British Study Centres (BSC) is a group of English language schools consisting of eight adult

language schools A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, for example, communicative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools typically supplements fo ...

and seventeen junior centres, including the City Football Language School in partnership with Manchester City, with the majority of schools and centres based in the UK. The head office is located in

Brighton & Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...

, East Sussex. Today, British Study Centres (BSC) specialises in

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

training for adults and young learners,

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their t ...

courses for UK and overseas teachers and University Pathway programmes in partnership with

NCUK NCUK - The University Consortium is an organisation in the international higher education sector which specialises in offering university pathway qualifications, support, and services for international students through its global network oStudy Ce ...

History and location

British Study Centres has its roots in

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

courses from the 1930s onwards (a precursor to the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

which grew up in the 1960s), branching off from its sister company

West London College West London College, legally known as the Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College is a large further and higher education college in West London, England, formed in 2002 by the merger between Ealing Tertiary College and Hammersmith and West ...

which offers further and higher education courses in 1996. The first school was opened in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and after a location move in 2008, it occupiesd the four-floor building of Oxenford House in the centre of the town. In 2002 the second college was opened in Brighton, and in 2004 a third school opened in Marylebone, central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. A fourth school opened in Bournemouth in May 2010 as well as a specialist teacher training facility in central Oxford which opened later that year. The college's head office moved from Hannah House to Duke Street, opposite

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...

and adjoining

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...

, in early 2010. These schools have now closed down. In 2008, the company moved into the young learners market with the acquisition of 'ICH' (International College Holidays), a provider of vacation courses to children. Since acquiring ICH, British Study Centres has offered junior courses at independent schools in

Ardingly Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chich ...

, Cheltenham and Wycliffe. The company has added a fourth UK centre in

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

, in 2013. Across its adult schools and junior centres there is an annual intake of 7500 students consisting of approximately 80 nationalities.

Membership

British Study Centres is a member of English UK. The adult schools hold a UKBA “Grade A” Tier 4 Sponsor's Licence.

Courses

The schools offer full-time courses in the following subjects for adults:

general English International English is the concept of using the English language as a global means of communication similar to an international auxiliary language, and often refers to the movement towards an international standard for the language. Relat ...

, academic English,

business English Business English is a part of English for specific purposes and can be considered a specialism within English language learning and teaching, or a variant of international English. Many non-native English speakers study the subject with the goal ...

and

exam preparation Test preparation (abbreviated test prep) or exam preparation is an educational course, tutoring service, educational material, or a learning tool designed to increase students' performance on standardized tests. Examples of these tests include en ...

for IELTS, TOEIC / TOEFL, BULATS and Cambridge FCE and CAE. The adult courses are offered in Bournemouth, Brighton,

and

. Teacher training qualifications offered include the Cambridge Certificate in General English Teaching to Adults ( CELTA), Cambridge Diploma in General English Teaching to Adults (

DELTA Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

), and Trinity College Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages ( CertTESOL). Teacher training takes place in Brighton and

. Junior courses are offered in general English and English plus

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

at four junior vacation centres in

, Bournemouth the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

, Oxford Brookes University and Wycliffe In 2013, British Study Centres became one of the first UK-based EFL language schools to start offering online courses through video-conferencing. They use the same teachers from their UK schools to deliver General English, Business English and Exam Preparation courses to students around the world who are unable to travel to the UK to study.

Charity affiliation

British Study Centres’ chosen charity is the Hot Courses Foundation. part of the Hot Courses Group, Set up in 2004, the charity helps fund the education of HIV+ children in the developing world whose access to education is limited or non-existent. BSC's chairman, Simon Cleaver is trustee for the charity as well as

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

MP, Baroness Morris of Yardley (former Secretary of State for Education), Mike and Sarah Elms, Alex Williams and Simon Philips. The Foundation initially focused on AIDS-orphans in Kenya, providing money to fund their education and provide school uniforms and related resources. The Hot Courses Foundation then built a primary school in Kitui, eastern Kenya, which came top in recent assessments of schools in the area.

References

{{Reflist Further education colleges in London