Student emergency support - help if your school closes unexpectedly
It is rare that an accredited English language centre closes suddenly. If this happens to a British Council accredited centre, the Student Emergency Support (SES) scheme tries to limit the impact on current students.
The SES scheme is part of Accreditation UK, and administered by English UK, the trade association for British Council accredited English language teaching centres.
The scheme ensures students can continue and complete their studies without additional course costs at another British Council-accredited teaching centre.
The SES scheme will also try to help students who paid for an English language course due to start later, though this is not guaranteed.
Help for students whose English language teaching centre closed unexpectedly
You can be helped if:
- you have paid in full for an English language course at a British Council-accredited centre which has closed and
- your course started, or was due to start, before the language centre closed
What kind of replacement course will the SES scheme offer?
- an English language course, taught by another British Council-accredited teaching centre
- a similar course to the one you paid for, but it may not be exactly the same
- one option only - it will not be possible to offer alternatives - if you choose not to accept the offer, we cannot help further
This service is offered at no cost to students. Please be flexible about the alternative course found for you. The SES scheme cannot offer a refund to students.
Help for students who were due to start their course in the future
If your course was due to start after the date that the language centre closed, and you have paid your course fees in full, the SES scheme will try to help you.
The scheme aims to find an alternative British Council-accredited language centre for you to complete your course, at no extra cost, but cannot guarantee that it will find an approproriate alternative.
To apply for this support, please email the membership team and provide your course details.
Emergency accommodation support
Students who had paid for accommodation through their language centre may be eligible for emergency support. The scheme may cover accommodation costs for a maximum of two weeks.
This gives time for adult students or those looking after junior students to make alternative accommodation arrangements. Junior students (aged under 18) will be safely housed during this time.
How to apply for student emergency support
Please contact our team to apply for support.
In your email, include your course confirmation letter so we have the information we need to help you. Please read the information on this page before you contact us, so you understand how we can help.
