Become a Business English UK member
Business English UK membership is open to all English UK members. In addition, the school must commit to the following terms and conditions set out in the Business English UK Charter and Constitutions.
Updated in January 2011
CHARTER
1. Each Centre is a member of English UK and is, therefore, committed to conducting its business in a manner which reflects the highest possible professional standards.
2. Each Centre provides courses in Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes, which have been inspected and accredited by Accreditation UK.
3. Each Centre is accredited as a provider of “Professional Courses” through this scheme of regular inspection and identified as such in the Publishable Statement following inspection by Accreditation UK.
4. Each Centre has provided courses in Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes for a minimum of two years.
5. Each Centre uses either dedicated distinct premises or a designated part of premises appropriate for adult clients who are following courses in Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes.
6. Each Centre provides, as a separate and distinct resource, materials appropriate for the teaching of Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes.
7. Each Centre has in appointment a senior full-time member of staff with separate and distinct contractual responsibilities for direction and management of the provision of English for Business and/or other Professional Purposes.
8. Each Centre employs teaching staff with appropriate qualifications and experience for teaching on courses of Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes.
9. Each Centre is committed to providing appropriate professional development and training for all members of staff involved in the provision of Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes. BEUK recommends that each Centre should be an institutional member of the Business English Special Interest Group of IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) and/or the ESP SIG (English for Special Purposes Special Interest Group) of IATEFL.
10. Each Centre promotes details of the courses it provides for Business English or other Specialist English Language Training for Professional Purposes either in a separate brochure or as a separate and distinct part of a general brochure. This brochure or part of a brochure may carry the logo and membership statement of BusinessEnglishUK.
CONSTITUTION
11. BusinessEnglishUK is open to all English UK member centres which comply with all the above criteria 1 - 10. New applicants for membership will be required to sign a declaration of compliance before the application can be accepted. The same declaration of compliance must be signed by each Member at the beginning of each Subscription Year.
12. New applicants for membership will be visited by the BusinessEnglishUK Marketing Manager to ascertain whether the applicant satisfies all criteria of the charter. Following this visit, the Marketing Manager will present a report to the Business English UK Committee. The Committee is the body which makes the decision on accepting an applicant into membership of Business English UK.
13. Under normal circumstances, all applications from centres which satisfy the criteria of the charter will be approved. In case of non-approval, the applicant centre has the right to request a visit from two members of the committee, at the centre’s expense, to review the application. These two members will then submit a report to the committee for a review of the decision. The subsequent reviewed decision is final.
14. In the case of multiple membership of any organisation with more than one centre, the first-named Centre will pay the 100% subscription and any further Centres will pay 30% each. In such a case only one annual compliance declaration is necessary.
15. The Subscription Year runs from 1 January to 31 December. English UK members wishing to join BusinessEnglishUK may normally only do so at the beginning of a Subscription Year. Similarly, any existing BusinessEnglishUK Member wishing to leave BusinessEnglishUK may normally only do so at the end of a Subscription Year.
16. The BusinessEnglishUK Annual Meeting will normally be held in December. The primary purposes of the Annual Meeting are: (a) to review the activities and finances of the current Subscription Year and preview those of the coming Subscription Year; (b) to determine the level the Subscription for the coming Subscription Year; (c) to elect the Chair and Committee members for the coming Subscription Year.
17. Each Member will attend, or be represented, at a minimum of 2 out of every 3 BusinessEnglishUK Annual Meetings.
18. Any decisions taken at the Annual Meeting, including any amendment of this Charter & Constitution, will be binding on all the Members.
19. The Committee is responsible for the day-to-day running of BusinessEnglishUK, assisted by the BusinessEnglishUK Marketing Manager. The Committee is empowered to make decisions on behalf of the membership as long as these decisions do not conflict with this Charter and Constitution.
20. Each Member will be open to exchange visits on an informal basis with other Members of BusinessEnglishUK.
21. Each Member will provide punctually, and to the best of its ability, any reasonable information about their Centre required by the Committee or, on its behalf, by the BusinessEnglishUK Marketing Manager.