Two major international school groups have announced acquisitions this week in markedly different spaces, but each underlines the ongoing growth and consolidation in the market.
Firstly, International Schools Partnership (ISP) announced that it had acquired Colégio Progresso, an organisation formed of six schools in Brazil that educates over 5,500 students in five cities: Campinas, Indaiatuba, Vinhedo, Itu and Santos.
The schools primarily offer the Brazilian curriculum with advanced bilingual education but recently introduced the International Baccalaureate Diploma, too, underlining the ongoing demand for an international education from markets worldwide.
The acquisition takes ISP’s school presence in Brazil to eight and its worldwide total of schools to 104 in 25 countries.
American online school expansion
Meanwhile, Inspired Education announced it has acquired the US Performance Academy (USPA), an online school that serves young people pursuing elite-level careers in sports and athletics and so have to access education while regularly travelling abroad.
The acquisition makes it the fourth online school the group operates, alongside King’s InterHigh, King’s InterHigh USA and Academy21 - the latter of which is an online alternative provision school in England accredited by Ofsted’s online education accreditation scheme last year.
Inspired said the acquisition would open up opportunities for students at USPA to take part in global exchange and summer camps with the group’s other 119 existing schools.
Ashley Harrold, CEO of Inspired, said the deal is a “major step forward for teaching and learning in the 21st century” as it would help the online schools in the group benefit from each other’s knowledge and expertise.
It is also a key step in the group’s effort to expand in the US.
He added: “We are excited to continue to build our presence in the US and to expand the excellent online curriculum offer and student-athlete support of USPA globally.”
Ongoing growth
The acquisitions represent yet more growth by the major school groups, with Cognita expanding its footprint in the Middle East last year with the acquisition of a school in Al Ain, a city in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, while Globeducate boosted its presence in the UK with two more schools.
This growth means international school groups are increasingly hiring not just UK-based teachers but senior staff, too, with GEMS Education recruiting Rob Tarn from the Northern Education Trust and Lisa Crausby from Star Academies as its new chief education officer.
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