New Cambridge and IELTS exam classes – 16th March

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Cambridge students listening to vital grammar explanations 🙂

In just over 1-month BBELS will begin it’s new classes for the Cambridge and IELTS exam courses. There are still a few spaces available if you are interested in studying with us. As you can see from previous posts, our exam teachers have a strong history of helping their students attain fantastic results.

BBELS is one of the few schools in Australia that provides lessons for Cambridge Proficiency students. Since we started teaching Proficiency our fabulous teacher Kat has helped every student pass this very difficult exam. Congratulations to Kat and her students.

Similarly, students who study with us to prepare for the IELTS exam have also had some wonderful success-stories. Many of them have achieved results higher than they expected which has helped them for immigration purposes as well as for entrance into exclusive university courses around the world.

Our next Cambridge and IELTS preparation courses start on the 16th March. Contact us at info@bbels.com.au for more information.

 

 

The BBELS Buddy Dinner

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Some of our international students enjoying the night at the Buddy Dinner

On Friday night our students enjoyed the first Buddy Dinner for the year. Each student was paired with another student from a different country, a different class, and most importantly a different language group while eating a free dinner from the Nirvana Cafe (the new cafe at BBELS).

Our students always love these Buddy Dinners because they have the chance to meet students that they mightn’t socialise with during school hours. And who doesn’t like a free dinner?  🙂

As you can see, our students had a great time. After the meal, music was played and the night was danced away. Our next Buddy Dinner will be held in the next 12-week block. Contact us at info@bbels.com.au if you’d like to know more about our regular activity program or course outlines.

 

 

Cambridge Exams at BBELS: Amazing results in 2019

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Cambridge Advanced English (C1) exam results

If you are thinking about studying one of the Cambridge English exams then consider studying here at Byron Bay English Language School. Yes it’s true that we offer a beautiful place to study but more importantly our Cambridge students receive amazingly good success rates.

Looking at the two graphs you can see that in 2019 our Cambridge Advanced (CAE) exam students and our First Certificate (FCE) students achieved results that were higher than the national and international average. Furthermore, our students were higher than average in each component of the exam: listening, reading, speaking, use of English, and writing.

 

Cambridge First Certificate in English (B2) exam results

We are so happy for the students who studied so hard to achieve these results. We are also so proud of our Cambridge teachers who plan and deliver lessons that are obviously so well suited to the needs of the individual students and the challenges of the exams.

Well done to our students and teachers from 2019. We are sure that this success will continue in 2020.

If you would like to know any more information about our exam courses please contact us at info@bbels.com.au or visit our website.

 

 

Welcome to our new students

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1st day of school

A big warm welcome to our first intake of new students for 2020. This week saw the beginning of our first block for the year. They are a friendly group from so many countries: Spain, Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Andorra. We are so happy that they will get to experience such multicultural diversity here.

We have students studying General English, IELTS, and the Cambridge English First/Advanced/Proficiency exam courses. We wish all of them the best of luck in their studies and we hope that their English level improves while also learning the value of sensitivity towards cultural differences.

Contact us at info@bbels.com.au for more information about the Byron Bay English Language School.

Student Nationality Mix January 2020

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Happy New Year everyone!

2020 has started with a beautiful mix of nationalities here at BBELS. As you can see from the graph there are a diverse range of students studying with us from Europe, South America, and Asia. Our students get to study English in this beautiful and relaxed beach-side town while making friends with classmates from so many different countries.

If you would like to share the experience of studying in this multicultural school please contact us directly at info@bbels.com.au or visit our website

Goodbye 2019

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2019 has been a fantastic year here at BBELS and we would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all our wonderful students, agents, teachers and staff.

Throughout the year over 700 students came to study here. Their feedback described how much they loved living in Byron Bay while studying with us. We had students who studied in our General English program whose English improved so they could feel confident to travel around Australia. We had students take the Cambridge English exams so they could find better work opportunities back home. And, we had students enrol in our IELTS course to help them with immigration and university options. Thanks to the teachers and admin staff for making their time here a productive and enjoyable one.

We hope to hear from you in 2020. Happy holidays 🙂

 

Tax information: Student visas and Working Holiday visas

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At BBELS we have a lot of students who are interested in working while they are studying. To do this students first need to apply for a Working Holiday Visa or a Student Visa. It is important that our students understand how their income will be taxed while working in Australia.

If you work in Australia, tax will be withheld from your pay and you may need to lodge a tax return each year. The requirement to lodge a tax return will depend on how much income you have earned during the year.

The Australian income year starts on 1 July and ends on 30 June the following year.

For students on a Student Visa: if you are a student enrolled to study in Australia in a course that lasts for six months or more, you will generally be regarded as an Australian resident for tax purposes. You will therefore pay tax on your earnings at the same rate as Australian residents. For more information follow this link.

For students on a Working Holiday or Work and Holiday Visa:  the first $37,000 of your income will be taxed at 15% and the balance will be taxed at ordinary rates. For more information follow this link.

If you would like to know more about working while studying at BBELS please contact us directly at info@bbels.com.au or visit our website.

 

 

 

 

Cambridge Classes visit the Farmers’ Markets

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Some happy Cambridge students standing outside the free double-decker bus to the markets

It’s a beautiful spring day here in Byron Bay … ideal weather to take our new Cambridge classes to the local Byron Bay Farmers’ Markets. Both classes took the free bus that runs from town to the market area where they then spent an hour looking at the local organic produce while talking to each other in English.

Nino, Lucas and Thomas, plus some photo-bombers in the bus.

Excursions like these are a great way for our students to understand the local community more comprehensively. They are also a friendly way for our students to spend time with one another, making friendships that will hopefully last long into the future.

If you look very closely to Nino (on the left) you will see that he looks 1-year older. Happy birthday Nino 🙂

Meet the Staff: Lauren at Reception

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In this post we are happy to introduce you to Lauren. Lauren works at reception where she helps students with general enquiries. She is also fluent in Japanese and so she is able to help our Japanese students if they need to speak in their first language.

We asked Lauren to answer a few questions so you can get to know her better. Here they are 🙂

1. What is your role at BBELS? 

My job is student services and reception. I help our students adjust to life in Byron Bay and assist with any questions or problems they might have. I’m also in charge of Japan marketing because I can speak Japanese.

2. What did you do before coming to work at BBELS?

I worked as an English teacher in Japan for 6 years. I spent a lot of time traveling around the country and lived in Tokyo, Hokkaido and Kyoto. I have just moved home to Australia recently and was lucky enough to have the chance to continue my connection with English education at BBELS.

3. What are your tips for learning a 2nd language?

Do what you love in English! Whether it’s watching movies, listening to music, reading. Whatever keeps you interested will keep you motivated and help you to learn how to communicate in natural English, not just textbook grammar.

4. Where is a nice place you enjoy going to in the local area?

Byron Bay is very beautiful, but I also recommend visiting the surrounding areas such as Ballina (my hometown), Lennox Head and Bangalow. They have all the charms of Byron but without the crowds!

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If you would like to know more about our courses, you can contact Lauren at info@bbels.com or visit our website.

Welcome to BBELS, Byron Bay’s only independent English Language School

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This year the Byron Bay English Language School is so excited to be celebrating its 21st birthday. Since 1998 we have had over 10,000 students from all over the world enter our classrooms. These students have successfully graduated from our General English courses as well as our Cambridge and IELTS exam preparation courses.

As you can see from this previous post our students graduate with results that are above the national and international average. So not only do we have a school in one of Australia’s most beautiful beach destinations, we also ensure that our students are receiving high quality lessons that will benefit them in their future chosen paths.

Being an independent school we are able to treat students according to their individual needs, unlike the bigger chain schools which follow programs with only a mass market in mind. Our students love it here and we know that you will too.

For more information about BBELS visit our website.