Student Welfare

For EngXcel, our students' welfare is of the utmost importance, inside or outside the classroom. We have various policies and practices in place to support all our students during their time with us, which you can read about on this page.

The welfare of any of our younger students who have travelled to the UK alone is of particular importance - see what we do to support those students aged 16-17 who are here without a parent or guardian further down the page.

Our team is always around to help out with any questions or issues any of our students may have - just speak to one of our friendly staff members and they'll be happy to help out!

Welfare staff are available on all of our programmes - they're there to look after you, and you can go to them if you have any problems during your stay.

For any welfare enquiries, our main point of contact is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). If you are under 18 and are in the UK alone, you will have regular meetings with the DSL throughout your course to check you are ok.

All students in Cambridge are given our 24-hour emergency number, which they can call if they need any assistance from a member of the EngXcel team outside of our opening hours.

The policy applies to all members of the EngXcel community (including staff, students, volunteers, visitors, partners) who work both inside and outside of EngXcel premises. It sets out the roles and responsibilities, and guidelines to help keep everyone in the EngXcel community - especially children and vulnerable adults - safe. In brief, some of these measures include:

• EngXcel has appointed a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) who is responsible for leading our safeguarding approach.
• EngXcel practices Safer Recruitment, and any staff teaching, caring for or supervising a young person under the age of 18 or vulnerable adults is DBS checked.
• Staff are trained to recognise the potential indicators of abuse and neglect, what to do if they spot them, and how to deal with any disclosures made to them by students.
• Adults and children are taught separately and have separate break times.
• Children aged 5-15 are supervised at all times whilst in the school's care.
• Extra provisions are made to ensure the welfare of unaccompanied students aged 16 & 17 (see more detail below).
• Students aged 14+ are accepted on our closed group courses. These students travel with a group leader who is responsible for them outside of school; there is a minimum teacher-student ratio of 1:20, although a ratio of at least 1:15 is strongly encouraged.
• Strict student ratios are adhered to in lessons and activities with EngXcel. A minimum of 1:6 for ages 5-9 and 1:15 for ages 10-17 must be observed at all times and the ratio for skilled people to students should be increased as the degree of difficulty or danger increases (eg on sporting activities).
• An IT policy is in place to protect staff and students online. 
• EngXcel has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of bullying or harassment, and all allegations are treated seriously, sensitively and confidentially, and investigated fairly.
• Attendance is taken throughout the day to ensure all students are accounted for and students are expected to maintain a minimum 85% attendance.
• Students or their guardian should notify EngXcel if they are absent. EngXcel follows up all unnotified absences.
• All staff undergo training in the government's counter-terrorism Prevent scheme.
• Emergency action plans (including prevention) are in place for threats such as terrorism or fire.
• Access to our online learning system and individual courses within it is controlled; passwords are required to access individual accounts and access is only granted to courses the user is partaking in.
• During online lessons, safeguarding guidelines require staff and students to wear appropriate clothing, use appropriate language, be in an appropriate setting, and if the student is 17 or under cameras must be on at all times. Staff and students are not permitted to take screenshots, and staff may only record the lesson as necessary for pedagogical purposes.

• SUMMER - ages 5+ (including adults)
• ONLINE - ages 5+ (including adults)
• GROUPS - ages 14+ (including adults)

Students aged 5-15 must be in the UK with a responsible adult who will assume responsibility for them outside of school. This could be a parent, guardian, someone appointed by them (eg a family friend living in Cambridge), or a group leader. We are unable to accommodate children aged 15 or under travelling to the UK alone.

Students aged 16-17 can travel and study with us alone - they're still minors, so we make sure to offer extra support if they do, which you can read about below.

Studying English in the UK can be a great solo trip for 16-17 year olds, and for many it's the first experience they have of travelling abroad without their parents. At EngXcel, we want to make sure it's the best experience possible, and that it's safe and worry-free for both the student and their family. That's why we have extra measures in place to support our unaccompanied 16 & 17 year-old students.

Before arrival, we require parents/guardians to complete a parental consent form. This is also signed by the student to acknowledge the guidelines they should follow. This ensures that both the parent and student are happy with the day-to-day activities in which the student will be taking part, the guidelines the student should follow and the student's curfew.

We strongly encourage our 16-17 year-old students travelling alone to take our full-day programme of morning lessons plus afternoon activities. This is because for students taking morning lessons only, there will be large parts of the day and weekends when they would be unsupervised.

All unaccompanied 16-17 year olds must abide by a curfew. This curfew will be 22:00, unless an earlier one has been requested by the parent/guardian. Hosts are informed of the curfew, and will let the school know if the student has missed it. EngXcel may also perform random checks with the hosts to make sure the student is home on time.

Unaccompanied 16-17 year-old students will be accommodated in homestay; they may not stay alone in a serviced apartment or hotel. 

Although there are a range of transport options from the airport to Cambridge, we strongly recommend unaccompanied 16 & 17 year olds book a private taxi transfer through EngXcel to ensure a smooth, safe journey right to their homestay's door.

To help ensure their welfare and wellbeing throughout their time with EngXcel, unaccompanied 16 & 17 year olds will have regular meetings with the  Designated Safeguarding Lead, who will check that everything is ok and they are well.