.

We may end the agreement if we discontinue the service (section 9), or block access as described in section 6.

4. Technical requirements and risks

To use Cork Academy you need:

• a device with an internet connection;
• a current version of a common web browser (such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge) with JavaScript and browser storage (cookies/local storage) enabled.

Cork Academy stores small amounts of data in your browser to make the service work (your guest identity, your session, your chosen level and your cookie choice) and, only if you agree, uses cookies for analytics and session replay. Section 7 of our Privacy policy lists them and explains how to change your choice.

Using any online service carries risks we can't fully remove. The main ones are: malicious software on your device, phishing messages pretending to be from us, interception of traffic on untrusted networks, and unauthorised access to your device. We protect the connection with HTTPS and keep our systems updated; you should keep your device and browser up to date and use antivirus software.

5. Your progress

Practising doesn't require signing up: your progress is linked to a guest identity stored in your browser. If you clear your browser's site data or switch device, you'll normally lose access to your progress. 60 days after you last use Cork Academy, your guest record is deleted and you can no longer access your progress.

6. Acceptable use

When using Cork Academy you must not:

• provide or transmit unlawful content (such as content that infringes others' rights or breaks the law) or use the service for unlawful purposes;
• interfere with or disrupt the service, probe or circumvent its security, or try to access it or other people's data in unauthorised ways;
• access the service by automated means (scraping, bulk downloading, bots), copy the question bank, or reuse its content commercially or make it available to others without our written permission.

If someone seriously or repeatedly breaks these rules, we may block their access (for example from an IP address or a guest identity), only to the extent and for as long as needed to stop it. Where we can reach you, we'll tell you the reason, unless the law forbids it or telling you would let the abuse continue. You can contest a block by writing to us, as with a complaint (section 10).

7. Content and exam results

We work hard to make the content accurate and useful, but it is for study purposes. Wine knowledge and exam specifications change, and questions can contain errors; tell us if you spot one. Cork Academy does not guarantee any exam result and is not a substitute for an official course or for professional advice.

The study content, design and software are owned by us or used with permission and protected by copyright. You may use the content for your own personal, non-commercial study, including printing the reference materials for yourself. Any other use needs our written permission.

Changes to the service. We update the service in three ways:

• Corrections and new content. We fix errors, refresh questions and add new material as part of running the service, without notice.
• Changes to features. We may change or remove features for a good reason: changes in the law or exam specifications, security, technical or cost reasons, or to improve the service. We'll announce changes that noticeably affect how you use Cork Academy on the site before they take effect. If a change materially worsens your access to or use of the service, you can end the agreement free of charge within 30 days of the change, or of being told about it if later (section 3).
• Discontinuing the service (section 9).

8. Donations

Cork Academy is free. If you choose to support it, donation buttons take you to Stripe or Buy Me a Coffee, which process the payment under their own terms. A donation is voluntary, doesn't buy any service or benefit, and doesn't change these terms.

9. Availability

We provide Cork Academy free of charge as a small, independent project, and don't promise it will always be available or error-free. We may interrupt it briefly for maintenance or security reasons. If we decide to discontinue the service, we'll announce it on the site at least 30 days in advance, unless the law or security requires us to act faster, and the agreement ends on that date.

10. Complaints

If something doesn't work as described, write to contact@corkacademy.com with a description of the problem, when it happened, and how to reach you. We'll reply within 14 days of receiving your complaint, to the email address you wrote from unless you ask otherwise. If we can't fix the problem, we'll tell you why.

11. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, we're not liable for indirect damage, for short interruptions of the service, for progress you lose by clearing your browser's data, or for the content or services of third parties we link to (such as donation platforms). Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, or your rights as a consumer under mandatory law.

12. Personal data

How we process personal data is described in our Privacy policy.

13. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms for a good reason: a change in the law or in what authorities require, new or changed features, security, or to make them clearer. We'll publish the new version on this page at least 14 days before it takes effect, with a summary of what changed and the new date at the top; corrections that don't affect your rights can take effect immediately. If you don't agree, you can end the agreement before the new terms take effect by stopping using Cork Academy, and ask us to delete your data.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by Polish law. If you're a consumer, this doesn't take away the protection of mandatory consumer laws of the EU country where you live.

Disputes are resolved by the competent courts. If you're a consumer, you may also use out-of-court dispute resolution, for example through a permanent consumer arbitration court or mediation at a provincial inspectorate of the Trade Inspection (Inspekcja Handlowa), or seek free help from a municipal or district consumer ombudsman (rzecznik konsumentów); information is available at uokik.gov.pl. We don't commit to a particular out-of-court body.