English UK relaunches professional qualifications to help ELT centres meet staffing needs

Management qualifications run by English UK have been relaunched to make them more accessible, relevant and flexible.

The Diploma in ELT Management (DELTM) and the renamed Certificate in ELT Student Experience Management (CELTSEM) are both running from March with new content, tutors and formats.

Siobhan Baccas, project manager for English UK's events and training, said she was delighted with the new courses. "We review the qualifications periodically, but there have been a lot of changes in the way schools operate now, partly as a result of the pandemic and with staffing changes. We've spent a lot of time thinking about it and making sure what we offer is what our members need."

"We launched the CELTSEM earlier and are really pleased with the way it's going – we're getting bookings from people who've transitioned into student services from other roles, so it really is doing what we hoped in supporting staff flexibility at a very difficult time. I'm really excited to see how people will react to the changes to the DELTM as well."

The DELTM, which runs from March until December, "suits ambitious managers who want to focus on their professional development and be in the best position to support their centre and colleagues in 2022 and beyond. It's a significant time commitment over ten months, and it has been a transformative experience for previous delegates. We cover essential skills and knowledge that managers can apply to their roles from day one of the course", said Siobhan.

The DELTM modules are organisational behaviour, the modern manager, human resources: managing your team, human resources: recruitment and beyond, the principled manager, making a profit, marketing and sales, academic management, change and project management, and the customer journey. 

The Principled Manager is a brand new DELTM module that covers staff and student wellbeing, safeguarding, evidence-based management, counteracting biases, equality, diversity and inclusion and environmental social and corporate governance. Two new tutors, Ann Hawkings and Fiona Dunlop, join George Pickering and Terry Phillips, and one of the five assignments is new, covering both marketing and finance. There is also input from industry experts on some aspects of HR and finance. Most of the ten modules will be taught online.

The CELTSEM – an update of the old CertSSM – has six modules, all of which are taught online: managing within a team; managing student accommodation; risk assessments and emergency planning; looking after the welfare of students (pastoral care); safeguarding students (adults and children), and customer quality and control.

"We hope the new CELTSEM will give staff some confidence and knowledge if they need to take on different roles, perhaps around accommodation or emergency planning, and changed the name to make that clear," said Siobhan.

"We've also cut the cost and condensed the CELTSEM course. Instead of running for six or seven months we will deliver it over three so people new to the team or who have been on furlough are up to speed and trained before the busy summer period."

> See more information on English UK's DELTM and CELTSEM qualifications