China scores major acquisition of UK-based international school network

An ambitious Guangdong-based education company, has bought CATS Colleges - an international school network of seven campuses and 10 international language schools across the UK, the United States and China - for 150 million pounds ($187.6 million).

Bright Scholar, a major operator of international and bilingual K-12 schools in China, called their accquisition a significant acceleration in the expansion of its overseas portfolio. It has already bought three other UK schools over the last year.

Bright Scholar operates 69 schools in China with more than 42,000 students.

CATS has campuses in Boston in the US, Cambridge, London, and Canterbury in the UK, and in Shanghai, China. Together with the language schools, these institutions serve more than 2,000 students from around 80 nations.

Chinese companies have increased their interest in British education properties in recent years. The demand stems in part from a rising middle class that is willing to pay for bilingual learning in order to gain entry into elite English-speaking universities.

For more details, visit www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201907/11/WS5d260e45a3105895c2e7ccc8.html

International student enrolment at Canadian universities continues to rise

Canadian universities continue to attract large numbers of students, but now they want to diversify their sources so they don’t have to rely on a few key nations.

In 2014, the federal government set a target of more than 450,000 international students attending Canadian educational institutions by 2022, roughly doubling their numbers from 2011. That box got checked by 2017. A year later – as of December 31, 2018 – Canada had a record 572,000 international students, at all education levels, representing a 16-percent increase from the previous year, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. At the post-secondary level, the number was 435,415, an 18-percent jump.

The University of British Columbia has seen international enrolment climb nearly 60 percent in four years. It has 16,000 international students, representing a quarter of its enrolment.

The University of Windsor opened its first international recruitment office last December, in New Delhi, to better service its top international market of India (followed by China, Nigeria and Bangladesh). The university’s special focus on students interested in a master’s degree in business or STEM disciplines has more than paid off: international students make up 70 percent of the university’s graduate student enrolment of about 2,700 students, representing a six-fold increase in the last decade.

Canada’s immigration policy allows international students to work during and after their studies, and provides a pathway to permanent residency, which some 60 percent of international students planned to seek, according to a 2018 CBIE survey. A low Canadian dollar and Canada’s reputation for quality and safety, have also contributed to Canada’s popularity, said observers.

The good news story could be a double-edged sword if planners aren’t careful, though. When Canada got into a spat with China – by far the top source country for international university students – over the arrest of Chinese senior telecommunications executive Meng Wanzhou, Moody’s credit agency warned that if political tensions between the two countries worsened, this could pose credit risks for Canadian universities.

A significant rejection would leave universities exposed. In its budget report for 2018-2019, the University of Toronto noted that international student fees at 30 percent of revenue accounted for more than provincial grants at 25 percent.

That has made “diversification” a hot issue among Canadian international education administrators. There’s much applause for the federal government’s 2019 budget earmarking 148 million Canadian dollars (HK$868 million) over the next five years for a new international education strategy, part of which is intended to promote Canada to “top-tier foreign students,” so that they choose it as their “education destination of choice.”

For more details, visit the www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/international-student-enrolment-continues-to-soar-in-canada/

Cambridge English Qualifications: Explaining results for A2 Key to C2 Proficiency

After sitting a Cambridge English exam, getting your result is an exciting time. It is worth understanding what your results represent when you receive the statement and certificate.

All Cambridge English qualifications are aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference, an international standard that describes English ability on a six-point scale. It ranges from A1 for those that have started a language, to C2 for those who have mastered a language. The CEFR describes the things a language learner can do at each of the six levels at each of these four skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. All of the qualifications are aligned to the Cambridge English scale which gives more detail so that learners know how they are progressing from one level to the next. Some Cambridge exams have a standard version suitable for adults, and a full-schools version which is suitable for school age learners. Both versions are reported at the same level, but the way content is presented for each of the exams is different. From A2 to C2, a candidate will receive the same statement of results, and if you are successful in any of the exams you will also receive a certificate.

You will receive a separate score for each of the four skills: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, and this will give you a clear understanding of your performance. Use of English is an additional score for B2 up to C2. These scores are averaged to give you an overall result of the exam. You will also receive a grade and the CEFR level achieved.

Your statement of results is released online about four to six weeks after the paper-based exams, and two to three weeks after the computer-based exams. The fastest way to get your results is to sign up for the free online results service. Your certificate will be sent to you a few weeks after your results are available online.

For more details, visit the website www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ4wpfojKcA