The Home Office's plan to introduce a uniformed accreditation system into the ELT sector has certainly got teachers talking, writes Liz Ford.
Ministers see a revamp of the government's existing schools' register - run by the Department for Education and Skills - to make compulsory accreditation a requirement of inclusion as a necessary step to protect students from bogus colleges and keep an eye on anyone applying for a visa to study under false pretences.
The problem is, the sector already has three approved accreditation schemes - run by English UK and the British Council, the Association of British Language Schools and the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes.
If I was a betting person I would put my money on the British Council and English UK winning any contract that may be going. Their scheme, Accreditation UK, already serves about half of the sector, and the council, with offices and teaching centres in 109 countries, is a well-known brand. It also receives a sizeable chunk of money from the government.
An announcement on accreditation is expected by the Home Office next month, but discussion on the matter has been rife this week, with ABLS claiming it was left off the Home Office list of accrediting organisations and Tony Millns, the chief executive of English UK, calling for a united front.
There is still much debate to be had about the merits of any register (one thing that has been bothering some people for the past year is how ministers track down students reported missing by their schools at the start of term), but if some form of listing system is required it needs to be robust, trusted and ensures quality.
The question is, can this be achieved through expanding existing schemes, or is it time for something completely different?
