BSC opens first school in Ireland in Brexit move

Published 22/01/2019

Dublin will be British Study Centres’ first English-speaking country location outside the UK, as the English Language provider has announced a new school opening in 2019.

Set to open on March 4, the centre will be located in the Irish capital’s international financial services district.

“Dublin is a key market for students, and agents like to have it in their portfolio”

For BSC managing director Andrew Roper, it is a “natural extension” to a destination that the provider has always sought to add to its portfolio.

“It’s a logical expansion,” Roper told The PIE News. “Dublin is a key market to have because its where students want to go, and agents like to have it in their portfolio.”

But Roper said the UK’s vote to leave the EU has also affected the company’s decision making process.

Employment opportunities in the Irish capital offer an added incentive to European students, and with questions remaining around Brexit, “it makes sense to have schools outside the UK, because we don’t know what is going to happen”, Roper explained.

“There are lots of employers there that we have been approached by who are wanting staff,” Roper told The PIE. “There is a strong demand from students who want to work. Dublin is a logical place for them to do so.”

With franchise schools in Algeria, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, BSC has operations globally, but this move marks the first centre outside the UK that the firm will operate itself.

Once BSC is well established in Dublin, the British based language provider will look to expand to further destinations, according to Roper.

“Strategically, we are very reliant on the UK, with seven schools. It makes sense to spread ourselves and have schools in other markets too,” Roper noted.

The project is being launched in partnership with French business school, EM Normandie, which the language provider has previously partnered with in Oxford. The business school will share the premises, from where it will run its business and finance courses.

“It’s a nice way to work, having a partner, they run courses through the academic year, from September through to May, [and] we take their classrooms back in the summer. It works nicely as a year-round operation.”

“It’s a start for us outside the UK, and we’ll be looking for more”

The school will also offer a course placing students in an unpaid work placement.

The school expects to begin with around 20-30 per month for the first few month, and hopes to reach 120-125 per week in the summer.

“Ireland is a good solid market, which has grown a lot in recent years. It’s a start for us outside the UK, and we’ll be looking for more. We’ve got plans to spread our wings elsewhere. Dublin is a first step towards that.”

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