Study Group International

Study Group (SG) is a global company that prepares international students for university degree programmes, teaches high school education, and teaches English language courses. Study Group owns and operates colleges and also partners with more than 50 universities across the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia. In 2014, Study Group enrolled more than 63,000 students from 170 countries.

Study Group's new study centre and UK office in the New England Quarter, Brighton.

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

History

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 1989. 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, and then Embassy English.

In 2006 Study Group was acquired by Australian private equity company Champ, having been sold by Daily Mail Group for A$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]

On July 1, 2010, Providence Equity Partners took ownership of Study Group for $660 million Australian dollars.

International Study Centres

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, Lincoln, Liverpool John Moores, Strathclyde (Glasgow), Surrey, and the Sussex. The group has also had centres at University of Wales, Newport^[12] and the University of Stirling^[13] which have closed.

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 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.^[14] 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^[15] 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,^[16] and that staff transferred to Study Group employment may lose the pay and pension benefits associated with university employment.^[17]

Study Group has made the same arrangements with a number of United States universities, which have received similar comments. The company website lists such arrangements at the following universities: JMU, LIU Post, Roosevelt, UMaine, Vermont, Widener.^[18]

Embassy English

Embassy English has 18 year-round schools^[19] in:

• USA: New York, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco
• UK: London, Brighton, Cambridge, Greenwich, Hastings, Oxford
• Australia: Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne
• New Zealand: Auckland
• Canada: Toronto

Approximately 36,000 students per year study with Embassy English.^[20]

Embassy English opened its first purpose-built school designed by Watkins Grey Associates LLP^[21][22] 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^[23]

Embassy Summer

In addition to the 18 year-round schools, Embassy English operate summer schools at over 30 locations across the UK and North America as "Embassy Summer".^[24] The Embassy Summer school programme operates at the site of various university and college partners, in addition to several of the year-round Embassy centres.
A range of activities are offered under the Embassy Summer Plus^[25] and Embassy Summer Academy^[26] brands, with English language tuition being taught alongside a range of "summer courses" such as horse-riding.^[27]

Bellerbys College

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:

• Brighton 50°49′56″N 0°08′27″W / 50.83222°N 0.14083°W / 50.83222; -0.14083,
• 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,
• Greenwich (London) 51°28′56″N 0°01′19″W / 51.48222°N 0.02194°W / 51.48222; -0.02194 and
• Oxford 51°45′15″N 1°15′28″W / 51.75417°N 1.25778°W / 51.75417; -1.25778.
• Bellerbys, Oxford has been closed down due to declining business.

Taylors College

Established in 1920, Taylors College is a university preparation college providing University Foundation, Diploma and Australian High School programs (Year 10 - Year 12) in Australia and New Zealand.

The Diploma of Commerce program gives students opportunity to enter a range of Degree programs from the second year at the The University of Western Australia.

Taylors College has four campuses located in the major cities of Australia and New Zealand: Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Auckland.

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Study Centres (Australia)

Charles Sturt University (CSU) is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory.

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

Notable students

According to the Embassy English website, several "celebrities" have studied at various Embassy schools:

• Ruby Lin Taiwanese actress and singer. Studied English at Embassy New York, with side-classes in acting at the New York Film Academy in 2004, and wrote a book (My Private New York^[28][29]) about the experience.
• Katrin Meissner Former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
• Riyo Mori Japanese dance instructor who won the Miss Universe 2007 title in May 2007. She studied at Embassy in New York.

References

External links

• Official website