Page 23 - ELG2109 Sep Issue 477

Top 100 UK Language Centres

offer boarding, but none of these, to the best of our knowledge, These kinds of changes are nothing new in the history of British
offer separate English language courses, although accredited further boarding schools, which stretches back to 957AD when a school
education college Itchen offers host family accommodation for year- for boys was started in Canterbury Cathedral. But the educational
round international students aged 16+. importance of these institutions remains as, it seems, does their appeal
When international students and their parents think of British to foreign parents looking to send their children to learn English.
boarding schools, they tend to think of summer schools at Hogwarts: Although other English-speaking countries also have boarding
an old, not for profit educational trust in a historic building schools, and the Irish have begun using theirs for summer schools,
surrounded by acres of beautiful grounds. And there are many the range of depth of the provision in the UK remains unique. In
accredited boarding schools that fit that description. Take St Edmund’s recent years more boarding schools have been opting to run their own
College, Ware, the oldest Catholic school in England, which boasts summer courses, rather than just letting out their buildings, and an
20 Catholic saints among its former pupils and has been on its current increasing number of them are opting for EFL accreditation. With the
site at Old Hall Green since 1793, where it has run a high-ranking growing importance of CLIL-style provision, the trend for boarding
international summer school for many years. school providers to become accredited is likely to increase.
But British boarding schools offer a wide variety of courses in a At least for the foreseeable future, they are likely to remain the
variety of geographic locations. These might be year-long English top performing sector on inspection and while the private language
and academic courses for children preparing for British education, operators still retain a stranglehold on the top 2% of our rankings, they
like those run by Millfield International in London, Sherbourne may have to look to their laurels.
International and Bishopstrow in the heart of England.
One of the biggest growth areas are the schools – like Brooke House
College in rural Leicestershire – that started life as sixth-form colleges, Top accredited boarding schools
but now take younger students. Or those like Buckswood in Sussex
by the sea, which runs the highly ranked BOSS summer school that
started for international students but now welcomes local children to Out of 26 accredited boarding schools, 14, just over half, score
its school as well. within four points of each other:
Indeed, there is a new sector moving in to the field: the 13 points: Bishopstrow College, Millfield Summer School,
international school specialists who are looking to acquire British St Edmund’s College
boarding schools and summer operations. First we had Globeducate, 12 points: Harrow Short Courses, Heathfield International
which acquired International Community School, the only Summer School
independent day school in the accreditation scheme; then a boarding 11 points: Buckswood Overseas Summer School (BOSS);
school, Stonar, near Bath. One-long established international school Concord College; King’s, London
chain, Cognita, acquired Ardmore, while this summer its arch-rival, 10 points: Bede’s Summer School, King’s Brighton, King’s
Nord Anglia, acquired the Bucksmore summer operations. Oxford, Sherborne International, St Clares, Stonyhurst

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