There are hundreds of language schools in the UK and choosing one can be a confusing and difficult thing. But, there are some simple steps you can take which will help you choose, and will also guarantee you certain things.

In our opinion, the first thing you should look for is some sort of accreditation – an independent seal of approval. For language schools the best bet is the British Council Accreditation scheme. That narrows the choice down to 512. Accreditation follows an 4-yearly inspection which covers teaching, welfare, premises and resources amongst other things – so you can be certain for example that the teachers will be properly qualified and the facilities will be of a certain standard. The next step is to look at English UK. This is a professional association which Accredited schools are then able to join. English UK has a current membership of 441, which is made up of  345 private sector schools and 96 state sector colleges. So that will narrow your choice down to 345.  Out of this number you will also find some are specialists in teaching children, some adults and of course only some will be in parts of the country you are interested in which will further narrow your choice. You will also find in your search that some organisations are on the Government register of sponsors. This register was established by the government last year to control who was able to issue invitations for students form certain countries (outside the EU) to get student visas.

Once you have your Accreditation, membership of English UK and the location you will need to look at different factors to help you choose. First size – some schools in London for example may have 2000 students, others may have 100. Obviously this will give the students a very different kind of experience. Some schools have a better nationality mix that others – giving the students a better chance to speak English, some are privately owned and some may be part of big international corporations. Some schools teach things apart from English so it is possible to meet British students in the school. Some schools offer extras, for example e-learning, restaurants, wi-fi and so on. There is a certain amount of investigation you can do but if you have the opportunity, in the end, the best thing is to visit the school, talk to some of the students and see whether you feel comfortable in that particular environment.

UIC offers …..

Accreditation, membership of English UK, a very central London location, 150-300 students so small enough to know the students and big enough to be able to offer a variety of activities and options, teach foreign languages so always British students who want to practise speaking, a very wide nationality mix (top nationality in 2009 was 14.5%), free e-learning, free membership of International Students House social club, very active social programme and lots more …..

but, the best way is for you to come and visit us – talk to us and sit in on a class and then decide for yourself.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 11:56 am and is filed under Business, Learning English, UIC London. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.