Experience the best in UK English language education and choose from over 350 quality-assured centres across bustling cities, charming countryside, and beautiful coastlines. We offer various courses, from general English to specialised programs for academic or professional needs.
All listed centres hold accreditation from British Council-approved bodies, ensuring exceptional teaching standards and a positive learning environment. If the English language centre you’re looking for is not listed here, it may have another form of accreditation or inspection. Please see the list on the Short Term Study Visa page of the gov.uk website.
Explore our A-Z listings or Inspection Summary Statements, or use the English UK Course Finder to find the perfect centre to achieve your English language goal. When selecting an accredited centre, consider the type of course, the length, and the cost. Consider the location—whether you prefer a big city, town, or countryside setting. Additionally, decide if you need accommodation arranged or if you want a leisure program included.
Why choose an accredited centre?
Accreditation UK ensures high standards in management, teaching, resources, and student welfare at English language teaching (ELT) centres across the UK.
What Accreditation Guarantees
Accreditation is your assurance of quality. Accredited centres must have:
- Qualified teachers
- Teaching that meets strict standards
- Robust safeguarding for under-18s
- Safe, well-equipped facilities
- Honest marketing materials
- Clear, well-known emergency procedures
If a centre offers accommodation, including homestays, it’s regularly inspected to meet accreditation standards.
Rigorous inspection process
Accredited centres undergo:
- Full inspections every four years
- Re-inspections within 18 months for new centres
- Random spot-checks
- Reviews by ELT-specialist inspectors
- Publicly available inspection reports and criteria focused on international students
Check the Criteria, Requirements, and Guidance document for more details.
Benefits for students
Choosing an accredited centre means:
- Guaranteed quality across management, teaching, and student support
- A formal complaints process if standards aren’t met
- Alternative courses at no extra cost if your provider closes unexpectedly
These standards are consistent across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Inspection Reports: What you need to know
After each inspection, a detailed report is produced, outlining how well a centre meets Accreditation UK standards during the visit. These reports inform the Accreditation Scheme Advisory Committee’s decisions and guide centres in ongoing improvements.
Accessing inspection reports
You can explore the latest inspection reports through our A-Z list of accredited centres.
What’s in an inspection report?
Each report includes:
- Centre Profile: Statistics and a description of the centre.
- Assessment: Detailed evaluations of how the centre meets inspection criteria, with comments and a summary for each section.
- Summary Statement: Highlights the centre’s strengths and any areas needing improvement.
Summary statements, are also available in one document for easy reference.
Understanding the reports
To fully understand the reports, refer to the inspection criteria for the relevant year, which are available for download on the A-Z page. Each section of the report summarises how well the centre meets the required standards, including management, resources, teaching, and student welfare. Centres enrolling under-18s must also meet an additional standard for their care.
Spot checks and supplementary inspections
In addition to full inspections, there are short, unannounced visits for:
- Newly accredited centres
- Verifying improvements
- Inspecting new premises or courses
Interim visits
The British Council conducts random interim visits, though these are not part of the regular inspection cycle, and the reports are not published.
Visas and UK Support Fund
All accredited centres can enrol students on short-term study visas for courses up to 11 months. Over 200 centres are also on the UKVI Register of Sponsors for student visas.
Students at British Council-accredited centres benefit from the UK Support Fund, which ensures they can complete their studies in the rare event of closure and covers some lost accommodation fees.
For more details on visas, visit the GOV.UK website.
Student Complaints Process
Accreditation UK is dedicated to addressing complaints about accredited organisations.
Many accredited centres are also members of English UK, our partner in the Scheme. If your complaint concerns a member school or college, we will forward it to them for investigation. If the centre is not a member, we will handle the complaint directly.
While most complaints are resolved amicably, we also have an independent ombudsman to review more complex cases.
How to make a complaint
Accredited centres are required to have a process in place for handling complaints from students, parents, or agents. We recommend that you use this process first. (Be sure to thoroughly review your contract, the centre’s terms and conditions, and any visa requirements.)
You can contact us with a complaint at any time—before, during, or after your studies at an accredited centre.
If you’ve already raised your complaint with the centre and it remains unresolved, please email us with:
- A written complaint from the student (or from a parent/guardian if the student is a child). If the complaint is not in English, include at least the main points translated into English.
- Details of how you or your representative tried to resolve the issue with the centre, along with the centre’s response.
Send your complaint to: accreditation.unit@britishcouncil.org
Please note that we cannot address complaints about non-accredited organisations or from non-students about accredited centres unless there is a clear threat to student welfare.