The PIE: The growth of CEG and CATS is the darling story of the industry. You were elemental to that success, what was your strategy?

“Opening CATS Academy Boston was my swansong. At a point in time where Astrum became a possibility”

GH: It was a good business from the outset but really needed an injection of investment and some new ideas. The growth was through internationalisation. The mother ship college in Cambridge was largely British at a time when the British market was starting to flatten in general so we recognised that we needed to seriously back an international campaign.

We assembled a good sales team– a number of whom are at Astrum now– and we hit the markets hard in quite an industrial fashion. We engaged a lot of agents quickly. We invested in the facilities, premises, and student accommodation. We opened CATS College London when UKBA were changing all the rules and the points based system was coming in so it was a very turbulent time but we successfully launched and it was the first new college of that type for quite some time.

We realised then that we could get around the significant barriers to opening new colleges so pretty quickly we looked at Boston to open CATS academy.

The PIE: Was it easier opening in Boston the London?

GH: It was easy in terms of the appetite within the market for east coast education particularly in Boston. It was just the regulatory framework we had to work in. It’s all very similar to the UK in many respects but different enough to disarm you. But we stayed with it, and got there and that was my swansong. At a point in time where Astrum became a possibility.

The PIE: What have you taken from the CEG experience that you’re implementing at Astrum?

GH: What I learned from Cambridge Education Group is you can move fast in this industry. It’s thought to be burdened with inertia, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you’ve got absolutely clear strategy, good people and supportive financial partners you can make a difference very quickly.

The PIE: Are you more nimble because of the level of education you’re providing?

GH: Dealing with sixth form you do have more lightness on your feet than going down into prep schools but still I think it is possible to achieve a lot in a few years and our aim is to move down the age ranges.

We’re working hard to make acquisitions outside of London because we feel that there’s a real growth in demand for pre-16 education in the UK for a number of key international markets. Some parents would like not to have their children of 11 years of age in London so we’re going to satisfy that need.

The PIE: It’s interesting that you’re moving down rather than up.

GH: We’ve certainly given consideration to pathway programmes and the huge success people like INTO have had with that. It’s a very crowded market, and there’s been a real land grab. We feel that our strength in pastoral care gives us a real and distinct advantage.

“We run a continuous feedback loop of teaching and learning that supports all that is good in British education with influences from the American style of coaching and training”

The PIE: How does your recent partnership with NCUK fit into that strategy?

GH: NCUK have been working with international students since 1987 and we are now providing foundation courses in partnership with their 11 founder universities to help students achieve their place on a UK degree programmes. Our colleges will be delivering these courses for the first time this year, the uptake has been excellent and all indications are that these will become a very popular option in future years.

The PIE: How does Astrum stand apart from other secondary or sixth form schools?

GH: Two key aspects. One is how we make sure delivery in the classroom is exceptional. We plot a route of clear milestones of achievement from day one to A level success. So for every student we conduct a weekly analysis of attainment against expectations. They are formally assessed every week and their learning plan adapted accordingly. This will include supplementary one to one tuition and specific study skills coaching.

We run a continuous feedback loop of teaching and learning that supports all that is good in British education with influences from the American style of coaching and training.

And our second focus is around customer service to the extended stakeholder group which includes how we treat our international agent partners, along with the students’ parents, aunties, uncles and extended family.

We employ people who are in sympathy with our customer service culture. We have worked hard to understand and define the needs of this group – whether it is a student in South Kensington or a worried grandmother in Singapore.