EDUCOM Carol Panchaud FAQs
Do you have a question about our educational solutions? Find the answers to the most frequently asked questions. We are also available by email or telephone !
General questions
With the internet overflowing with organisations, it is sometimes difficult to know which one to choose without losing your way in the maze of offers.
EDUCOM provides you with comprehensive support at every stage of the process. We always start by listening attentively to your needs: how old your child is, their level, motivation, requirements and so forth.
The goal is to fully understand the context of each individual so we can find the best solution for you and your child.
A programme specialising in a particular sport, a humanitarian mission to boost your child’s CV, a programme able to host siblings, each taking part in a specific hobby and so forth.
Whatever the request, EDUCOM provides solutions that meet your needs.
And if they don’t exist, we’re also here to find alternatives !
The level of English required very much depends on the class that your child will be joining.
The closer the pupil is to the last few years of schooling, the higher the level of English required.
Admission tests to join a boarding school for the final two years will also be much more selective than if the student joined a lower class.
In general terms, students are required to have a basic knowledge of English so they can :
- Understand the instructions given in class
- Take part in class discussions
- Socialise with other students
University coaching is designed to identify the right universities according to the student’s profile.
Every request is studied in depth so we can be sure that there is a realistic strategy and to obtain as many offers as possible !
Everyone dreams of going to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, or Yale… but not everyone has the academic profile required to study in these universities… The aim is to find the university(ies) that matches the student’s potential and their individual needs.
The next step is to validate the admission criteria with the student :
- The level of English required.
- The key subjects in their curriculum.
- The required predicted grade.
Finally, EDUCOM will help the student showcase their academic record via a personal statement or cover letter. No matter the bachelor’s degree – in business, art history, biotechnology, or sociology – our role is to prompt students to develop their ideas in a coherent and meaningful way so that it reads smoothly and makes an impact.
The aim of the assessment is to identify the student’s strengths, motivations, and abilities to choose the appropriate study path.
Through coaching techniques and personality tests, we highlight the career paths that best match the student’s profile and aspirations.
The goal is not to choose for them but to help them make the right choices for their future.
Students are always more motivated when they know why and with what goal in mind they are studying.
EDUCOM’s counselling, advisory and recommendations are 100% free of charge, for all services related to summer camps, language courses, boarding schools, and gap years.
We are compensated directly by the partners with whom we work.
EDUCOM does not charge any administration fees to parents and does not increase the prices of the stays we offer.
You will never pay more by taking advice from EDUCOM than by booking your stay directly on the Internet.
The vocational guidance and the university coaching are paid services.
Vocational guidance
Price: CHF 850.- (excl. VAT)
University Coaching
Step 1 : university selection :
CHF 1,000 per country (excl. VAT)
Step 2 : preparing the application
CHF 2,000 (excl. VAT) per application – excluding the USA
Adapted quotes are made for multiple applications
Language courses
With the internet overflowing with organisations, it is sometimes difficult to know which one to choose without losing your way in the maze of offers.
EDUCOM provides you with comprehensive support at every stage of the process. We always start by listening attentively to your needs: how old your child is, their level, motivation, requirements and so forth.
The goal is to fully understand the context of each individual so we can find the best solution for you and your child.
A programme specialising in a particular sport, a humanitarian mission to boost your child’s CV, a programme able to host siblings, each taking part in a specific hobby and so forth.
Whatever the request, EDUCOM provides solutions that meet your needs.
And if they don’t exist, we’re also here to find alternatives !
EDUCOM works in partnership with a select group of schools, language institutes and summer camps, all chosen with the highest standards of quality, commitment, and safety in mind. Every year we re-assess the quality of the services offered by our partners so we can guarantee you that they always meet our demanding criteria. EDUCOM is also constantly looking for new organisations so we can offer more in-depth, interesting programmes to prepare your children for the demands of the next generation.
There is no age for sending your child on a summer camp! We work with specialised partners that host very young children (from 3 years old), and other organisations that only host teenagers (14-17 years old).
Our advice for a first camp experience :
- A successful first stay will encourage the desire to renew the experience the following year.
- Opt for a short course of one or two weeks.
- Choose a camp with less intensive lessons or none. There will always be an opportunity to increase the number of course hours for future experiences.
- If your child feels anxious about the idea of leaving home, try to find a friend or sibling to go with them.
Aurélie sent her 7-year-old son to do his first camp in Switzerland. He initially signed up for just one week but liked it so much that he ended up staying a fortnight !
Of course, they can! Many organisations host pupils who are complete beginners in a language. The children always sit a language test when they arrive to make sure they are placed in a group that matches their abilities.
EDUCOM is at your disposal to help you find the language course that suits your child best !
In general terms, we recommend a language course in a school campus. The student often has a better experience in these conditions. It’s also an opportunity to develop social skills and experience life in a community.
Even though host families are selected with great care by our partner organisations, it is still something of a lottery that EDUCOM has no control over.
Here are the situations where EDUCOM recommends your child stays with a host family :
- All the students on the programme are accommodated this way. This avoids creating a split between students who stay on campus for evening activities and those who must go back to their families.
- The student prefers private classes and tailor-made lessons. In this case, we recommend staying with a family where one of the members is the teacher. This is the perfect option for a bespoke programme.
- The child can only go on a study holiday outside the summer vacation. Few organisations offer courses in October or Easter. Families welcome students all year round! So, there are very few constraints in terms of the dates of the language course.
It is important here to distinguish between a summer camp and a language course.
Summer camps are designed for children who are under-age, and they provide comprehensive supervision 24 hours a day.
The children follow a well-established timetable with a series of lessons, activities and excursions that take up the entire day from sunrise to sunset.
Depending on the age of the child, they are allowed some freedom, especially during excursions.
Language courses are designed for students from the age of 16 who no longer want to be in a supervised environment.
This means language schools, which offer courses of different intensities together with the option of sitting a language exam. These schools may put on a range of activities for students to fill their afternoons, but these are never mandatory.
If a student is staying in a hall of residence, they will be responsible for their curfew.
If a student is staying with a host family, they will have to comply with the rules of the house.
EDUCOM is your privileged point of contact for the entire duration your child’s camp experience.
You can reach us at any time and for any emergency: your child cannot fit in, their roommate is unpleasant, they cannot find the driver when they arrive at the airport, or they would like to change activity. We are here to act without delay and find a solution.
We also have the mobile phone number of every camp director so that we can intervene very quickly.
In addition, every parent is given the EDUCOM emergency number before their child departs. This is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during the summer so that we can help you if necessary – a real added value that provides parents with reassurance.
Boarding schools
To select the schools best suited to your child and present their application in the best possible way, EDUCOM requires the following information :
- School reports for the pupil’s last two years
- Their approximate level of English
- A paragraph describing your child’s personality
This information helps us present the student in a personalised way to the different schools selected, thereby guaranteeing there is a match between their requirements and your needs. This also means we will avoid presenting you with unsuitable schools or wasting your time putting together applications that will not be accepted.
The schools will generally require a maths and English test, for which no preparation is required.
The tests will be rounded off with an informal interview. Don’t panic! This interview is more like a discussion than an eliminatory step; it is used to ascertain your child’s level of English and decide on the support they will need during their integration.
EDUCOM will be by your side, providing you with the essential tools to prepare for the interview.
For an integration of a year or longer, we strongly recommend visiting two or three establishments selected with our help. This helps the child really think about their educational future as they discover the atmosphere, infrastructure, environment and so forth. It is reassuring for the parents, too, but especially for the pupil, who will then be able to anticipate the experience to come with relish.
The level of English required very much depends on the class that your child will be joining.
The closer the pupil is to the last few years of schooling, the higher the level of English required.
Admission tests to join a boarding school for the final two years will also be much more selective than if the student joined a lower class.
In general terms, students are required to have a basic knowledge of English so they can :
- Understand the instructions given in class
- Take part in class discussions
- Socialise with other students
All the options are open !
A student who decides to go abroad so they can enjoy a more international education will be away for 2 to 5 years.
This means they will completely change school system.
Students who wish to experience boarding school life for a shorter period, can choose to leave for a year or only a term.
We also have solutions that can accommodate students from 4 to 5 weeks (for half a term or just the month of June).
These short integrations in a boarding school mean that students can leave outside the summer holidays, which are often dedicated to family time. They are also a great way to have a total language immersion with British students and discover a new culture. The programme will also be more intensive since students will take not just English lessons but also all the subjects that are part of conventional schooling.
There is no right or wrong time for this experience.
In some cultures, boarding schools have punitive connotations. In reality, they offer a unique experience. And the students who go to this type of school system often do not want to come back home.
Although EDUCOM will adapt to the profile of each child, it is true that the sooner is always the better. The level of English and admission tests required will be more demanding the closer a child is to the final years of their schooling.
It will also depend greatly on how mature your child is. Some children are mature enough to leave abroad around 10-12 years old, while others will not be ready before they are 15.
Regardless of when your child decides to leave, the experience will always be productive in terms of their :
- Language acquisition
- Increased maturity
- Increased self-confidence
- The strong friendships that are made at a boarding school
Vocational guidance
The aim of the assessment is to identify the student’s strengths, motivations, and abilities to choose the appropriate study path.
Through coaching techniques and personality tests, we highlight the career paths that best match the student’s profile and aspirations.
The goal is not to choose for them but to help them make the right choices for their future.
Students are always more motivated when they know why and with what goal in mind they are studying.
We recommend waiting until the age of 16 before doing a vocational guidance.
Students have a better understanding of themselves and have the maturity needed to think about their future.
The student’s commitment and motivation are vital for a successful vocational guidance. As the time for making the choice draws near, students feel directly concerned and will put in the energy needed to back up their thinking and concretely explore the suggested ideas.
Based on our experience, the best time to do this is in the penultimate year of school. The study choice is close enough to be concrete for the student, while still having plenty time to plan the admission process without stress.
Nevertheless, it is important to listen to the student; indeed, some pupils feel the need even beforehand to make plans and find a sense of purpose in their studies.
The review can also be carried out once the student has finished their schooling so that they can choose a new direction or decide on the path of their master’s degree.
The vocational guidance is not linked to where the student wants to study. The aim is to pinpoint the field of study that suits the student so that they have the best chance of succeeding. It is entirely independent of the target country.
The process takes the form of three, one-hour interviews, generally spread over a period of two to three weeks.
The spacing of the sessions is important to give the student enough time to stand back and think things over.
The sessions take place by videocall or face-to-face in our offices (in Nyon, Switzerland).
At the end of the three sessions, the student is given a summary report that presents all their results together with EDUCOM’s recommendations.
Gap years
The gap year is an opportunity to undertake numerous projects – but you still need to be properly prepared! With the various decisions to be taken, many choices to be made and the organisation, it is easy to feel overwhelmed.
We recommend taking a minimum of 6 months to prepare for your gap year. This is the time needed to put a quality project together while ensuring you have the choice of available options.
For a long-term language course, you should remember that student residences have a limited number of rooms available, and that these are often in great demand. If a student has made up their mind about a specific choice of city, their room in the residence should be reserved several months in advance.
The gap year is a unique opportunity to carry out one project or combine several.
Here are some ideas for filling your gap year constructively :
- Language courses : going abroad on a study holiday helps a student perfect their knowledge of a language and / or take a certificate. In fact, sometimes a student needs to have a certain language level to access university courses abroad. It is also possible to learn several languages! Depending on the student’s level and goals, you will need to check the number of weeks of lessons needed to undertake their project. Some establishments also offer the opportunity to combine language courses followed by an internship in a company (work and study).
- Foundation years : a foundation year is a year of preparatory study (year 0) during which the student can learn the fundamentals of their chosen field. It is also a way of exploring several subjects when a student is still unsure which of two career paths to take. In addition to the academic classes, students take English lessons and university study skills. For students interested in art, the foundation year is often a prerequisite for putting together the portfolio needed to be admitted to a bachelor’s degree.
- Accelerated foundations and language courses : there are “accelerated” foundations that last 6 months. This means that a student can occupy the rest of their year studying a language (or with a different project).
- Humanitarian projects : carrying out a general interest mission in a non-profit organisation. The humanitarian project combines very well with the language study holiday.
A foundation year gives a student the chance to understand their area of interest before moving on to the full three-year programme that leads to a bachelor’s degree. In addition to learning the subject, a student will get used to the university context and acquire the skills needed for higher-level studies.
A foundation year may be suitable in several cases :
- For a student without a school qualification but who still would like to access university studies.
- For a student who finished school at a very early age and who needs to gain in maturity prior to going on to higher education.
- For a student who wants to study in England but does not yet have the level of English to cope with university.
- For a student who wants to do an art course but who does not yet have a portfolio.
The number of universities in England with the option of doing a foundation year is growing every year.
We are at your disposal to guide you and find the foundation course that is best suited to your child.
University coaching
University coaching is designed to identify the right universities according to the student’s profile.
Every request is studied in depth so we can be sure that there is a realistic strategy and to obtain as many offers as possible !
Everyone dreams of going to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, or Yale… but not everyone has the academic profile required to study in these universities… The aim is to find the university(ies) that matches the student’s potential and their individual needs.
The next step is to validate the admission criteria with the student :
- The level of English required.
- The key subjects in their curriculum.
- The required predicted grade.
Finally, EDUCOM will help the student showcase their academic record via a personal statement or cover letter. No matter the bachelor’s degree – in business, art history, biotechnology, or sociology – our role is to prompt students to develop their ideas in a coherent and meaningful way so that it reads smoothly and makes an impact.
Putting together an application can quickly become time-consuming ! And you should remember that it has to be done in addition to the student’s schoolwork load.
To avoid being caught off-guard, we recommend identifying the targeted universities during the last quarter of the penultimate school year. You should then actively start working on the application from the September of the final year.
The admission deadline for most universities is in January.
It takes about two months to put together a high-quality application without stress.
It is quite possible to apply in several countries !
But be careful: the procedure will not be the same from one country to the other. It is very important before you start applying to have a clear overall strategy in mind so you can identify the volume of work required and make sure that it is compatible with the school workload.
At EDUCOM, we help you draw up a detailed schedule of all the stages so that you will have enough time to prepare a high-quality application without stress.
The overall level of English required is C1, which is equivalent to an IELTS of 6.5-7.0.
Admission criteria should always be validated with EDUCOM in advance.
If a student does not have the required level of English to study abroad, we strongly advise them to do a foundation year.