English language schools from Europe and North America met over 30 Russian agents at the Quality English mission in Moscow last month.
Quality English is a marketing association for independent English language schools that conform to universal high standards. Ten schools from the UK, four from Ireland and one each from the USA and Canada attended the workshop.
Representatives from the British Council and the Irish Embassy in Russia were also on hand to provide support and advice while the Association of Russian Education Advisors (AREA) shared market insights.
Russia is a buyer’s market so competition among agents is driven by fast and efficient customer service
One of the mission’s sponsors Isobel Clarke from the Wimbledon School of English said the event facilitated interaction with quality agents.
“I really found it very useful to sponsor the event, as after the [Wimbledon School] presentation a lot of agents came to see me as they liked the look of the school,” she said. “I feel I got to speak with people that I wouldn’t have necessarily met had it not been for the presentation.”
Trevor Horner of the Horner School of English with Zsófia Menyhárt of Bron-Y-Aur Educational Travel Agency at the Budapest workshop
Like wise, agents found the event useful to expand their concept of what the destinations have to offer, especially the UK and Ireland. “There are much more destinations than only London and Dublin,” said Anna Starek from Global-Link in Moscow. “We would like to promote more and other destinations like York, Nottingham, Glasgow, etc.”
According to AREA representative Anna Rhyzova, 50% of agents choose a school based on feedback from previous clients or word of mouth and 40% take into consideration if a school is a member of a professional association.
Russia is a buyer’s market so competition among agents is driven by fast and efficient customer service she added. Students also prefer a flexible approach to the structure of the programmes on offer.
As part of its Autumn roadshow, Quality English hosted its second workshop in Budapest earlier this month. The tours finishes this week with workshops in Rome and Madrid.
