Quality, Awards and Achievements

UNE English Language Centre Receives NEAS 2022 Award for Excellence in Online English – The International ‘Gold Standard’ in Online English Delivery

Throughout 2019 the English Language Centre invested in developing an online English Language curriculum.  The original plan was to launch the new course in June 2020.  The global pandemic provided the catalyst to launch our program early, in March 2020, ensuring the continuity of our English program which for nearly 30 years had been taught face-to-face.

We were fortunate to be in a position to launch our online programs when Australia was plunged into isolation, where as many of our counterparts in the English language teaching sector faced much bigger challenges in adapting to the new “normal”.  As with any new project, going online presented many hurdles and it was a steep learning curve to adapt to teaching in an online world.  Key to the success of our Online English program, is centring on student engagement and pastoral support, especially as our students had to endure lengthy disruptions including border closures, isolation, and potentially feeling disconnected from the class and community.

Throughout 2020 and 2021 we connected to our students online through the innovative use of the University’s technologies, such as Moodle, Zoom, and CLMS (an intuitive online education platform developed by Cambridge).  We continued to reflect on what worked well, and on where we could make improvements to our online teaching and managing the wellbeing of our online students and teachers.

In 2021, the ELC completed its bi-annual external quality assurance review, which was conducted by the peak industry body for English language teaching, NEAS.  The NEAS audit, which concluded in May 2021, revealed that the ELC was performing optimally in very challenging conditions, and NEAS indicated that our Online delivery and student engagement was exceptional.  In October 2021, the ELC was successfully awarded “Online Course Endorsement” from NEAS, which is recognised across the sector as the international ‘gold standard’ in online English course delivery.

April 2022 marked a significant milestone for the ELC – our 30th year of teaching English to UNE’s international students.  Two weeks later, three staff from the ELC Leadership team – Jason Seeto (Director), Penelope Main (Business & Academic Manager) and Tom Cooper (Senior Engagement Officer) – attended the NEAS Management Conference, where the ELC was announced as the winner of the NEAS 2022 Online Delivery Award in recognition of high-quality teaching, positive student experience, and innovative use of technology.

Looking forward, in February 2023 the ELC will also celebrate 30 years of NEAS endorsement and collaboration in furthering our mission to be a premium language school in a leading regional university.  With the recent accolades and recognition from a peak body in our sector, it places us in good stead to play our part in the University’s 2021-2030 ‘Future Fit’ Strategic Plan which is a vision for higher education which focuses on transformative opportunities, partnerships, engagement and knowledge creation.