The 31st IALC workshop held in Brisbane was held in Australia for the first time this year, offering great diversity of agency attendee, a great insight into Australia's offer for students and a topical seminar discussion around online booking and the commoditisation of the industry.

A study has shown UK independent English language schools outperform proprietary chain schools based on scores ranked against national averages from the British Council-endorsed accreditation rankings. It also revealed that experience can lead to excellence, with most top-ranked ELT players over 20 years old.

The International Association of Language Centres, a network of independent language schools teaching their native language to international students, has welcomed new members in Spain, China and North America.

In a marketing move that will bring more agents to its fairs, IALC and ICEF’s ANZA have joined forces to create a cost-effective double workshop package for agents to be held in Australia and New Zealand this April. The coordinated timing and location of the two workshops means that IALC institutions as well as exhibitors can easily attend both.

As of January 1, 2014, London-based Excel English and Cairns College of English in Australia are now part of the International Association of Language Centres (IALC)– a network of independent language schools teaching their native language to international students.

Both International House World Organisation (IHWO) and the International Association of Language Centres (IALC) have grown to include new language schools this month. IHWO has added three new locations bringing its membership total up to 156 schools, while IALC has added new schools in Spain and the UK to its network.

Representing a unique membership of owner-operated or independent language schools, IALC held its 30th Workshop and AGM in Lisbon, Portugal last week – and cemented its reputation as an essential business forum for independently-operated language teaching institutions.

IALC has announced two new members are joining its association, which only allows quality-checked independent schools to join. Piccola Universita Tropea, in southern Italy, and CES, which represents family-run English language schools in the UK and Ireland, are in...