In the Japan Best School Award 2012, which was voted for by 500 students who had studied overseas, Canadian International Student Services (CISS) was ranked first for its programme at the University of Toronto; Global Village English Centres in Victoria came second, and International House, Vancouver was in fourth position.

1. Canadian International Student Services at Trinity, City Residential Programme in Toronto, Canada

2. Global Village English Centres, Victoria, Canada

3. Hastings English Language Centre, UK

4. International House, Vancouver, Canada

5. Sydney College of English, Australia

6. Seafield School of English, Christchurch, New Zealand

7. EC Brighton, UK (joint seventh)

7. ELS Language Centres, Vancouver, Canada (joint seventh)

9. Global Village English Centres, Toronto, Canada

10. St Giles, San Francisco, USA

ELS in Vancouver and another Global Village school, in Toronto, were also in the list, joining schools from the UK, USA and Australasia. All schools were graded by students on their support, teaching, facilities and accommodation.

Ms Yukari Kato, executive vice president at Ryugaku Journal, said Canada had become an increasingly attractive option for Japanese because of its visa rules. “Japanese students studying in Canada for six months or less do not require a student visa. In addition, we have a working holiday system between Canada and Japan.

“Japanese have a good image of Canada with regards to safety, kind people, beautiful nature and so on,” he added. Japan is said to represent around 10% of the Canadian EFL market.

“We were very pleased with this award as we are a small independent school”

Jennifer Kellie, manager of operations at CISS, said: “We have been doing sales in Japan for more than 20 years… We are very honoured that our Trinity Junior programme was given top ranking. We expect that it will help bolster our reputation.”

Published quarterly (plus two special editions for university study and high school programs) with a circulation of 50,000, Ryugaku Journal has huge reach in the Japanese student market. The company also runs a student placement agency, provides document processing and manages study abroad fairs.

Pru Knight, director of Hastings English Language Centre in the UK, placed third. She said: “We were very pleased with this award as we are a small independent school… This award recognises that our personalised approach to teaching and the care of our students is effective and appreciated by our clients.”

Kato told The PIE News: “Prospective Japanese students may use the [awards] list as a reference to choose their EFL schools for study abroad since our journal has been issued for more than 25 years and is a must-read for those students.”

The schools will be featured in the May edition of the magazine and promoted online. Student testimonials about the schools have also been posted online.