British Council

British Council
6th Floor, Dextrus, British Deputy High Commission, Office, #N2B, Peninsula Towers, G.K. Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400013, India
https://www.britishcouncil.in/
Although “British Council” is not itself a school, it is an international cultural and educational organisation with an English-teaching branch that operates language schools in more than 80 countries. These Teaching Centres deliver courses, exams and professional development services that mirror the standards of a premium British international school while serving learners from the ages of 5 to adult. There is no single campus; instead, each centre is locally registered and purpose-built to British Council specifications, yet all share one global curriculum and quality framework. The key hubs—London, Paris, Dubai, Singapore, Madrid, Cairo and Kuala Lumpur—act as reference sites, but even the smallest city Teaching Centre abides by the same handbooks, technology platforms and teacher-audit regime.

Governance is run from Manchester HQ and regulated by the Charity Commission for England & Wales, with oversight of safeguarding, data protection and educational quality. Day-to-day operation is delegated to country directors who hold independent licences for their premises. This hybrid structure guarantees both charity status (profits are reinvested) and compliance with local law.

The curriculum is built around the Common European Framework (CEFR) and UK national curricula. A young-learner stream (Primary Plus, Secondary Plus) mirrors Key Stages 1-4, adding CLIL, digital literacy and global citizenship. Adults choose from General English, Academic IELTS Preparation, and customised Business & Professional English, all benchmarked to Cambridge Assessment and IELTS descriptors. Teachers—4000 worldwide—must hold a CELTA/DELTA or PGCE plus at least two years’ experience. Continuous Professional Development is powered by the British Council’s own online Moodle platform; every teacher completes 50 hours of in-house coaching annually.

Assessment integrates live projects, digital portfolios and external exams. Students aged 7-17 sit the Cambridge Young Learners, Movers through Flyers series, while older learners may enrol for IGCSE and A-level modules via partner schools or take on-site IELTS, Aptis or UK university entrance tests. The worldwide average pass rate for IELTS students pursuing band 6.5+ is seven percentage points higher than the global mean.

Facilities depend on locality but maintain a core standard: interactive whiteboards, Mac-access libraries, self-access study zones and secure parents’ portals. Larger centres add VR language labs and broadcasting studios. Extracurricular life centres on the “Seasons of Culture” calendar—British theatre tours, film festivals, debating championships and Model United Nations—in partnership with local ministries and UK cultural bodies. Scholarships (Need-Based Access Awards), PhD links with UK universities and virtual exchange programmes with partner British schools complete the offering.

Mission: to foster knowledge and understanding between the UK and the wider world through high-quality English language education, underpinned by British academic values of creativity, critical thinking and equality.

Check on Google Maps