Page 18 - ELG2003 Mar Issue 469

El•Gazette 469.qxp_El•Gazette 469 25/02/2020 21:50 Page 18

UK TOP SCHOOLS 2020 .

Age matters

Melanie Butler presents our two TOM WANG/SHUTTERSTOCK
new top language centre rankings

t this time of year, the EL Gazette reveals the top UK
language centres, based on the results of the latest British
Council inspections. The figures include the results for
Amore than 90 per cent of the centres that were inspected in
2019; at the time of going to press, only 17 still had reports
outstanding.
This year we have decided to split the top rankings in two: one
ranking for centres focussed on over-16s and one for under-16s.
There are three reasons why.
Firstly, over-16s can’t normally attend young learners’ schools and
vice versa. If you are looking for a school for a 12-year-old, you don’t
want to know the ranking of a university language centre. Similarly, a
32-year-old wanting a business English course isn’t interested in
boarding schools.
Secondly, 70 per cent of UK accredited centres are mainly for
adults aged 16+, though many take closed groups of under-16s or run
summer schools. The other 30 per cent of operations are only, or
mostly, for under-16s.
The number of young-learner specialists has increased since the
British Council introduced the rule that language schools with two or
more young learners’ operations held off-site must have their junior
operation accredited separately.
It is now easier to see if the scores of the adult centres are reflected
in the inspection results of their young-learners’ operations. And
that’s the third reason we have split the rankings: there is no clear
correlation between how good an organisation is with adults
compared to its results with younger learners.
A Gazette analysis of 30 organisations accredited separately for
adult centres and young learner operations revealed that in 19, the
young learner operations were awarded fewer areas of strength than
The top-ranked group of schools the average for their sister adult centres. In only three of them did YL
in the UK!* operations score higher. In eight, the results were broadly the same.
The graph for chains on the opposite page illustrates this. All of the
small chains which only have adult schools (marked as black dots)

It is now easier to see if the

scores of the adult centres are
reflected in the inspection results of
‘Three experienced schools offering a
warm welcome, high quality courses their young-learners’ operations.
and a great service!’
have their schools within a four-point range, from their lowest scoring
• General English centre to their highest. That is statistically significant because in the
UK industry, four points is one standard deviation – meaning all the
• Exam Preparation
schools within a four-point range are consistently of the same level of
(IELTS, FCE, CAE, CPE)
quality.
• English for Business Professionals Look at the chart again. Only two of the five small chains with
young learners’ operations (the red dots) have all their operations in
• 25 + and 50+ Courses
the four-point range.
• Courses for Teachers of English For larger chains, we would expect a larger range, up to a maximum
of eight points, or two standard deviations. When we look at the larger
• Summer Course for Teenagers
chains (excluding the groups with more than one brand), only St Giles
has all its operations, both junior and adult, within the eight-point
*based on El Gazette’s review of British Council inspection results
range we would expect. EC, by contrast, has an 11-point range between
ELC Brighton | ELC Eastbourne www.elc-schools.com English in Chester www.english-in-chester.co.uk its highest scoring adult centre and its lowest scoring junior operation.
In UK EFL, just because you’re good with adults doesn’t mean
you’re good with kids. It’s not surprising: primary schools rarely run
universities, and vice versa. In education, age matters.
18 March 2020