This week, Christine Top, Director of Top School agency in Spain, writes,

“As agents, we charge a “handling fee”. Why do we do so? We spend a fortune on our website, on advertising, on trips, on staff etc…We do not only handle the bookings: we look for clients, advertise, advise them and offer a 24-hour emergency service as long as they are abroad. As most of our students go on short-term courses, the commission we get from the schools is not sufficient to cover all our expenses and make it worthwhile to be in this business.  As a result of this handling fee, we only give the name of the schools once the student has paid for the course. Otherwise, we run the risk of the student going directly to the school after getting all the information and advice from our staff.

The ideal for us would be to charge only the school fees, be able to give the name of the school and act as counsellors with the students but for this, we would need to get a  higher commission or a commission on accommodation as well. Obviously, to do that, the schools would have to increase their prices and would then lose direct clients. All the markets are different and this is a reality of the Spanish market but other markets, like the Turkish one for example, send mainly long-term students and do not need to charge any extra fees.

This is a very difficult question …as there is not a unique solution which would satisfy all the parties in all the different markets.”