Our Mission
To help people improve their lives by improving their IELTS scores.
What We Believe
We believe that in today’s globalized economy, anyone has the ability to improve their lives by working in the career and country of their choice.
We help people do this by providing clear guidance and removing the barriers to a better life.
We are not in the IELTS business. We are in the life improvement business. This is true for our clients and team.
Our 11 Key Principles
Above is why we do what we do. However, any organisation can claim they help people. We wanted to take things a step further and build that into the DNA of the company.
Over the last few years, I have developed the following 11 principles. They are at the very heart of who we are as a company. They dictate everything we do, from how we teach a lesson, to how we work with our team.
I hope they will allow you to see how we do things differently.
Principle 1- Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler
This is a quote from Albert Einstein and our most important principle.
One of the main barriers to a better life is complexity. We believe that things are made overly complex and this can be a barrier for many people.
Things are rarely as complicated as they seem. Our job is to make things as simple as possible for you. We can’t make everything as easy as A-B-C, 1-2-3, but we can make it as simple as it can possibly be.
We do this by breaking complex ideas into easily digestible lessons.
We also do this by critically evaluating accepted ideas, no matter how widely held.
With our team, we make all our systems as simple as possible so that we can spend more time teaching and less time on business and administration.
Principle 2- Everyone is an individual and should be treated that way
Students have been taught in classrooms for centuries. In these classrooms, all the desks are in rows and the curriculums are just as rigid.
Traditional classrooms teach everyone as part of a group.
We believe this is wrong because all students have different needs, strengths, weaknesses, and backgrounds.
We help students establish their particular needs and issues so that they can develop in their own way.
With our team, we help each individual perform to the best of their abilities and fulfil their true potential.
Principle 3- Clarity is king
A huge part of what we do is communication.
We must communicate with our students. Our team must communicate with each other.
In fact, most of the IELTS test is simply testing your ability to communicate clearly.
We emphasise clear communication over anything else, both in our classroom and within our team.
This means that we do not teach fancy words and phrases. We teach you how to write and speak clearly.
This means that we empathise with our students and other members of our team and make their lives easier by taking the time to understand them and communicate clearly with them.
Principle 4- Mindset is more important than ability
Give us a student with a good mindset and we will give you a successful student.
A ‘growth mindset’ will enable you to get whatever score you want.
A ‘fixed mindset’ will mean you consistently fail.
We also hire people for their attitude rather than ability. Ability can be trained easily with a positive and realistic mindset.
Principle 5- You must invest in yourself
We do not work with students who are not prepared to invest their time, energy, or financial resources into improving their lives.
We are dedicating ourselves to you and we expect the same commitment in return.
The more time and energy you invest, the more you will get in return.
There are no shortcuts or hacks. You get out what you put in.
Principle 6- Controlled failure through concise and honest feedback
It is impossible to improve without failure.
We do not want you to fail the test again. To help you avoid this, we provide opportunities for controlled ‘mini-failures’ that show you where you are going wrong and how to improve.
We do not believe in telling students lies in order to keep them happy. We are in the results business, not the deception business.
If you can’t take constructive criticism, you should not work with us. This goes for our team and students. As long as the feedback is accurate, honest, and realistic, it should be accepted.
We also expect criticism from you. We are constantly looking for ways to improve and we believe that feedback from our students and team is the best way to do that.
Principle 7- A process is better than a journey
We do not believe in luck, fate, or ‘hoping’ things will get better. We do not leave things to chance. Life is not a journey.
We believe in applying processes and systems to help us reach our full potential.
We provide step-by-step systems to our students for everything they need, while also allowing them to have the flexibility required to be independent learners.
We provide weekly training for our team and the most comprehensive induction and training program in our industry. Every member of our team is consistently evaluated to make sure that quality remains high.
We reward our team for high performance.
We have stringent and comprehensive systems for every single thing we do in our business.
Principle 8- Action over passive consumption
We live in a world where billions of people passively consume content but take very little action.
We help our students take action and turn their weaknesses into strengths. We do this by giving them feedback on their work and helping them take action on their weaknesses. Content is just a small part of our system for helping people improve.
Every single member of our team actively participates in helping students, helping other members of the team, and helping improve the organisation.
Principle 9- Honesty inspires trust
All our principles and methodologies are based on honesty. This might mean we get criticised and we might tell our students things they do not want to hear from time to time, but the one thing they know is we will not lie to them.
This open and direct way of operating means that both our team and our students are constantly improving, but more importantly, it inspires trust.
We work in an environment where the best ideas win and egos are set aside for the greater good.
Principle 10- Win/Win/Win
Life is not a zero-sum game. There will always be winners and losers, but we believe that everyone we hire and deal with should have the opportunity to win.
When our students win, the team wins and the company wins.
When our students are successful, the team is rewarded and the company grows in stature.
When our team wins, our students become more successful and the company gets stronger.
Win/Win/Win.
Principle 11- Everyone is Accountable
Each student should take responsibility for their performance and results. They should not blame external factors for things that are within their control.
Each teacher should take responsibility for their own performance and must get the best results possible for their students.
With both parties taking responsibility for results, decisions will always be made based on what will lead to results.
On our team, each member of the team is responsible for their performance and development.
At the same time, each team member will have their performance scrutinised by a manager and that manager is accountable for the performance of their team.
With both parties taking responsibility for performance, they will work together, without ego or blame, to establish the best course of action.
That’s what we’ve learned over the last few years and I hope to add to these principles over the years to come.
I’d love to know what you think. If you want to get in touch, feel free to email me- chris@ieltsadvantage.com
Thanks
Founder, IELTS Advantage