English UK membership fees and subscriptions: how they work
Language centre members
For English language teaching centres our membership fee has two components: a basic subscription, which includes a contribution towards Student Emergency Support; and a supplementary subscription, which is based on the size of the member's English language teaching business, measured in student weeks or an equivalent.
We also handle invoicing for member centres' annual British Council Accreditation UK fee and, if you have signed up for it, the Copyright Licensing Agency fee.
English UK's financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Rates of subscription are agreed annually by the membership in the autumn, either at a General Meeting or by postal ballot.
Corporate members
Our membership fee for ELT service providers is £1,025 + VAT per annum. Eligible service provbiders can join as corporate members at any time during the year and will be charged on pro rata basis.
The difference between private and state sector subscriptions
Private and public sector member centres are invoiced and make payments in slightly different ways.
Private centre subscriptions
In 2020 invoices for basic subscriptions will be sent out in January-February. Invoices for supplementary subscriptions will be sent out in September.
Private sector member centres are required to pay by direct debit in instalments. Accreditation UK fees will be invoiced in the final quarter and can also be paid in instalments.
State sector subscriptions
In 2020 subscription invoices for state sector member centres are issued in the first quarter of the year. Accreditation UK fees will be invoiced in the final quarter and can also be paid in instalments.
The 50% reduction for 2020 will be applied to private sector members in 2020, with collection delayed until the final three months of the year (October to December), and to state sector members in 2021.
Subscription types: basic, supplementary and group
Basic subscriptions: reduced rates for very small member centres
The majority of individual member centres pay the same basic subscription, which is £1,459 in 2020.
However, there are two reduced rates for very small centres that have declared fewer than 250 or 500 student weeks, while those who have group membership of English UK will pay a discounted rate for the second and subsequent centre/s (see the section on Groups below for more detail).
|
|
Number of student weeks
|
Basic subscription (2020)
|
|
|
Less than 250
|
£844
|
|
|
251-500
|
£1,087
|
|
|
501 +
|
£1,459
|
|
Supplementary subscriptions: how much you will pay
The size of this payment for each member centre is decided by the number of student weeks in the previous year for private sector members, or a proxy measure based on teacher hours and a class size conversion factor for international students taking English courses during the previous academic year for state sector members.
One student week is calculated as one student taking ten or more hours of tuition in one week.
The supplementary subscription charges for 2020* are:
|
|
Band
|
Number of student weeks
|
Supplementary subscription (2020)*
|
|
|
1
|
< 1,000
|
£0
|
|
|
2
|
1,001- 2,000
|
£466
|
|
|
3
|
2,001- 6,000
|
£807
|
|
|
4
|
6,001- 10,000
|
£1,035
|
|
|
5
|
10,001- 20,000
|
£2,251
|
|
|
6
|
20,001- 30,000
|
£3,519
|
|
|
7
|
30,001- 40,000
|
£4,658
|
|
|
8
|
40,001- 70,000
|
£6,210
|
|
|
9
|
70,001 - 100,000
|
£7,504
|
|
|
10
|
100,000 - 125,000
|
£8,384
|
|
|
11
|
125,000+
|
£10,350
|
|
* The above supplementary subscription fees for 2020 will be reduced by 50% to support member centres with recovery. The reduction will be be applied to private sector members in 2020, with collection delayed until the final three months of the year, and to state sector members in 2021.
Group subscriptions in 2020
Groups of language teaching centres consisting of accredited centres in the same ownership will normally be treated as a group, and pay:
- £1,459 for the group plus
- £1,313 for the second and each subsequent centre joining the group i.e. £2,772 for a group of two centres, £4,085 for a group of three centres etc.
- A supplementary subscription based on the aggregated total of the student weeks taught by all centres in the group.
Applications to be treated as a group must be made or renewed every January. The association has discretion to decide what arrangements constitute a 'group' and continue to constitute a group. If a group ends its direct debit mandate, its individual centres will be assessed separately for their supplementary subscriptions.
Other fees for member centres
Copyright Licensing Agency fee
Private sector member centres can join the English UK Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) licence fee payment scheme, which gives members a saving of well over 50% per annum. For full details of the CLA payment scheme visit CLA & MPLC fees.
Accreditation UK annual fee
The Accreditation UK annual fee is calculated according to student week figures. Once members have submitted their annual student data to English UK, English UK invoices member centres for the accreditation fee on behalf of the British Council who administer the accreditation scheme on a day-to-day basis. The invoicing arrangment with the allows English UK member centres to pay their annual accredition fees in instalments as opposed to one simple payment.
September update: In additon to the 50% reduction on English UK supplementary subscrption fees for 2020, the Accreditation UK Executive Board has agreed to reduce the annual accreditation fees for 2020/21 by 50% to aid recovery. English UK member centres will continue to receive their £100 discount on their accreditation annual fee, this is in addition to reduction of 50% for 2020/21.
In 2020 member centres will be invoiced for their Accreditation UK annual fees in October and fees will be collected by direct debit in five instalments from later in October 2020 through to February 2021.
The British Council's financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
|
|
Accreditation UK annual fees (2019/20)
|
Standard
|
English UK member centres**
|
|
|
|
Band 2
|
2,000-5,000 student weeks
|
£795
|
£695
|
|
|
Band 3
|
>5,000 student weeks
|
£845
|
£745
|
|
| SES |
All accredited centres not in English UK membership are required to pay an additional £200 contribution to English UK's Student Emergency Support. |
n/a
|
|
**The above accreditation fees for 2020/21 will be reduced by 50% to support accredited ELT providers with recovery.
