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| Table courtesy of El Gazette |
Hot on the tail of our recent award for best customer service for Cambridge English courses, we've been put top of a table measuring the quality and value offered by language schools in central London by the team at El Gazette.
British Council and ISI reports used to judge language schools
International House London was found to offer the best quality and best value English Language courses in central London by the global English language journal of TEFL. We were judged against all language schools in the central London area that have been inspected by the British Council and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).
El Gazette’s quality rankings are based on ISI and British Council inspection reports, integrating three different inspection marking systems: the ISI's marking system, and both the British Council’s old system of awarding points of excellence and its new
system of awarding points of strength.
As the ISI and British Council use different rating systems (one point for each star awarded by the ISI with a maximum of three points available and fifteen points available from the British Councils new system) El Gazette's panel gave one point for each ISI point and 0.75 for each of the British Council's points of excellence.
Calculating the cost of language learning
To measure value for money El Gazette looked at the cost of the most popular, and often most costly, language course across all schools: General English morning classes.
Taking in to account contact time with teaching staff, but factoring out additional costs such as registration fees where possible, El Gazette's panel were able to establish a system for judging value for money.
Unsurprisingly, they found that schools outside central London and the West End were able to offer more competitive prices than those in the heart of the city. So, they split the results of their findings between central London and the rest of London.
Smaller classes equal better learning
Across the board, El Gazette found that smaller class sizes led to better outcomes, with class sizes of 8 - 18 proving to be the optimum size for a better learning experience. Smaller classes of 8 or less were found to inhibit many students causing an increasing in foreign language anxiety.
However, El Gazette also found that large class sizes could achieve results "by using highly trained teachers with a diploma, masters or state school qualification and three years’ experience".
60 years of expertise in language teaching and teacher training
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| Image courtesy of El Gazette |
In our 60th year, receiving this ranking from a highly respected industry journal, so soon after having our Cambridge English programme endorsed by the governing body of Cambridge English (due to the feedback given by our students), is not only a great honour, it also affirms the approach and the principles of International House London.
We’ve long believed that small class sizes (no more than 14 students per class) equal better learning outcomes; a rigorous approach to teacher training is the only way to ensure high standards of teaching in the school; it is important not to stand still but to embrace new technologies and teaching methods.
That’s not to say we intend to rest on our laurels. Our plans are to keep upgrading the school to further improve the experience of our students and to expand our use of technology in education for the benefit of students, teachers and clients. We hope this progressive approach will mean we’ll be receiving similar awards in 60 years’ time.
Study English in central London
El Gazette's ranking is based on the value and excellence of our English language courses.We offer a wide range of English courses to help you gain the best language learning experience possible.
Foreign languages are indeed quite important to be learned nowadays.
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