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Certificate of Offshore Proficiency in English
We have developed and licensed the Certificate of Offshore Proficiency in English (COPE) to meet the need of the offshore oil and gas sector to ensure crew are proficient in English for their jobs, for safety and for relationships while working offshore.
Available exclusively from Levant Education and accredited partners, our BOSIET certified team can deliver the exam offshore/onboard or remotely, anywhere in the world. We also provide preparation courses where required, to train crew from beginner to intermediate levels.
As well as General English, we provide training and examinations in English for Deck crew, Drilling crew and Maintenance crew, the 3 main departments working offshore on rigs, semi-submersibles, and drillships.
The Certificate covers English communication skills and vocational knowledge, and is available for 3 levels:
- COPE Essentials (A1 Beginners)
- COPE 1 (CEFR A2) (Offshore)
- COPE 2 (CEFR B1) (Drilling/Marine/Maintenance)
- COPE 3 (CEFR B2) (Drilling/Marine/Maintenance)
- COPE 4 (CEFR C1) (Drilling/Marine/Maintenance)
Courses and exams are available offshore/onboard, in our centres or online using Zoom Meetings for 1 to 1 or small groups. Exams are provided securely and are different every time. There is a speaking component that uses video and Zoom to our in-house, experienced examiners (if the test is taken remotely).
Contact us for further details!
Azerbaijan Study Abroad Scholarships Return
The Azerbaijan government has announced the return of state funding and scholarships for Master and PhD programmes.
Master level scholarships will be provided under the administration of the Azerbaijan Youth Foundation, while PhD scholarships will be administered through the Ministry of Education.
Levant Education will once again be holding its Study Abroad Education Exhibition in Baku in the Autumn, as it has since 2011. For details about the scholarship and the exhibition please complete the quick form below.
Prioritised specialties for the education of the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan at PhD level have been defined as follows:
Subject specialties:
1.1. Mathematics
1.2. Mechanics
1.3. Astronomy
1.4. Physics
1.5. Chemistry
1.6. Biological sciences
1.7. Earth sciences
1.8. Geography
- Agricultural specialties direction:
2.1. Agrarian sciences
- The direction of health and welfare specialties:
3.1. Medical sciences
3.2. Pharmaceutical sciences
3.3. Health management.
- Direction of technical and technological specialties:
4.1. Technical sciences
- Direction of economics and management specialties:
5.1. Economics sciences.
- Directions of education:
6.1. Pedagogy
6.2. Psychology
6.3. Education management.
- Humanitarian and social specialties:
7.1.History
7.2. Sociology
7.3. Law / legal sciences.
Complete the form for more details about the scholarships and the Exhibition in the Autumn:
EFL Management Training in Iran
The Iranian EFL market is one of the largest in the world, with an estimated 16,000 language centres employing hundreds of thousands of teachers, training millions of students.
Teachers are highly skilled and highly qualified, having travelled abroad for CELTA training and obtained masters degrees in Teaching and TEFL.
The demand for ongoing professional development in Iran is therefore huge. However Iranian EFL teachers and managers can have difficulties obtaining visas to travel to workshops abroad, and trainers and lecturers have similar issues working in Iran.
Levant Education works across markets in Western Asia and provides solutions for such challenging circumstances. This week we had the pleasure of welcoming 20 Language Academy Directors from Tehran, to our Istanbul HQ. The Directors work for one of Iran’s leading language training companies, employing 1000 teachers and educating 30,000 students per term.
Multi-lingual, multi-talented and multi-functional Thom Jones lead a lively and enjoyable day’s training covering creative teaching methods, motivation strategy, management challenges and best practice.
David Mitchell, Levant Education Director: “Thanks to a lot of great work by our Turkish and Iranian colleagues – and excellent partners such as Thom and our clients in Iran – we are really excited by the possibilities for international education and EFL development in this exciting market”.
Levant Education Iran Mission
Levant Education led the first UK HE mission to Iran in September 2016, following the lifting of international sanctions and installation of ambassadors in London and Tehran.
The mission – to Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan – suffered from visa refusals and local tensions over meeting US/UK visitors. However representataives from UCL, Nottingham, Reading, Bradford and Southampton universities were able to travel for meetings with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, State and Private HE institutions, and with UKTI at the British Embassy.
While the diplomatic and economic relations still have some way to go before any semblance of normality, it was clear from the meetings that there is a great interest in UK education, a keenness for partnerships and joint ventures, and massive demand for education abroad. The full market report is available exclusively through Levant Education, and provides essential background and statistics for anybody interested in the education market in Iran. We will be returning to Iran in April 2017.
The nonsensical world of Mr Brokenshire from the go-home office
UK Further and Higher Education is once again bearing the brunt of the government’s ill-informed anti-immigration policies.
On Tuesday Immigration Minister James Brokenshire made a statement to the House of Commons, announcing that the highly trusted sponsor status of 60 educational establishments had been suspended following a “detailed and wide-ranging investigation into actions by organised criminals to falsify English language tests for student visa applicants”.
There can be no doubt that the tough-sounding announcement and the suspensions are intended to impress Mr Brokenshire’s boss Theresa May and create a ‘good news’ story for the immigration-obsessed mass media, and actually has little to do with a genuine attempt at a criminal investigation.
While one college was shown to be complicit in assisting in-country immigrants to pass visa-approved language tests, in a Panorama exposé broadcast earlier this year, the announcement of these suspensions is a huge over-reaction. Cheating in any test should be dealt with and the guilty parties should pay the price, but once again the exam provider, language schools, colleges, universities and the whole sector is grouped together in ‘immigration scam’ headlines.
(It will be interesting to see how the government reacts when students are (inevitably) caught cheating on IELTS tests, a product that the British government (and therefore the UK taxpayer) actually part owns! Surely a conflict of interest there, when the government is supposed to regulate foreign student recruitment and the language tests the students take…but has a dog in the race.)
Mr. Brokenshire demonstrated his understanding of the student recruitment process in March when he told the Demos thinktank: “I’m sorry, but is it really unreasonable to require universities to ensure students are genuine? After all, they would hardly admit a British student without checking their A-level results.”
There is no question that the checking of students’ qualifications is the education provider’s responsibility when deciding on places to study, but unlike British A-level students, international students have to go through an often humiliating visa application process (for example proving parents’ source of funds, providing pay slips, and being cross-examined about their study choices) that is nothing at all to do with the education provider.
If the government’s Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) is not satisfied that a student’s parents’ income is fully accounted for, or decides that the student should learn English in a local school rather than one in the UK, the decision is a visa refusal.
Despite the clear fact that visa refusals are out of the control or influence of UK education providers, Mr. Brokenshire wants to hold them responsible for Home Office civil servant’s decisions: He aims to reduce the proportion of visa refusals that educational institutions are allowed, from 20% to 10%.
To those in the know, this all seems nonsensical, because it is utter nonsense. Sadly, the home office only cares about the headlines that will greet any ‘tough’ measure on ‘immigration’, despite the fact that international students (with plenty of international options) are only temporary residents, and are no threat to the low skilled jobs that are supposedly at risk from internal EU immigration.
Meanwhile, Mr. Brokenshire applauds the fact that student visa applications have fallen by 29% since 2010, and will no doubt continue to fall. Fewer international students, of course, means less income for an important sector of Britain’s economy, less foreign currency being converted and spent in the UK, less revenue for UK universities, and so higher tuition fees for UK students in the very near future.
Universities / colleges whose HTS status has been suspended:
University of Bedfordshire
Glyndwr University
LSBF (London School of Business and Finance)
University of West London
Alpha College
Alpha Meridian College
APS Computer Solutions TA Pitman Training Centre
Birmingham Institute of Education Training and Technology
Blake Hall College
Bloomsbury International UK
Bradford College of Management
Bradford Metropolitan College
Bristol College of Accountancy
Britain College
Central College London
Central College of Studies
Central Cranbrook College
Citizen 2000 Education Institute
City of London Academy
College of Advanced Studies
College of East London
College of Excellence
Cranford College
Essex College
Eynsford College
FBT (Finance Business Training)
Forbes Graduate School
Hammersmith Management College
Helios International College
IIM Bedford
Interlink College of Technology & Business Studies
Katherine & Kings College of London
Kinnaird College
LIT LON Ltd
London Academy of Management and Business
London College of Business Management and Computing Studies
London College of Finance and Accounting
London Corporate College
London Educators Ltd
London Premier College
London Regal College
London School of Advanced Studies
London School of Marketing t/a LS Business School
London School of Technology
London St Andrews College
Manchester College of Management Sciences
Manchester International College (International Learning Centre)
Manchester Trinity
Midlands Academy of Business and Technology
North West College Reading
Queensbury College
Shakespeare College
South London College
Stanfords College UK Ltd
Studio Cambridge
Superior College London
UK Business Academy
UK Vocational Training College t/a UK CAT
West George College
West London Business College
Iraqi Education & Technology Summit: Agenda
The Draft Summit Agenda for the Iraqi Education & Technology Summit is now available. UK HE Workshop schedule and Online Meeting Scheduling will not be active before 11th February 2013.
Draft Summit Agenda
Friday 22 February; Crystal Ballroom Foyer, Hyatt Regency Dubai
16:00 – 19:00
Pre-Event Registration
19:00 – 21:00
Evening Reception & Networking Registration
Welcoming reception for all participants. Participants will be able to complete registration by collecting their delegate pack & Summit access pass while also networking throughout the evening.
Saturday 23 February; Crystal Ballroom Foyer, Hyatt Regency Dubai
7:45 – 8:45
Registration & Networking
8:45 – 9:15
Keynote Speech by HE Ali Al-Adeeb, Iraq Minister of Higher Education
9:15 – 10:15
PANEL ONE: An Overview of Education in Iraq, Challenges & Ambitions
9:15 – 9:30
Dr. Abdul Salam Al-Jammas , Director General, Reconstruction & Projects
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
9:30 – 9:45
Semia Saadaoui , Iraq Office (Amman) – Higher Education Project Manager
UNESCO – Iraq
9:45 – 10:00
Dr. Basima Alwan Hussein , Director of Investment Budget
Ministry of Education
10:05 – 10:15
Panel Discussion; Questions & Answer Session
10:15 – 10:55
Tea/Coffee Networking Break
10:55 – 11:55
PANEL TWO: Infrastructure & Major Projects, Education, Higher Education & Science & Technology
10:55 – 11:10
Dr. Mohammed Al-Saraj , Director General, Research & Development
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
11:10 – 11:25
Dr. Brian A. Shott , Cultural Affairs Officer
U.S Embassy Baghdad
11:25 – 11:40
Nayef Thamer Hussein , Director of Planning
Ministry of Education
11:45 – 11:55
Panel Discussion; Questions & Answer Session
11:55 – 12:55
PANEL THREE: Increasing ICT Use in Education
11:55 – 12:10
Dr. Bahaa Kadhum , Director General, Scholarships & Cultural Relations
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
12:10 – 12:25
Nizar Mohammed Sayed , Director of E-Learning
Ministry of Education
12:25 – 12:40
Name TBC Soon , Director of Information Technology
Ministry of Science & Technology
12:45 – 12:55
Panel Discussion; Questions & Answer Session
12:55 – 14:30
Networking Lunch
Sunday 24 February; Crystal Ballroom Foyer, Hyatt Regency Dubai
8:00 – 9:00
Registration & Networking
9:00 – 9:15
Welcome Remarks by H.E Ali Musa’ad Al-Ibrahimi, Deputy Minister of Education
9:15 – 10:15
PANEL FOUR: Government Procurement, Subsidisation & Distribution Policy
9:15 – 9:30
Dr. Sa’aob Naji Aboud , Director General, Contracting Dept.
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
9:30 – 9:45
Salam Hashim Nima , Director of Contracts
Ministry of Education
10:05 – 10:15
Panel Discussion; Questions & Answer Session
10:15 – 11:15
PANEL FIVE: Public-Private Partnership for Success
Panel Chair: Raed Mahmoud, SABIS Representative in Iraq of SABIS Educational Service
10:20 – 10:35
Dr. Alaa Abdulhussein Abdulrasool , President, Baghdad University
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
10:35 – 10:50
The Development of Career Centers at Iraqi Universities: Linking Higher Education and the Private Sector
Kenneth Holland , Director, Center for International Development
Center for International Development, Ball State University
10:50 – 11:05
Nayef Thamer Hussein , Director of Planning
Ministry of Education
11:05 – 11:15
Panel Discussion; Questions & Answer Session
11:15 – 11:55
Tea/Coffee Networking Break
11:55 – 12:55
PANEL SIX: Training, Rehabilitation & Capacity Building
11:55 – 12:10
Dr. Suhail Najim Abdullah , Director General, Planning & Follow-up
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
12:10 – 12:25
Dr. Suryanarayana Challapalli
U.S Department of State
12:25 – 12:40
Bushra Mohammed Hasan , Deputy Director, Administration Directorate
Ministry of Education
12:45 – 12:55
Panel Discussion; Questions & Answer Session
12:55 – 14:30
Networking Lunch
14:30 – 15:30
UK Education Workshop with Dr. Bahaa Kadhum ,
Director General, Scholarships & Cultural Relations
15:30 – 17:30
Private Partnership & Procurement Roundtable Meetings
These afternoon sessions are devoted to private consultations between participants from leading sector Ministries, agencies, organisations and commercial contractors & investors. Schedules will be prearranged to provide a unique opportunity to discuss the key issues affecting the development and investment opportunities across Iraq’s Educational sector.
Turkish Government To Open The Door for Foreign Universities
New regulations are expected to be introduced in the Turkish Higher Education system in near future, according to a report in Sabah newspaper. The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) is expected to change its name to Higher Education Turkey ( Türkiye Yükseköğretim Kurumu) and to bring new regulations concerning Higher Education governance.
But the most significant change concerns how foreign universities can operate in Turkey. The proposal aims to allow international universities to set up campuses in Turkey as long as they recruit foreign nationals as well as Turkish students.
The proposal aims to bolster Turkey’s ambitions to be a global leader in international Higher Education.
Reach Turkish students with Facebook
Reach turkish Students with Facebook
Our social networking research shows that Facebook penetration in Turkey is 40.45% of the country’s population, and 89.91% of Internet users in Turkey use Facebook. The total number of FB users in Turkey is reaching 31,467,900 and grew by more than 152040 in the last 6 months.
Turkish students are the most active population in terms of social media use. Members of Studybritish.com can advertise on Turkish Facebook for free – ie we will not charge a service fee or commission for placing your ads on Facebook.
If you are a Studybritish.com member institution, begin your targeted advertising campaign here:
We can target all or specific universities for your campaign. We can also target High School students with languages or specific interests.
Monthly campaigns will be your decision: For example, if you choose the 3 month option, we will agree with you 3 specific months during the year to switch on your campaign. You will receive a full click-through report and cost-per-click analysis. The ideal times to activate your campaign are during your visits to Turkey, or during peaks in the student recruitment recruitment cycle.
For further details please contact our Social Media manager, Behiye Bilgin:
behiye.bilgin(@)levantinternational.com +90 212 231 2543.
Studybritish on-campus: Marmara Koleji
Studybritish this week visited Marmara College in Maltepe, a college consisting of 3 high schools with different specialisations (General, Sciences, and Media) in Istanbul and Bodrum. In Istanbul they offer IB classes for internationally-focussed students.
As is typical in Turkey, the students awareness of UK education was limited, other than that it is ‘expensive’, when compared to the USA, which offers ‘more scholarships’ and is the ‘land of opportunity’. Although the students were mainly heading to the UK for IELTS preparation in the summer, their university plans were very much geared towards the US.
The visit was a great chance to educate students (and teachers) about the comparative merits of UK education, in terms of variety, value and recognition. We look forward to meeting the students again at the next UK Education Tour!