Learn EnglishFast!

AGENT GUIDE 2013 - 2014

About us ................................................................................................................................. 4Welcome from the directors ................................................................................................... 4Meet the team ........................................................................................................................ 5Manchester head office ......................................................................................................... 5Territory managers and enrolments team .............................................................................. 5Senior leadership ................................................................................................................... 5About our products – how we differ ...................................................................................... 6Courses .................................................................................................................................. 6Social programme .................................................................................................................. 6Teachers and students ........................................................................................................... 7Locations ................................................................................................................................ 7Accommodation ..................................................................................................................... 7Our relationship ...................................................................................................................... 8USPs for agents ..................................................................................................................... 8What we expect from you ...................................................................................................... 8Getting started ....................................................................................................................... 9Registering as an agent ......................................................................................................... 9Agent zone ............................................................................................................................. 9Help and Support.................................................................................................................. 10Territory manager ................................................................................................................. 10Enrolments team .................................................................................................................. 10School teams ....................................................................................................................... 10Resources ............................................................................................................................ 11Physical resources ............................................................................................................... 11Contributions to events and marketing ................................................................................ 11Downloads and virtual resources ......................................................................................... 11Anything else? ...................................................................................................................... 11Communication .................................................................................................................... 12General contact details ........................................................................................................ 12Regular calls ......................................................................................................................... 12Email newsletters ................................................................................................................. 12Social media.......................................................................................................................... 12Conferences ......................................................................................................................... 12We visit you .......................................................................................................................... 12You visit us ........................................................................................................................... 12

Contents

Enrolments ........................................................................................................................... 14The A2Z enrolments process ............................................................................................... 14Distance enrolments ............................................................................................................ 14Local students ...................................................................................................................... 15Information deficit ................................................................................................................ 15How to pay .......................................................................................................................... 16Bank transfers ...................................................................................................................... 16Cash .................................................................................................................................... 16Cards .................................................................................................................................... 16Online ................................................................................................................................... 16Payment terms ..................................................................................................................... 17Commission ......................................................................................................................... 18Rates and step schemes ..................................................................................................... 18Net payments vs Gross payments ...................................................................................... 18Student arrival ..................................................................................................................... 19General terms and conditions ............................................................................................. 19Refunds ............................................................................................................................... 19Visas ..................................................................................................................................... 20Problems and Solutions ....................................................................................................... 21Emergency contacts ............................................................................................................ 21Non emergency contacts ..................................................................................................... 21Head office .......................................................................................................................... 21Dublin ................................................................................................................................... 21London ................................................................................................................................. 21Manchester .......................................................................................................................... 21Accommodation issues ....................................................................................................... 21Course issues ...................................................................................................................... 22Other problems .................................................................................................................... 22Badly behaved students ...................................................................................................... 22Make a complaint ................................................................................................................. 22Other information ................................................................................................................. 23Give us your ideas ................................................................................................................ 23Bronze, Silver and Gold agents ........................................................................................... 23Highly trusted agent status .................................................................................................. 23Joint venture offices ............................................................................................................. 23Our other businesses ........................................................................................................... 24Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 24

About UsJames TaylorFounder and International DirectorE: james.taylor@a2z-english.com T: +44 (0)161883 0709

Hi! Welcome to our team. I hope you enjoy working with us – we like a good adventure so get ready for action.

Being part of the A2Z team is not boring – like our teaching method we move fast and furious and we think that fun is an essential part of the learning experience.

If you want to turbo charge your business we are the right partner to work with.

If you have any ideas or comments please feel free to contact me directly. I am usually building our business in Brazil but can occasionally be found in other countries.

Connect with me on linkedin:www.linkedin.com/in/jamesedwardtaylor

Lets stay in touch!

Rishi MaudhubOperations DirectorE: rishi.maudhub@a2z-english.com T: +44( 0)16 1883 1101

Thank you for choosing A2Z School of English!

I am delighted to welcome you to a learning experience that is interactive, motivational and above all fun!

By using local qualified teachers, we can guarantee your success of mastering the English language. Whether you choose to study at our London, Manchester or Dublin schools, you will receive the same high standard of education together with support from our reception teams available from 8am to 8pm every day. We are much more than just a school.

We are the first step to your new career, so come and join our community and see how much fun learning English can be!

Region A – Maria Gonzalez Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, French

Region B – Mohamed El Bakkouri Arabic

Region C – Isabel Kaczmarek All other languages in the world, including the far east

Meet The Team

Read more about our territory managers and enrolments support team here - www.a2z-english.com/agents/team . To view this page you will need to be logged in to the website. If you have any problems with this please contact agents@a2z-english.com for help.

Senior leadershipIf you would like to talk to someone more senior you are welcome to contact the senior leadership of the business. You can read more about our senior leadership, including their contact details on our website at www.a2z-english.com/who-are-you

Our 15 language zones are grouped as follows:

Manchester head officeOne thing that makes us different from most language schools is our home city. Our head office is based in Manchester, the city of “Rock and Goal”.

• Read more about our head office here - www.a2z-english.com/hq-team• Read more about our history and senior management here - www.a2z-english.com/who-are-you• Read more about Manchester here - www.a2z-english.com/manchester/about

Territory managers and enrolments teamWe are proud of our dedicated agent support and enrolments team.

We assign specialised managers to particular language zones to provide optimal support to our agents.

We work on a language basis to drive and analyse our recruitment instead of nationality. We believe a wide mix of languages is an essential component of student satisfaction. On the other hand, a school can have 10 different nationalities, all of which speak Arabic! Spanish is another language spoken in many countries. Therefore, we think targeting language zones produces a better result for the student.

About Our Products - How We DifferWe are aware that as an agent you have a wide choice of schools to work with. We know that to succeed we need to be better than our competitors and also different. We are passionate about being different to other schools, and some of the main differences are outlined below.

This guide will not give a detailed description of our products, as this information is already available via our website and brochure.

Our website is www.a2z-english.com and sub sites for each school can be found at:

• www.a2z-dublin.com (the same as www.a2z-english.com/dublin )• www.a2z-london.com (the same as www.a2z-english.com/london )• www.a2z-manchester.com (the same as www.a2z-english.com/manchester )

To view or download our brochure either visit www.a2z-english.com/brochure or go to the special downloads area available to only agents at http://a2z-english.com/agents/resources

In summary, these are the main features of our products as compared to other English language schools:

A2Z Other English language schools

We use an original and unique method – the A2Z method. Your students will be forced to speak

and listen more than in any other school.

Standard methodology – nothing special. Students may not be challenged to speak or get the kind of speaking practice they want.

Our courses are sold as numbers of lessons per week. Students can apply these to any kind of class – they

are not limited to either general or exam English.

The course is fixed to only one possible class. No customisation is possible for students. If they

don’t like the teacher they are locked in.

The price paid covers all forms of class, including exam and business English classes.

If a student wants to change to an exam or business English class they will have to pay more.

Our courses are modular – students can buy 20 lessons and add on 4 or 8 extra “modules” per week, and also add on private one to one lessons.

Only one form of product is available, typically 15 hours per week. Alternatively, additional

options are available, but explaining the structure to students is difficult.

This means we have optimal flexibility for students, which means higher satisfaction, and hopefully

increased referral rates for your agency.

Inflexible course options and timetables lead to dis-satisfied students.

Courses

A2Z Other English language schoolsOur social programme has events almost

every day of the week.Many schools provide either no social

schedule or one event a week.

We believe in learning outside the classroom. An integral part of our course is classes outside

the school at least once a term.

All classes happen in classrooms – there is no interaction with the real world.

Our social programme is often highlightedby inspectors as outstanding.

Social activities are a secondary product that is not really important.

Social programme

A2Z Other English language schools

Our teachers are all native speakers of English and qualified.

Unbelievably, some accredited schools still employ non native teachers to reduce their wage

bill. Be careful which schools you use!

We select not just for teaching skills but also for personality and enthusiasm.

Teachers in other schools can be very experienced and knowledgeable, but students want more than this - they want to be enthused by good communicators

We believe that a teacher’s job does not finish at the end of the lesson – we believe in learning

through friendship as well as information.

Teachers in other schools often can’t wait to leave the classroom and get away from students.

We believe this is wrong.

We believe the student mix is just as important as the teaching staff. We recruit based on language

not nationality to try and avoid any language group exceeding 7%.

A school may have 10 different nationalities, but if they all speak the same language the student’s

experience will not be good.

Teachers and students

A2Z Other English language schoolsWe are based in the city centre of DublinManchester and Wimbledon in London.

Your students will not be studying on the edges of the city, in the countryside or in unpleasant cities.

We have selected our locations for a mixture of quality of life, vibrancy, friendliness and affordability.

Central London is too expensive and too far away from homestay hosts – that is one reason we chose

Wimbledon as the base of our London school.Both Manchester and Dublin are affordable and

famous for friendly people and a high quality of living.

Our schools have a coordinated academic and social programme and harmonised pricing, making it easy to

switch between centres and create multi destination courses.

Different centres charge different prices and switching between schools is impossible, difficult or suffers from

a disjointed academic and social programme.

Locations

A2Z Other English language schoolsWe aim to provide 3 main categories of

accommodation, each with 2 sub categories.Only Homestay is available, no other options!

You can read more about our accommodation options on our website –

www. a2z-english.com/accommodation.We are not sure what the price is, where is available…

We understand that accommodation is often more important to students than their course.

Accommodation is treated as something that doesn’t really matter.

We provide airport transfers from any airport you want. Airport transfers only from selected airports.

Accommodation

Our RelationshipTo be successful in business together it is important that we establish a clear, honest and efficient relationship.

USPs for agentsYou can find our unique selling points for students in our brochure, but what are our USPs for agents? What are we offering you?

Why work with A2Z School of English and not someone else?• We have a dedicated team of territory managers, often speaking your language and working your hours.• Outside office hours, our telephone night time team answer calls 24 hours a day. Yes, 24 hours a day – test it.• We aim to provide you with relevant and attractive resources, delivered to your office, at no cost.• We aim to process bookings within 12 hours.• We aim to answer queries and requests within 6 hours.• We select particular agents for special treatment as Gold and/or highly trusted agents. These agents receive particular benefits, including the right to make and issue official documents and receive financial investment into territory marketing.• Your students will have a great time for a very reasonable price. If you can find a comparable match between price and quality tell us and we will aim to beat it.

What we expect from you• Open and frequent communication.• Feedback to help us constantly improve – if you aren’t happy please say something.• At least two email contact and telephone details so we can always stay in touch with you.• Full and accurate information of prospective students.• Familiarise yourself with our terms and conditions.• Never lie to us or customers and never steal from them or us.• Abide by the terms of your signed contract with us.

Here’s to the start of a great business partnership!

Getting StartedRegistering as an agentIf you are reading this guide you have probably already registered as an agent. But just in case, here is the full process:

1. Go to http://a2z-english.com/agent-registration2. Complete the form3. We will contact you to complete the process4. If successful we will issue you with a welcome pack email (brochure, prices, application forms and agent guide) as well as a username and password to access the agent zone of our website (www.a2z-english.com/agents/home)

Agent zoneOur agent zone can be found at www.a2z-english.com/agents/home

It is only accessible to registered agents with a username and password. When you register as a new agent we will issue you with a username and password.

Your username will normally be your email, eg John.Smith@agency.com. Your password will normally be initially set to password1, and you should change it when you first login.

You can login to the website at www.a2z-english.com/user and logout of the website at www.a2z-english.com/logout. Once logged in to the website navigate to www.a2z-english.com/agents/home

Within the agent zone you can• Download resources• Meet the agent team• Request additional resources• Make bookings• Make payments• Update existing bookings• Send anonymous messages and feedback.

Once logged in as an agent you will also be able to access the student zone (a2z-english.com/students/home)

Help And SupportTerritory managerEach agency is assigned a territory manager. This person is your first contact for help, support and information. Their role is generally pre sale. For post sale issues contact the enrolments team (see below).

In general, which territory manager you are assigned will depend on the language the majority of your students speak.

You can read and view staff profiles here: www.a2z-english.com/agents/team

The main contact telephone is +44(0)161 88 30 707

The main contact email is agents@a2z-english.com

Your territory manager will call you every month. This call has 3 purposes:• To inform you of any news we have, eg. special offers, new products etc.• To gather information from you about your market, needs, problems or ideas.• To form a relationship and support you in your work.

In addition we will also email you with any promotions and special offers and news. Feel free to email back!

Enrolments teamThe enrolments team exists to help you with your bookings from after a booking has been made to when the student arrives in the school. This covers accommodation, airport transfers, course changes, invoices and receipts and anything else between sale and arrival at school.

Again, you can view staff profiles online - www.a2z-english.com/agents/team

The main contact telephone is +44(0)161 88 30 706

The main contact email is enrolments@a2z-english.com

School teamsFinally, our school teams are the point of contact after your students have arrived.

Each school has two managers – a school manager and an academic manager. The school manager takes care of anything not related to teaching, including accommodation and welfare issues. The academic manager handles all teaching and learning issues, including level tests, class changes and progress reports/leaving certificates.

You can view current staff profiles online, including contact details:• www.a2z-english.com/dublin/team• www.a2z-english.com/london/team• www.a2z-english.com/manchester/team

ResourcesWe believe you are part of our business. We do not think of you as just another customer, and we understand that you need support to achieve sales. Being an agent is not easy – we believe you!

As far as our finances and time allow we will do our best to make your business a success alongside ours.

Physical resourcesYou can order materials online at http://a2z-english.com/agents/order-materials

We issue all new agents with a standard pack of resources, including• Brochures• Application forms• Price lists• Promotional goods

You can also request extra materials and additional special items. These include• More brochures and application forms etc.• Pop up banners• Posters and fliers• Advert designs• T shirts and cups• Whiskey• Tea• Footballs• High resolution image packs to use in your own marketing designs

Contributions to events and marketingIf you would like us to make a financial contribution to an event or your marketing (for example a brochure) please email us with information and we will consider the request.

Downloads and virtual resourcesYou can download digital resources, including one page product pdfs, brochures, and marketing materials at www.a2z-english.com/agents/downloads

Anything else?If there is anything else that we do not currently offer and you would like, please ask. We will always consider genuine requests seriously, even if the idea is new or involves money! We need your feedback, without your ideas we cannot reach your market effectively.

General contact detailsFor general contact details, see our website – www.a2z-english.com/contact

Regular callsWe aim to call you at least once a month for a discussion to chat about our progress as partners and discuss any challenges you might be facing. After all, we are here to listen to you even if you want to complain about the weather!

This kind of call works best when we know that you are available to talk, so please tell your territory manager what time and on which day you would like to receive the call and we will try to arrange it then. The purpose of the call is to serve you, not annoy you!

Email newslettersWe will aim to email you every 2 weeks with relevant news and information. Please also send us your emails and newsletters, we are interested to see how you market to your customers as well as to us.

Social mediaWe are constantly updating our social media profiles, whether facebook, linkedin or twitter, as well as many other networks. Please connect with us and share your ideas and thoughts this way too.

Facebook• www.facebook.com/a2zschool• www.facebook.com/a2zdublin• www.facebook.com/a2zlondon

Google plus• Manchester - plus.google.com/b/112522223278744938167/112522223278744938167/about• London - plus.google.com/b/100468563618200724074/100468563618200724074/about?hl=en-GB• Dublin - plus.google.com/b/113926806599780094502/113926806599780094502/about?hl=en-GB

Twitter• Twitter.com/a2zschool

Linkedin• www.linkedin.com/company/a2z-school-of-english

ConferencesWe attend as many of the main conferences as we can each year, including ICEF, ALPHE and Studyworld. We would love to meet you there, please let us know if you are going and we will buy you a drink!

We visit youWe want to visit you when we visit your country. We’ll inform you with as much notice as possible. Please suggest somewhere nice for us to have lunch together, and we would love to visit your offices and take a tour!

You visit usOf course, you are always welcome to visit our schools. Just let us know you are coming and we will organise to have lunch together and have a tour of the area if you like. If you require letters of invitation, visa support or accommodation help we are always willing to try and help – just speak to your territory manager.

Communication

The A2Z enrolments processWe try to make our enrolments process as easy and quick as possible. The enrolment process varies depending on whether your student is coming from outside the UK/Ireland or is already in the local area.

Distance enrolmentsMost agency students are “distance” students, meaning they are not currently in the UK or Ireland.In this case we expect the following:

Information and documentation• Give the student complete and accurate information.• Complete an application form. There are two possible ways to do this • Online – login to the agent zone and navigate to http://a2z-english.com/agents/book-online Here you can submit a full application for your student. • Complete an official A2Z paper application form (available for download from www.a2z-english.com/paper-forms )and email to enrolments@a2z-english.com• Depending on the type of student we may need you to email scanned documents to enrolments@a2z-english.com . These include • For government sponsored students - A copy of the embassy letter • For UK tier 4 GSV applicants - Copies of an officially accepted English language certificate showing B1 equivalent level. - Copies of bank statements to show required finance. • For business internship and demi pair students we require other documents listed on the application form such as a CV, a letter to the family etc.

Invoices and payment• After we receive the relevant documentation you will be issued with gross and net invoices – the gross invoice is for the student and the net invoice is for you, the agent, and should show the gross fee less your commission.• Take payment from the customer.

Test and welcome emails• We will invite your student to take an English level test online before their arrival. This test will give us an indication of their English level. Please note, they will also be tested when they arrive at the school, but this test helps us to prepare for the student much better.• Following the test we will email the student a welcome email including a gross receipt, a copy of our student handbook, login details for our student zone, an invitation to connect to our facebook pages and contact details for questions.• If you do not provide us with the student’s email address we will send these to emails to you, the agent. We expect you to forward the email to the student.

Enrolments

Accommodation and airport transfers• If you have booked accommodation our accommodation team will help to arrange this for you. Please note that we cannot normally begin this process until payment is received in full.• Accommodation is subject to availability. If we cannot provide you with the kind of accommodation you initially requested we will offer you the next best alternative or a superior option at a discounted price. We will always try our best to provide you with what you have asked for.• Bookings should be made at least 2 weeks before arrival. In the case of a booking made with less than 2 weeks notice we will try our best, but we cannot make any promises to arrange the accommodation requested.• We will usually provide detailed accommodation details at least 2 weeks before arrival.• However, if a student needs a visa before they can enter either the UK or Ireland, we will not provide specific accommodation details until we receive a scanned copy of the student’s visa.• Finally, if you have booked an airport transfer we will not provide the details of the transfer until you give us the expected arrival time and other details related to the airport transfer booking (airport, flight number, expected arrival time, terminal).

Local studentsNot all students are “distance” students, and if you are recruiting students who already live in the area of the school the enrolments process is slightly different, as follows:

• Students will be asked to do a level test at the school, rather than online.• Usually no accommodation or transport will be required.• Since the student may pay us directly we need to work together to deal with the situation sensitively – we will not issue a net invoice to the customer.• It is helpful if you can tell us that a student of yours is coming before they come and pay, to avoid any confusion about whether a student is direct or not.• Finally, we cannot promise that our reception staff will not offer the student a special offer or discounted course. It is therefore in your interests to try and negotiate with the customer to pay you in advance, not via the reception, but we appreciate that this is not always possible.

In all situations, we will try to work with you for the success of both our businesses.

Information deficitIf you fail to provide full and necessary information your application may be delayed and we may have to contact you for more details.

Please stay in touch with us and give us as much information as possible.

Some agents do not like to share the contact details of their students with us, perhaps because they are scared we will try and deal directly with the student. This is very unhelpful, since it means we cannot contact the student before they arrive, and this can lead to miscommunication, disappointments and confusion.

You can make payments in any of the standard formats that we offer to all customers. The only form we do not accept is cheques. Please note: we are the first English language school in the world to accept bitcoin!

Acceptable formats include:

Bank transfersOur Bank details are;

For Manchester and LondonA2Z Education Ltd, Sort Code: 40 31 24, Account Number: 93800180,IBAN: GB97MIDL40312493800180, SWIFT: MIDLGB22

For DublinA2Z English Ireland Limited, Sort Code: 98 50 10, Account Number: 15928740IBAN: IE25ULSB98501015928740, SWIFT: ULSBIE2D

CashTo pay in cash you will need to make a personal visit to one of our school receptions or our head office. You should pay either a receptionist or a territory manager, do not pay anyone else.

CardsTo pay by card either visit us in person or call us up on the telephone. You can also pay with a card online (see below).• Debit cards• Credit cards (3% surcharge)

OnlineYou can pay online in 2 ways – either• at the end of the enrolments process (http://a2z-english.com/agents/book-online) or• as a one off special payment http://a2z-english.com/agents/payment

In both cases there are 3 payment options• Cards – use a debit card or credit card (3% surcharge for credit cards).• Paypal• Bitcoin

How To Pay

CommissionOur starting commission rate is 20% off course fees.

Your commission rate will feature on the contract and on your A2Z account. The commission rate is negotiable and there is potential to increase it as your partnership with A2Z grows. To claim your commission you will need to send us an invoice with the following details:

• Your bank details• Student ID• Amount you would like to claim• Your commission rate

Rates and step schemesThe main reasons we would increase your commission are

1. We lack students from your language zone. We will pay more commission to agents that provide students from difficult to reach markets.2. You send us higher numbers of students – we measure this in student weeks, not by individual bookings. Therefore, an agent who sends us 100 students for 1 week each (total 100 student weeks) is not as good as an agent who sends us 4 students for 50 weeks each (total 200 student weeks).

In order to make our relationship more fruitful, our current step scheme is as follows:

Net payments vs Gross paymentsWe prefer to receive net fees only as it makes the process more efficient for both sides. We do not like to receive gross fees and pay your commission to you. In other words, when possible, please subtract your commission and pay us the balance.

If you must pay us gross fees, or if the student insists on paying us directly, we will pay your commission within 30 days of receiving both the full payment from the student and a complete emailed invoice from you, the agent. If either the payment or your complete invoice are missing we will be unable to pay your commission or it will be delayed.

In addition, if you want us to pay to a non UK or Irish bank account you will have to pay any bank fees associated with the payment. We have a range of ways of avoiding bank fees, and where possible we will try to reduce them to zero, but this is not always possible.

When students arrive they will first be transported or travel indpendently to their accommodation.

If they are not travelling to the school then the details of travel and accommodation will have been issued with their welcome email.

In case the student has an emergency, there are emergency numbers for each school:

Dublin: 0858 684 116 or +353 858 684 116 with international dialling code Manchester: 07981 876 049 or +44 7981 876 049 with international dialling codeLondon: 07436 962 785 or +44 7436 962 785 with international dialling code

On their first day at school the student will be inducted. This includes:

• Level test and needs analysis with a senior teacher. This level test is in addition to the pre arrival test online. • Details and documents review with a receptionist. If your student has an outstanding balance they will be asked to pay at this point. • They will be given an ID card and an A2Z student welcome pack. • A student welcome session including useful information about the school, location and a guided tour.

They will then be introduced to their teacher and classmates and begin studying.

After a few days the school manager will make an appointment to meet with the student to check that their accommodation is ok and that they do not have any other problems, are settling in and understand how to get what they want. If you require a report from/about the student please let us know and we will try to organise this for you.

General terms and conditionsOur general terms and conditions are all listed online, please read them and explain them to your students - www.a2z-english.com/terms-conditionsBy booking a student onto a course at A2Z you indicate that they have understood the conditions and accept them, so it is important that you explain the conditions and try to resolve any misunderstandings.

RefundsFor our refunds policy, please see www.a2z-english.com/refunds Please note that in most cases we do not offer refunds. The main exception to this is visa refusals. In the case of a visa refusal please note the conditions stated on our website: www.a2z-english.com/refunds#visas

If you have not transferred the payment to us because you have a special deal to issue documentation and hold payment in your account, you may refund the money immediately to the customer, but we will still require the administration fee to be paid in due course.

Student Arrival

VisasVisas are a complicated area. However, extensive information is available on our website at www.a2z-english.com/visas

In general:

UK visas• Student visitor visa – 6 months – no work – no extension – any level of English – apply in your country OR for some countries just arrive at airport with letter.• Extended student visitor visa – 11 months – no work – no extension – any level of English – apply in your country• General student visa – 12 months – sometimes work 10 hours per week – can extend - must have B1 level of English proved with official test – apply in your country

Irish visas• For Irish non visa nationals – apply in Ireland - “Permission to land in Ireland” – to enter Ireland you will need a school letter from our school. - “Permission to remain” – after registering with the Irish police students can work 20 hours per week during their course and 40 hours outside the course.• For Irish visa nationals – apply in your country - Tourist visa – 3 months (90 days ) or less - no work. - C study visa – 3 months or less – cannot generally extend in Ireland - D study visa – more than 3 months – can extend in Ireland - can work 20 hours per week during their course and 40 hours outside the course.

If you require any more information please contact your territory manager.

Problems and SolutionsIt is almost impossible in our industry to avoid all problems. The question is not “how to avoid problems” but “how to deal with problems when they arise”. In view of this, A2Z School of English aims to be an organisation that excels at solving problems and making your life as an agent easier and less stressful.

In all cases, however, we absolutely rely on your help and support to resolve issues. Your understanding of the customer and prior relationship are crucial to our job of providing solutions that satisfy the client and ultimately win us both more business.

Emergency contactsAs mentioned earlier in this document, our emergency contact telephone numbers can be used for out of hours and arrival/accommodation issues. Please see the section headed “student arrival” for more details.

Non emergency contactsDuring UK/Ireland opening hours all our standard contact details should be functioning, and our contact information is as follows:

Head office• Operations Director: Rishi Maudhub – rishi.maudhub@a2z-english.com• Telephone: +44 (0)161 883 1101• Address: A2Z, Clarendon House, 81 Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3LQ, EnglandDublin• School Manager: Stephen Rigney - stephen.rigney@a2z-english.com • Telephone: +353 (0)1 531 4115• Email: dublin@a2z-english.com• Address: A2Z School of English,1st floor, 15 Westmoreland Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, Ireland• Fax: +44 (0)161 883 0246London• School Manager: Moksud Miah – moksud.miah@a2z-english.com• Telephone: +44 (0)203 397 4562• Email: london@a2z-english.com• Address: A2Z School of English, 1st Floor, 1 - 3 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, SW19 1PS, England• Fax +44 (0)161 883 0246Manchester• School Manager: Lukas Chovan - lukas.chovan@a2z-english.com• Telephone: +44 (0)161 883 0708• Email: manchester@a2z-english.com• Address: A2Z School of English, 1st Floor, 40 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 6DE, England• Fax +44 (0)161 883 0246

Accommodation issuesAccommodation issues are a frequent problem for language schools. By providing a high level of information about the accommodation before the student decides we believe that we can help to solve many of these problems. In addition, we endeavour to always provide alternative options to homestay, since we understand that some students want a more independent style of living.

If you have an accommodation issue with a student please contact your territory manager. They may refer the issue to either the enrolments team or the relevant school manager, depending on whether the student has arrived or not.

Course issuesIf one of you students has a problem related to their course we will do our best to help you. Obviously there are occasions when students cannot get what they want (eg a low level student cannot attend a high level class). However, as far as possible we try to be more flexible than our competitors and satisfy students at all times.

If you have a course issue please contact your territory manager and they will try to contact the relevant academic manager to resolve the issue for you and the student.

Other problemsFor any other kind of problem please contact your territory manager. We have solved many kinds of problems over the years, some funny and some sad. There is little that can surprise us!

Badly behaved studentsOccasionally we must discipline students for bad behaviour. This may include smoking, bullying, drugs, alcohol misuse, disrespect to teachers and damage to property. In these kinds of difficult situation we will always remember that the student is a customer, but we must work to protect the atmosphere of the school and for the benefit of all students and staff.

If we decide to discipline a student we will normally contact you to ask you to help us communicate with the student, and perhaps speak with his/her parents/sponsor. We expect you to be available to help resolve the situation. In the unusual event that we need to expel a student, we will contact you to inform you of what is happening. Please note, expelled students are not entitled to refunds.

Make a complaintIf you would like to make a complaint please contact your territory manager first. If you are not happy with the result please contact our operations director by phone, letter or email. The operations director will attempt to help you as much as possible. The operations director’s decision is final.

Give us your ideasIn addition to all the information above, we are always interested in any ideas you have, especially ideas for new business models, marketing methods or ways to participate together in expansion.

If you have ideas please feel free to communicate with anyone in our organisation, especially Rishi Maudhub our operations director and James Taylor, the founder.

We understand that you are also in business and appreciate your insights into your market. Every market is different and constantly changing. We need your feedback, support and ideas to continue to succeed in meeting the global market’s demand.

Bronze, Silver and Gold agentsWe rate agencies into several categories. This will partially affect how we treat you, especially in terms of resources and commission. As a general rule

• Bronze agents are those which have sent us 24 – 71 full time student weeks in the last 12 months• Silver agents are those which have sent us 72 – 119 full time student weeks in the last 12 months• Gold agents are those which have sent us 120 or more full time student weeks in the last 12 months

Being a gold agent is a good thing, as we will give you more commission, possibly credit and visa letters without prior payment, as well as more and better resources.

Highly trusted agent statusIf we decide you are a highly trusted agent we will give you a set of A2Z official letterhead papers and an official stamp. We will allow you to make letters on our behalf in your territory, meaning that you can reduce the time between sale and visa application to a minimum.

This functionality is mostly useful in countries outside the European Economic Area, but occasionally agents within this area like this functionality too.

If you would like this status please ask your territory manager – we will carefully consider your request and work with you toward achieving this status.

We aim to have at least one highly trusted agent in each of our language zones.

Joint venture officesIf you would like to partner with us in any kind of new business venture we are interested in hearing about it. This could be an agency office, a language school or some other related business. Please let us know, we will always consider your suggestions seriously and confidentially.

Other Information

Our other businessesFinally, we want you to be aware of our other businesses and how these can interact with your agency business and perhaps create more income and more business for you. Our other businesses are:

A2Z Teachers• Teacher training for native and non native speakers of English• Recruitment of teachers for English language schools worldwide

A2Z International Franchise• Own your own chain of A2Z School of Engish in your part of the world!• Full training, intellectual property rights and ongoing support from our UK based team.

ConclusionThis guide is constantly evolving so that we can become a bigger and better organisation. If you have any ideas about how we can improve please tell us, and we will do our best to become everything that you need.

We are looking forward to working with you, taking care of your students and doing great business together for many years to come!

Contact A2Z School of English:

t: +44 (0)161 883 0707 e: agents@a2z-english.comw: www@a2z-english.com/agentzone Head Office, 81 Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3LQ, England

Every care has been taken to ensure that the information provided in this document was correct at the time of printing. E&OE.

@a2zschool

Dublin: /a2zdublin London: /a2zlondon Manchester: /a2zschool