Please note the new, simplified and, we hope, much clearer enquiry and booking procedure. As always your comments are most welcome.

We have been asked to translate the website into other languages so that more people can take advantage of our services. There has always been a plan to expand our coverage over time so, in response to customer demand, we have taken the decision to translate the website into Vietnamese. This will take a little while so please be patient.  Other languages will follow – if you have any suggestions as to what should be next in line please let us know.

We now have a dedicated team of native speakers who would be very happy to help students in their own language – see the ‘About Us’ page for details. Please ask if you would like to take advantage of this service. We will also be building a network of sub-agents in our target countries – China, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam to begin with.

We have a vacancy in the team for a native Korean speaker. If you would like to apply to become part of this exciting venture please let us know either by email or through the sub-agent vacancy application form. You can be based either in South Korea or the UK.

Please note the judgement below – it is self-explanatory and very good news for students wishing to study in the UK:

‘I am very pleased to be able to tell you that earlier today English UK won the High Court Judicial Review case on English language courses under the Points Based System.

Tony Millns, Chief Executive of English UK, which represents 440 fully-accredited English language centres, said: “This judgement upholds our basic case that the Home Secretary was wrong to introduce a substantive change in the entry criteria for GSV students without laying that change before Parliament.
“We have asked the court to rule that the English language requirement must now revert to what it was before 3 March, in other words students must be at level A1 to take an English language course at A2. This will give our 440 member centres some immediate help since many of them faced losing a damaging number of students this summer and autumn.”

He added: “We brought this case as a last resort, and will now seek to discuss with UKBA ways in which we can help formulate a more sensible policy which our members can support and which will contribute to immigration control. Genuine colleges have no desire to enrol people who are not genuine students. We are pleased that Mr Justice Foskett saw the merits of our case and we believe that his decision is good for the UK economy, to which the English language sector contributes about £1.5 billion in foreign earnings each year.’

I will update you as soon as I have more news. Meanwhile, watch this space!

One of the questions we have been asked is how English Study Breaks is promoted in its target countries, particularly China . Well, we are in the process of recruiting a team to help us with that right now.

Another question that has arisen is – can English Study Breaks provide somebody in the UK who speaks the student’s language to help with any problems? The answer is ‘Yes.’ We are a company that supports its customers from the moment they arrive in the country until the moment they depart. We already have Thai and Japanese native speakers in the English Study Breaks team and will soon add others so that students will always have somebody to talk to in their own language. Watch this space for further developments!

English Study Breaks has been asked to clarify the Homestay options. Homestay is where the student lives with a host family. You will sleep in your own room and can often choose whether you eat your meals with the family (half-board) or arrange your own food (bed and breakfast). Half-board usually includes the following meals: breakfast and evening meal Monday to Friday, and all meals at weekends. If you have any questions or comments please contact us at: http://www.englishstudybreaks.com/news-blog/.

We have been asked if we can provide English language tuition in locations other than those listed on the website. The answer is that English Study Breaks will find you the best English language schools for your needs ANYWHERE in the UK. The only condition is that whichever school is chosen must be accredited with the British Council to comply with our quality policy.

We have been asked if the new government in the UK will affect students coming here to study. So far as we understand the new immigration policy will be aimed at reducing the number of people from outside the EU coming here to work rather than to study. However, it is always best to check the UK borders agency website (www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk) for updates.

Please note that the UK Borders Agency visa requirements have changed from February 2010. Please visit ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ for more information.