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]
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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:
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 the name of four sixth form colleges for international students in the UK aimed at preparing students for university education.
The colleges are located together with Study Group's Embassy schools in:
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]: