Every school looks good in a brochure. Sunny photos, smiling students, a paragraph about passion. None of that is evidence, and you are about to send money to a country you have not visited to live somewhere you have not seen.
So here are twelve questions worth asking any English school, us included. What makes them useful is not the questions themselves, which any school can answer smoothly, but the line under each one: how to check the answer instead of trusting it.
You do not need to ask all twelve. Ask four, and pay attention to how the school reacts. A good school answers a specific question specifically. A school that responds to "what are your refund terms" with a paragraph about their friendly community has told you something.
The paperwork questions
Start here, because these are the ones with a public record behind them. They are also the questions a school with a problem is least comfortable answering.
- Which bodies accredit you, and under what name?
In the Philippines the one that matters most for a student is accreditation to accept foreign students, because that is what lets a school process your study permit at all. Association membership and technical education accreditation say something too, but they are not the same thing.
VerifyAsk for the exact registered name, then look for that name on the authority's own website rather than on the school's. Ours are listed on our accreditation page with links out to each body.
- What permits will I need, who arranges them, and when?
If a school is vague about study permits or tells you not to worry about immigration, walk away. The correct answer names the permit, says who processes it and says when.
VerifyCross-check what they tell you against the Bureau of Immigration, not against another school. Our version is the visa and SSP guide, which deliberately prints no fee amounts because those change by circular.
- What are your refund terms, in writing, before I pay?
Plans change. People get ill, visas get delayed, families have emergencies. The terms should exist as a document, not as a reassuring sentence in a chat window.
VerifyAsk for the written policy and read the part about leaving early, not just the part about cancelling before arrival. Ours is on the provisions of refunds page, published rather than sent on request.
- What exactly is included, and what will be billed separately?
This is where surprises live: permits, airport transfer, textbooks, laundry, electricity, deposits. A number that looks lower than a competitor's often just has more things outside it.
VerifyAsk for a written line-by-line breakdown of what is in and what is extra, then compare schools on the total rather than the headline. Ours is set out on what your stay includes.
The teaching questions
These separate schools that have a system from schools that have a timetable and hope.
- How many one-on-one hours a day, and is that guaranteed in writing?
One-on-one time is the most expensive thing a school gives you and the thing that moves your English fastest. It is also the easiest thing to quietly reduce when a school is short-staffed.
VerifyGet the number per course in writing, and ask what happens if a teacher is absent. A school with a real system will have a make-up policy ready rather than inventing one.
- How is my level decided, and how often is it re-checked?
A placement test on day one is normal. What matters more is whether anyone checks again. Without regular re-testing, a student who improves fast can spend months in a class that stopped stretching them.
VerifyAsk for the testing schedule by name and frequency. Ours runs twice a month plus a monthly test that sets the next month's level, described on how we teach.
- How long do I keep a teacher, and what if we are a bad match?
Personality matters more in a one-on-one hour than in any classroom. A school with no mechanism for changing teachers is asking you to gamble your whole term on one pairing.
VerifyAsk for the assignment period and the process for requesting a change, including the deadline. If the answer is "just tell us", ask who and by when.
- What happens outside class hours?
A teaching day is a few hours. The other twelve either reinforce it or undo it, and the difference between schools is usually here rather than in the classroom.
VerifyAsk what is compulsory, what is optional and what the language rules are. Then ask for an hour-by-hour example, like our day in the life.
The living questions
You are not only buying classes. You are buying a few months of your life in a building you have never seen.
- What is the nationality mix right now?
If most students share your first language, you will speak it, however good your intentions are. This is the single most under-asked question in the industry and one of the most predictive.
VerifyAsk for the current rough split rather than a list of countries they have ever hosted. Ask us too, and if the answer to any school is evasive, that is your answer.
- Can I see recent photos that were not taken by a marketing team?
Every school has a professional photo of its best room. What you want is the ordinary rooms, this year, in normal light.
VerifyAsk for recent unedited photos of the actual room type you are booking. Our photo gallery is deliberately a large pile of real photos rather than a curated handful.
- What happens if I get sick?
Being unwell far from home is the moment a school either has a process or does not. It is worth knowing before you need it, not during.
VerifyAsk who you tell, what happens to missed classes, and how far the nearest clinic is. A school that has done this before answers without hesitating.
- How do I actually get there, and who meets me?
Arrival is the part students underestimate most: a long flight, an unfamiliar airport and a journey inland, usually after no sleep.
VerifyAsk for the meeting point, the name of the person meeting you and what happens if your flight is delayed. Ours is the arrival guide.
How to read the answers
The content of the answers matters less than their shape. Three patterns are worth noticing.
The first is specificity. "We have excellent teachers" is not an answer to any of the twelve questions above. "Teachers are assigned for four weeks and you can request an extension by this deadline" is, and only a school that actually runs that way can produce it quickly.
The second is what happens when the honest answer is unflattering. Ask a question with an awkward answer and see whether you get it. A school that admits it has a lot of students from one country this term, or that its cheapest room is small, is a school telling you the truth on the questions you cannot check.
The third is speed. Schools answer fast when they are selling and slowly when you are already enrolled. If replies are vague before you have paid, they will not improve afterwards.
Quick Takeaways
Ask us all twelve
We would rather answer a hard list of questions than a polite one. Send them over, including the awkward ones, and if another school gives you a better answer than we do, take it.
Send us your questionsYou can also read how to choose a school in Baguio specifically, compare Baguio and Cebu, or look at our campus regulations, which are published rather than sent on request.
