Page 15 - ELG1807 July Issue 459

Centre

Brazil Ministry MARKET REPORT

Manager Esol

General UK students National

Senior College

ELT Russia University Deputy

teacher State Spain Language

teacher
Lecturer
Trainer China British Council

France
Department Mexico A city of many colours

Head Deputy UAE Germany Academic

Australia Project Specialist More and more students are heading for London but there are many types of
College Ielts Italy destination on offer. Melanie Butler explains the market segments

This is less than in New York, Paris and
n 2017 London was one of the two-fastest
Student accommodation here is around
ELLs English Japan Adviser Ifrom language school association English even Beijing. But if there are any ordinary £250 a week before meals. That is cheaper
growing destinations for English language
British families left in Zone 1 with a spare
learning in the UK, according to statistics
than New York and about the same price as
bedroom, they are unlikely to take a student.
Sydney according to Yahoo News.
But again, space is at a premium in Zone 2
Turkey General Rector UK. After all, they can make £300 a weekend on and few families have a spare room to let.
But, in terms of language school locations,
Airbnb.
British students live in Zone 2. There
Which bring us to London’s best kept
London is not one destination but three very
Agency Director Argentina different ones spread around a city, which at are so many student residences in the secret: the family villages such as Wimbledon
and Hampstead.
1,570 square kilometres is twice the size of
inner city areas clustered just outside the
Where other cities have bleak modern
centre it should really be called the Student
the nation of Singapore.
Professor Faculty Supervisor north of the River Thames and covers the Zone, though it is also the centre for the ‘suburbs’ filled with the city’s poor, London
First there is Central London, which sits
is ringed with green, leafy residential areas
tech industry and a mecca for artists and
cultural commercial centre, known as the
that grew up in the 19th century as the
West End, and the financial centre, known
confusingly as ‘the City’. London’s best kept arrival of the railways allowed London to
spread out to include the historic towns and
It sits inside the Circle Line, a branch secret: the family villages. villages around the centre.
of the underground railway, and is often Where other cities have This is where London families love to
referred to as Zone 1 after its position in the live. Good-sized houses with large gardens
transport system. bleak modern ‘suburbs’ centred around historic homes, picturesque
Zone 1 is to London as Manhattan is to filled with the city’s poor, local shops and vast green parks.
New York. It is the historic cultural centre These areas are famous for their great
of a city full of famous shops, free museums, London is ringed with schools, including a number of the best
theatres and royal palaces. green, leafy residential language schools in the UK, and their rapid
It is home to the University of London transport links to the centre.
and more than twenty accredited language areas This is picture postcard England 30
schools, many of which are now found near minutes by train from Zone 1 and the only
the university neighbourhoods of Holborn, musicians. parts of the city where you can find good
Bloomsbury and Covent Garden. The Student Zone, which spreads north host families within 15 minutes’ walk from a
It’s a great place to study, but few students and east of the centre and on the south great language school.
can afford to live there. bank of the Thames, is full of cool clubs and The truth is that London is different
Property prices in Central London are coffee shops, multicultural markets and, from most world cities because it is not one
the third highest in the world and, like increasingly, language schools. destination but many.
Manhattan, it is inhabited almost entirely the Zone 1 shopping area, pushing up rents, said: ‘London is a glorious mess.
As American journalist James Gearey once
With the redevelopment of Oxford Street,
by the international super rich. And the
It evolved from a score or so of distinct
international super rich don’t take in
half of London’s low-cost language schools
Who reads the ? students. have followed the students out of the centre. villages, that merged and meshed as their 15
boundaries enlarged.
On average, living with host families in
Increasingly, most international students
London costs under £200 a week including
live in the commercial residences that have
As a result, London is a labyrinth, full of
turnings and twistings just like a brain.’
meals.
sprung up across Zone 2.
editorial@elgazette.com
p14-15.indd 3 7/9/2018 10:07:37 AM