I have a friend from outside the EU wishing to study English (Intermediary 
level) at a college registered with the Department of Education (I  think 
most are).  Unfortunately the fees charged at most colleges seem exorbitant. 
Does anyone know of any lower cost colleges that would make this more 
affordable?  Would prefer London, South East or South West.
Thanks.

>I have a friend from outside the EU wishing to study English (Intermediary 
>level) at a college registered with the Department of Education (I  think 
>most are).  Unfortunately the fees charged at most colleges seem 
>exorbitant.


More a reflection of having to pay the full commercial rate rather than a 
subsidised one.


> Does anyone know of any lower cost colleges that would make this more 
> affordable?  Would prefer London, South East or South West.


These are likely to be cowboy outfits that are unregistered or are 
immigration scammers.

Peter Crosland

In article , spamtrap@spambouncer.org 
says...

> I have a friend from outside the EU wishing to study English (Intermediary 
> level) at a college registered with the Department of Education (I  think 
> most are).  Unfortunately the fees charged at most colleges seem exorbitant. 
> Does anyone know of any lower cost colleges that would make this more 
> affordable?  Would prefer London, South East or South West.


Unfortunately this is how many Educational establishments make much of 
their money and are hence able to subsidise UK students.
-- 
Ask me how to win a meal for three at The Big Bang, Oxford
To hear about competitions first sign up for The Sizzler
http://sausagefans.com/resources/emailalerts.php

"Stephen (Sausagefans.com)"  wrote in message 
news:MPG.1d84d68b8856d14e989962@news.zen.co.uk...

> In article , spamtrap@spambouncer.org
> says...
>> I have a friend from outside the EU wishing to study English 
>> (Intermediary
>> level) at a college registered with the Department of Education (I  think
>> most are).  Unfortunately the fees charged at most colleges seem 
>> exorbitant.
>> Does anyone know of any lower cost colleges that would make this more
>> affordable?  Would prefer London, South East or South West.
>
> Unfortunately this is how many Educational establishments make much of
> their money and are hence able to subsidise UK students.
> -- 
> Ask me how to win a meal for three at The Big Bang, Oxford
> To hear about competitions first sign up for The Sizzler
> http://sausagefans.com/resources/emailalerts.php


I remember when I took my Computer Science degree.  The course fees per year 
hovered around the 3.5K mark.  For overseas students outside of the E.U. 
this came in closer to 8.5K.

Most students often choose to go to other countries because of this kind of 
cost difference.

AMO

M wrote:

> I have a friend from outside the EU wishing to study English (Intermediary 
> level) at a college registered with the Department of Education (I  think 
> most are).  Unfortunately the fees charged at most colleges seem exorbitant. 
> Does anyone know of any lower cost colleges that would make this more 
> affordable?  Would prefer London, South East or South West.


Accommodation costs will normally determine this, some courses are 
residential, some "home-stay" but the least expensive are "make you own 
arrangements".

So, if the friend can find somone to stay with near /any/ college that 
doesn't insist on providing accommodation, it is likely to be the 
cheapest solution.

It is possible to get a lot of free lessons. The colleges will be 
running courses in teaching English as a foreign language and will need 
volunteer students for the practice lessons that those courses require. 
They cannot charge for these and such lessons are typically "all-comers".

By signing up for, and paying for, say mornings only lessons, the actual 
hours can be doubled by going to the free ones.

The courses in "teaching the teachers" are not run continuously, so you 
have to pick the dates - or go to somewhere like London with a lot of 
colleges, one or more of which are pretty certain to have such a course 
running at any time. The quality of the free lessons can be variable - 
but students often make up for lack of experience with a great deal of 
prep. and enthusiasm.

IME, best results come from "total immersion" courses where, from day 1, 
if you don't speak English, you don't eat..

It is worth visiting the college and chatting to the staff (and present 
students) before recommending anywhere to anyone. IME, some relatively 
inexpensive, non-residential, schools deliver better results than 
expensive residential ones with all the bells and whistles. A good sign 
is that the college runs courses and can award teacher qualifications 
based on its own internal (but externally moderated) assessments..

--
Sue

Palindr?me wrote:

> M wrote:
> > I have a friend from outside the EU wishing to study English
> > (Intermediary level) at a college registered with the Department of
> > Education (I  think most are).  Unfortunately the fees charged at most
> > colleges seem exorbitant. Does anyone know of any lower cost colleges
> > that would make this more affordable?  Would prefer London, South East
> > or South West.
> ...IME, best results come from "total immersion" courses where, from day
> 1, if you don't speak English, you don't eat.. It is worth visiting the
> college and chatting to the staff (and present students) before
> recommending anywhere to anyone. IME, some relatively inexpensive,
> non-residential, schools deliver better results than expensive residential
> ones with all the bells and whistles. A good sign is that the college runs
> courses and can award teacher qualifications based on its own internal
> (but externally moderated) assessments..




Interesting!  Years ago, I had acquaintances in the capital who came here
staying for a year or two solely for the perceived benefits of learning and
practicing the spoken English while living among the natives.  Many of them
did attend language schools as well.  Being not familiar with that scene, I
was surprised that there were many English teaching establishments dotted
around in Central London.  Listening to what they learned I was not sure
they had good value for money in return.  I wondered at one time if these
were more in fact local watering holes for foreign youngsters who had little
friends in a foreign country!

-- 
Lin Chung
[Replace "the Water Margin" with "ntlworld" for e-mail].