Nord Anglia Education

History

Nord Anglia Education was founded in 1972 by Kevin McNeany to teach English as a foreign language. The company grew in the 1970s to the 1980s before moving into the UK education market. Soon after, it entered the Eastern and Central Europe market. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the group also built up a substantial day care and nursery business in addition to its Learning Services arm.

In 2003, Andrew Fitzmaurice joined Nord Anglia Education as CEO. By 2008, Nord Anglia Education sold its nursery business and was mainly focused on premium international schools.

In 2012, the group relocated to Hong Kong to complement growth plans in China and Southeast Asia. In 2013, Nord Anglia acquired World Class Learning Group (WCL) entering the North American market while strengthening its presence in Europe and the Middle East. Through the acquisition of WCL's nine schools, Nord Anglia gained a foothold in the US, Qatar and Spain markets.

Nord Anglia Education's initial public offering took place on March 26, 2014 on the NYSE.

In 2015, Nord Anglia Education announced it acquired six schools from Meritas. This includes four schools in North America, one in Switzerland, and one in China. The Meritas schools are Collège du Léman, Léman International School - Chengdu, San Roberto International School, The Village School, North Broward Preparatory School in Florida, and Windermere Preparatory School in Florida.

In February 2016, Nord Anglia Education announced that it would develop a new international school in Abu Dhabi with a capacity for 2,250 students. The campus will be located close to the central business district and is expected to open in September 2017.

Educational philosophy

Nord Anglia Education's philosophy is "Be Ambitious." According to the company's CEO, Andrew Fitzmaurice, the group's schools aim to develop the child "intellectually, culturally and emotionally." Each school adapts its learning model to suit each individual child, building on their strengths and supporting them to build the skills necessary to succeed in university and in the workplace.

The organization announced a collaboration with The Juilliard School in 2015 with the intention to "nurture students' ambitions through a broad education."

Curriculum

Nord Anglia Education schools offers a combination of curricula depending on the country, region and student population. Many Nord Anglia schools offer a curriculum based on the English National Curriculum until the age of 16, followed by the globally recognized International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Several schools in Asia and Europe offer dual-curriculum and bilingual programs.

Curricula offered

International Baccalaureate

IB Primary Years Programme

IB Middle Years Programme

English National Curriculum

International Primary Curriculum

US curriculum

Vietnamese Curriculum

Qualifications

French Baccalauréat

Swiss Maturité

International Baccalaureate Diploma

International General Certificate of Secondary Education

A-level

Advanced Placement

SAT

Pre-SAT

Student academic achievement

Nord Anglia schools are non-selective, but have strong academic track records.

IGCSE

47.2% of IGCSE grades (10-11) achieved by Nord Anglia Education students were the highest levels of A* or A, which is double the 2015 UK average of 21.2%.

The percentage of students achieving 5A*-C grades, including English and Math at IGCSE is 83.1%, outperforming the UK average of 52.6%.

International Baccalaureate

Nord Anglia Education students have outperformed the IB global average in the last five years. Students' scores on the IB Diploma averaged 33.5, compared to the 2015 global average of 29.9 points. 12.5% of students scored 40 points and above.

Global Campus

Nord Anglia students are connected through Global Campus, an initiative which uses online communities to connect students with their international counterparts. This helps students develop a global perspective and a network of friends around the world. The program offers a wide range of activities undertaken in school, online or at destinations around the world.

The Juilliard School

In February 2015, Nord Anglia Education and The Juilliard School announced a global collaboration to enhance performing arts education for students in grades K-12. The program includes an embedded curriculum along with continued support and engagement with Juilliard alumni and affiliated artists. It also includes professional development for teachers, a summer school and private lessons. The curriculum was rolled out in September 2015 and is expected to educate more than 20,000 students aged 3 to 18 by 2017.

The curriculum focuses on key works of music, dance and drama.

CEO of Nord Anglia Education, Andrew Fitzmaurice, has criticized today's education for focusing too much on league tables and wants to "inspire children to engage with all their studies and develop a love of learning" through the Juilliard collaboration.

King's College London

In 2015, Nord Anglia partnered with King's College London to offer an Executive Master's in International Education. Courses are designed specifically to address challenges specific to international schools. The program is fully funded by Nord Anglia Education and available only to Nord Anglia Education teachers. Nord Anglia and King's College London states that the program will open up to teachers outside Nord Anglia schools in 2020. Fifty teachers will start the program in 2016. The aim of the program is to recruit, develop and retain high quality teachers. The program is a two-year, part-time masters program which is designed to teach effective leadership skills and feature online face-to-face modules.

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

In May 2016, Nord Anglia Education announced a global collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on STEAM subjects for K-12 students. The collaboration will develop a new approach to implement science, technology, engineering, visual arts, and mathematics program across 42 Nord Anglia schools worldwide. Core to the collaboration is the reflection of MIT's philosophy of 'Mens et Manus', 'mind and hand', which calls for a hands-on approach to problem solving. Students will learn directly from lecturers and students at MIT.STEAM discipline teachers at Nord Anglia will also benefit from unique professional development opportunities through annual workshops and ongoing training with MIT staff, hosted by the MIT Museum The CEO of Nord Anglia Education, Andrew Fitzmaurice, said that the collaboration with MIT is intended to help students build skills for the 21st century. He has also said that subjects traditionally taught in school do not necessarily give the knowledge and skills needed in an ever-changing world and the greatest discoveries in our century exist at the cross-section of subjects, citing MIT's groundbreaking cancer research using nanotechnology to destroy cancer cells.

Student profile

Roughly 63% of the total student body of all Nord Anglia Education schools combined are from expat families. The remaining 37% of the student body come from local families.

One in three Nord Anglia graduates in 2015 was accepted to one of the top 100 universities in the world as ranked by the QS World University Rankings.

Corporate affairs

Its head office is Central, Hong Kong. It has offices in Oxford and London in the UK.

It was previously headquartered in the Anglia House in Cheadle, Greater Manchester; and later in the Nord House in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire (the Cheadle office at the time housed the International Schools and Learning Services divisions).

Staff development

Nord Anglia Education also runs Nord Anglia University, an online platform that connects all teachers from across all 42 schools to share teaching methods, experiences and advice. The platform provides online seminars, webinars, and resources so that teachers can continue their professional and career development. Nord Anglia Education appeals to many teachers seeking international education experience. In January 2015, the organization received 9,300 applications for 280 positions.

School facilities

In addition to general classrooms, all Nord Anglia schools are equipped with specialist facilities including for sports, arts and science. Many schools are outfitted with a swimming pool, library and computer lab. Currently, seven schools offer boarding options:

Switzerland

La Côte International School (Aubonne)

Collège du Léman (Geneva)

Collège Beau Soleil (Villars-sur-Ollon)

Collège Champittet (Lausanne)

Thailand

Regents International School Pattaya

St Andrews International School Bangkok

USA

Windermere Preparatory School (Windermere, Florida)

The Village School (Houston, Texas)

North Broward Preparatory School (Coconut Creek, Florida)

China Schools

Nord Anglia Education operates eight schools in mainly Tier 1 cities in China such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. They also operate a K-11 school in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

All Nord Anglia Education schools in China use English as the primary language of instruction. Each student receives four lessons in Mandarin Chinese a week, except in Hong Kong where this is optional. Students reach a proficient level in Mandarin Chinese by the time they leave.

Nord Anglia Education schools in China are among the first to receive the new Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts program in their schools thanks to the growing demand in the region for the institute.

Beijing

Guangdong

Hong Kong

Shanghai

Sichuan

Southeast Asia schools

Nord Anglia Education operates eight schools throughout Southeast Asia in Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Cambodia

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

Middle East schools

Nord Anglia Education operates six schools in Qatar and the UAE. The majority of students are from expat families working in the region's oil industry.

Qatar

United Arab Emirates

North America schools

Nord Anglia Education operates twelve schools in North America. One school is located in Monterrey, Mexico, while the remaining eleven schools are in the United States.

Mexico

United States

Europe schools

Nord Anglia Education operates ten schools in Europe. The majority of schools are in Switzerland, but they also operate schools in Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Spain.

Czech Republic

Hungary

Poland

Slovakia

Spain

Switzerland