Study Group: Difference between revisions

Study Group International is a limited company specializing in the teaching of English to international students, and in courses aimed at preparing international students for university-level education in five Anglophone countries across the world.

The company's trading names include Embassy CES, Bellerbys College in the UK and Martin College in Australia. Study Group also operates International Study Centres within UK and US universities. It has offices in Brighton, England, New York City, USA and Sydney, Australia and also operates in Canada and New Zealand.^[1].

The company dates the origin of Study Group from the Embassy language school in Hastings, England, acquired by businessmen Andrew Colin and Duncan Greenland in 1999. A second language school was opened in Hove shortly after. Colin had previously acquired Bellerbys College, a sixth-form college for international students, and in 1994 the company British Study Group was formed incorporating the two businesses.

In 1996, 40% of the business was acquired by the Daily Mail Group ^[2], becoming Study Group International and expanding into the US and Australia ^[3][4]. Later, in 1999, the Daily Mail Group became the 100% owner of Study Group, paying an estimated UK£44 million^[5].

As well as expanding the UK and Australian operations, Study Group acquired the Center for English Studies (CES) chain of language schools in the USA and Canada^[4], adding Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver to their fold. Embassy became Embassy CES.

The Study Group is now owned by Australian private equity company Champ, having been sold by Daily Mail Group in 2006 for AU$176.4 million^[6][7].

In 2007, the Brighton school and UK head office moved to purpose-built premises in the New England Quarter, next to Brighton station^[8][9][10], costing an estimated UK£28 million ^[11].

In the United Kingdom, Study Group has entered into agreements with a number of universities, whereby students are taught at an "International Study Centre" by Study Group staff on the university's premises. These "foundation" courses are designed to prepare students for a regular undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses. The company website lists such arrangements at the following 'host' universities: Heriot-Watt (Edinburgh), Keele, Kingston, Huddersfield, Lancaster, Leicester, Liverpool John Moores, Stirling, Surrey, Sussex, and the University of Wales, Newport.

Under these arrangements, the Study Group programmes are validated by the host university and are marketed alongside the host university's own degree courses. On each university's website, information about Study Group courses are contained on Study Group web pages (such as this example from Kingston) with the identical appearance to the university's own Web pages.

Brighton-based Study Group established one of the first of these arrangements at the nearby University of Sussex^[12]. These partnerships are attractive to UK universities as they provide a way of increasing numbers of overseas students, whose fee income is important. Equally, they attract criticism ^[13] on the basis that students do not expect a British university course to be provided by a commercial company, that the course quality is not accredited within the university system ^[14], and that staff transferred to Study Group employment may lose the pay and pension benefits associated with university employment^[15].

Study Group has made the same arrangements with a number of United States universities, which have received similar comments^[16].

Embassy CES has 19 schools^[17]in:

• USA: New York, Boston (2 schools), Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle

• UK: London, Brighton, Cambridge, Hastings, Oxford

• Australia: Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth
• New Zealand: Auckland

Number of students who study with Embassy CES per year: Approximately 36,000 ^[18]

Embassy CES opened its first purpose-built school designed by Watkins Grey Associates LLP ^[19][20] on a site in Greenwich/Deptford, London, sharing premises with sister company Bellerbys College. Residential accommodation was also built in partnership with the University of Greenwich ^[21]

Bellerbys College is a series of four sixth form colleges for international students based in the UK. The colleges are located in:

• Cambridge, where there are two campuses, Queens Campus 52°11′44″N 0°07′28″E / 52.19556°N 0.12444°E / 52.19556; 0.12444 and Manor Campus 52°13′29″N 0°07′50″E / 52.22472°N 0.13056°E / 52.22472; 0.13056

• Oxford 51°45′15″N 1°15′28″W / 51.75417°N 1.25778°W / 51.75417; -1.25778

• Brighton 50°49′56″N 0°08′27″W / 50.83222°N 0.14083°W / 50.83222; -0.14083

• Greenwich 51°28′56″N 0°01′19″W / 51.48222°N 0.02194°W / 51.48222; -0.02194.

Established in 1920, Taylors College provides University Foundation(university preparation) programs and Senior High School programs (Year 10 - Year 12) in Australia & New Zealand.

The University Foundation programs are dedicated pathways to some of the most prestigious universities in Australia and New Zealand, including Monash University, The University of Sydney, The University of Western Australia and The University of Auckland.

Taylors College has four campuses located in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Auckland.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is a progressive and award-winning university and has a well-earned international reputation for excellence through its innovative approach to higher education.

The CSU Study Centres are operated in conjunction with Study Group Australia, offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Accounting, Business and Information Technology. It has two campuses located in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

According to the Embassy CES website, several 'celebrities' have studied at various Embassy CES schools ^[22]:

• Ruby Lin Taiwanese actress and singer. Studied English at Embassy CES New York, with side-classes in acting at the New York Film Academy in 2004, and wrote a book (My Private New York ^[23][24]) about the experience.

• Isabel Bawlitza Miss World Chile 2000 and a semifinalist in Miss World 2000.

• Katrin Meißner Former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

• Manuela Fellner Swiss folk singer and winner of the music contest TV programme Grand Prix on SF DRS. ^[25]

• Riyo Mori Japanese dance instructor who won the Miss Universe 2007 title in May 2007. She studied at Embassy CES in New York.^{[citation needed]}

• Embassy CES website
• Bellerbys College website
• Study Group website
• Champ website
• Duncan Greenland profile
• Taylors College website
• CSU Study Centres website
• Martin College website