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News June 28, 2022

Flexible online education fits around training commitments for young tennis athletes in London

By King's InterHigh

In collaboration with Junior Elite Tennis (also known as ‘JET’), King’s InterHigh is proud to deliver an authentic British international education to young tennis athletes, completely online.

Located in North London, Junior Elite Tennis is home to budding tennis stars training to reach professional success. The tennis academy was established by two entrepreneurs and tennis enthusiasts with decades of experience: Alan Jones and Jo Durie. Jones is a former coach for the renowned Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), while Durie is a former a world No. 5 WTA player.

Together, the pair have created an environment where young athletes and realise their full sporting potential through training with some of the best professional coaches in the tennis world.

From the age of 10, children with professional sports aspirations can join JET for a bespoke training programme delivered by a team of outstanding coaches. Now, these students also receive a high-quality education programme that fits around their needs and lifestyle — all delivered by King’s InterHigh.

With King’s InterHigh, tennis trainees at Junior Elite Tennis enjoy a flexible world class education. All lessons are interactive and online, taught by highly qualified expert teachers who also understand and appreciate the unique needs of youth athletes.

Teachers deliver these classes live with innovative and collaborative learning elements, but they’re also recorded and made available for 24/7 viewing. With round-the-clock access to lesson recordings, materials, and resources, JET students never fall behind on their schoolwork — no matter how intensive their training or competition schedule becomes. If there’s a tournament or an away game coming up, these young tennis stars can simply follow along with recorded lessons while they’re busy or traveling.

Lessons aren’t the only way King’s InterHigh brings flexibility to Junior Elite Tennis students. These young athletes also have the freedom to choose which subjects (and how many subjects) they’d like to study and focus on. Timetables are built around each student’s interests, choices, and preferred way of studying. For example, one student is currently studying six IGCSE subjects with most live lessons taking place in the mornings, while another has chosen to focus on five IGCSEs primarily taught in the afternoon.

Alongside effective and engaging teaching in small class sizes, every JET student receives individualised support and guidance from tutors and health and wellbeing staff at King’s InterHigh. To round out academic and pastoral support, learners also have the guidance of an on-site education supervisor at JET. This structure ensures that every student can achieve their full academic potential without compromise.

Mr. Gareth Lucas-Howells, Head of Education Partnerships at King’s InterHigh, says: “We are extremely proud to work in partnership with JET to ensure athletes’ academic potential is fully supported and realised while they pursue their passions in tennis. The ability for athletes to access an education that is tailored to their unique circumstances is empowering and ensures that they can balance and blend an academic education while pursuing their dreams of becoming professional tennis stars!

Jo Durie, Principal Coach at Junior Elite Tennis says: “We are delighted to have a partnership with King’s InterHigh that over the years proved to be an invaluable component of our tennis programme. Our young athletes have an extremely demanding training schedule and it is essential they have access to high quality flexible education to achieve their best potential.

By King's InterHigh

King’s InterHigh is an independent British international online school. Offering Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form education, we cater to students from age 7 – 18 who are looking for a high quality British education delivered in a way that revolves around their lifestyle.

VAT charges explained

The UK Government has implemented a policy to charge VAT on independent schools taking effect from the 1st of January 2025. This VAT charge is payable by families who are based in, or access, King’s InterHigh from the UK. This change does not impact families who are based outside the UK and access King’s InterHigh from another country.

We understand the significant financial commitment you make in choosing our online school as well as how important it is to be able to financially plan. After careful review of the details of the legislation, we will support parents by absorbing costs ourselves, so that a slower phasing in of this unwelcome change reduces its financial impact on families.

For the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year (starting September 2024), Inspired Education Group will absorb much of the 20% VAT charge. For the Spring and Summer terms when the 20% VAT will now apply, we will only pass on 8.5% to families, taking up the difference ourselves.

To further support families with the financial implications of this change in government policy, for the 2025-2026 academic year (starting in September 2025) there will be no inflationary tuition fee increases, and that Inspired Education Group will continue to absorb costs to limit the increase to 8.5% for that academic year. Overall, this will mean we have phased in 17% of the 20% VAT cost over two years to avoid sudden increases for families and have not increased tuition fees.

King’s InterHigh is committed to offering competitive fees and accessible, high-quality independent education, along with the unique benefits of online learning. We are pleased that through careful cost control and the benefits of being part of Inspired, the leading global group of premium schools, we can significantly reduce the financial effect on families due to this change in UK VAT policy.

For a full breakdown of our fees, please use our fees calculator.

Technology integration fee

This fee contributes to the development of our Inspired Al tools and our investment in best-in-class technology to enhance online student learning.

Deposit fee

If opting for monthly payments, a deposit will be held on your account.