We’re delighted to have been awarded a contract by the EELGA SMP (East of England Strategic Migration Partnership) to prepare groups of refugees for the IELTS English test over 2022 under the Wellbeing and Work for Refugee Integration Project.
The East of England covers Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Given the geographical spread of learners, EELGA SMP wanted to provide online tuition to meet the educational needs of a growing and increasingly diverse group of refugee communities. Our first groups include Syrian, Afghan, Iranian and Turkish students.
For many refugees, achieving a high score in IELTS enables them to access potentially life-transforming study and work opportunities. IELTS is used by Higher and Further Education organisations to assess whether a learner has sufficient academic English skills to study in English. It’s also used by regulatory bodies such as the GMC, NMC and Social Work England to assess the professional English level of overseas applicants.
SLC has been providing digital IELTS preparation services to the NHS and the global healthcare sector since 2016. We specialise in providing online tuition and self-study courses so we can ensure learners work with expert tutors and content wherever they may be. Given the high-stakes nature of the test, we know just how important this is.
This is particularly relevant to both refugee communities and the healthcare sector, as learners often find it difficult to get to scheduled lessons in physical premises given the challenges around demanding work patterns, transport availability, childcare, and the time and cost of travel to and from a school.
We’ve been working with refugee communities for some years now in partnership with outstanding organisations such as RefuAid, Maximpact, Talent beyond Boundaries and the Lincolnshire Refugee Doctor Project. Working with refugee communities is an important part of what we do. We believe our expertise, our teachers and our programmes can make a real impact.
We have seen how successful these courses can be and the lasting difference they make to the lives of learners and their families. We look forward to working with the team at EELGA SMP to support refugee learners to achieve the IELTS scores they need to study and work in the UK.