Mr. Lorcan O'Connor Lloyd:

Regarding engagement on the IEM, we surveyed our members recently. There are 64 of them, located all over the country. It is important to note that there is a diverse profile of school types. Many of the schools in the large cities offer year-round adult learning but might also have seasonal camps and take educational tour groups, meaning they are junior and adult. However, many of the schools outside the big cities are more seasonal businesses focused on junior learners only. Aside from a thirst for quality, accreditation and so on, one of the carrots with the IEM is being able to access the visa markets. Eventually, the ILEP will be phased out and schools will need to have the IEM accreditation mark to access visa students. If a school does not rely on those students and is just EU business and juniors, though, it does not necessarily need to opt for the IEM. I had a meeting with ICOS recently to discuss the potential pitfalls in that regard to ensure that the junior market would be protected and its students would get a quality service and to encourage as many members as possible to go for the IEM.

Of our 64 members, 50 have decided to go for the IEM this year. Another ten fall into the junior field and are humming and hawing. The remaining four have decided that their business profiles do not fit the IEM, so they will not go for it. Fifty are going for it this year and ten have earmarked it for one of the further cycles.