Britannia Educational Services is a study in human psychology. They claim to be the leading center for English teaching (through their partnership with Cambridge and INTO study abroad programs in the UK and USA) however these claims, and many others, are thoroughly misleading.

Their staff is recruited from overseas, promised flight reimbursement, timely visa applications, cross-training, decent housing with the usual amenities included. Few can say that all these promises have been fulfilled.

Mis-communication between managers and staff is a common complaint throughout Asian and Middle Eastern companies, but the owners of this outfit simply fail to communicate at all. Important tasks, such as residency procedures, housing, class scheduling, and clear objectives and direction for implementing new projects is given to the owners' cousins or good friends, who aren't aware of organizational skills, preparation, or proper training. You're literally left on your own, from the time you arrive in the airport, through your work as an administrator or a teacher, while the managing staff often disappear, and the owners spend substantial amounts of time in England.

What's sickening is that many Kurdish undergraduates have trusted this company to provide guidance and preparation for graduate study abroad, and have simply had their money stolen, with no follow up, or even applications submitted on their parts. Few of the staff I worked with are returning. Some are seriously looking for other work and bearing the lies, mis-direction, and managerial apathy in the meantime. Until I came to Erbil, I was unaware of just how many foreign staff felt cheated, lied to, or dismissed on trivial charges by Britannia Educational Services and Consultancy. It's too bad that this is my first post on an educational institution. I warn you to be careful dealing with this company, and to ask for references of current foreign employees, and information about previous employees. They have just advertised this past October 2010; but I suspect they will be advertising again soon. They may tell you that they're expanding; however if you can't speak with one of the October - January hires to provide a positive reference, then consider this the most disturbing indicator of all.