Page 21 - ELG2011 Nov Issue 473

YOUNG LEARNERS SPECIAL . SPECIAL FEATURE

Welfare is key for under-16s Leaders in year-round young learners

Who are the top performers for under-16s, asks Melanie Butler
Ron Ragsdale explains how we rank the schools for young learners
using bonus points for student welfare here are 131 accredited UK language Seven of the exclusively young learner
schools which now accept under-18s schools, a third of the total, appear in our
year-round, according to the British ranking below, meaning two thirds score
oung-learner specialists now make TCouncil, but most just enrol the below the industry average on inspection. ST GILES INTERNATIONAL
up some 30 per cent of all accredited occasional closed group. Only 21 specialise Our leaders come in three main categories:
centres in the UK, and with many SHUTTERSTOCK exclusively in young learners, and a further 31 schools which started as summer operations,
Ylanguage centres catering primarily had young learners in the school during their like UKLC; those belonging to the big name
for adults finding it difficult or impossible to last inspection and reported a significant teaching and training operations IH and Bell;
stay afloat because of the Covid-19 downturn number of under-16s enrolled outside the and those that have always specialised, like
(see page 15), the proportion catering for summer. our top performer, Broadstairs English
young learners is steadily increasing. This Why does this matter? Because the data Centre.
trend can only continue. shows there is no correlation between how Of the schools which also take adults,
By language centres for young learners we good a school is at teaching over-16s and how around 30 per cent made our ranking. They
do not, of course, mean that all of them only well they do with younger learners. On include centres, like Lewis School of English, St Giles Highgate
teach under-16s. Four of the top centres for average, a private language school for adults with successful summer operations; a big
under-16s are also EL Gazette Centres of will be awarded four more strengths for its name teaching and training operation, St round, like the top performer in this ranking
Excellence for adults: Sidmouth International adult course than for its junior summer school Giles; and schools who have years of in terms of bonus points, Sidmouth
School, St Giles Highgate, St Clare’s Oxford operations. experience with taking young learners year- International School (see case study page 22).
and IH London, and more centres are moving
in this direction every year.
An increasing number of adult language
schools also offer courses to under-16s.
However, in this ranking we only include
centres which had a majority, or significant
minority, of under-16s enrolled at the time of
their last inspection. We then checked the full reports for the Leisure opportunities, but by 2019 that had
Because the British Council summary areas completed by the inspectors under the risen to five.
statements of inspections list a maximum of relevant headings, as in the example below. To iron-out statistical differences, we
15 areas of strength, our usual ranking system The bonus points are based on the number of calculated all results as a percentage of
does not differentiate within percentile individual criteria marked as a strength on available criteria for each area reported,
bands, so there is an obvious need to the British Council report in the areas we across the same base number. This does not
differentiate between centres with the same have put under the spotlight, as well as one entirely eliminate the statistical discrepancy,
overall score. bonus point for getting strengths in each of but differences of less than 0.2 are unlikely
Thirty-three accredited language centres these areas in the summary statement. to be significant.
which focus on under-16s now receive an A strength is deducted for any criterion in
area of strength in more than half of the 15 a given area which is judged as Not met. The Reading the reports
areas under which they are inspected. That British Council place particular emphasis on You can see how the system works by looking
means that the top 25 per cent of YL centres the importance of meeting every criteria, and at the extract from a 2017 report on this
are squashed into just six bands. So how can one judgement of Not met means an area of page. There are eight criteria in this area, but
we tell them apart? strength will not be awarded by the two are marked N/a under strength, which
In this issue, we have created separate inspectors in the summary statement. means a strength cannot be marked.
rankings for year-round young learner Then we adjust the scores to the same In this example, a strength is marked for
specialists (page 21), summer schools (page baseline values, because if any of the three out of the six applicable areas, which
27) and boarding schools (page 29), individual criteria in one area are not is fifty per cent. This means it is eligible to
including those that are in the top 50 per applicable to one centre, it would have a be awarded an area of strength in the
cent of all accredited centres. lower possible maximum than the others. summary statement. However, one criteria
However, in order to differentiate between Also, the number of criteria in a given area is marked Not met, so a point is deducted
schools that are ranked in the same may vary from year-to-year. For example, in from the strengths in this area, giving a net
percentiles, this analysis focuses on the main 2017 there were four criteria in the area of of 2 out of 6.
area in which provision for under-16s differs
from that of adults: the level of Safeguarding
of Under-18s and the three areas under
Welfare and Student Services. We have also
looked at the area of Premises and Facilities,
which impacts on student well-being.
We have weighted the scores by assigning a
maximum of six bonus points for the criteria
covered under these headings.
Differences in bonus points are used to
show slight differences under these
categories and do not affect the overall
percentile ranking score of each centre.
The bonus points differentiate within a
percentile band.

20 November 2020 editorial@elgazette.com 21