"The British Council English Language Training Accreditation Scheme"
by John Whitehead
The British Council, registered in England as a charity no. 209131, is the United Kingdom's international network for education, culture and development services. It supports the teaching and learning of English in Britain and a major part of its role is to promote the use of the English language worldwide. The Council does this by working with English language teaching (ELT) professionals in the United Kingdom and overseas in our network of 109 countries. We also manage an Accreditation Scheme to ensure that students coming to Britain to learn English have a useful, relevant and enjoyable experience.
The English in Britain Accreditation Scheme
The English in Britain Accreditation Scheme for ELT institutions in Britain operates as a quality assurance scheme for providers of courses in English as a foreign language in Britain. Its principal aims are:
a. To set standards of quality and efficiency for British ELT institutions.
b. To encourage British ELT institutions to aspire to even higher levels of quality and efficiency.
c. To promote a wider knowledge of Accredited British ELT abroad, and of the educational and social benefits of studying English in this country.
d. To protect international students of English in Britain by providing a choice of organisations committed to professional excellence.
The scheme is managed by the British Council together with ARELS (The Association of Recognised English Language Services) and BASELT (the British Association of State English Language Teaching). The scheme is open to all educational organisations engaged in the teaching of English as a foreign language. At present over 300 organisations are accredited under the scheme. These, and
only these, organisations are permitted to advertise themselves as 'recognised', 'validated' or 'accredited' by the British Council.
What the Accreditation Scheme offers to students of English in Britain
The English in Britain Accreditation Scheme monitors and aims to improve standards of management, teaching, resources and welfare in organisations teaching English as a foreign language in Britain. We do this through regular inspections (including unannounced spot checks). Each inspection leads to a report on the organisation's services and facilities. On the basis of this report, we make a decision as to whether the organisation should be accredited.
The Scheme enables the British Council to assure students at accredited organisations of standards of service and provides a channel for dealing with complaints and is committed to dealing with complaints effectively and efficiently. If a student at an accredited organisation has a serious complaint, they should:
a. First discuss the matter with the school principal, proprietor or head of EFL.
b. If no satisfactory solution is found, then refer the complaint in detail and in writing to the Accreditation Unit at the address below.
What the Scheme offers to organisations teaching English in Britain
The English in Britain Accreditation Scheme offers a series of services of inspection, advice, accreditation and promotion to accredited organisations.
Inspection
All accredited organisations are required to undergo inspection at regular intervals, and spot checks may be made between inspections without warning. All inspections are done by two or more inspectors. All our inspectors are experienced senior English language teaching professionals with additional expertise in teacher training, materials writing or management. The following areas are inspected:
a. Management and administration.
b. Academic resources.
c. Academic staff profile.
d. Academic management.
e. Premises.
f. Teaching.
g. Welfare.
Reporting
The inspection usually takes place over a period of two or more days, after which the inspectors produce a report which is considered by an independent body, the Accreditation Scheme Advisory Committee, which advises on whether the organisation should be accredited. Inspectors report verbally to the organisation immediately after the inspection. Organisations also receive a copy of the inspectors' written report after it has been considered by the Advisory Committee.
Promotion
The British Council with its network in over 100 countries overseas and in the UK directly promotes only organisations which are accredited through the English in Britain Scheme.
Further details of the English in Britain Accreditation Scheme can be
obtained from:
Accreditation Unit
The British Council
Medlock Street
Manchester M15 4AA
Tel: 0161 957 7099
Fax: 0161 957 7561
e-mail: cherry.gough@britcoun.org.uk
The British Council - English 2000
English 2000 is an initiative led by the British Council which seeks to forecast future uses of English worldwide and to help develop new means of teaching and learning of English. The project team works to position British English language teaching goods and services to the mutual benefit of Britain and the countries with which it works.
Market Intelligence for the ELT Industry
The English 2000 team consulted widely with British ELT to work out how the Council, through our overseas network, can meet the needs of the industry. This has led to the design of the English 2000 Market Intelligence Service (MIS), a system to provide British ELT with the intelligence it needs to market its goods and services effectively.
MIS subscribers access the system via the Internet. It is, however, a closed, quality controlled service, accessible only by invitation and application to English 2000. An MIS archive contains ELT Market Profiles on priority markets and other relevant reports and documents which can be downloaded; an e-mail discussion group facility delivers a daily digest of intelligence from around the world. The service is available to British suppliers of quality ELT and related goods and services. Information (including promotional material and details of subscription rates) on this service is available from:
English 2000
The British Council
Medlock Street
Manchester M15 4AA
e-mail: english.2000@britcoun.org.uk
About the author:
John Whitehead is currently in charge of marketing projects on the British Council's English 2000 team.
