press releases
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 English UK welcomes its first national special interest group / 29 July 2010 |
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English language centres in Scotland have joined forces to become English UK Scotland.
The 17 centres were all members of SELTIC, the independent Scottish consortium of accredited English language centres. They applied to become the first national group of English UK because of the marketing and business benefits that are part of belonging to a large and well-established organisation.
Rupert Lezemore, Chairman of English UK Scotland, said: "Most of us were members of English UK and we could see the benefits of being under their umbrella. It was a very simple decision really: we thought it would be better to be part of a bigger group rather than independent.
"From the marketing point of view English UK is much more of an internationally recognised name, and that will be very helpful. This makes very clear what we do," he said.
One of the new grouping's functions is to work together to lobby for the industry in Scotland. English UK Scotland members are also planning joint events, including cross-school training, which is more difficult for centres to do in isolation. "We're planning speakers and so on for staff training. We're building a real community," said Mr Lezemore. Member centres are in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and Aberdeen.
The English UK grouping will be able to build on the way that SELTIC members used to work together. Its centres would bid together for large contracts and co-operate to accommodate students' needs.
Mr Lezemore said that the SELTIC name, though accurate, had become less helpful as more would-be students searched for language schools on the internet. He added that English UK Scotland members now made up the majority of British Council-accredited centres in the country.
The Scottish group formally became part of English UK after a board meeting in April. Work is now underway to create a dedicated new website making full use of English UK and English UK Scotland branding.
English UK Scotland joins existing special interest groups including those for Business English, Work Experience, Young Learners and the regional groups for the North, Central England and the South West.
Notes to editors:
English UK is the world's leading language teaching association, with 440 accredited centres in membership. It covers university and further education college language departments, international study centres in independent schools, educational trusts and charities, and private sector colleges. English UK is a UK registered charity. www.englishuk.com
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| Immigration minister promises to look again at B1 language rule / 26 July 2010 |
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Immigration Minister Damian Green and UK Border Agency Chief Executive Lin Homer today undertook to work with English UK and its members to look for alternative solutions to maintaining the controversial language requirement for visa-national students on English language courses.
The Minister and Lin Homer met a delegation of language school industry experts and MPs representing constituencies where the local economy depends upon overseas students coming to the UK to learn English.
Mr Green and Ms Homer undertook to have “detailed discussions” about the case put forward during the meeting by English UK, which represents 440 fully-accredited language centres.
The Home Office originally introduced the B1 requirement (equivalent to a top-grade GCSE) in March but was forced to drop it back to A1 (basic English) on July 9, following a High Court judgement that said the rules had not been put before Parliament as legally required. The B1 level was restored on Friday 23 July when the Home Office introduced new Immigration Rules, which MPs are challenging.
Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, put forward two simple suggestions to replace the B1 language requirement for English language students.
“Most UK education experts would say that the best indicator of ability to follow a course successfully is past academic achievement – which is why we have so many tests and exams in this country. We suggest therefore that the best indicator for English language students is that they reasonably recently completed high school education in their own country, equivalent to what we have here as Year 12, usually AS level.
“Second, we understand that UKBA has a risk profile for every country. This opens the possibility that the existing general educational level required of students applying for English language courses could be higher for countries which are judged to be high risk, and lower for low risk countries.”
Mr Millns said the current rules were damaging a successful business sector and were not supported by any evidence that students on lower-level courses were likelier to disappear or overstay.
While many of the other changes which came with the points-based visa system had positively transformed the system, he said the language rule was “deeply damaging” for the sector.
Language schools were cutting staff hours and state providers were halting courses. This was having a detrimental effect on the economy.
Ultimately, numbers of overseas students enrolling at UK universities would fall because 46% of students applying to universities are here already on English language and foundation year courses, creating a knock-on effect for British universities.
In conclusion, Mr Millns said: “I am going back to the Home Office tomorrow for more discussions and to give information to feed into the review of the student visa system which the Minister has already begun. For the good of the sector and the UK economy, we need to get this sorted out quickly. We welcome the UKBA offer to engage constructively in considering alternatives to the B1 rule.”
Notes to Editors:
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| English UK disappointed at Border Agency’s change to visa rules / 22 July 2010 |
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English UK today said it was “very disappointed” at the decision by the UK Border Agency to again raise the level of English proficiency required for British student visas.
As of July 23, students below degree level must again prove that they have reached level B1, which is just below A Level standard. This includes students who want to learn English in the UK, a situation which English UK Chief Executive Tony Millns has described as “clearly absurd”.
The B1 level was originally imposed by the Government on March 3, but overturned on July 9 after English UK won a judicial review of the process by which the rules were changed. The High Court judge, Mr Justice Foskett, ordered that the language rules should revert immediately to the “basic” level of A1.
“We’re very disappointed that the Border Agency has made this change without us having had the chance to meet the new Immigration Minister, Damian Green, and make our case with him,” said Mr Millns.
“A group of MPs who represent constituencies with high concentrations of language schools and myself are due to meet Mr Green on Monday. They are very concerned about the effect of this ruling on the local economy of their constituencies. When Mr Green was in opposition, he too was very supportive of our position and the detrimental effect this rule has on genuine students.”
Notes to Editors
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| English UK wins high court judicial review case / 9 July 2010 |
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More than 3,000 jobs and over £600 million a year in foreign earnings have been saved for the UK economy by a High Court judgement on which international students can come to the UK.
English UK has today won its case in the High Court against the last Home Secretary’s decision to raise the level of English which students must have before they can get a UK visa to learn the language here.
On March 3 2010, the level was raised from elementary to intermediate (from A1 to B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) for students who wanted to take courses of longer than six months and so needed a General Student Visa. They could no longer study on a course at a lower level than B2, roughly equivalent to A Level. In effect, this meant that they had to have a good standard of English before they could come to the UK to learn it.
The change was not directly put before Parliament, but was made through a paragraph in an appendix to the immigration rules which gave the UK Border Agency (UKBA) the blanket power to specify the minimum academic level of course which students can come to the UK to study on the General Student visa (GSV).
In his written judgement, Mr Justice Foskett said anything which "changed materially" the criteria of entry for overseas students must be done through a change in the rules, and not through a change in the guidance.
He agreed with counsel for English UK that a recent ruling from the Court of Appeal, on another immigration case, also applied to the way the language requirement was changed.
The rationale for the judgment in the Pankina case, Mr Justice Foskett said, was that "a provision that reflects a substantive criterion for eligibility for admission or leave to remain must be the subject of a process that involves a true Parliamentary scrutiny" (his emphasis). The increase in the level of English was not in fact subject to Parliamentary process, but done through a change in administrative guidance.
On this, Mr Justice Foskett said: "I do not doubt that the changed approach in the new guidance does operate to change materially the substantive criteria for entry for foreign students who wish to study English in the UK, and…that cannot be achieved by a change in guidance – it must be achieved through the medium of a rule change."
He went on to conclude that "extrinsic guidance cannot be used…to make a material or substantive change in existing immigration policy without the negative resolution procedure set out in section 3 (2) of the 1971 Immigration Act being implemented".
Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, which represents 440 fully-accredited English language centres, said: "This judgement upholds our basic case that the Home Secretary was wrong to introduce a substantive change in the entry criteria for GSV students without laying that change before Parliament.
"We have asked the court to rule that the English language requirement must now revert to what it was before 3 March, in other words students must be at level A1 to take an English language course at A2. This will give our 440 member centres some immediate help since many of them faced losing a damaging number of students this summer and autumn."
He added: "We brought this case as a last resort, and will now seek to discuss with UKBA ways in which we can help formulate a more sensible policy which our members can support and which will contribute to immigration control. Genuine colleges have no desire to enrol people who are not genuine students. We are pleased that Mr Justice Foskett saw the merits of our case and we believe that his decision is good for the UK economy, to which the English language sector contributes about £1.5 billion in foreign earnings each year."
English UK’s case was led by Nichola Carter of Penningtons Solicitors LLP and Judith Farbey of Doughty Street Chambers. Commenting on the case, Nichola Carter, immigration partner at Penningtons, said: "Creating an immigration system which both denies entry to those with unlawful intentions and allows the UK to retain its reputation for world-class English language teaching is a complex process involving decisions of cultural and economic importance. This ruling confirms that parliament must be included in decisions which will significantly change the immigration system. In the months between the implementation of this unlawful policy and the hearing of this case, English UK continuously offered its assistance in creating a policy which was effective, sensible and lawful, and maintains that offer now."
Notes to Editors
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| English UK takes Government to court / 2 July 2010 |
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The Government’s decision to raise the required level of English for visa students applying to study the language in the UK was challenged in the High Court this week.
English UK’s judicial review centres on the way in which the minimum language requirement for the General Student visa was raised earlier this year from “elementary” (A1 on the Common European Framework of Reference) to “intermediate” (B1).
The major strand of the legal argument focused on whether it was legitimate for the Home Secretary to have introduced the B1 language requirement through the UK Border Agency’s Guidance to Sponsors, rather than explicitly introducing it in Parliament.
“The change to the minimum level of English tuition ought as a matter of law to have been introduced by a change to the immigration rules and was incapable of being introduced by changes to the sponsor guidance,” argued Judith Farbey, counsel for English UK.
Miss Farbey said that under the 1971 Immigration Act, any changes to the rules must be brought before Parliament. MPs then have 40 days in which they can “disapprove” the changes.
She said this procedure was not followed with the changes to the language requirement. The relevant paragraph had stated that: “Points will only be awarded for a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies … if the course in respect of which it is issued meets each one of the following requirements: a) the course must meet the UKBA’s minimum academic requirements as set out in sponsor guidance published by the UKBA...”
Miss Farbey argued this enabled “substantive change to the administration of immigration control by policy rather than rule changes which was plainly outside the contemplation of the enabling 1971 Act.”
Substantive issues must be put through Parliament for negative resolution, she said, with fresh scrutiny every time there was a change to these terms. She said: “The 1971 Act makes plain that the Secretary of State must be constrained by the law. We say he must be accountable.”
But Neil Sheldon, appearing for the Home Office, disagreed with this interpretation. He argued that MPs clearly understood from the relevant paragraph that there would be minimum academic requirements and that this change could have been disapproved by MPs if they had wanted to. “By laying that rule before Parliament the Secretary of State was in my submission making it perfectly clear how he intended to operate this facet of border control. He made it perfectly clear that discretion was reserved for himself in setting a minimum academic requirement and the right to exercise that discretion,” he said.
Both sides also disagreed about the significance of a new Appeal Court ruling on the legality of immigration guidance applying to former students seeking leave to remain. In this case, the immigration rules said applicants needed to have £800 and “specified documents”. The policy guidance added the instruction that the applicant must have had the £800 for the previous three months.
The judgment in the Appeal Court case, delivered the week before the English UK case was heard, considered the legality of the policy guidance’s three-month stipulation.
It considered whether the rules could lawfully include provisions from another document which had not been laid before Parliament, was not itself a rule of law but department policy, and whether it was able to be altered after the rule was laid before Parliament. The overall answer, found the judge, was no. Miss Farbey argues that this applies to the B1 guidance.
The English UK hearing, which lasted for a day and a half before Mr Justice Foskett, also considered many of the other issues surrounding the Tier 4 Review and the way in which the B1 language level was introduced. Many members of English UK were present for the hearing.
In further legal arguments, Miss Farbey said that the decision to raise the language requirement was “unreasonable or irrational” because there was no evidence to warrant the conclusion that immigration control required the barring of students below this level. She said the B1 requirement had led to a situation in which sponsors determined whether or not a student could enter this country. This removed High Court scrutiny from matters bearing on immigration control.
Miss Farbey took the court through events from the introduction of Tier 4, the rise in applications from the Fujian area of China, the announcement of the Tier 4 review, the way in which the Secretary of State announced the new rules on the Andrew Marr show and the subsequent dissatisfaction of a House of Lords committee which examined the process.
The Home Secretary had, she said, failed to establish the link between unlawful immigration and raising the minimum level of English language tuition. “The change to B1 to deal with this is simply unevidenced,” said Miss Farbey.
She also disagreed with the Government’s assertion that genuine students who wanted to study elementary English in the UK would not be prevented from doing so.
“The review report confirms there will inevitably be some students who opt instead for another English-speaking country and who will be lost as potential Further or Higher Education students in the UK,” she said, adding that the Review contradicted the Impact Assessment of the changes, which stated that changes to Tier 4 would yield “nil” loss of revenue to colleges recruiting genuine students.
She was dismissive of Home Office suggestions that genuine students would have a “commitment” to studying in the UK. “There are two inferences buried in this somehow: that commitment to the UK is a relevant factor in immigration law or policy and that those with no commitment to the UK are somehow bad students.”
However, Mr Sheldon disagreed with this interpretation of events. “China is simply a stark illustration. Plainly there is nothing preventing applicants from other areas cottoning on to this issue, should they wish to do that,” he said. “Plainly it would be inappropriate in the event of the Secretary of State to attempt to apply sticking plaster solutions from country to country as the problem arises.”
Mr Sheldon said there was evidence that the language requirement would deter economic migrants. He said that the only students excluded by the B1 requirement were those who did not intend to pursue a further course of higher education, or were not sponsored by their government. He argued that such students had no genuine intention of studying English in the UK and therefore lost revenue would be from bogus students.
English UK is seeking a declaration that the decision was unlawful and for an order to quash it.
Mr Justice Foskett is now considering the evidence. He told the court that he appreciated the urgency.
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| New visa rules cost economy more than half a billion pounds a year / 10 June 2010 |
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Changes to student visa rules are costing the British economy at least £600m a year, according to new research.
English language centres are losing an average £500,000 worth of business each as a result of the new requirement that their students must have reached a certain level of proficiency before they can be granted a study visa.
And 60 per cent of language travel agents said clients had chosen to study English in the UK’s competitor countries, including the USA and Australia, as a result.
“In the face of these facts, which support a conservative estimate of loss to the UK of £600 million minimum, the UK Border Agency’s argument that the impact on the sector would be ‘limited’ cannot be sustained,” said Tony Millns, Chief Executive of language teaching association English UK, which surveyed its members and their agents to support its campaign for an urgent revision of the rules.
He added: “The loss to UK foreign earnings comes at a time when we need export growth to lift the country out of recession.”
Since March 3, when the new rules were introduced after a review of the Tier 4 visa system, students of English who want to take courses of longer than six months have had to prove that they have already reached level B1, which experts say is the equivalent of a top-grade GCSE.
Border Agency officials argue that beginners could reach B1 on a six-month student visitor visa which is unaffected by the new restrictions, but English language schools say many would find this impossible.
The agent survey shows just 40 per cent of students who had wanted to learn English in the UK are choosing this option. Although this is better than nothing, these students are taking shorter courses than they might otherwise have done, reducing their spend in the UK. They may also be less likely to continue studying here, particularly if they cannot reach B1 in six months.
English UK surveyed just under 10 per cent of its member centres in early June, asking how many students they had been forced to turn away since March.
Centres reported an average loss of 35 students who were not at level B1 but could previously have been enrolled on lower-level courses which were long enough to get them to their desired level of English. A very small proportion had chosen to come on a six-month visa, but the vast majority had applied to other countries. The average financial loss to each centre was around £125,000 for those weeks alone: over a year it would be half a million pounds.
“Over a year, this would mean a loss to the total English UK membership of at least £220m in tuition fees. The loss to the English language sector as a whole would be around £300m, with the loss to UK foreign earnings at least double that, as students spend several hundred pounds a week on accommodation, food, travel, books and general social spending ,” said Mr Millns.
He emphasises that these figures were an underestimate and the true loss to the economy would be much higher. This was because the survey was done at a quieter time of the year for language centres and because there was no way of quantifying how many potential students had been put off from even enquiring about courses at a UK language centre by the B1 minimum.
Mr Millns added: “Some of these students would have intended to continue studying in the UK, usually with another course at degree level, and that further income, roughly £20,000 a year per student, has almost certainly been lost to us as well.”
English UK’s survey of 200 leading study travel agents in 31 countries, also conducted in early June, strongly suggests the new rules have had a huge impact on numbers of genuine students choosing to study English in the UK as well.
Of the agents who completed the survey, 40 per cent said their clients had chosen a shorter UK course on a six month student visitor visa. The remaining 60 per cent had chosen courses in other countries after learning of the new rules, with the leading choices now the USA, Canada and Australia.
“Some of them even cancelled the booking and went to the USA instead,” said one Japanese agent, whilst a Turkish agency commented: “Most of our students have decided not to go to the UK. They think that the UK Government does not want Turkish students anymore.”
Mr Millns said international language organisations were seeing the same trends. One group’s English language centres in the UK are down by US $2m so far this year, with referrals to USA courses up 50 per cent.
And the number of CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance of Study) being issued by language centres as part of the visa process also strongly suggests the UK is losing business.
Mr Millns said 6,400 were issued during the first ten weeks of the new rules, equating to an annual rate of around 35,000. “This is extremely low given that in a typical year, between 500,000 and 600,000 people come to the UK to learn English, and it would support the argument that visa national students are going to countries other than the UK to learn English.”
Notes to Editors
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| English UK celebrates 50th anniversary / 17 May 2010 |
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Free legal advice, information about new regulations and a glittering 50th anniversary dinner were among the highlights of this year’s English UK AGM and conference.
And a new MP made a special visit to promise members he would be supporting the industry in Parliament and had already started to arrange an adjournment debate.
English UK Chief Executive Tony Millns told members that despite the difficulties of the last year, early figures showed English UK members had performed up around 2.5 percent on 2008, which had been a very good year.
"It shows the resilience of the UK and the sector: that we’re still an aspirational destination seen as a place for serious study, with a reputation for quality teaching," he said, adding that he expected 2010 to be no less challenging than 2009.
He promised members that the association would continue with its judicial review of the way new regulations were introduced after the Tier 4 Review, and that he would be asking for early meetings with the new immigration ministers and their shadow counterparts, and urged them to write to their own new Members of Parliament.
One new MP, Conor Burns, attended the second morning of the conference. Representing Bournemouth West, he is fully aware of the problems being caused to members by the Tier 4 Review, and told delegates: "I will do anything I can to take your cause direct to ministers. I have also raised this with the Speaker, John Bercow."
Mr Millns said the UK’s language sector was being helped by several factors, including the weak pound and concerns about racist attacks in Australia. And English UK itself played a significant role, he said: "I think we see the value we thought we would have from creating English UK in 2004, a single well-resourced association with over 440 members now."
Almost a hundred members celebrated the history of the association with a special dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the formation of ARELS (the Association of Recognised English Language Services), one of the two language centre associations that merged to form English UK.
Guest of honour at the dinner at Le Meridien in Piccadilly was John Eckersley, now 82, who was one of the founder members of ARELS. He said: "We didn’t envisage ARELS becoming anything more than an association of private language schools, and wouldn’t have foreseen this. It is good now the whole industry has been brought together in one association."
Also present at the dinner was Nicole de Lalouviere, the former chair of state sector language association BASELT, who had the original idea for English UK during a trip in China with then ARELS Chief Executive Tony Millns. She recalled: "We were cognisant there would be almost insurmountable hurdles and it could have gone either way… but it didn’t make sense to operate independently.
"There were all these problems, and people saying it wasn’t going to happen – and I’ve come here tonight and found this jolly organisation with people asking each other if they are state or private and where they work."
Sessions at the AGM, held at Le Meridien in London’s Piccadilly, included a presentation by Penningtons Solicitors LLP on progress of the judicial review and a practical explanation of how language centres can work to avoid Tier 4-related problems.
Delegates also heard sessions about the new Vetting and Barring Scheme and VAT rules, learned about English UK’s new Partner Agency Scheme from Deputy Chief Executive Annie Wright, and found out more about how the new language tests may work.
Members also heard about progress on an English UK-led project to investigate establishing a web-based professional development "one stop shop" for English language teaching, which would include a quality framework and a new professional association. Mark Rendell, Deputy Chief Executive of English UK, said a steering committee of industry stakeholders had now been chosen and news on a funding application was expected shortly.
There were also presentations from David Graddol about the future of education in India, and from Aidan Manktelowis of the Economist Intelligence Unit on the global economic outlook.
For delegate John Corcoran, Chairman of St Andrew’s College Summer Schools, it was his first time at the AGM and conference. He said: "It was particularly important for new organisations to be aware of what’s going to be happening. It’s my first time here and I am really pleased with it. It was worth it for the Penningtons presentation alone."
Notes to Editors
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| The Dubrovnik Fair / 31 March 2010 |
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The Dubrovnik Fair Working for Central, Eastern and Southeast Europe took place at the Radisson Blu Resort and Spa, Dubrovnik Sun Gardens, between Tuesday 9 and Friday 12 March 2010. The workshop was organised by the English Language Promotions Group (ELPG) which comprises the British Council, English UK, UK Trade & Investment and VisitBritain. The fair brought together 31 English UK member centres and 43 study abroad agents from Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Ukraine, Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Albania, Romania and the Czech Republic. It was was the fifth workshop to be jointly organised by the ELPG.
The programme of social events, seminars, and one-to-one appointments in the beautiful coastal setting just outside Dubrovnik gave educators and agents the opportunity to really get to know each other and develop long-lasting productive partnerships.
David Blunt, HM Ambassador to Croatia, and Les Dangerfield, Director of the British Council in Croatia, both spoke before the farewell dinner, which was held in the impressive surroundings of the Rupe Museum, in the historic Old Town of Dubrovnik.
Educators praised the overall organisation and concept of the fair - 'very well organised as always and plenty of opportunities to make contact with agents and other education providers'. One delegate remarked, 'such fairs are an excellent opportunity to build quality business connections', and 'everything was … well-coordinated and very professional'.
Agents were also very positive about the Dubrovnik Fair - 'It was much smaller than other fairs I have attended, but the atmosphere was much friendlier. It had a ‘personal touch’ and provided excellent opportunities for a personal contact with the education providers…The extraordinary venue and location…added value to the event'.
Notes to editors
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| New student visa rules - English UK response / 10 February 2010 |
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The new rules on student visas announced by Home Secretary Alan Johnson this morning (10 February) will potentially hit the UK English language sector hard. The UK is the global market leader in English language courses, which bring in around £1.5 billion in foreign earnings a year.
The main impact would be to eliminate students from countries such as Korea, Kazakhstan and Colombia coming to the UK to study English. These are often long-stay students who start at lower levels (typically elementary) and work up to the level required for university entry over 32-40 weeks.
The Government proposes to raise the minimum course level for such students to B2 on the European Framework, which corresponds to A level on the Government’s own Languages Ladder and ‘advanced’ on most other language competence scales. This is well above the ‘just below GCSE level’ which the Government was claiming earlier this week.
To enter at lower levels such students will either have to be sponsored by their government (and most governments do not sponsor such students) or on pre-sessional courses leading to a degree (and most decide on their university course after studying in the UK, visiting various universities, and being interviewed by them).
The Home Office and UK Border Agency have never published any evidence to show that significant numbers of such students work illegally, overstay their visas or are engaged in any other unlawful activity in the UK. The great majority are diligent students who want to improve their career prospects by gaining a high-quality UK education and gaining qualifications which are internationally valued.
The Home Office has pointed to recent problems with large increases in applications from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal as evidence, but almost none of these are for English language courses at our accredited member centres.
English UK therefore urges the Home Office and UK Border Agency to:
Notes to Editors
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| The São Paulo Fair Working for the Americas / 29 October 2009 |
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The São Paulo Fair was held at the Sofitel Jequitimar Guarujá from Tuesday 20 to Friday 23 October 2009 and brought together 32 English UK member centres and 39 study abroad agents and educational consultants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela. The workshop was organised by the English Language Promotions Group (ELPG), which comprises the British Council, English UK, UK Trade & Investment and VisitBritain.
The Fair was the fourth workshop to be jointly organised by the ELPG. The success and popularity of these fairs is based on their unique small size and friendly atmosphere.
The programme of social events and one-to-one appointments in the relaxed beach resort setting of Guarujá gave educators and agents the opportunity to really get to know each other and develop long-lasting productive partnerships. Martin Raven, HM Consul-General São Paulo and Geoff Smith, Director of the British Council São Paulo, joined delegates for the welcome reception and seminar programme, and Marina Zelenoy, Entry Clearance Officer, British Consulate-General, Rio de Janeiro, led a very useful session on the points-based visa system for students.
Educators praised the overall organisation and concept of the Fair – ‘the English UK events are excellent and extremely good value for money. The whole team is very efficient, the venues are perfect and in particular the Sofitel in Guaruja was pure luxury'. One delegate commented, ‘the programme gave us the opportunity for networking, which is a vital factor for our business. The organisation was fantastic from the beginning…nothing was missed'. Agents commended the hospitality and the high quality of the accredited UK English language centres in attendance – ‘this well-organised event in a paradise destination provided the opportunity to meet enthusiastic and friendly UK schools. I enjoyed it very much and came back home full of information and deeply motivated to go on working’.
Notes to Editors
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| Chief Executive celebrates tenth anniversary / 21 October 2009 |
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Ten very eventful years were celebrated by English UK at a special event last week.
The reception and dinner was officially held to mark the decade in which Tony Millns has been chief executive of the organisation. But much of the evening’s conversations were about how the organisation has been completely transformed during that time.
When Mr Millns took the job, it was as chief executive of ARELS, an organisation representing private language schools only.
Since then he has initiated and overseen a merger with BASELT, which represented state sector institutions, and encouraged the new organisation to grow. As of this week, it has 435 members, of which 338 are private and 97 state sector. At the time of the 2004 merger there were 320.
“Creating an organisation to represent the whole industry was the obvious thing to do, and we can see how well that’s working today. But it has taken a lot of hard work by the English UK staff, board members and our chairs,” said Mr Millns.
There had, he added, been pressing financial and organisational reasons to bring the two organisations together – quite apart from the benefits of creating a unified lobbying body.
Past chairs recalled the changes during a dinner held at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London after a reception for board members and close associates.
Sue Bromby, former co-chair of English UK, said the initial idea of merging the two organisations had come when Arels’s Tony Millns and Baselt’s Nicole de Lalouviere, found themselves on a trip together in Beijing.
“She rushed back and told us about it. She was excited about the name, and we could all see the sense of an organisation which could unite us to campaign,” she said.
Sue Edwards, current chair, thanked Mr Millns for his dedicated work over the years. She talked about the changes brought about by English UK and described the difference it has made to be able to lobby the Government as a unified organisation.
One result of this had been to ensure officials and ministers understood the impact their early points-based visa proposals would have had on the industry and were persuaded to modify the system to something much more acceptable.
Meanwhile, Timothy Blake, former Arels chair, recalled the interview panel which had seen the candidates for the chief executive’s job. “I said, before we start the discussions let’s have everyone write their preferred name on a bit of paper and pass it up to me,” he said. “Every single one of them said Tony Millns. That cut the discussion short.”
* Former chairs who attended the dinner included Timothy Blake of the London School of English (former chair, ARELS); Richard Day of English in Chester (former chair, ARELS), Charles Harrison, the English Language Centre Brighton and Hove (former chair, ARELS) Sue Bromby of the University of Salford and Mike Wills, then of the Salisbury School of English (joint chairs, English UK) Sue Edwards, of Kaplan Aspect, Bournemouth, current chair of English UK; Sarah Schechter, Anglia Ruskin University and current vice-chair of English UK.
Board members included Jane Dancaster of Wimbledon School of English, Judy Loren of Excel English, Caroline Hugo of St Edmund’s College, Stuart Higgins of Saint Michael’s College; Graham Simpson of the Oxford English Centre, Michael Cornes of Study Group and Kate Cadwgan-Evans of Warwickshire College.
Also present were Annie Wright and Mark Rendell, deputy chief executives of English UK.
Guests at the reception included David Lepper MP, chair of the all-party Commons group on English language teaching; Jeremy Oppenheim, Charlotte Taylor and Mark Walmsley of UKBA; Michael Carrier of the British Council; Dominic Scott, Chief Executive of UKCISA; Mike Milanovic, Chief Executive of Cambridge ESOL; Huan Japes and Jenny Pugsley of Trinity College London; Sue Hindley, chair of Study UK and Elizabeth McLaren of Accreditation UK.
Notes to Editors
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| Official ministerial visit to Kazakhstan / 21 October 2009 |
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English UK has recently improved its links in Kazakhstan after joining an official ministerial visit to the country.
The visit was organised by the office of David Lammy, minister for higher education, and included meetings and round table discussions with Kazakh officials and principals of colleges and universities.
Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, was invited to represent the English language sector in the delegation. He said: “It’s a very interesting area at the moment and it looks as though there could be a lot of potential here for our members.”
Discussions centred on educational partnerships between the two nations. Kazakhstan, once part of the USSR, is rich in oil and minerals and is currently working hard to reform its technical and vocational education system to create a more skilled workforce.
A round table event organised by the British council in the Kazakh capital of Astana focused on the role of partnerships and ways of ensuring effective joint working.
The United Kingdom was represented by the Association of Colleges of Great Britain, TVET UK and English UK.
Kazakhstan’s representatives were from the Technical and Vocational Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Science, Human Resource Development Center and KazMunaiGas National Company.
English UK’s sister organisation, TVET UK, has recently brokered a multi-million pound deal for six British colleges to provide training in Kazakhstan.
Engineering, ICT, teacher training and construction are among the courses which will help transform the economy of the oil-rich Central Asian state.
Notes to Editors
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| StudyWorld London 2009 celebrates 40 years / 17 September 2009 |
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The world’s oldest international student recruitment event celebrated its 40th anniversary last week.
Professionals from more than sixty countries attended this year’s StudyWorld, which brings together study travel agents and education providers to form new business partnerships.
Two hundred and twenty-six educators and 418 individual agents spent two days in one-to-one meetings during the event at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel – despite the world economic downturn.
Annie Wright, deputy chief executive (business services) of English UK which organises StudyWorld, said she was delighted with the success of this year’s event.
“There has been a real buzz about the halls this year and more than 90 per cent of the educators’ appointment slots were filled. We’ve had very good feedback from educators and agents alike. It looks like a lot of business has been done here.”
Lee Knapp, development manager of StudyWorld London 2009 sponsor Cambridge ESOL, agreed. He added: “There are a lot of serious people here who want to do business. You don’t get time wasters.”
To mark the 40th anniversary of the event, English UK chief executive Tony Millns presented gifts to several agents and educators which had worked together for several decades. “We are partners in quality, working together to bring the best possible experience to students, because that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Other events at StudyWorld London included the launch by Cambridge ESOL of its new Placement Test which can speedily and accurately assess a student’s English level, and also the English UK branded student phonecard.
The £5 phonecard, produced in partnership with GSM International, can be sold by English UK member centres and will be particularly useful for students on short courses.
Other highlights of StudyWorld London 2009 included a talk by Barbara Woodward, International Director of the UK Border Agency on the new visa regulations, and seminars on subjects including marketing language schools during a recession, doing business in the Far East, and how British colleges can offer tailored vocational courses to meet the needs of other countries.
Notes to Editors
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| Home Affairs Committee Report on Bogus Colleges / 21 July 2009 |
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Download this press release as a PDF document More needs to be done to prevent bogus colleges from continuing to operate, and to deport former students who used them to enter the UK illegally, according to a new report by a Parliamentary committee.
The Home Affairs Committee’s list of recommendations includes a requirement that all private English colleges and language schools should be compulsorily regulated, and that the use of the word “college” should be restricted by the Government to fully accredited institutions.
The Committee is also concerned that the UK Border Agency warns up to 85 per cent of the schools it inspects that it is about to do so. “This is unacceptable and does not give us any confidence in the rigour of the inspection regime in combating bogus colleges,” says the report.
The recommendations were welcomed by English UK, whose chief executive Tony Millns gave extensive evidence to the committee. He said: “We support all the suggestions which would make it difficult for bogus colleges to operate. No organisation should be able to trade as an educational institution unless it has some quality assurance from independent accreditation.”
While it found no evidence of a link between bogus colleges and terrorist activity, the committee was concerned about the “tens of thousands” of illegal immigrants who might already have entered the UK on fraudulent student visas.#
“Firm enforcement action must be taken against any individual whose student visa has expired to ensure that they leave the country, as well as against those who have set up bogus colleges to perpetrate visa fraud. We have received no evidence that the Home Office has made adequate preparations to deal with this issue,” said the report.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "Bogus colleges may have allowed tens of thousands of foreign nationals to enter the country illegally: the Government has been aware of their existence for ten years and done nothing to stop them. This is totally
"The Government must restrict the term 'college' to prevent any premises above a fish and chip shop from being able to claim it is a reputed educational institution. The term 'college' should only be given to accredited institutions."
The Committee welcomed the new points-based system for student visas but warned that it would continue to monitor sponsorship arrangements as it “remained cautious” about the Border Agency’s ability to deal with the issue. It wanted the Department of Business, Enterprise and Skills to make better use of information supplied by existing legitimate networks about potentially bogus institutions, and promised to look again at this recommendation once Tier 4 is fully recommended.
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| Home Affairs Select Committee attended by Tony Millns / 3 June 2009 |
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Bogus colleges damage the UK’s international reputation, MPs warned
Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, has given evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the issue of bogus colleges.
In a wide-ranging discussion, he told MPs that it was a "national scandal" that private education institutions could be set up with no regulation.
"It has been for many years a national scandal that anyone, whether a fit and proper person or not, can hire two rooms above a fish and chip shop and call themselves a college. It is almost unbelievable given that the world believes that UK education is high quality," he said, adding that at the very least accredition by a recognised body should be necessary.
He and Nick Lewis from the Association of Colleges told the committee that the new system whereby only accredited schools can sponsor visa students visiting the UK had closed many of the loopholes. But there was a serious need to protect the international reputation of the country's education.
"It strikes me extremely strange that the department of education have never made a move to in any way licence, accredit or quality assure private sector education establishments. I'd go as far as to say it was a national scandal," said Mr Millns. He said that English UK archives showed that there was a register run by the Department of Education and Science until 1982 when it was abandoned as part of the "Thatcher cuts."
"So we had as the sector to pick that up with the British Council. We set up a new accreditation system but that was voluntary. A mandatory system for registration has not existed since 1982."
He told MPs that English UK had been campaigning for a decade on the issue of bogus colleges. He said the organisation had a database of non-accredited English language centres in the private sector, of which 450 were not "necessarily bogus but, how should I put it, would repay further investigation... you get the impression a lot of them are probably substandard at the very least."
It was not just English language centres which were bringing in overseas students, but also private tertiary colleges, often advertising courses in IT or business studies. Tens of thousands of students might have entered the UK via such colleges, and he suggested there were "a couple of thousand" institutions which should be looked at.
Asked if he thought potential terrorists might have been among their students, Mr Millns said he thought it was perfectly possible but was not anywhere near as prevalent as the bogus students who were actually economic migrants and entered the UK to work illegally.
The other problem was that some of the bogus colleges were actually ripping off students who were genuinely seeking education.
"The international UK reputation for quality in education is a key selling point. Colleges which are bogus or simply poor quality... damage that reputation for quality so all legitimate institutions suffer.
"And this is a major economic benefit for the UK. International students bring in about £8bn a year to the UK. They are growing: we've just looked at our first quarter statistics for our core group and it is 14.6 per cent up on the first quarter of 2008.
"Show me another industry sector growing at 14.6 per cent year on year. This is a very significant business for the UK and it is also very important for our perception in the world because... people go back to their countries and become ministers, VCs, and opinion leaders. It is tremendously important for the UK's public diplomacy. Anything which damages it is very bad news for the UK."
The committee is now considering calling on the Department for Children, Schools and Families to give evidence on whether it believes there should be educational regulation of private colleges.
The select committee session was widely reported, including by the BBC, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail.
Notes to Editors
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| Earthquake victims helped by English UK member centres / 14 May 2009 |
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More than 50 young victims of last month's devastating Italian earthquake will be able to learn English for free in Britain this summer, thanks to the generosity of English UK members.
Language schools have offered 63 free student places after an appeal from the Italian embassy in London, which says it is overwhelmed by the response.
Giuseppe Berlendi, Counsellor at the Embassy, says: "British people have been showing great generosity and solidarity towards Italy.
"I am really struggling to find the words... I am really confused by this generosity."
He said the Italian ambassador wanted to thank all the schools, and would also be writing to the British Council with the names of those who had offered courses. "We want to tell them that we asked English school in Britain and got so many offers we could not accept any others.
"We want to recognise their generosity - it's always rare and must be encouraged."
Almost 300 people died as a result of the earthquake, which struck the central Italian region of Abruzzo on April 6. It registered 6.3 on the Richter scale and left tens of thousands of people homeless. Many are still living in tents.
Mr Berlendi did not know how many young people would decide to take up the offer of free tuition and lodging. "The girls and boys are at present in tents so maybe they won't want to leave their families... I don't know whether there will be more than 50 candidates," he said.
Although eight of the participating schools have also offered free accommodation, the Embassy has asked Italian families living in the UK to take in students from the Abruzzo region so that they can attend the English courses.
So far, 35 families have agreed to host a student and Mr Berlendi believes that it will be possible to take up around 55 of the free places on offer. Details of the schools and the families offering places have been sent to the authorities in the earthquake zone to make the arrangements.
Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, said: "At this challenging time, it is tremendously encouraging to see how positively English UK members have responded to the appeal to give help to the areas of Italy affected by the recent earthquake.
"We hope that the Italian students who come to the UK have a fantastic experience here and help to build stronger ties for the future between Italy and the UK."
Notes to editors
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| English UK hits 400 member mark / 2 March 2009 |
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English UK today announced that it has achieved its 2009 target of exceeding 400 members, with membership today standing at 402.
The 400th member, recruited last week, is English for Everyone, a language centre based in Aberdeen which becomes the northernmost member centre.
Tony Millns, chief executive of English UK, said: "English UK was already the world's leading language teaching association by number of member centres, and is accepted by UK government departments as the representative body for the accredited English language teaching sector in the UK. The recent growth in membership consolidates that position. And gaining a member in Aberdeen means that we really can say that we cover the UK from Aberdeen to Zennor."
Notes to Editors
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| New website for world's leading language teaching association / 19 January 2009 |
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An upgraded course search function, a comprehensive members' area and expanded student pages in eleven languages are among the innovations on English UK's new website, launched this week.
Not only will the site provide improved services for English UK's 390 accredited members, but it will better promote British language schools to potential students and language travel agents all over the world.
And the launch comes at a time when the UK's English language schools appear to be bucking the economic downturn by overwhelmingly reporting good or improved bookings for the first quarter of 2009, after a dramatic upturn in business last year. The sector expects to benefit further from the falling value of the pound, which will make it particularly good value to learn English here.
"It is perfect timing," said Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK. "The new site does a far better job on showcasing the quality and variety of English courses available in the UK at a time when exchange rates have made us far more affordable as a study destination. Coming here to learn is now unbeatable value for money."
"The new website also comes as we're preparing for the Government's launch of the new points-based visa system for students in March 2009. Only language centres accredited by an approved accrediting body such as Accreditation UK can apply to be on the Register of Sponsors. And only organisations on the Register can issue a 'confirmation of acceptance for studies', a unique reference number which students must have to apply for a full student visa. So non-accredited centres will no longer be able to enrol student who need visas next year. This is good news for the accredited English language sector, which brings more than 350,000 students to the UK each year to learn English. The low-quality and sometimes frankly bogus non-accredited colleges damage the reputation of the UK for providing a quality education, and that reputation is our key selling point abroad."
The members' area has been expanded and updated, and includes marketing news and information on forthcoming events. It is also much more user-friendly, bringing together everything centres could need to make the most out of their membership. The training area covers full details of English UK's affordable and quality-driven Continuous Professional Development programme for the ELT industry, including qualifications, conferences and training days.
Prospective students and language travel agents will find it much easier to find the perfect course, thanks to the site's upgraded search function. They will also get a more rounded and colourful picture of life and studying in the UK.
Entirely new features in the student area of the site include interviews with past and current students, a frequently updated roundup of British news, and lots of information on culture, things to do, and profiles of unusual courses.
This area of the site will be available in English and ten additional languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Portuguese.
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| Language centres buck the economic trend, survey finds / 19 December 2008 |
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English language centres in the UK are overwhelmingly positive about business prospects for early 2009, despite the economic downturn.
Ninety per cent expect business to remain good or improve during the first quarter of next year, and even among centres reporting lower bookings a significant minority remain optimistic.
Most UK language centres experienced a dramatic upturn in business during 2008, and the sector expects to benefit further from the falling value of the pound which will make it particularly good value to learn English here.
"Exchange rates have made the UK much more affordable as a study destination. Combined with our reputation for quality in education, this now makes the learning English in the UK unbeatable value for money," said Tony Millns, Chief Executive of language teaching association English UK.
The survey covered 101 of English UK's 390 member centres during early December 2008. Over half a million language students come here annually, contributing £1.5bn to the British economy, and the sector has grown by 30 per cent in the past three years.
Half of the centres surveyed said bookings for early 2009 were good, and comparable to the past two years. Almost 40 per cent expected bookings to increase, and of those a quarter anticipated significant improvements. Centres anticipating the biggest rises in business were more likely to be outside London, in locations including the South-West and Scotland.
One south coast centre, which did not want to be named, says bookings are up by 25 per cent, whilst one London language centre is moving to new premises in order to capitalise on new business.
"We're hesitant about being positive because of the extreme situation around us, and we have kept on thinking it might be about to crumble - but it hasn't yet," says Peter Tamkin, acting principal of The English Language Centre in Brighton.
Business has improved significantly during the past two years for his school and he expects this trend to continue into 2009. "It all seems a bit unreal," he says. "All you see in the media, everyone suffering and saying it's going to get worse. And we're coming away from work every day with things going really well. We're quietly confident."
Centres believe the profile of their students may change dramatically as a result of the worldwide recession. Korean students for example may be badly affected by the falling value of their currency. However, more European students are expected to fill the gap as the pound's near-parity with the euro makes it much better value to learn English in the UK rather than in other English-speaking countries.
John Barnett, secretary of the English UK Eastern Region group and chairman of the Business English UK sub-group says: "The value of the pound is helping. It is a key advantage for new business, and the UK is well placed now compared with several international competitors.
"This is the thing to make use of. In the past we were much more expensive than the US, Canada, Australia. A Swiss agent could send someone to Australia for 12 weeks and that would still be cheaper than the UK but it is not like that any more."
While he said centres in his area had experienced an unusually good autumn and bookings looked good for next year, he expressed slight concerns about some specialist areas of the industry. "The corporate sector is a worry, and I know of three members offering business English in small groups whose bookings are down for the first quarter.
"The training budget is the first thing that's cut when companies are having difficulty. But the weak pound could help. A good 80 per cent of the business English sector is in Euroland so we must be benefiting there."
Siân Choma-Peters, director of Ceran UK in Warwickshire, has also noticed a slight drop in enrolments among senior business people for early 2009. "Some of the people who would normally come to us are trying to keep their business going and are needed. But people do tend to book later on these courses, and it might change by the time we get there."
However, other centres surveyed said business English courses were selling well with general courses down a little.
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