British Schools ‘Should Set Up Branches in The United States
There is growing interest in British education in certain parts of the United States, experts have said…
By Irena Barker, Digital Editor, School Management Plus
UK schools setting up branches abroad should explore a growing appetite for British education in the United States, a market expert has told a conference.
Ashwin Goel said that there was now “evidence of an affinity for a British style education and even a prestigious British school brand” across the pond, despite it having its own highly developed system of fee-charging schools.
Mr Goel, a partner at international strategy consultants LEK Consulting, said that cities such as Miami, Florida and the San Francisco Bay area could be “an interesting opportunity to explore” for British international schools.
He told delegates at Friday’s International and Private Schools Education Forum (IPSEF) in London: “There are several reputed American schools particularly in the Northeastern part of America, that are already operating with obviously very high reputation levels.
“But it is interesting to note that several of the American cities are actually looking for a British style education and in the last few years, we’ve seen interest levels for British school education and pre-school brands to actually expand into the US, particularly in places like Miami and places like the San Francisco Bay Area.
“So this could be a pretty interesting opportunity to explore given as it is already the largest premium private market in the world, but relatively unexplored as far as the British schools international presence is concerned.”
According to the International Schools Database website, there are currently 52 international schools in the US, but only a handful running a British curriculum, including three in New York and two in Chicago.
The most prominent UK name established is Harrow International New York which has a bespoke curriculum combining “the best of British and American curricula” and is able to charge full boarding fees of $71,500 (£56,000).
Mr Goel’s comments were backed up by Alex McGrath, founder and managing director of Castlegate Education, who reminded delegates that the US K-12 premium school market was worth a total $20bn alone.
He said that despite its reputation for “American exceptionalism” there was “actually more and more international-mindedness in the States especially in certain parts”.
He explained while there could be barriers to entry – including difficulties securing land and accreditation – there were also “opportunities for acquisition and rebranding”.
He said among the “best places to put a school” was Florida, because it was “tax free – more or less” which made it more affordable to parents.
Other established independent school markets existed in the Northeastern United States, the Mid-Atlantic coast and the San Francisco Bay area, he said.
He said it was quite possible for schools to “compete” by making a “differentiated offer”.
He added: “You do need to do your homework. You can’t just go to anywhere in the United States and set up schools…you have to also think very carefully what’s the purpose of doing this and the purpose of doing anything is to make sure you’re offering a fantastic education to the children.”
He said that having a US school in your portfolio of international schools allowed you to “broaden the experience of the children and the teachers” across the group.
In a general round-up of the different markets for British international schools, Mr Goel said that schools should “double down on some of the Asian and Middle Eastern markets, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, among others. Although he warned there was more competition in established markets.
He added that alongside the States, Latin America was also an interesting region to explore.
He advised caution to anyone considering setting up in China, because of “unfavourable regulations and a recent slowdown in demand” or India, because “relatively low pricing that is typically not very supportive of a premium British type of education”.
Despite this, there are UK premium brand schools setting up in the region, including Harrow Bengaluru and Wellington College Pune, which both opened last year.
Above all, Mr Goel said, wherever schools decided to set up, if they did not already have a lot of “brand recognition and resonance” they would have a lot of work to do.
He said: “There is no shortcut to it, so you need to get back on the road. Find the right partners get into the right negotiations on royalties, you have to invest in understanding the local market dynamics because the needs of each of these markets could be different. And therefore learning the right product is is quite important.”
Source
Knowledge Bank articles and images are supplied by our third-party partners. Where we are able, IPSEF will be happy to credit photos where currently missing.