The Education UK Partnership, as part of it services for boarding schools, held two events in May 2009 specifically for UK boarding schools to help them find quality agents cost-effectively and easily.

Taking place in Leeds and Bristol, the events incorporated an agents fair, a seminar, which focused on developing boarding schools’ opportunities overseas, and a networking dinner. With over 25 agents attending from 15 countries outside of Europe, these events were an opportunity to:

			build valuable relationships with quality agents from around the world
			meet British Council staff from the UK and overseas
			gain in-country contacts and market knowledge
			network and share ideas with other UK boarding schools.

The presentations from the seminars are available. An evaluation report on the events (152KB) is also available.

Two agent fair and boarding school seminar events are scheduled to take place on 26 to 27 and 28 to 29 April 2010. Further details will be made available at a later date.

Programme

	City Date Time Event Venue Leeds 18 May 2009 1300–1730 Seminar Leeds Metropolitan University from 1900 Networking dinner 19 May 2009 0900–1700 Agents fair Leeds Metropolitan University Bristol 20 May 2009 1300–1730 Seminar Badminton School, Bristol from 1900 Networking dinner 21 May 2009 0900–1700 Agents fair Badminton School, Bristol

Seminar
The seminar focused on developing opportunities for boarding schools overseas. It was an ideal opportunity to meet other UK boarding schools and British Council staff and discuss issues relevant to international education and recruitment.

Presentations:
Market information update (146KB)
Trends in boarding and international students in ISC schools (508KB)
Your opportunities in Thailand (244KB)
Schools in Russia (292KB)
UK boarding schools – the student experience (131KB)

Participation fee:

			GBP 175 per person for Partnership member institutions
			GBP 350 per person for non-Partnership member institutions

Networking dinner
This was a social event, enabling participants to network with other schools, agents and British Council staff.

Participation fee:

			GBP 30 per person for Partnership member institutions
			GBP 60 per person for non-Partnership member institutions

Agents fair
Schools who attended the agents fair received the following:

			(prior to the fair) a brochure with information on all the agents attending the fair
			the opportunity to book one-on-one meetings with agents
			a table to display information about their school.

Participation fee:

			GBP 725 per school for Partnership member institutions
			GBP 1,450 per school for non-Partnership member institutions

The seminar and dinner were optional. Schools who chose to attend all three sessions (seminar, dinner and agents fair) were eligible for a ten per cent discount on the total price.

Agents attending
Agents from the following countries were in attendance:

All agents attending were interested in representing UK boarding schools. In addition, they had all (with the exception of those from Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Uganda) undergone the British Council's agent training course about the UK education system and the benefits it offers to students, giving participants confidence that they understand the UK boarding schools' proposition.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Peter Shelley or Sara Taleb.

Terms and conditions
Accedited institutions
All participating institutions must be accredited by a recognised UK authority as specified in the Education UK Partnership eligibility criteria.

Selection criteria
Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. If the number of applications exceeds the number of spaces, selection will take place with priority given in the following order:

			Boarding school members of the Education UK Partnership
			all other Partnership members and non-members

If an event is oversubscribed, a waiting list will be created. Institutions will be placed on this list according to the selection criteria. Spaces will only be offered to those on the waiting list if additional space has been made available due to a cancellation.

Payment schedule
The British Council will invoice institutions after the event has taken place. Terms of payment are within 30 days of the invoice date. In accordance with the British Council's audit procedures, reminder letters will be issued for all outstanding invoices over 45 days. Until all invoices are cleared, a block will be placed on the institution’s account. Further applications to participate in events and other organised programmes of activity cannot be accepted until all outstanding invoices have been paid.

Cancellation
Cancellation fees will be charged for withdrawal from any or all of the events, as of the date of receipt of notice of withdrawal:

			at 50% of the full event cost for withdrawals received on or after 23 April 2009
			at 100% of the full event cost for withdrawals received on or after 7 May 2009

Notice of withdrawal must be supplied in writing; if faxed, it should be followed by the original copy by post.

The British Council cannot accept responsibility for delegates' travel or accommodation costs should the event be unavoidably rescheduled or postponed.

The British Council reserves the right to change the programme and speaker details, should this be unavoidable.