Trust with business partners is key, and British Council accreditation is pivotal for education agents when deciding which language centres to work with, reveals English UK. Honesty and timely payment are also important factors when determining the ‘quality’ of a language teaching centre.
These are some of the findings gleaned by the membership association which held a series of mini “icebreaker” sessions with agencies last year; as part of exclusive networking events for their members and education agencies in Muscat, Singapore and Buenos Aires.
The findings of the sessions centred around the importance of accreditation, while during the same events, language centres revealed that they look primarily for references and recommendations when deciding which education agencies to partner with.
The next most important factor for agents seeking new language centres was a visit and the chance to talk to its students.
For language centres seeking new agents, recognised status – such as the English UK Partner Agency Scheme – was the second most important method of ascertaining trust, followed by conducting fam trips and word of mouth feedback. Feedback from students was also rated as important.
Agents and educators also discussed what factors ‘seal the deal’. “What information do you need to make your decision?” they were asked.
For agents: accreditation, course options, commission and nationality mix got equal top rating. Almost as important were price, facilities and location.
Information which educators wanted to have about new agents were led by references, the number and type of other language centres the agency worked with, recommendations and marketing methods.
Other factors mentioned included efficiency, accredited agent training, the number and type of student sent, and “gut feeling”.
For language centres, accreditation, honesty, and timely payment were top of the list
Educators and agents are looking for quality, but how do they judge that? Agents gave a broad sweep of factors they would look for in a language centre, led by response time, teacher qualifications and accreditation.
For language centres, accreditation, honesty, and timely payment were at the top of the list for judging the quality for agents. Other factors mentioned in the three workshops were monitoring student progress, evidence of pre-departure counselling, knowledge, feedback, and “no surprises.”
