I would say whatever challenges & threats that lie ahead, grasp whatever opportunity you have now with both hands. Studying abroad could be one of the most enriching chapters of a student’s life with the unique experience of learning a new culture, meeting new friends from lots of different cultures, getting better in English as well as obtaining a fantastic education, I’d say go for it as we never really know what’s around the corner and whatever it is we can conquer it together!

Tell us a bit about your role and how it supports the business?

As college principal I lead the whole school community, including students, teachers and staff and I do my best to make sure everyone is happy. On our first day inductions I always tell students that their feedback is really important as we can’t keep improving and getting better as a school without their input. Same as staff, without them and their ideas and their passion for teaching the school wouldn’t keep evolving as it should. As visitors come through the door, they always mention what a lovely atmosphere there is in the school and this is something I have tried very hard to cultivate – a welcoming environment so all the students and staff feel comfortable to work to their best ability and study and socialise in a community that hopefully inspires and allows students to grow. So, I guess the way I support the business is making sure every single student enjoys their stay with us and through word of mouth, agents keep sending students back to us!

What has been your career highlight to date?

Well this business is all I know, at 18 I was invited to join the first ever EFL university course so I spent 3 years doing my studies in Bath and Rotterdam – there were only 20 spaces all together, 10 English and 10 Dutch to buddy up and to be chosen out of 100s was a proud moment and I’ve never looked back! I then spent 7 amazing years in Portugal learning how to be the best teacher I could be, did many fun summer schools over the years and then came back to England where I went into management as a DoS and Operations Manager then onto being a Principal. Passing inspections especially those with exceeding expectations, is a highlight throughout the career as you know you are doing something right and all your hard work is worth it! I have met many incredible students and people along the way and all who make you who you are today.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Always trust your instinct and this can be anything from taking risks to recruitment! You won’t learn until you’ve tried something and the younger version of me was never afraid to take risks. Be adaptable and flexible as that’s how we grow and learn and become a better version of ourselves!

If you were not working in this sector what other industry would you have pursued a career in?

Ha! I was going to be a primary school teacher before I was offered the other course at university!

What are the emerging trends within your sector and have these changed since Covid-19?

I think the profile of students has changed since covid in that the majority who are coming to us want to get into an English university which ties in with us starting up our new foundation
programmes. Also, recruitment has totally changed, it feels like we have lost a lot of teachers since Covid-19.

What is coming up for your company in the next 12/18 months?

The company keeps growing and growing and it is a very exciting company to be part of. I think we are very lucky to have such forward-thinking, entrepreneurial and go-getting MDs and CEO who keep us all on our toes with the new and next venture. For me personally at the Oxford school we are growing our foundation programmes and the next few years will see the college grow and change with the new programmes we are going to introduce and I can’t wait as it’s a new step for me in my career and something to get my teeth into. One thing I can certainly say, is that no day is the same!

Tell us one thing about your business that others might not already know?

It’s incredibly varied. When I try to tell friends what I do it’s like where do I start?! It’s not just teaching English to international students. We have adult students who come for different amounts of time with different agendas and we have new arrivals every Monday, which we call continuous enrolment. We then have our Junior Programmes, where juniors come in groups from the country and school and they just come for a week but we can have many different groups, arriving on many different days and again on different programmes. On top of that we have our foundation programmes where students are coming for 6- 9 months to study a pathways programme to give them access to university. We then need all the staff to juggle all these different elements as it’s everything that goes on in the background to make it work from our amazing sales and marketing teams to the incredible admissions teams and then our wonderful school teams to give all the students their memorable experiences! There’s so many different elements that your career can take on a whole new direction if you wanted it to with all the opportunities we have within our company and industry and I feel like we can be taken seriously as an industry too, finally.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges, threats and opportunities for youth, student and educational travel in the next few years?

I think one thing covid-19 has set us up for is always be prepared to adapt. Recruitment has been tough within the industry post covid but we are getting back on track slowly. As for educational travel, I would say whatever challenges & threats that lie ahead, grasp whatever opportunity you have now with both hands. Studying abroad could be one of the most enriching chapters of a student’s life with the unique experience of learning a new culture, meeting new friends from lots of different cultures, getting better in English as well as obtaining a fantastic education, I’d say go for it as we never really know what’s around the corner and whatever it is we can conquer it together!

Find out more about BETA member Oxford International Education Group (OIEG) here

Published 01 May 2023