Englanders Scholarship Board Albania

30 contestants for 10 scholarships

Access to best British boarding schools

  • Candidates have to demonstrate high academic ability.
  • Maths and English tests apply.
  • The scholarships are awarded on merit only
  • Transparent rounds of selection

  Apply NOW

TOTAL COST

30.000 / 40.000 Pound

15,000 Pound per annum

  • ATTN no further scholarship applied * includes tuition, accommodation, food, laundry, most activities.
  • Does not include deposit (refundable on course completion), guardianship if required and/or administration fee.
  • The school fees per annum to be paid by the family for Englanders Scholarship winners 2023 will not be lower than 15,000 Pound.

Scholarship guaranteed for

    •  One or each of the two years of an IGCSE course.

    •  One or each of the two years of an A-level course.

    • One or each of the two years of an IB course.

    •  One Year Foundation Programme

APPLICABLE

  • September 2023 intake
  • GPA 9+ and fluency in English
  • OPEN to 9, 10 and 11 grade graduates 

UK boarding school locations

Within 30 minutes from all destinations except Exeter slightly more than half an hour.
□ Durham  □ London           □ Exeter      □ Southampton
□ Reading □ Cambridge    □ Norwich   □ Bath  

* If you are interested on another level of studies or a particular destination please contact us to enquire about options.


HOW TO APPLY

1) Start: apply online by sending to esba@crown.al

  •  passport
  • last academic year grades translated
  • any internationally recognized English test result obtained *applications received after April 30th 16:00 CET will not be considered

2 ) Be present at preliminary meeting

  • with your parent or legal guardian
  • sign application form and related documents

3) Exam day within a week

  • Present yourself with your passport,
  • The fee of the ESBA test is  100 Pound to be paid at the Bank account of Englanders CR. Upon test completion, on the test day 50% of the ESBA test fee will be refunded.

4) Know your result and move ahead

  •  make a preliminary interview with the board
  • If successful you will be awarded a Certificate of Scholarship
  •  you will be presented with a school that matches your aspirations

5) Final Actions

  • apply to the British school and achieve conditional offer
  • complete conditions of the offer
  • pass the interview with the UK boarding school
  •  present actual grades upon completion of academic year in Albania
  • prepare documents for visa application
  • apply for a visa

Englanders Scholarship Board Albania

Welcome to the online application portal for Englanders Scholarship Board Albania.

By submitting the following information you express your interest to participate in the merit based competition dedicated to talented students from Albania and the region.

Englanders Scholarship Board Albania secures reduced fixed tuition and boarding costs to best UK boarding schools.

The competition works on a ‘first come first served’ basis as places are limited to only 30 contestants who compete for 10 Englanders scholarships.

The competition includes some rounds of transparent selections including Maths and English tests followed by academic interviews.

Apply NOW



A British Education – navigating the amazing choice of subjects

Across the world, students at secondary school typically study 10 to 15 subjects.  They might have a little bit of choice, but most subjects are compulsory.  They must study their native language, they have to study mathematics, they all have to do science and a foreign language (often English), usually there is some social studies and humanities.  These subjects are taken all the way through school, a wide range of subjects whether you enjoy them or not, and whether you are good at them or not.  Most students love some of their subjects and either dislike or are bored by the others.

In the British system, the situation is very similar until students are 16 years old and go into the last two years of the school system.  When they are 16 they take examinations in the wide range of subjects that are expected in most parts of the world, but they are then allowed to choose their three or four favourite subjects, with an incredibly wide selection available to them, not just the typical 10 or 15 subjects that might be expected.

The final two years of school cover what is known as advanced level education (or A-levels), which provide specialisation and depth in usually three subjects, or sometimes four in some circumstances.  The number and variety of possible A-levels is enormous – there are over 50 subjects that students can select from.  A-levels can be taken in accounting, business, law, media studies, computer science, philosophy, psychology, politics, statistics, sociology, Hebrew, classical civilisations, Persian, Turkish: range of subjects is amazing.

It is not a requirement to study English or mathematics – the choice is completely free and it depends on the strengths and interests of the student, and on what the student wants to study later at university.

For some degree subjects, it does not matter which subjects are chosen at A-level.  Far more important is getting good grades, which means selecting your favourite subjects that you know you will really enjoy and at which you will enjoy working hard.

Other degree subjects require particular A-levels.  Some of these choices are obvious. 

If you want to be an engineer, you must take A-levels in mathematics and probably physics.  You might take additional mathematics is your third subject, or chemistry, or biology, or computer science.  Exactly which combination is better depends on the interests of the student.

If you want to be a psychologist, the possible choices are much wider.  For example, the requirements to study psychology at the University of Oxford are that you take at least one science subject, or mathematics, or psychology.  So, it is acceptable to have A-levels that are mathematics, Turkish and economics as preparation for a psychology degree.  Admission to many degree courses is very competitive and for this course it will be better to have top grades in mathematics, Turkish and economics than less strong grades in biology, chemistry and psychology.

For medical degrees, A-level chemistry is essential, and biology is recommended in addition.  However, the third subject can be anything.  Medicine is a very competitive course and very high grades are necessary even to be considered for admission, so it is important if you are contemplating applying for medicine to be confident that you will get very good grades in chemistry, biology and whatever you choose as your third subject.

International students benefit from advice from experienced advisers when selecting their A-levels.  It can be difficult to understand how the system works and it can be difficult to understand the huge range of options that are available, but it is worth making the effort because students find the specialisation of A-levels to be a really enjoyable experience.  International students enjoyed the opportunity to study business, or law, or photography, or many of the other more unusual subjects that are not generally available for academic study at schools in most parts of the world.

Another advantage of A-levels is that the added depth and specialisation means that British undergraduate degrees are often shorter than in other countries.  They are also very highly regarded and Bachelors’ degrees from prestigious British universities are usually all that is required for a successful career, rather than needing to spend a further year doing a Masters’ qualification at less respected universities.

Most graduates from British universities start successful careers at the age of 21.

Englanders Scholarship Board Albania

Welcome to the online application portal for Englanders Scholarship Board Albania.

By submitting the following information you express your interest to participate in the merit based competition dedicated to talented students from Albania and the region.

Englanders Scholarship Board Albania secures reduced fixed tuition and boarding costs to best UK boarding schools.

The competition works on a ‘first come first served’ basis as places are limited to only 30 contestants who compete for 10 Englanders scholarships.

The competition includes some rounds of transparent selections including Maths and English tests followed by academic interviews.



A British Boarding school – the safest place on Earth

Stuart-Nicholason

 

Stuart Nicholson
Alumnus of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh

British boarding schools have a well-deserved reputation for taking extremely good care of their pupils.  For example, most schools have well-equipped medical centres, with comfortable private bedrooms for any students who are poorly, and many have fully qualified nursing staff taking care of anyone who is unwell or injured.

During the current pandemic, there is probably nowhere safer than a British boarding school.  Despite the high numbers of Covid casualties in the UK, our boarding schools operate some of the most effective infection control processes imaginable.  This is possible because boarding schools can become self-contained communities, safely isolated away from sources of infection.  Everything that is needed is contained within the school grounds and access is carefully controlled to make sure that all hygiene precautions are fully observed to keep the virus at bay.

There is also probably nowhere that is more fun to be during the pandemic as all the school’s facilities, all safely away from the general public, can continue to operate as normal.  If you are studying at a boarding school, everything continues as normal.  The school catering provision continues and you have access to very high quality food prepared by experts chefs.  Boarding schools usually have very large grounds and you are likely to have several football fields to choose from, tennis courts to play on, artificial pitches, sports hall, fitness and gym equipment, and probably an indoor swimming pool.  There will be music practice rooms, well-equipped art departments, theatre or stage and plenty of people with whom to enjoy all of this.

The provision which is available at British boarding schools really is remarkable.  It is like living in an amazingly well-equipped small village, with a superb range of facilities being shared by just a few hundred pupils.  They live in their boarding houses as ultrasafe household groups, like large families, able to move comfortably and freely around their bedrooms, common rooms and kitchens and relaxation areas.

The students are completely safe within the grounds of the school and because there is no need for them to leave the grounds of the school, they spend their time with other people who are also safely isolated away from the infection. Some British boarding schools have had no infections at all in either students or staff.

Students from all over the world have been taking advantage of this boarding school safety, its excellent provision of facilities, and of course its excellent education.  Where better to spend all of your school days, not just lockdown days?

 

Englanders Scholarship Board Albania

Welcome to the online application portal for Englanders Scholarship Board Albania.

By submitting the following information you express your interest to participate in the merit based competition dedicated to talented students from Albania and the region.

Englanders Scholarship Board Albania secures reduced fixed tuition and boarding costs to best UK boarding schools.

The competition works on a ‘first come first served’ basis as places are limited to only 30 contestants who compete for 10 Englanders scholarships.

The competition includes some rounds of transparent selections including Maths and English tests followed by academic interviews.

Apply NOW



UK Scholarship competition

ESBA Chair Interview

Stuart Nicholson
Alumnus of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh

Why Albania?

Albania is a fascinating country.  Under its dictatorship, Albania was famous in Britain because it was such a closed country – we knew less about Albania than we did about North Korea. When I first visited Tirana, I was surprised to find a modern and forward-thinking capital city. I was also impressed by the country’s thirst for democracy and was struck by the determination of its young people for a democratic, fair and corruption-free country.  They wanted an international education but could not afford the very high fees for UK boarding schools and I wanted to try and establish a scholarship programme to help the bright young Albanians I met afford it.

Last year I had the opportunity to approach several boarding schools in the UK and ask if they would be willing to provide Scholarships that would cover half the fees at their schools. I was delighted by their enthusiasm for this project.

I am now looking to find students of very high academic ability whose families might be able to afford these lower fees.

What are the things to consider before registering for this competition?

This competition is designed to find students of very high academic ability and who seek to win a place at a British boarding school.   Successful candidates will be working in English with native-speaking British students. 

As the scholarships offered by the schools will cover more than half the cost of full school fees, the scholarships are offered on merit to those who are very high ability. The competition is designed to identify students who will be able to get top grades who will have the ambition to go and study at some of the UK’s finest universities.

So, do you love learning?  Is it exciting and enjoyable?  Is your English really good?  Are you one of the top students in your school and would you love to study in the UK?

What’s the best/ideal age to start studies abroad?

Although the best age at which to come and study in the UK is as early as possible because of the requirement to become fluent in English, in practice it is a balance of many factors – the student’s wishes and maturity, the family’s willingness to let their child go overseas for such a long time, the ability and ambition of the student and their fluency in English.

Most importantly for the Englanders scholarships, I have met students age 15 or 16 from Albania whose English is already very strong and they would be able to learn alongside native-speaking British students.  This is the critical age for the preparation which will be necessary to achieve entry to a top UK university at age 18. 

There may be one or two places available for students who are not able to start until age 17.  So we will be interested to meet very high ability students who will be age between 15 and 17 on 1 September 2020.

What are some typical features of boarding schools in the UK?

British boarding schools have a global reputation for the quality of their provision.  Teaching is recognised as being amongst the best in the world, with very small class sizes and with the opportunity not just learn what is in the curriculum.  These expert teachers help students go beyond the curriculum.  If you hope for a place at the very best universities, the opportunity to learn in greater depth is a real advantage.  

The schools are famous not just for academic reasons, as the schools are also extremely good at helping students develop their own moral character, personal and communication skills, as well as a sense of integrity and social values.  

Boarding schools also have very good facilities, not just in the classrooms, but also for sport, dramatic and creative studies, as well as the usual academic subjects.  So, as well as educating world leaders, inventors, and scientists, British boarding schools produce Oscar winners and Olympic gold medallists. 

How were the particular schools selected?

I chose schools that are known personally to me and where I know the head teachers. These are schools where I know the quality of the provision is excellent – the highest standards of teaching, with very good results for very bright students, and a supportive approach that helps students develop in the best possible ways. All of this will enable students to achieve their ambitions at schools that support individuals, giving them the best opportunity to develop their talents to the full.

What are the unique characteristics in terms of subject/testing/learning for the British Education system?

From the age of 16, the British education system is remarkable and unique. What makes it so special is the opportunity that students have to focus on subjects which they most enjoy.  In most countries, students must continue studying as many as fifteen subjects until they leave school at the age of 18.  The British system allows students after age 16 to study the subjects they most enjoy.  This means that students can focus on, for example, maths, physics and chemistry, or history, biology and maths, or any other combination of subjects.  There are also subjects which generally are not available before university in many countries.  These include law, business, and psychology, which are all popular subjects with international students who study in the UK.

This means students learn in real depth the subjects that matter most to them rather than having to continue a very broad selection of subjects, many of which they no longer particularly like.

Families are surprised to learn that this does not mean a narrowing of future choices. The British university system is remarkably flexible, and universities are generally more concerned about the grades than the exact subject that you have chosen to study.  For example, if you want to do a degree in law then universities don’t mind if you have studied maths and physics at school or whether you have studied history and geography.

There are some exceptions to this: if you wish to study medicine then at school you must take chemistry, biology and probably also physics.  To be an engineer then you will need maths and physics, and maybe chemistry or biology.  But these subjects are the exception and most courses are very flexible.  Schools are very experienced in providing advice about the type of subjects to be taken to school to prepare for the right type of University course.  You will also receive expert advice about this as part of the selection process in the Englander scholarship programme.

The approach to learning in the British system is a very active one. This is very different from the experience that students have in many countries, where school learning is all about listening, copying and repeating, rather than thinking and being involved is discussion and debate. Especially at boarding school, students are expected to be actively engaged in their learning, both in and out of class.

These are high calibre schools and students will find small classes and expert teachers.  At age 16 to 18, class sizes are typically about 10 students.  Students are expected to be involved, questioning and actively learning in the whole process.  If you are studying science subjects, you will find the subjects are approached in a completely practical way.  Science in UK schools is not a dry and theoretical, book and backboard subject, but a practical and engaging subject in which students learn by doing, analysing and thinking, rather than by listening, copying and repeating.

How do boarding schools help with University enrolments?

The schools have staff who are very experienced in supporting students in the university application process. They will have specialist staff that help students in selecting appropriate universities and appropriate courses. This means helping them in making the applications, advising on their personal statements and in completing the application forms.  Staff also help produce a reference which is sent from school to university in support of the student’s application.

British universities have a centralised application system, known as UCAS.  Through UCAS, students complete just one application form and this is sent to five universities chosen by the student.  The universities then decide if they wish to offer the student a place.  The whole process is overseen and supported by staff in the schools.

What’s a typical day like in a boarding school?

A typical day in a boarding school is a busy and happy one.

Students are woken at about 7 in the morning by staff who will have been on duty overnight.  There is breakfast in the school dining hall before assembly, and then lessons, which typically start at about 8:30 in the morning.  The food in British boarding schools has a very good reputation, so students are well nourished for a busy day!

The typical lesson length is about 40 minutes and there will be about 8 lessons each day. There is typically a break of about 20-minutes in the middle of the morning and an hour for lunch. At lunchtime and after school there will be additional activities and clubs for students to take part in and enjoy. There is usually a very wide range of possibilities, from metalwork to horse riding, and from rugby to ballet. Schools have their own sports grounds and often things like a swimming pool, music practice rooms, and theatres as well.

There are team games, competitions, debating, concerts and plays – all of which students are encouraged to take part in and to broaden their educational experience, develop social skills and discover new interests.

In the evening there is homework, usually known in British boarding schools as prep. The amount of prep depends on the age of the student, but those who are preparing for university might be doing two hours per evening and some additional revision and learning at the weekend.  There is plenty of time for fun as well of course, especially with free time at the weekend where students may visit the local town with friends or go on organised trips that the school arranges.  These trips may be educational, cultural or for entertainment, such as trips to local cities or to local leisure facilities.

Should Albanian parents and students be worried about Brexit?   

“What will be the impact of Brexit?” has been a question asked by everyone in recent months.  For Albanian students and their families, if anything, Brexit might work to their advantage, as there will now be no difference between students coming from outside the EU and those that are in the EU.  The recently-elected Conservative government in the UK has won a large majority and pledged a fair and positive immigration policy.  We have already seen an extension of the post-study work visa arrangements and a more accessible salary level for immigration.  This has been reinforced by an emphasis on welcoming those with good English and good levels of higher education – all of which is very good news for an Albanian student competing for an Englander scholarship.