Such an exceptional event has never occurred in my working life and is not something that my predecessors experienced.

From 1952, when the first CATS college was founded in London, to the 1980s when CATS pioneered the University Foundation Programme in the UK, to now, in our position as a global education group with 16 schools in the UK, USA, Canada and China, what endures are the lasting relationships we have with our students, parents, and partners. This was true in 1952 and it will still be true in 2022.

Collaboration between education providers and partners is more important than ever. Last month, we held our Going Further Than Others virtual conference with the aim of establishing where the international education industry has been, our current situation, and where we see it going.

We invited speakers across the sector; from a range of industry bodies, market research specialists, school institutions and education consultancies, and asked them to share their insights. The result was a vibrant virtual conference where we as a community of educators answered key questions around how the world has changed and how we must adapt to stay relevant.

Our industry insiders raised fantastic insights around the supercharged uptake of new learning delivery methods and the challenge of keeping the student and their needs central to our offering.

It may seem obvious, but this is an important value that we may easily forget in periods of great change – though the methods of delivery are evolving rapidly we are still in a unique position of trust in our industry. Young people and their families depend on us, and we must never forget that.

“We must remind ourselves continuously what it means to put the student first”

As global confidence has been shaken during the pandemic, we must work harder still for their trust, and remind ourselves continuously what it means to put the student first.

This is not just in terms of league tables and counting university offers, but in how we build trust from the first point of contact and all the way through a student – and their parents’ – journey with us.

The title of our virtual conference was “Going Further Than Others” and during the sessions and the panels we went on a journey to define just what this means.

Together we determined that it is the quality of service we provide to our students that is the mark of going further.

This is not just a mantra for CATS Colleges but should be one that we as educators all aspire to in our nurturing of young minds and in our privileged position of inspiring and shaping the global citizens of tomorrow.

Visit the CATS Colleges Excellence Hub to see more insights from CATS College’s Going Further Than Others virtual conference.

About the author:

Cam Harvey is Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing CATS Colleges and a respected international education professional with a wealth of experience in developing new markets and establishing premier education brands. Cam’s main area of expertise is in leading and motivating teams to reach personal, professional, and organisational objectives. Cam joined CATS Colleges in 2019, having previously held senior positions at Embassy English and Study Group as well as owning his own language travel agency. Cam embodies the CATS Colleges’ values by leading his team to go further than others for your education success.