This Cookie Policy explains how the OET-style examination preparation platform (the "Platform") uses cookies and similar local-storage technologies. It should be read together with the Privacy Policy.
1. Our approach
The Platform is built to be privacy-preserving by default. We use only strictly-necessary cookies to operate the service securely. We do not use advertising, profiling or third-party tracking cookies, and we do not load analytics that fingerprint you, by default.
Because the Platform sets only strictly-necessary cookies, no consent banner is required to set them under the ePrivacy rules. The one non-essential technology we use — measurement on our public marketing website (section 3a) — is off by default and set only after opt-in consent; it is never loaded on an academy's white-label domain or inside the examination platform.
2. Authoritative state is server-side
Examination state — your answers, scores and progress — is held server-side. It is not stored in cookies or browser local storage. Cookies are used only to maintain your authenticated session and a small number of security/preference signals.
3. Cookies we use
| Name | Purpose | Type | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
oet_session | Maintains your signed-in session (authentication) | Strictly necessary | Session / up to login validity |
oet_mfa_pending | Tracks a pending multi-factor authentication step during sign-in | Strictly necessary | Until MFA completes (short-lived) |
oet_consent | Remembers your cookie/consent choice so we don't ask again | Strictly necessary | Up to 12 months |
oet_lang | Remembers the landing-page language preference | Preference (essential to honour your choice) | Up to 12 months |
Names are indicative of the Platform's current configuration and may change as the service evolves; the categories and privacy-preserving approach will not.
3a. Optional cookies on the public marketing website (consent required)
On the operator's own public website (the marketing pages: home, contact, demo, pricing and similar) we ask for your choice before setting anything optional. Two purposes, each your separate decision:
| Purpose | What it does | Provider | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement | Google Analytics 4 (_ga, _ga_*) — which pages are visited and where a demo request or enquiry comes from; IP addresses are not stored by GA4 | Google Ireland Ltd (EU) | Off until you allow it — the Google script is not even loaded before then |
| Advertising | Lets advertising platforms measure and personalise ads (Google Consent Mode "ad storage", "ad user data", "ad personalization") | Off until you allow it |
Your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage (ph-cookie-consent, up to 12 months) so we do not ask again, and can be changed at any time from the "Cookie settings" link in the website footer. Refusing is one click and has the same weight as accepting. Google Consent Mode is set to "denied" for every purpose before any Google code runs, so nothing is measured without consent.
If you arrive from a campaign link, the link's own parameters (gclid, utm_*) are kept in your browser session and sent with an enquiry or demo request you choose to submit, so we know which campaign it came from. They are form data, not a tracking cookie, and are sent nowhere unless you submit a form.
3b. Optional tags set by your academy (consent required)
An academy that uses the Platform under its own name may connect its own Google Ads and / or Google Analytics 4 tag to its site (its sales landing, its plan shop, its sign-in and student pages). When it does, the academy — not the Platform operator — is the controller of that tag: it runs under the academy's Google account and the academy's own privacy notice. The Platform only carries the identifiers the academy typed and applies the same rules as above: the tag is not loaded until you accept the optional purpose it belongs to (Measurement for Analytics, Advertising for Google Ads), Google Consent Mode is "denied" for every purpose until then, the tag is never loaded inside an examination, and a purchase is reported with its amount, currency and plan name only — never your e-mail or name. Where a site has such a tag, this page names it below the policy ("set by your academy"). The same academy may place an enquiry form on its sales landing: what you type there goes to the academy alone — its own inbox on the Platform, and the e-mail address or webhook it configured — never to the Platform operator's own CRM; the academy is the controller of that enquiry and its consent sentence is the one you tick.
4. Local storage
Limited browser local storage may be used for non-sensitive UI preferences (for example, light/dark theme). It is never used to store answers, scores or other authoritative examination data.
5. How to control cookies
You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings, including blocking or removing them. Because the cookies above are strictly necessary, blocking them may prevent you from signing in or completing an examination. Browser help pages explain how to manage cookies for your specific browser.
6. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in the Platform or the law. The "Last updated" date and version below indicate the current revision.