A client of British Council Mexico is looking for a university in the UK to provide an intensive eight or ten-week course (lectures, workshops and practices) in English, focused in Research and Academic English aimed to reach a B2 or C1. Participants will be selected through a thorough recruitment process to assure English proficiency and academic level.

The most important part must be the research practice in which students should assist STEM researchers (laboratories) at your university. Areas of interest for our client in general are: climate change, energy, water cycle and ecosystems.

The aim of this course is academic enhancement, hence English (focus in IELTS 6.5 and above), preparation for GRE and research practices need to represent no less than 90% of their time abroad.

The expected outcome of this course is that students will be successfully applying for a Master or PhD programme at any university of their choice, thus IELTS and GRE are important parts of the proposal.

At this stage, we are seeking validation that this is of interest to UK HEIs and gaining an understanding of how feasible it could be in terms of alignment to UK HE priorities and budget requirements.

To achieve this, we are seeking Expressions of Interest that answer to the following questions:

  1. Would you be able to provide a GRE preparation course?
  2. Would you be able to test IELTS upon completion of the course?
  3. Would you be able to provide 20 to 25 hours per week of lab practices?
  4. Would you be able to host a poster session at the end of the course?
  5. Would you be able to host this course during the summer?
  6. Do you have experience with this type of intervention?
  7. Do you consider the programme is possible on a budget of 5,500 per person or 55,000 for 10 people?
  8. Will the course duration make any difference to the organisation of the course?
  9. What is the minimum and the maximum number of students your university will be able to receive regarding the course and accommodation?
  10. Would you be able to offer a special discount for outstanding students to access your Master or PhD Programmes? If yes, do you have an approximate percentage?
  11. Do you have any other suggestions, concerns or thoughts on the opportunity?

Please submit your Expression of Interest to Pia Reategui (pia.reategui@britishcouncil.org) with a brief response to all of the questions above.

Deadline for submissions: 13 September 2019