Our history
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ was founded in 1991 as ISIS Education and Travel by David Brown and Robert Darell. The company started operating outbound tours for UK University students through the academic year from September to June. During the summer, we established summer English languages courses for international students.
To gain financing to grow the business, the Founders turned to the , one of the UK’s most successful youth charities. The Trust offered David and Robert a £5,000 loan and two mentors to help see the business through the next stage of its lifecycle. Ï㽶ÊÓƵ has grown to be one of the top 10 businesses sponsored by the Trust and remains closely associated with it today.
The education opportunities we can offer students from around the world have grown in diversity and size since then.
Our timeline
In 1993, we established our first UK adult English language school with the acquisition of Greenwich School of English. In 1999, we opened the Brighton School of English, offering General English courses.
Ï㽶ÊÓƵ added Bucksmore Education to our family to provide high-quality summer courses to individual students in 2003.
Growing our presence in the UK’s academic centre, in 2010, we were delighted to acquire Oxford Sixth Form College in the centre of Oxford next to Oriel College.
In 2013, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ went international for the first time, acquiring our Vancouver and Toronto English language schools.
In 2014, we were proud to invite Bowmark Capital on board as a minority investor in Ï㽶ÊÓƵ. Bowmark are very experienced investors in the education and travel sector, with their support, we were able to pursue our ambitious strategy for growth in the UK and overseas.
Also in 2014, we added San Diego to our centres in North America. Back in the UK, d’Overbroeck’s School was welcomed to the Group, and we acquired Homelingua, now known as Bucksmore Home Tuition.
In 2016 Bangor University International College welcomed its first cohort of international students. In 2017, International College Dundee began teaching integrated Bachelors and Masters courses. The University of Greenwich International College followed in 2018, becoming our first embedded college in London.
In 2021, Ï㽶ÊÓƵ strengthened its position as a global education platform through a management buy-out backed by and the sale of its schools division to . Ï㽶ÊÓƵ’s launch of the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Digital Institute (OIDI) has further developed the international education sector online.
Since then, in response to a growing demand for qualified professionals to cover in-demand professions, we developed a range of vocational programmes and opened our Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Career Colleges in Canada, and developed similar programmes in the UK.
The Academic Partnerships division launched several new UK pathways collaboration with the . The English Language division, opened its latest language school in New York, North America, and continues to enrich its academic offering by equipping students with language skills necessary for the modern-day learner.
In 2022 we launched Education Services partnerships in the UK with Roehampton University and Ravensbourne University and in the US with Mercy University.
In 2023, we launched Education Services partnerships with BPP University (UK) and Academic Partnerships with University of Kent and Edinburgh Napier University.
In 2024, we opened our first Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Global Hubs, in-country centres operating in partnership with trusted institutions worldwide, expanded into Australia with our Education Services partnership with University of Notre Dame Australia and acquired Universal Learning Group (ULG) including the and our English School in Melbourne, Australia.
In 2025, we launched Education Services partnerships with University of Louisville (Kentucky, USA), Health Services University, Winchester University and Coquitlam College (Canada). We also partnered with University of Southampton to deliver the first UGC-approved international branch campus in India under the National Education Policy 2020.
So far in 2026, we have launched our Education Services partnership with Whitecliffe University of Applied Sciences (Berlin International), expanding our portfolio into Germany. We began recruiting internationally for Universal Higher Education UK (UHE UK) alongside its offering for domestic students, starting with degrees designed and awarded by University of Roehampton, London, and added degree delivery designed and awarded by University of Bradford for international students.
We believe we’re just getting started and the best is yet to come. At the core of Ï㽶ÊÓƵ remains an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to deliver the very best experiences for our students.