Study centres offer a welcoming and supportive environment for students looking to maximise their chances of success in the UK education system
The existence of international study centres adds another good reason to come to the UK for a boarding education. These centres are designed to maximise the chances for success of school-age non-native speakers of English who are entering the British education system. The British Association of International Study Centres (BAISC) was set up in 1997 to encourage the spread of these centres and to ensure that member centres all have high standards.
In January 2010, there were over 23,000 non-British students with parents living overseas at schools in membership of the Independent Schools Council. This means that practically every boarding school has some non-British students, and so most schools provide some support for international students. The schools that have established international study centres (ISCs), however, have really shown a commitment to giving international students the best possible start and the best possible opportunity to be successful in the British education system.
The ISCs that are members of BAISC are small (between about 30 and 130 students in each), have small classes (typically around 8 students to one teacher) and have specially trained teachers and house staff to ensure each student receives the best possible attention and support. Part of the training for staff is in English language, and some ISCs aim to have all of their teachers, of all subjects, qualified in teaching English as an additional language.
Parents need to see what each ISC offers – and be aware that only ISCs attached to established schools offer all the qualities described in this article. ‘Genuine’ ISCs are not cheap (small classes, excellent facilities and highly trained teachers all cost money!), but they have been remarkably successful over the past 20 or more years, especially in helping students new to the British system to maximise their chances of success.
Students who may particularly benefit from a year at an ISC are those:
• whose English needs further improvement, or who have not been educated in English or the British system before, or
• who are aiming at entering one of the UK’s most selective schools, or
• who are aged 15 by 1 September of the year they come to the UK.
What is an international study centre?
It is important to note that ISCs are not alternatives to the excellent traditional schools listed in this Guide. They have, however, been set up to help ensure that boys and girls aged up to 16 from outside the UK make the most of their education in these schools. ISCs are like highly specialist preparatory schools that ensure students, before they join a traditional school, have the essential qualities for success in the UK educational system.
Study centres ensure that all students:
• have the right level of English for success in UK schools
• reach a high academic standard and are in step with British schools' expectations
• have the understanding of the British method of teaching and learning to enable them to succeed in UK schools.
How can international study centres help?
Age, not ability, generally determines which year of study a student enters in the British system. Jumping into a system in which all other students are native English speakers, and have always followed a different programme of study, can be extremely difficult. By contrast, ISCs offer a carefully managed educational environment only for students new to the UK. They provide the same range of academic subjects as a regular school, but concentrate on development in the English language, raising levels of academic scholarship and demonstrating what is necessary for success in boarding schools in the UK. Additionally, some ISCs offer the high-value one-year version of the two-year GCSE examination programme, normally taken at the age of 16. To join this course, students must normally already be 15 by the time the course starts in September each year.
How long do students stay at these centres?
Most students spend just one year at a study centre before moving successfully into a traditional boarding school. Some centres will accept students for shorter periods than a year – for example, for just a term (about two and a half months). This may be a valuable way of getting in step with the yearly rhythm of British education, which starts in September and finishes in late June or early July. However, the GCSE examination in UK schools is taken after two years of study when a student is aged about 16. If a student arrives at an ISC aged 14, he or she is well advised to remain at the centre for the full two years of the GCSE course.
What is the benefit of this period of study?
At ISCs, courses can often be tailored to the needs of the student, so that the course starts when they arrive. In such circumstances, a short period at a centre serves three very good purposes. Firstly, the centre will work hard on English for academic purposes, preparing students to join the school of their choice in September. Secondly, the centre will offer a course that will be relevant to the student’s needs and will fit the period of time before September. Thirdly, students can be introduced to the levels of academic work that will be required of them by the time they join the school of their choice.
What is special about study centres?
Study centres have been especially designed for the particular needs of non-native English-speaking pupils. Special attention is given to learning English in all subject lessons. The progress of children at study centres in learning to speak, understand, read and write English is remarkable.
Where are the study centres?
Most ISCs are linked with long-established traditional British boarding schools. The original centre was started at Sherborne School in 1977 (the International College). Over the next 20 years, other centres opened at Bedford, Rossall and Taunton, and in 1997 these centres formed the British Association of International Study Centres (BAISC). More recently, they were joined by the centres at the King's School Ely, Box Hill School (Dorking), d'Overbroeck's (Oxford) and Kent College in Canterbury. There are two other centres that are provisional members of BAISC, awaiting accreditation either by BAISC itself or by the British Council. These centres are at Ackworth School (South Yorkshire) and the Royal School Centre in Surrey.
How are international study centres accredited?
Full members of BAISC are accredited either by BAISC itself or by the British Council as an international study centre. The British Council recently recognised that study centres are more than language schools, but more specialised than traditional boarding schools. British Council accreditation as an international study centre attests the quality of teaching of the English language, not only in the English lessons themselves but throughout all other subjects taught at each centre – mathematics or geography or art, for example. Both the British Council and BAISC aim to ensure uniformly high standards throughout study centres, while allowing each centre its own identity and differences. It is often said that every British school is unique, and the same is true to a large extent of each study centre. Each centre reflects something of the different ethos of the long-established boarding school that is its ‘parent’.
Where do students go when they leave?
The answer to this lies partly in the wishes of the student and his or her parents. Sometimes students go on to the boarding school that has set up the centre, but this progression is not automatic. In many cases, students have to take the same high-standard entrance exams as the British pupils who wish to enter these prestigious schools.
Sometimes parents and students have their sights set on other schools. Quite often, however, they are not sure of the next step, and look to the expert guidance offered by each ISC on other schools that may be suitable for their children. Progression to these schools, of course, depends on the student reaching the very high standards they expect. Whichever school is chosen, the study centre will prepare each student so that they have a better chance of passing the entrance examination. If the student does not reach the standards demanded, the study centre will suggest another good-quality school that may be more suited to the student’s talents.
How do study centres achieve their results?
ISCs follow the same curriculum – mathematics, science, history, geography and so on – that you will find in traditional British schools. There is, however, heavy emphasis on intensive English developmental work, and many centres enter their pupils for English language exams, such as the Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) exams.
In every subject, classes are small (ranging between six and ten students per teacher) and teachers guide students through carefully prepared programmes of study. In this way, students receive almost individual preparation in an environment where their particular needs are well understood. And it is not just the academic needs that are understood. Getting used to boarding is sometimes difficult, even for British boys and girls. At study centres, all students board and their house parents are aware of the special difficulties that they face. Typically, after a year, or sometimes two years, at a centre, students can pass the entrance exams to enter traditional UK boarding schools.
What’s it like to be a student at a study centre?
The weekly arrangements at a centre reflect the pattern of a traditional British boarding school. For example, at one of the centres, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon is devoted to sport. At another, Wednesday afternoon is an ‘activities afternoon’, with lessons resuming around 3.30pm and continuing until 5pm. During the evenings at every centre, there are supervised ‘prep sessions’ (sometimes called ‘homework’). It is private study, to be undertaken on an individual basis without a great deal of help from either teachers or fellow students. This is an ideal way of encouraging students to demonstrate unaided competence in academic subjects and to prepare them for the British academic examinations, which are a test of individual ability. As all the centres are 100% boarding, they can organise a full programme of activities at the weekend. Most have lessons on a Saturday morning, which finish around midday, followed by recreational programmes involving sport, outings, cultural events – and supervised study, of course! Each weekend is different.
The best start to boarding
Study centres have been designed to be the very best starting point for boys and girls joining the UK independent education system. By the time students leave the centres and join traditional UK schools, they understand English well and are able to take a full part in the larger classes of British students they will join. In short, they are capable and ready for success.