English UK is planning a members' event in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq after a highly successful scoping visit in early February this year.

Two members of the Board of Directors, Richard Day and Steve Phillips, along with English UK's Senior International Manager, Jodie Gray, had three full days of meetings with officials around the region.

A full report on the opportunities in the market for UK English language providers is now available to download. The report is only available to English UK member centres and can be downloaded from the publications & reports section of the English UK website.

The aim of this mission is to provide English UK members with the opportunity to meet with HCDP scholars, candidates and their influencers and representatives of universities, study abroad agencies, government bodies and other stakeholders in Kurdistan, and to gain a deeper insight into the Kurdish market for international education and ELT.

The mission will run from Sunday 13 May 2012 to Tuesday 15 or Wednesday 16 May 2012 (depending on the individual member's chosen programme and itinerary) and will include a market briefing, networking lunch with Kurdish university representatives, student fair/exhibition, one-to-one meetings with study abroad agents and a cultural tour of Erbil.

The mission is being run in cooperation with the British Consulate-General in Erbil and the Kurdistan Regional Government UK Representation, who are liaising with the relevant KRG bodies (Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Planning, HCDP Committee, universities). This should ensure that we are able to attract a good number of scholars and candidates to the fair.

The event is timed to coincide with the opening of the 4th round of scholarships.

How to register

This event is only open to English UK member centres. If you are interested in taking part, you should email Jodie Gray, Senior International Manager at English UK (jodie@englishuk.com), expressing your interest in participating in this mission. Please include brief details of the reasons why you wish to take part in the mission and your centre's suitability for hosting Kurdish scholars.

As places on the mission are extremely limited, we encourage you to register your interest as early as possible and by 12 noon on Wednesday 28 March at the latest.