British National Academy

353 High Street

59387 London

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to you about several problems related to a twenty four hours per week course which I have
attended which was advertised for one of the Schools of English that has been accredited by your
organisation, exactly by Heaton School of English which I have attended.
Last January, while I was having a look on Internet, I read an advertisement about a 24 hours per week
English course, which had been scheduled in July in the Heaton School of English. According to the
advertisement, this school was focussed on exam preparation and guaranteed a high pass rate, with native
English teachers who were qualified and had a lot of teaching experience, with reduced and no mixed ability
classes. Furthermore, the advertisement showed a photograph of a fully equipped room with the latest
model computers, so despite that (1) even though I had a lot of doubts about the advertisement; , I decided
to enrol in that course for two weeks because, due to of my work as a tourist guide, I needed to improve my
English skills in order to pass Cambridge University advanced examinations.
To start with, no sooner had I arrived at the first class than I realized that standards of the school fell both
short both of those expected from a school which has been accredited by a well-regarded organisation and
those which were advertised by the school itself. In theory, the Heaton English School promises qualified and
experienced native English teachers. In practice, several of them not only were young but also they had not
taught in a school previously. Likewise they showed a severe lack of knowledge of pedagogy.
Secondly, in their advertisement the school claims(2) that the groups are small there are reduced and that
there are no mixed abilities and levels in their classes. However, when I come (3) joined the class I was
distressed to find that the classes were crowded and groups were made up of a random selection of
students whom had different ages, different abilities and levels. Similarly the reasons they were studying
English were also different. A clear example of this is that there were fluent English speakers with beginners
that hardly knew how to say a few words.
Thirdly, I was promised in advance the most complete preparation for Cambridge University examinations
but this was unavailable since we only did a couple of reading exercises on the whole course, so I do not
understand how this school can boast of having a high pass rate unless these figures have been either
tampered or distorted.
The school also undertook to provide students modern functioning computers and fast internet connection.
Unfortunately, the computer room that I had seen in the photograph ended up being a small room with two
computers which both were outdated and often not operating and the internet connection was far from
being fast. It was so slow that if I wanted to study or to practice my skills I had to go to a nearly nearby
library.
Needless to say, the course was an unsatisfactory experience due to the bad quality of the school and false
advertising promises. As you can imagine, I am quite disappointed with the Heaton School and I am entitled
to a full refund of the course fee. Unless I receive a satisfactory reply in a very near future, I shall be forced
to take the matter further.
I would appreciate it if you look into this matter as soon as possible
Yours Faithfully,
Mary Thompson
In general, the level of vocabulary and grammar is excellent and this would clearly be a pass, with the
exception of a few very, very basic errors – the 3 errors that I have numbered are really errors that belong to
the most basic level – A1/A2 – (basic linking expressions like even though, using present when talking in the
past, third person ‘s’ in present simple - and because they are so basic, they may bring your mark down to a
5 or even a 4, so be careful with those. Otherwise, excellent. Keep practising!

You have attended to an English course, which was advertised on Internet:

Heaton School of English.
- Accredited by The British National Academy.
- Experienced Native English teachers.
- Reduced and no mixed ability classes
- Focused on exam preparation classes. High pass rate guaranteed.
- High quality computers with fast internet connection.

Your notes:
- Young unqualified teachers.
- Poor pedagogy, no experience.
- My class: beginners with fluent English speakers.
- No exam preparation.
- A couple of old PCs. Slow Internet connection.

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