There are many English schools in Australia. The brochures and websites all talk about offering “quality”, but what does that really mean when we are talking about an English school? Even the cheapest schools advertise a “quality” course, so for a student it can be very hard to decide.
There are many measures, but at Go Study Australia these are the things that we measure to help our students chose the right school:
1. Nationality mix. This is important for many reasons. A school that has a very good mix of student nationalities is almost always interested in providing quality. The reason is that it’s very hard to maintain a good nationality mix and so if they do, then they are well organised and invest to get this. The student experience is so much better when there class is not dominated just by one or two nationalities. If your class has many different nationalities it will be more interesting and you will also learn more.
2. Academic excellence. The Director of Studies is responsible for the academic quality of a school. Not all DOS’s are made equal! A good DOS will be very organised, hire only the best teachers (by being very selective) and will carefully monitor their class preparation, student outcomes and student satisfaction. Good teachers can be young or old, with lots of experience or not. But they must always be qualified and have that essential ability to keep the class motivated and engaged. It’s not as easy as it may seem. A good teacher can make all the difference. A “quality” school is full of good teachers. A less good quality school has some good and some not so good.
3. Organisation. Good organisation – management, administration, teachers, social activities, reception – is so important. Often you do not appreciate good organisation until things go wrong. The best English schools are very well organised. It makes a big difference.
4. Atmosphere. This is extremely hard to define and measure. A good atmosphere is hard to create – some English schools just seem to have a great atmosphere, some don’t. It probably comes from the staff (management, administration and teachers). If you are going to spend many weeks or months in a school, a good atmosphere will make all the difference to your experience.
5. Facilities. Things like computers, kitchen and break-out areas, bathrooms…not all schools are equal.
6. Price. Naturally price is a factor. But it’s not an easy way to decide on quality. Just by paying more does not mean you necessarily get more quality. And equally just by paying less does not mean the quality will be lower. We believe that price is just one indication of quality. If the school is too cheap then they normally hire less good teachers, have less good facilities, have less good management and administration etc.
At Go Study we take quality very seriously. We want all of our students to get a quality experience and the best way to ensure that the English course is the best quality that the budget will allow is by considering the feedback we get. We know the schools very well and we know what quality really means…because you tell us, every day.
