Italian students come face to face with British universities at the first Education UK Fair in Milan

A conversation that could change your life: students find out what's on offer from top British universities at the Education UK Fair, organised by the British Council

There has never been a better time to study in the United Kingdom: that was the message coming loud and clear from the first-ever Education UK Fair that took place in Milan recently.

The highly innovative - and free - event was organised by the British Council and Education UK, the official website for international students who are interested in a UK education. (In 2012 the website received two million unique visitors worldwide.)

Held over two days (28th Feb - 1 March 2014) in the comfortable surroundings of the Atahotel Executive in the rapidly-developing Porta Nuova business district of the city, the Fair was a unique opportunity for prospective university students to meet face-to-face with representatives from many of the UK’s leading educational institutions.

In Italy, personal contact is everything. So this was a great way for British universities as diverse as Oxford, Edinburgh, Leeds, and Anglia Ruskin, among many others, to explain their unique advantages to a significant number of highly-demanding Italian students and soon-to-be school leavers, as well as the parents who want to give their offspring the best start in life – and who will, in most cases, be footing the bill. (By the way, an extremely useful document provided by the organisers of this event was the list of scholarship (borse di studio) schemes on offer, which prospective students and their parents should definitely read for homework.)

Four of the top six universities in the world are in the UK (World Rankings, QS)

When I was there, on Friday afternoon and early evening, the event looked very well-attended with people queuing patiently ten deep (or more) for the opportunity of speaking directly with reps from an impressive selection of British universities  including a large contingent from the University of London, business schools, colleges and independent schools – as well as the team from the British Council itself and other education-related organisations that helped out with the event. (Click here for a full list of all the institutions that took part in the Education UK Fair.)

The Fair comprised two main sections: an exhibition of the institutions and their representatives in the main conference hall and in a smaller, adjoining hall a rolling programme of excellent presentations by speakers from universities, the British Council and educational publishers, as well as independent consultants. (See the next section for a report on the Friday presentations.)

Another very popular feature of the event was the British Council "personalised counselling" stand, where visitors had the opportunity to meet expert teachers ready to provide some tips on writing a great Curriculum Vitae and the all-important letter of presentation - in perfect English, of course.

97% of UK graduates are employed one year after finishing their course. (BC)

Presentations by expert speakers at the Education UK Fair, Milan (Friday 28th February 2014): A summary

The programme started with Michael Flynn of Oxford University Press, whose presentation was entitled “What’s new in language testing? Streamline your English test experience”. (Unfortunately, I missed this talk but if anyone reading this was attending – or, Michael, if you happen to see this – I would be very happy to receive a summary or a link to the slides, etc.)

I came in halfway through a talk by Nadia Macdonald, Deputy Director International of Coventry University’s London Campus. Nadia was showcasing Coventry University’s London Summer School, which looked excellent and very reasonably priced, too. She was also keen to point out the huge cultural benefits of studying in the UK – a theme emphasised by most of the speakers. The UK – and especially London – benefit from an enormous range of cultural activities, such as theatre, music, art galleries and museums as well as fantastic sporting facilities.

Students also had the opportunity to hear (in Italian) what university life in the UK is like “from the horse’s mouth”.  Italian students from Verona who have been studying in Britain provided some excellent insights into university life. They belong to the Ateneo Europa programme, the first “student to student” information network related to education in Europe and organised by the Fondazione Maffei, a Verona-based cultural foundation.

Students listening to students from Ateneo Europa (Verona)

The Importance of English

Jane Hoatson of the British Council, who is a Cambridge oral examiner and an experienced teacher trainer, explained how to apply to a UK university. In particular, she focused on the application procedure, which in the UK operates through a centralised system run by UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. Jane’s talk included a detailed description of the online applications process. She also spoke about the importance of English for Italian students who want to study at a British university or college. While students have to meet the entry requirements set by each university or institution as regards their final school exams (which in the case of Italy will usually require a minimum level in the maturità exams), applicants will also need to demonstrate they can speak and understand English, a theme which was picked up in the following presentation.

Jane Hoatson, British Council: Your application will depend on your personal statement

One vital aspect of applying to a UK university that can be a real “make or break” factor is the Personal Statement that potential students have to submit as part of their application. Jane stressed the absolute importance of this statement and the need for applicants to stand out from the crowd by demonstrating their unique personal qualities and their attitude not only to study but to life in general. Perhaps one of the main differences between studying in the UK and education in Italy is that British universities are really interested in the “whole person” – not just academic ability. This is especially true at the top universities, especially Oxford and Cambridge, which look at a candidates complete profile – including any distinctions in their artistic, sporting or volunteering activities – as well as academic excellence. However, without really good English, no student can progress very far in the British education system – but most universities run pre-sessional courses that can help prepare learners for the demands of studying in an English-speaking environment.

Studying in the UK is a highly rewarding experience - and it's a lot of fun too! 

The next speaker was Margaret Fowler of the British Council. As Director Examinations, British Council Italy, Margaret is responsible here for promoting and organising IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, the world’s number one English language test, taken by over 1.5 million people every year across the world.

There are several key benefits of IELTS for Italian students who intend to study at UK university. Firstly, you can register up to 14 days before the exam itself and the results will arrive in the comparatively short time of 13 days. IELTS is recognised and often preferred by universities in the United Kingdom. The exam is also recognised by Italian universities in terms of awarding credits. As well as in the UK, IELTS is recognised in other English-speaking countries including the US, Canada and Australia. (This is particularly important if you intend to study in one of these countries.) While other Cambridge exams, such as a the First Certificate, Advanced and Proficiency are intended to demonstrate a candidate’s all-round language ability, IELTS is specifically a test of Academic English. (By the way, it is very important to make sure you take the Academic version of IELTS if you are applying to a university. The General Training version is primarily intended for immigration purposes.)

Margaret Fowler, Director Examinations, BC Italy: UK universities prefer IELTS

In a detailed exposition of the exam (which I am planning to write up as a separate blog post focusing on IELTS and English language exams in general), Margaret took the audience through each part of the exam and discussed some general strategies which will be of great help to students. Perhaps the most important of these – and certainly, in my experience of preparing candidates for the IELTS exam (and most other English exams) – is what you do in the Speaking Test. Without doubt, for Italian people studying English, this is the most problematic part of the exam and the thing they dread more than anything else. Margaret’s advice on this part of the test is invaluable: the examiner is not interested in your opinion of – or even your knowledge – about the topics they ask you to talk about. Instead, they are only concerned with how you express yourself (although what you say should be relevant: don't invent your own questions). Students should use paraphrasing strategies when they can’t think of the right word or what to say (e.g. “I don’t remember the exact word for this, but it’s something you use to…”, etc). 

Candidates in the Speaking Test should also show off their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary - especially conversational phrases. As Margaret put it: the examiner can only credit you with your brilliant knowledge of English if you actually demonstrate it in the exam. While the Speaking Test is a highly contrived, artificial situation it is basically ten minutes where you need to focus on HOW you say things rather than WHAT you are saying (which is the exact opposite of most situations in life).

(IMPORTANT: Check the IELTS score you need to achieve in order to study at a particular university. This can vary from one institution to another, but typically a university will ask for a score of around 6/6.5 at IELTS. For medical students and people taking other professional courses it can be higher, e.g. 7. However, universities can also exercise some discretion, so even if you don't have exactly the right level you might still be able to study there - or you may be offered a pre-sessional course which includes English training. The main thing is to ASK before you apply.)

UK-educated international graduates achieve markedly higher average salaries (BIS)

The final speaker on Friday was Annette Duerdoth, a Consultant at the Higher Education Advisory Service. Annette’s topic was the importance of studying in the UK – particularly at top independent schools – and the main differences between “A” Levels and the International Baccalaureate. Annette started her talk by asking the audience to decide whether the top schools she highlighted, such as Stowe School, Malvern College and Charterhouse, offer students the “A” Levels or the IB. The general picture is that there is a wide diversity, with some schools offering only “A” Levels or only the IB, while at others students can take either form of exam. While the vast majority of school pupils in England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have different systems) aiming to go to university take “A” levels, the IB is only taken by students at a handful of schools, mainly private or fee-paying ones. (Confusingly, in the UK there are a number of top schools known as “public” schools that are actually private. Yes, I know: bizarre, isn’t it?)

(Note: this is not really an issue for Italian students, but there is an ongoing debate in the UK about the academic/educational "value" of "A" levels (and GSCEs, which most people take at 16). Newspapers and politicians are always concerned with "grade inflation", since there is a consistent trend for exam grades to rise every year - and an endless debate about the reasons for this: are the students getting better or are the exams getting easier? The IB has been promoted as a possible alternative to "A" levels - which are sometimes referred to as the "gold standard" in UK education. Another blog post on this, I feel...)

Annette Duerdoth, Higher Education Advisory Service: IB is rare but highly regarded.

As Annette explained, the main difference between “A” levels and the IB is that whereas “A” level students typically take exams in only three subjects (although some students take more – especially at independent/private/”public” schools), the IB has a much wider curriculum and is more similar to the broader range of subjects studied by Italian and most other European students in their school-leaving exams (such as the maturità in Italy).

The profile of an IB learner can defined as follows: they are inquirers; they tend to be more knowledgeable and open-minded than their “A” level counterparts; they are thinkers, communicators and risk-takers, who are on the whole caring, balanced and reflective. (Dare I say it, but that description could be taken as one that tends to apply more to Italians (and most other Europeans) than the British – or Americans. While our education system has evolved to produce pragmatic specialists who can go straight into narrowly-defined university courses and even more specialised careers, the Continental system has been designed to produce all-rounders: elegant thinkers who have a much wider view of the world and a longer historical perspective, especially when it comes to classical history. (Perhaps I could just interpolate into this digression - this is becoming "Tristram Shandy" -  a personal observation based on my experience of living in a country where education is still largely modelled on the classical system (and which the IB philosophy reflects). While a business meeting in the UK or the US will typically be a brisk, focused affair where people who know their onions – and have been produced by their respective education systems to operate effectively and under pressure in a specific field to do just that – and get on with it, in Italy a meeting is much more of a social affair; and one where, for example, it is not unusual for a technical manager or financial number cruncher to suddenly draw an analogy with the current situation and a moment from the First Punic War – and no-one sitting around the table will bat an eyelid; nor will the remark be accompanied by the sound of jaws dropping onto the table - or the silent squeak of eyeballs rolling in their sockets - as would happen in London or New York.))

If you've just skipped that last bit, the main point to note that here is that while the IB is obviously a higher species of exam and the fruit of a more enlightened educational approach, it is also a lot tougher than "A" levels. (Although education and exams in Italy are more punitive than "Anglo-Saxon" ones in general). Therefore, candidates intending to study at university really need to be aware of all their options and the best plan of action before they choose either “A” levels or the IB.

Annette included in her presentation a quotation from the Financial Times blog referring to the IB. It is highly pertinent to the main topic of the Education UK Fair, i.e. getting into university:

“Not subject to government tinkering, this international currency is particularly strong, with top IB scores worth the equivalent of six A grades at A level and one A at AS. Not ideal for the pupil who has always wanted to drop maths, the IB does put you significantly ahead in the global race for the best universities.”

The Education UK Fair continued on the Saturday (1st March), although I only attended the Friday session. However, many of the presentations on the first day were reprised by the speakers. You can see the full list of presentations here. I would just like to mention one talk which caught my eye: “How to write a good CV in English” with Keryn Paviour-Smith of the British Council. (Again, if you attended this or if anyone has some feedback about it, I would be very interested to hear it. Not least because of Ms Paviour-Smith’s very impressive professional background, which combines human resources roles at top companies with Business English teaching. I’m sure her talk was excellent and I will be looking forward to seeing her speak at future British Council events.)

Employers worldwide consider UK graduates among the most 'employable' (QS)

Final result: First class, with honours

Overall, then, this was a very well designed, organised and executed event of the kind that the British Council excels at. The participants I spoke to were all highly positive and it is very clear that the UK is one of the main destinations for Italian students who want to give themselves an advantage in their future career and life. If you are considering applying for a university course (or any type of study in the UK), the most important thing is to find out as much as possible before you go – and this event certainly provided a very useful starting point for serious students who are contemplating one of the most important decisions they will make in life: where to go to university.

If you are reading this now and kicking yourself that you didn’t attend the Fair, I hope my summary gives you an insight into the event – and, in any case, you can find a wealth of further information and guidance from the Education UK website and via the ever-helpful British Council itself.

I have no doubt that the Education UK Fair will become a regular feature of the Milan calendar – falling quite neatly between Fashion week and the forthcoming Salone Mobile (“Design Week”). The timing is also crucial, as Jane Hoatson pointed out, given that there are strict deadlines for applying to UK universities (and that in Britain a deadline really is a deadline).

Looking forward to Education UK 2015 in the next, critical, “EXPO” year in Milan!

A UK university education gives you a significant advantage in the job market.

The UK has a rich, diverse culture where you can gain an international perspective.

Links to related websites:

British Council
Education UK

The perfect blend? Pearson and the British Council team up for "Digital Transformation in the English Teaching World"

The Melià, Milan: great setting for a "cool" event

It was a blessed relief to step from the sweltering June heatwave engulfing Milan into the cool and spacious Melià Hotel last week, the setting for “Digital Transformation in the English Teaching World”, an event co-hosted by Pearson Longman and the British Council. Informative and inspiring speakers opened up the possibilities offered by integrating new technology with more conventional approaches to language teaching in a series of engaging presentations. The sizeable audience was made up mainly of teachers and other language professionals from universities, private language schools and the swelling ranks of freelance English teachers. (I was one of the very small minority of token men in the audience: ELT is obviously a woman’s world.)

Delegates at the Pearson / British Council event "Digital Transformation
 in the English Teaching World at the Melià Hotel, Milan, 20 June 2012

Joint effort

Co-hosts of "Digital Transformations
in the English Teaching World"

As you might expect from a conference co-hosted by Pearson, there was quite a large emphasis on the products and platforms they have developed, in particular the My EnglishLab learning management platform, as well as the materials Pearson has produced for this system. But there were also contributions from the British Council on how it is increasingly employing digital technology in the vast undertaking of providing testing and certification for the many thousands of candidates who take IELTS, Cambridge exams and other tests every year.

Digital literacy: what native digital speakers know

Nicky Hockly

Nicky Hockly, Director of Pedagogy at The Consultants-E, a Pearson Longman author and a renowned international teacher trainer talked about the importance of understanding digital literacies in today’s web-enabled learning environment: these literacies affect how we perceive, interpret, judge and use online content. With examples of how to use existing material from the web as a way of encouraging students to understand how material is presented, as well as the language itself, she also explored the use of video and even texting in the  classroom. (We were all intrigued by the case of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, which Nicky used to show how context can impact on credibility)

She introduced techniques such as subtitling video and using “literal videos” to engage learners (particularly younger ones). One of the themes of this conference was the wide gap that exists between teenagers who are “native digital speakers” and older people who have had to learn (rather than acquire) their web skills the hard way. Typically, it is the students who are more web-savvy – with teachers lagging behind (although there are exceptions). One of the benefits of this situation is that both teachers and students have knowledge they can both bring to the party and share – making the teacher-student relationship less “asymmetrical”.

Txt: the way we communicate is being transformed by technology

Using authentic video with English learners

Antonia Clare

Antonia Clare, one of the authors of Pearson’s Speakout series, presented “Effective learning from authentic video content”. A collaboration between Pearson and the BBC, Speakout enjoys the huge advantage of incorporating video and other material from BBC Worldwide and BBC Learning English. The coursebook content dovetails with the MyEnglishLab platform and provides some very impressive features, such as the ability to watch a video and access the complete transcript in a scrolling panel underneath. (Each sentence is highlighted as the language is spoken.) Antonia talked about using video as a springboard to encouraging students to talk about their own lives and experiences. Speakout (intermediate) includes voxpop conversations in the street with people from both Barcelona and London. She pointed out that students could make this kind of video themselves using readily-available consumer technology (flip cams or camera phones) and post it on a video-sharing site where it could be used as the basis of further language activities, such as subtitling (with the corrected text appearing at the bottom of the screen). Again, while this event was a showcase for Pearson’s platform, the speakers all provided examples of how (largely free) social media sites and services can be combined with professionally-produced classroom materials (books, DVDs – as well as the online content in systems such as MyEnglishLab). 

Blended learning – something of a buzzword currently, but not always understood or appreciated in practice – can therefore be seen as a way of bringing many different strands together: online content, material produced by students themselves as well as more conventional tests and exercises. While blended learning increases the opportunities it also brings new challenges, such as keeping activities focused on learning rather than the technology becoming an end in itself.

What's occurrin'? Antonia presents "Gavin and Stacey" from Speakout

One of the most well-received sections of Antonia’s presentation was the video from the award-winning BBC TV series, “Gavin and Stacey” (where Gavin’s first day at work is unintentionally sabotaged by a succession of well-meaning calls and visits by relatives and friends). The Pearson-BBC tie-up is obviously a huge coup in terms of bringing this type of genuinely entertaining and engaging material into the classroom in such a way that Intellectual Property (IP) rights are respected. The crossover between mainstream media and language teaching is something that Pearson in particular has exploited by means of the media giant’s existing holdings, such as the Financial Times (which provides the content backbone in the widely-used Market Leader series), as well as its Economist-branded Intelligent Business textbooks for language learning.

Technology to empower but not replace the teacher (MyEnglishLabs)

Chris Morris

Chris Morris, a Pearson international teacher trainer on new digital initiatives showcased MyEnglishLabs with the theme of “Informed teaching and personalised learning”. Chris flagged up further the divide between “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” that was something of a leitmotif throughout this event. Despite the “brave new world” of digital technology and all the benefits it has to bring to the classroom some teachers are suspicious – if not downright terrified – of the impact it could have. Chris pointed out that technology will “empower not replace” the teacher: in fact, it can be liberating, by doing away with routine tasks such as endless marking and correcting of textbooks. In his presentation of MyEnglishLabs Chris showed how the platform can allow the teacher to assign online homework which students can complete at their own pace – and even on their mobile phone, if they download the app. Exercises can be selected for an individual student giving the teacher "fine-grained" control over their personal syllabus. MyEnglishLabs contains over twenty activity types, including various types of exercises (gap-fill, word search, etc), tests and comprehension practice linked to the course content. From the teacher’s perspective, perhaps the main benefit of this system is that it gives you an overview of all the material students have completed as well as their progress and scores. The teacher can “zero in” on those areas of a student’s language that require particular attention. This can also help in planning future courses by showing those areas where students in general are having difficulty (a point that also featured in the British Council section of "Digital Transformations" in the context of exams - technology is reducing the random element in ELT materials and activities, which can only be a good thing).

MyEnglishLab live and direct during Chris's presentation

MyEnglishLabs is an impressive platform that certainly reduces the drudgery of routine activities such as assigning and marking homework, testing and providing additional practice – and it’s always a joy to see someone demonstrate technology which they are genuinely enthusiastic and even passionate about. However, I personally have always been slightly underwhelmed by these systems when I have actually tried to base a complete course around them. MyEnglishLabs seems quite similar to English360 – the newly-independent course management system that features ELT material from Cambridge English (in particular). I suppose that both these systems and other similar products are of most use to large institutions where administration and the ability to monitor the performance of large numbers of students is critical (i.e. schools, colleges and universities). These “large customers” (who will inevitably produce the bulk of the revenues for providers of learning management systems, such as MyEnglishLab and others) work on a more industrial scale – and the automation at the heart of these management systems can produce not only savings in terms of teacher time, energy and even costs (especially as regards photocopying and printing), but also produce benefits for the students – not least by allowing a high level of individual customisation. With smaller schools, specialist training companies and freelancers, there is less need for this kind of “enterprise” technology.

The other key factor is that while these systems are often described as “intuitive” by developers and vendors, they can actually impose quite a large burden on the teacher who must add “system administrator” to their ever-lengthening list of roles. I haven’t really explored MyEnglishLabs in depth yet – but while the presentations were impressive, especially in terms of content – I would like to know more about the training and support that goes with the system. I often find that a “social” approach works best in these situations: an active online community is usually the best source of knowledge and support when you get stuck or are seeking inspiration.

Teachers can see progress through course material and grades at a glance on MyEnglishLabs

Going online: how the exam process is going digital (British Council)

Margaret Fowler talks about digital technology and the British Council

Margaret Fowler of the British Council spoke about the impact of computer technology on the exams that the BC administers and manages in Italy and worldwide. With many exams now available in either paper- or computer-based versions, students can choose which form to take. (Currently, only ESOL exams e.g., PET, BEC, FCE, CAE and KET are available in computer-based format. There is no computer-based version of IELTS yet.)

There are some slight differences. In the computer-based exam (and others), students use headphones for the listening section, for example. (Interestingly, while this can increase confidence when compared to listening to audio output from loudspeakers, it doesn’t actually affect grades.) The test takes less time as there is no need to transfer answers to another sheet for marking. Basic word-processing functions such as copy and paste and word count are also available for the writing section, although some candidates may find it uncomfortable to scroll through the reading passages.

Exam security has gone high-tech too. All candidates are photographed on the day of the test and the images are stored in a central database in the UK: these can be used to verify someone’s identity in the case of doubt about a "dodgy" certificate or someone's claim to be the awardee. Digital technology is also crucial to the development of exams run by the British Council: for example, the Cambridge Learner Corpus, a database of exam scripts (completed papers) that incorporates a treasure-trove of student errors, can be plundered to help exam writers understand which areas of the language students need to focus on. And any so-called “jagged profiles” or anomalies between language skills (e.g. an unusually low mark in a reading or listening paper for an otherwise strong candidate) will be immediately picked up by the analytical software used to crunch all the exam results.

The British Council’s exams service is increasingly in demand. There has been a 20% rise in the number of people taking CambridgeProficiency (CPE) - currently celebrating its 100th anniversary - this year. Margaret’s presentation included some striking images of the (truly) industrial process that underlies this success: warehouses stacked full of completed test papers and high-security printing, for example. With the increasing use of computer-based exams, however, these could eventually become a legacy of the “dead tree” age of information (and it would help the environment a bit, too).

The secret to a successful conference on digital technology: expert hosting 

Russell Lewis thanks Antonia Clare

The whole event was kept moving along at a brisk pace by the very capable Andy Barbiero and Russell Lewis of Pearson, who wove the various sections together with both wit and veuve. (I’d like to see more of these guys presenting Pearson’s materials: they’re obviously both great at winning professional audiences over with their enthusiasm, knowledge of the products and sensitivity to what classroom teachers need.) Both Pearson and the British Council had stalls well-stocked with books, brochures and leaflets covering a range of issues of interest to English teachers. Helpful and informative representatives from the two organisations were also on hand to field queries and provide details of new products and services. The event was a welcome opportunity for some useful networking in addition to the excellent presentations. (And, by the way, it was all free. Not bad!)

Andy Barbiero of Pearson in the hot seat during a simulation of a classroom activity 

So, following this brief introduction to how digital technology is transforming the English teaching world, it was back into the cauldron of the Milan heat (happily weighed down somewhat by a free copy of MyGrammarLab, which all the delegates received). But as I left the air-conditioned oasis of the Melià I certainly felt that I had gained a good insight into how Pearson and the British Council – among many other companies, organisations and individuals working in this field – are helping language teachers and students to benefit from the many advantages that technology can bring to our profession.

Pushing the right button(s): Longman Pearson's "MyGrammarLab"