The Provision of Residential Accommodation for the Language Academy

Tender description

The Language Academy at the University of Central Lancashire organises a range of courses for international students, language teachers and professional clients. The majority of the Language Academy's students are undergraduates from UCLan’s partner institutions in China, S. Korea and Japan, we also have students from other parts of the world and our clientele is expanding year on year. In addition to university students, we also run courses for language teachers and other professional people such as business people. In most cases, the Language Academy offers international students and other clients a package consisting of tuition, accommodation and leisure activities. We therefore need a reliable, local provider of high-quality accommodation to meet the sometimes quite exacting requirements of our students and clients. Students will usually stay in the accommodation for periods of between one and eight weeks, though we do sometimes have courses lasting several months. The majority of Language Academy courses take place during UCLan’s summer vacation, between late June and the end of August, in addition we have smaller numbers of students requiring accommodation year-round. The highest volume of accommodation required at any one time is likely to be around 160 single rooms in the mid-summer period. We are usually able to provide outline accommodation requirements about three months in advance and fairly firm numbers at least a month before the accommodation is required but the nature of our business means that we are not always able to provide completely accurate figures until closer to course dates. We are also looking to source the same type of accommodation, though on a smaller scale, between late January and March, when we run a Winter school for students from S.E. Asia. Highest volume at this time is likely to be 50-60 single rooms. Since accommodation plays such a significant role in an international student’s experience here in Preston, we are looking for a provider who has experience of working with international students, is sympathetic to aspects of cultural difference and can provide a welcoming, secure and comfortable environment. This is an Open EU procurement procedure, the ITT and full specification and supporting documents can be downloaded by registering and expressing your interest on the University's e-tendering system https://intendhost.co.uk/universitycentrallancs/aspx/Home