We did it again! Wimbledon School of English is the best English language school in the UK.

Once a year the EL Gazette publishes a ranking of the best English language schools in the UK and WSE is top of the list once again. The Centres of Excellence ranking is based entirely on British Council Inspection results so it’s a great tool for students when they are deciding where to take an English course. 

The British Council Inspection takes a look at 15 different areas and provided that a language school satisfies requirements, they are successfully accredited. If a school does particularly well in one of these areas, they are awarded what’s called a strength. On average, schools tend to receive around 3-4 strengths and Wimbledon School of English is the only school in the UK to have a strength in all 15 areas. This puts us in 1^st place out of 535 British Council accredited schools across the UK.

Why is this so important?

Trying to find the right language school for can be difficult. You’ve got to think about the courses on offer, the location, the accommodation options and of course the price. But when there are 535 schools in the UK and they are all accredited by the British Council, how do you differentiate one from the other? The EL Gazette ranking helps you discover which schools are good in different areas. Their sister website www.el-go.com is also great for comparing schools.

How does a school get 15 strengths in a British Council Inspection? 

This is a question that we get asked quite regularly and the simplest answer is that we always have the students’ best interests at heart. The British Council accreditation was introduced to keep quality standards high and to ensure that students are improving their English in a supportive learning environment. We always strive to offer the best possible service and whether this is our regular one-to-one tutorials with teachers, the fact we know all of our host families personally or our weekly visits from the gardener to keep the place looking beautiful, we want our students to feel comfortable, improve their English and leave us with new skills and good memories. 

Which areas does the inspection focus on?

• Academic staff profile
• Academic management
• Accommodation
• Care of students
• Care of under-18s
• Course design
• Learner management
• Learning resources
• Leisure opportunities
• Premises and facilities
• Publicity
• Quality assurance
• Staff management
• Student administration
• Teaching

How does such a good ranking affect the price of a course?

In English there is a saying that goes “you get what you pay for” and indeed there are some very cheap English language courses out there but you may not necessarily make much progress. When measuring the quality of a language school against the price of a course, the EL Gazette have created a handy little graph which looks at schools in London. Check out our blog on Good Value Schools to see how Wimbledon School of English fares in a price comparison.