When choosing to come and study English in England students naturally have questions about many things, such as the course, accommodation, visas, and so on. To help make booking a course easy at the British Study Centres there is an an army of busy staff answering emails and taking phone calls from students from all over the world in the process of booking, or simply thinking about studying abroad. Many of them speak the student’s own language- Spanish, German, Italian and so on. When booking something as important as a course and accommodation everyone wants to be sure about the details, so sometimes speaking in the student’s own language is best. Oliver Optiz is BSC’s native German speaker, and if you contact BSC in German there’s a high chance he will write you back. You can ask him and the rest of the staff about anything – the types of courses, accommodation, about London, amongst other things. He’s here all day to help you before you arrive.

-Oliver, how many students do you speak to each day? Do students from some countries, for example those further away, need more reassurance than others?

“I usually write 30-50 emails per day and I make several phone calls. Every email is a bit different and yes some clients do need a lot more attention than others. As far as some students need more reassurance I think it depends on the individual character of the person rather than the country they’re from. Sometimes I write 10 -15 emails to one client answering every possible question you can think of.”

-Some students are worried that they will take the wrong level of class. How likely is this to happen, and what can they do if it does?

“We try to prevent this by testing the students on their first day at school. In this test we check all 4 skills – writing, listing, reading and speaking. If a student finds that we have placed them in the incorrect level we can certainly place the student into their correct level. Having said this, I would like to emphasise that the student should stay in the assigned class for at least two days to give the teachers the opportunity to establish their actual level.”

-Visas are also something that many students ask about. What are the rules, generally, regarding visas to study in the UK? What about working in the UK?

“Oh yes this is rather a big topic and if I am going to try to cover all the rules it would certainly be too much to write here!

I will try to give an overview about it. First of all I would like to mention that European citizens don’t need a visa to study at BSC. All others have, frankly speaking, 3 options: the Student Visitor Visa (SVV), General Student Visa (GSV) and the Work and Travel Visa.

I will start with the Work and Travel Visa. At the moment we only have students from Japan who are on this Visa. You can work and study with this Visa in the UK.

The SVV visa is the most popular Visa at the moment simply because it is easier to get than the GSV. You can study with this visa for up to 24 weeks but you can’t extend your visa nor can you work or change to another school. A lot of countries i.e. non-visa national countries such as Brazil and Japan can even get their visa at a UK airport upon arrival. Others must apply for this visa in their countries e.g. visa-nationals such as Colombia and Thailand.

The GSV is the visa you will need if you want to study more than 24 weeksyou’re your course is less than 24 weeks you can apply for this visa too if you’d like to work part-time or you plan to extend your visa. There are a few more rules which apply to getting this letter. You have to pay your school fees and show you can survive financially in the UK. Students have to send us proof of their level of English (Beginners can’t come to the UK. They have to achieve at least an Elementary level of English in their country of origin).

I would like to point out that these details should been seen as a rough guideline. This information might be not complete. I advise that students who have chosen their visa to read the small prints ).”

-Staff tell me you are seen wearing bicycle shorts to work. How’s cycling in London?

“Oh yes, that’s true I cycle to work and I have to say I like it. I would say that cycling in London is not tougher than in other big cities. I work most at the time in the office so I really enjoy being on my bike in the “fresh” air and being able to catch some sun. Here are some tips to enjoy your ride.

- wear a helmet

- follow the rules

- lock your bike at all time (of course, when you are not cycling)

- be friendly, smile

- watch out for cabs, buses, other cyclists, kids and dog poo )

I am not saying that I follow all of these tips but I think it would help )!”

-As a German what keeps you in London- do you particularly like the warm beer?

“I am sorry but I don’t. I actually can’t stand warm beer. The only thing that you can do with warm beer is get a new one. What keeps me in London? Mmm…. Well, I can improve my English and I really like the job and I have found very good friends here in London.”