Mission Statement
Our Goals & Ethos
To provide high quality education in the English language for students aged 16+, focussing on teaching General English and preparing students successfully for the Cambridge and IELTS examinations.
To recruit and retain a team of experienced and qualified teachers who are committed to creating a stimulating, supportive and active learning environment in which students can make rapid progress.
To create an atmosphere of tolerance and respect and to have a mix of students from as many countries as possible so they can have a truly international experience and learn, not only from our teachers, but also from each other.
To ensure rigorous welfare and safeguarding procedures and an ongoing training programme are in place, as the wellbeing and safety of each individual student and member of staff is our absolute priority.
To be kind, patient, supportive and attentive to our students and to ask for, and listen to their views and comments and, where possible, to act upon their suggestions, as they are the most important people in the school and every member of staff is here to help them get the most out of their stay.
To offer a comfortable study environment and the highest possible standards in all student services including accommodation and the social programme, which allow our students to truly experience the life and culture in the UK.
To be honest, transparent, ethical and fair in the provision of information and the recruitment of students.
Business Objectives (long term)
To recruit students through word of mouth and reputation rather than through traditional marketing methods.
We understand that to achieve this goal, we need to have the highest possible standards, to always keep our students happy and to make every effort to maintain our 100% record with 15 areas of strength in our British Council inspections.
To work with a relatively small number of agents, who have worked with us for many years and know us well, so we can rely on them to counsel students accurately to ensure that students coming to ELC Bristol have realistic expectations.
To enable us to offer a personal service with classes at all levels, we regard the ideal number of students to be around 175 year round and 250 in July and August.
Over the 20-year period before the pandemic, we were often full, but, rather than grow the school, we chose to reduce the number of courses on offer which allowed us to concentrate on our core activity - running full-time EFL courses. In the years following COVID, our aim has been to regain and maintain the student numbers we had pre-pandemic (175 year round and 250 in July and August), with all students on the same course (21 hours per week), with around 10 students in each class and with as many students as possible coming as individuals.
To ensure we provide students with a high quality service, the school has an established Quality Development Plan through which it sets goals, keeps track of progress and measures its success in realizing its objectives in all areas of operation.
New targets are set and responsibility and time frames allocated. The QDP is known to all members of staff and is jointly created by the academic managers and the admin team.