Kaplan International

DEAR AGENT PARTNER,

We have been watching the conditions in our destination countries closely as the Coronavirus continues to spread. In all of our destinations, the response from local and national governments has been inconsistent, making it hard to create a reliable plan for the future. The coming weeks and months will certainly be difficult ones for all of us, and we at Kaplan International Languages are working hard to put forth a proactive plan on how we intend weather this storm.

With uncertainty as to when our destination countries will reopen and will be accepting international visitors, we believe that being candid and realistic about when our schools can resume normal operations is the responsible approach to take – one which will be appreciated by our students and which is in the long-term best interest of our business. Kaplan International Languages has the continued support of our parent company, Graham Holding Company, and we are confident that we will emerge from this difficult period with strength and a continued commitment to serving our students and agent partners.

Extension of online-only courses until July 13, 2020

The uncertainty in our destinations had led us to take the decision to prolong the suspension of face-to-face teaching in all of our schools worldwide until July 13, 2020. We will continue both to offer K+ Live , our online classes, through this date and to support students who wish to remain in country continuing their studies in this format. Since we are no longer tied to a physical location all students will be taught and supported centrally by our experienced Kaplan teachers. The technology provides an excellent opportunity for our current students to mix with pupils from different locations, allowing for better nationality mix and more interaction. It also means students will have access to an enhanced and broader calendar of social activities (online of course) and study clubs than they would have normally in one school.

New students who have not yet arrived

We recognize that you likely have many students scheduled to arrive in Kaplan schools between now and July 13. Because we believe that there is no substitute for immersive, face-to-face language learning, we believe the best option for these students would be to postpone their courses to start sometime after July 13. We are proud of the student experience we provide in our schools and seek to welcome students under the best conditions when this crisis period has passed. We have created favorable Terms and Conditions to make postponements as attractive as possible for students as outlined here

At the same time, given the unprecedented nature of this world crisis and our responsibility to students currently studying with us, we have created a robust and high-quality learning environment for students in our K+ Live lessons. While our student surveys since moving online have been very positive, we will continue to improve the online student experience in the days ahead. Many of our partners have inquired about the possibility of enrolling new students into these K+ Live lessons. We welcome this and will be announcing further enrollment details and an additional online option very soon.

Finally, we are fielding questions from partners as to the possibility of students traveling to one of our sites and starting classes with us using the online format. Additionally, some partners have sought support from Kaplan for students from other providers who have been forced to close. We are committed to supporting you and your students in any way we can with both such requests.

Looking to the future

As we face these unprecedented events together, Kaplan International Languages remains committed to being transparent and acting responsibly, for the good of our students and industry. You can count on us as business partners, and we look forward to working together through this crisis and in the future, when conditions improve, providing your students with life-transforming experiences.

We will continue to keep you updated regarding all developments.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or get in touch with your Kaplan account manager.

Yours sincerely,