Bennett International Education Consultancy

Bennett International Education Consultancy Our global team of education consultants supports hundreds of families each year across the globe.

Deep knowledge and a sympathetic approach go a long way. This family's experience is a testament to what happens when ex...
10/03/2026

Deep knowledge and a sympathetic approach go a long way. This family's experience is a testament to what happens when expertise meets genuine care.

10/02/2026

French immersion is one of the first things families ask about when moving to Toronto. Canadians ask about it too. Alison Randall has an honest answer.

Alison is an education consultant with Bennett International, based in Toronto. She's taught in the city's public and independent schools and moved her own four children through schools on three continents.

Ontario's French immersion programs are intense, rooted in the country's dual-language history, and exceedingly competitive. Even local families apply into a lottery without knowing whether they'll get a place. For relocating families, there's an added step: children must be registered in the public system before they can apply, which is why Alison doesn't typically work with families on immersion applications.

Intake years are specific, too. Some boards start at junior kindergarten, some at Grade 1, and a lighter version begins in Grade 4.

Worth knowing before you build a plan around it.

Read the full interview: bennettinternational.com/post/moving-to-toronto-with-kids/?utm_source=facebook

The FAFSA and CSS Profile are now open for submission.If financial aid is part of your college planning process, don't w...
10/01/2026

The FAFSA and CSS Profile are now open for submission.

If financial aid is part of your college planning process, don't wait too long to get started. Completing these forms early can help ensure colleges have the information they need when reviewing aid eligibility.

Before you begin:
- Gather tax documents
- Create any required login credentials
- Review deadlines for each college
- Confirm whether schools require the CSS Profile

A little preparation now can help reduce stress later.

09/29/2026

Moving to Toronto on a work permit and wondering whether your children can enroll in school? The answer is yes, and the process is smoother than most families expect.

Alison Randall is an education consultant with Bennett International, based in Toronto. She's taught in the city's public and independent schools and moved her own four children through schools on three continents.

When a family arrives to settle, you provide your paperwork at immigration and leave with a stamp that demonstrates you're here to stay. Toronto's schools are very used to families moving to the country full time, so you show them the level your child is coming in at and you have access.

Independent schools are less exacting about status, though they'll want to see you're here for the long term. The public system will scrutinize it more closely, and families typically go through a welcome center that's part of the school board. Those centers deal with families from everywhere and are there to help you through.

It's a well-worn path, and you won't be the first family to walk it.

Read the full interview: bennettinternational.com/post/moving-to-toronto-with-kids/?utm_source=facebook

UK or US? For a family with a foot in each country, it's one of the biggest decisions of a teenager's life, and it usual...
09/28/2026

UK or US? For a family with a foot in each country, it's one of the biggest decisions of a teenager's life, and it usually arrives tangled up with everything else.

Parents tend to reach for the most famous institutions on each side and try to compare them. It's more useful to start with what each system asks of an eighteen-year-old.

An English university asks: what will you study? Three years, one subject, from day one. An American college asks: what might you study? A year or two of exploring, then a decision.

Neither is better. One of them is better for your child, and the way to find out is to ask them a question rather than to consult a ranking.

Our new piece lays out how the two systems differ, how you apply to each, and what they cost. https://bennettinternational.com/post/university-in-england-or-college-in-the-us-how-the-systems-differ/

If your family is weighing this decision, it's exactly the conversation we love having.

Families don't just need information – they need someone who takes the time to understand their unique situation and res...
09/27/2026

Families don't just need information – they need someone who takes the time to understand their unique situation and responds with genuine care. That's where real guidance begins.

Parents of children with additional needs tend to be thorough. They gather every report, disclose every detail, and make...
09/26/2026

Parents of children with additional needs tend to be thorough. They gather every report, disclose every detail, and make sure no school is caught unaware. It comes from love and diligence.

Sometimes, though, a school ends up meeting a list of needs before it meets a child.

Our consultants help families lead with who their child is: the interests, the strengths, the personality. Then they explain the learning profile clearly and professionally, in language admissions teams recognise and trust. It changes how a school reads the application, and often how it answers.

If you're preparing to introduce your child to a new school, we'd be glad to help you find the words.

09/25/2026

Choosing where to live in Toronto before choosing a school? Alison Randall would gently suggest reversing that order.

Alison is an education consultant with Bennett International, based in Toronto. She's taught in the city's public and independent schools and moved her own four children through schools on three continents.

For public school, your address determines your school completely, with access to one standard public school and one Catholic school. For private school, it's almost the reverse: your school choice probably should dictate your address, because Toronto traffic is a real factor in daily life.

There's a second reason. When you're establishing yourselves in a new city, you want life to be manageable, and local friendships matter enormously to children in an international move. Helping them land well socially is a huge piece of the puzzle.

A manageable commute and a nearby friend group are worth building the home search around.

Read the full interview: bennettinternational.com/post/moving-to-toronto-with-kids/?utm_source=facebook

We love it when families arrive with a list from colleagues and friends. It means they've been talking to people, and th...
09/24/2026

We love it when families arrive with a list from colleagues and friends. It means they've been talking to people, and those conversations are genuinely valuable.

Here's the thing worth understanding about that list. It reflects where other families ended up, shaped by their children's ages, their arrival timing, their priorities, and often a good deal of luck.

Your child is a different child, arriving at a different moment.

We frequently find that half the schools on a colleague's list have no entry point at all for a particular grade. Or there's a philosophy or affiliation that would be a poor fit and simply never came up, because it wasn't an issue for the person recommending it.

None of that makes the list useless. It makes it a beginning.

No two school searches are ever the same, because no two children are. We'd love to help you build a shortlist that's genuinely yours. ❤️

When a family moves with a child who has additional needs, the school search has extra layers. It's often more complex a...
09/23/2026

When a family moves with a child who has additional needs, the school search has extra layers. It's often more complex and more time-consuming, and in some places the process is complicated by high demand. Starting early and having expert guidance makes a meaningful difference.

Here's what our consultants look for: a school that celebrates your child for who they are, support that shows up in the classroom rather than the brochure, people who'll actually be in the room, continuity with the evaluations and therapists that are already helping, and a place where your child will make friends, engage fully, and feel completely at home.

That last one is the whole point. The rest is how we get there.

If you're facing this search, we'd be glad to talk it through with you.

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Philadelphia, PA

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+12155541656

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