Bell English to close after 70 years

In a statement, Bell Educational Services Ltd confirmed that the group has served notice to put its three schools in Cambridge, London and St Albans into administration due to financial difficulties, with the schools set to close on October 31.

“It is with deep regret that we announce Bell Educational Services Ltd has made the difficult decision to wind down its operations and will cease to trade shortly,” the group said in a statement.

“Regrettably, the closure of the schools will also mean that staff members will face redundancy in the coming weeks,” it said, adding: “This is a deeply sad outcome for all involved”.

English UK is finding replacement courses for some 125 students affected by the news under the student Emergency Support Scheme (SES), which obliges British Council-accredited centres to offer places to those whose schools have closed suddenly. The affected students are currently studying at Bell’s Cambridge and London locations, while the St Albans site will have no students by the closure date at the end of this month.

English UK’s acting joint chief executive, Huan Japes, said he was “very sorry” for all those caught up in the closure. “[We] wish to pay our respects to the contribution that Bell has made to shaping the English language teaching industry over the last 70 years,” he added.

“The English UK team is working with Bell management and nearby centres to ensure the students can continue their courses as quickly as possible. We have visited the school to answer the students’ questions in person, and we hope staff who have lost jobs find new employment quickly. We are very grateful to Bell staff and the administrators for managing the closure responsibly and with sensitivity.”

Bell highlighted its “proud heritage spanning over 70 years” that has been “widely recognised as a pioneer in the teaching of English as a foreign language”.

But it said it faced “significant cashflow challenges” and was unable to recover financially from the prolonged impact of the pandemic. Nor could it secure a buyer for the business.

This is a very sad closure, but we don’t see it as part of a wider trend

Huan Japes, English UK

Bell school was founded by Frank Bell in 1955, having been inspired to start a language school after teaching languages in a prisoner of war camp.

English UK noted that many bastions of the ELT sector had worked for Bell at some point in their careers. “We extend our sympathies to all of Bell’s staff, students and partners affected by this closure,” it said.

Despite the news, Japes asserted that English UK data monitoring showed the UK remained a resilient market for the ELT sector. In spite of “tough trading conditions”, English UK student numbers dipped just 0.6% between 2023 and 2024, he said.

“Unexpected closures do happen, but they are rare. Bell English’s financial set up was very unusual for our industry as it was run by a charitable foundation. This is a very sad closure, but we don’t see it as part of a wider trend,” he continued.

“We understand how shocking closures are to affected staff and students, and our student emergency scheme is here to help anyone affected complete their studies as planned. We encourage students and agents to continue booking English courses in the UK with confidence.”

The company noted that Bell Switzerland SA – of which Bell is the sole shareholder – would be unaffected by the closure and would continue operating as usual.

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