Students arriving for their courses at a Sheffield English school could easily think they have gone to the wrong place.

For the new home of A+ English looks very much like Buckingham Palace in London.

“I think all our students and visitors are impressed by the building as soon as they see it. And it is fantastic to work in. We are very pleased,” says Adrian Domenico, the school’s head of marketing. He thinks the building may be encouraging more students to choose to study at the school.

A+ was looking for bigger premises when The Mount was refurbished and became available. Its grand appearance makes it one of the most recognisable buildings in Sheffield. It is in a residential part of the city, not far from the centre.

The Mount was built in the 1830s as five houses and has been used in many different ways since, including as the headquarters of the British steel industry and of a department store.

Adrian says the new building is an important part of the school’s campaign to encourage students to study English in the North of England. “Lots of students only think about London and the South East and we wanted to challenge that.

“We wanted to make a big impact with overseas students.”

Sheffield is 2 hours from London on the train, and 2.5 hours from Edinburgh in Scotland. Adrian says other advantages are that there is lovely countryside just outside the city. “It is a complete English experience,” he says.