Wey Education PLC (LON:WEY) Chairman David Massie caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the establishment of their Academic Advisory Board, its 2 initial members and how the business is doing generally
Q1: Now David, what’s the background to today’s announcement of an Academic Advisory Board?
A1: It’s part of Wey Education’s commitment to quality. We’ve set up an Academic Advisory Board and charged it with making sure that the quality of our teaching through our schools and our teachers are of the very highest quality. As your listeners may know, we currently have 2 online schools, InterHigh our non-selective secondary school and Infinity Education our new selective school teaching GCSE’s and A-Levels, with Infinity targeting those aiming for the highest grades as an entry point to the very best universities in the UK and overseas. By establishing the Academic Advisory Board, we confirm our commitment across all of our schools to ensuring that our pupils are both stretched and that our teachers continually improve their performance to try and deliver the very best outcome for our pupils.
Q2: I see that you have 2 initial members, Dame Erica Piennar and Elizabeth Sidwell?
A2: Yes, I think we feel honoured with our initial members. Erica, who was knighted for her contribution to education in the UK a couple of years ago, is an existing non-executive director of Wey Education PLC and she’s made a huge contribution to us since joining the board in 2015, really driving the effort to improve our standards right across the whole spectrum. Liz Sidwell, who is coming as the second member of the board, has an outstanding career, her track record, including having been the School Commissioner for England, ensures that she understands what the best of the best is and that’s what we’re striving for.
Some parents, probably not parents of our existing pupils, may have wondered if an online education could produce the same standard as a bricks and mortar school but I think these 2 appointments show our commitment and that not only do we try and exceed what might happen in a bricks and mortar school but we try and go further. Ours are truly interactive schools with live teaching and all of the benefits of the physical world, they’re live, they have proper teachers, they’re not some video download and we seek to produce young women and young men equipped not only for university or work but for the digital economy ahead because life is changing very rapidly for this young generation.
Q3: How is Wey Education doing generally?
A3: Well, as I announced a couple of weeks ago in an RNS announcement to the stock exchange, we are seeing substantial growth in student numbers and accordingly substantial growth in turnover and to me that’s proof that this business works and has a place in the future.
