Cognita

Global private-schools group

Cognita

Company type| Privately held company
Industry| Education
Founded| 2004

Number of locations

| 105 schools

Area served

| Worldwide

Key people

| Frank Maassen, Group Chief Executive Officer
Owner| Jacobs Holding, BDT Capital Partners, Sofina

Number of employees

| 18,000
Website| Cognita

Cognita is a global private schools group which owns and operates schools throughout the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, India, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and the United States.

According to Cognita, schools in the group teach twelve different curricula, including International Baccalaureate programs, British, American (including Common Core Plus and Advanced Placement), and national curricula local to each school.[1][better source needed]

Cognita was founded by the late Chris Woodhead, previously Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England. The company says that it employs 18,000 staff at over a hundred schools, and educates over 90,000 children.[1]

## History

[edit]

Cognita was formed in October 2004 by its founder management team and Englefield Capital, a private equity firm, now called Bregal Capital, and its former chairman, Sir Chris Woodhead, the former Chief Inspector of Schools in England.[2] From 2004 Cognita started operating its first school, Quinton House School in Northampton. Later in 2004, Cognita acquired the Asquith Court Group, bringing a further 18 schools into the group. From 2004 until 2007, they continued to buy independent schools within the UK.

In 2007, Cognita spread internationally acquiring schools in Spain and Singapore. Cognita established its first school from inception in 2009, Stamford American International School in Singapore. Also in this year, a group of three international schools were purchased in Thailand. Schools in Vietnam joined Cognita in 2011, and in 2012, Cognita bought their first school in South America, in Brazil.[3]

In August 2012, Cognita questioned the financial viability of its Ffynone House School in Swansea.[4] Following lobbying and negotiation by parents and staff of the school,[5] Cognita agreed to surrender the school to its lessor, Ffynone House School charitable trust, from which Cognita had leased the school. Cognita paid the trust £535,000 as a surrender sum and 10 years rent in advance of £270,000 and the school continues to operate with an operating surplus.[6]

On 6 May 2013, the formerly majority British-owned company Cognita agreed to be invested in by the American private equity firm KKR Kohlberg Kravis Roberts L.P.[7] In June 2013, Cognita expanded its network of Latin American schools through a partnership with Desarrollos Educacionales (DDEE), a Chilean private schools group operating nine national curriculum day schools under the Pumahue and Manquecura brands.[8]

In April 2014, Cognita transferred ownership of Ferndale Preparatory School, Faringdon, Oxfordshire, to Ferndale Preparatory School Limited, a parent-led consortium. This filed for administration on 22 July 2016 due to lack of pupil numbers and funding issues, leaving staff redundant.[9][10] In December 2014, Cognita acquired Instituto GayLussac in Niteroi, Brazil.

In March 2016, Cognita started a school from inception in Chile with the opening of Colegio Pumahue Chicauma.[3] Also in 2016, International School of Barcelona, the English Montessori School in Spain, and St. Andrews International School, Dusit in Thailand joined Cognita.[3]

In September 2017, Cognita opened Stamford American School in Hong Kong. In the same month it opened the Early Learning Village in Singapore with more than 2,000 places.[11] In November 2017, Cognita announced it would be expanding Downsend School in Leatherhead, UK to include a Senior School from September 2020.[12]

In January 2018, Cognita opened a second campus for International School Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.[13] In March 2018, The American British School in Chile joined Cognita.[14] In May 2018, Cognita opened BSB Nexus in Spain, a new pre-university campus which is part of The British School of Barcelona.[15] In the same month, Woodland Pre-Schools in Hong Kong joined the Cognita group.[16] On 3 September 2018, global investment firms Bregal Investments and KKR announced the signing of a binding agreement for the sale of Cognita to Jacobs Holding of Switzerland, due to complete in the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to customary regulatory approvals.[17][18] Also in September 2018, Santo Tomás School, in Ñuñoa, Metropolitan Region, Santiago de Chile, joined Cognita.[19]

In November 2018 and January 2019 respectively, Colegio Europeo de Madrid (CEM)[20] and the British School of Valencia[21] in Spain joined Cognita and became the group's sixth and seventh schools in Spain.

In January 2019, BDT Capital Partners and Sofina became minority owners of Cognita, with Jacobs remaining as majority owner.[22] In February 2019, Colegio San Francisco Javier Huechuraba became Cognita's 13th school in Chile.[23] In July 2019, International School Zurich North joined Cognita, becoming its first school in Switzerland and 74th school globally.[24] In September 2019, Colegio Maxi became Cognita's third school in Brazil.[25] In November 2019, Chirec International School in Hyderabad became Cognita's 1st school in India, and 76th school globally. In December 2019, Centro Educacional Pingo de Gente & Laviniense joined Cognita.[26]

UK independent school Brighton College opened an international school in Singapore with Cognita in August 2020.[27] In September 2020, Mirasur International School in Spain became a Cognita school.[28]

Cognita acquired The Greenland School in Santiago, Chile, in January 2021 and Escola Villare in Brazil in February 2021. In March 2021, Horizon English School became part of Cognita. Obersee Bilingual School in Switzerland and Kindergarten Bilingual School of Florence became part of Cognita in May 2021.

In September 2021, Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai opened its doors for the first time and Ranches Primary School in Dubai also joined Cognita.[29][30][31][32] [1][2]

Colegio Internacional Meres in Asturias, Spain, [3] and Horizon International School in Dubai [4] became part of Cognita in February 2022. Dunalastair Schools in Chile joined in May 2022, followed by a strategic alliance with Colegio Olinca in Mexico City marking Cognita's first entry to Mexico. [5]

In September 2022, York Prep School in New York City became the first school to join Cognita in North America.[6]

A strategic alliance with nine Redcol schools in June 2022 marked Cognita's first entry to Colombia. [7]

## Controversies

[edit]

Cognita was accused of pension irregularities in 2012.[33] In 2012, Cognita staff were instructed to impersonate parents and take tours of competing schools in Wales. This conduct was defended as a "normal" way of assessing the competition.[34]

In 2012, Judge Robert Reid QC ruled that the Cognita-owned Milbourne Lodge in Esher, Surrey, had acted unfairly in removing two children, aged eight and six, without warning after the children's parents criticized the school's parents' association, the Friends of Milbourne Lodge, for lack of transparency in its fundraising and spending. The judge said that the parents' association was "somewhat shadowy" and a "shambles".[35]

Cognita's management of Southbank International School was criticised in 2011, with parents groups claiming it had "no serious interest in maximising the educational experience of ... children if it impacts on their bottom line". Then Chairman Chris Woodhead denied the allegations, claiming that its profits were in line with others in the sector.[36]

In 2014, the same school was accused of inadequately vetting staff after a former teacher, William Vahey, was found to have abused pupils over several years. In an article[37] in The Guardian, the school's incoming chairman of governors, Sir Chris Woodhead was interviewed: "The school said it had carried out checks dating back 17 years on Vahey, who had taught in international schools in eight countries. But they did not pick up on a 1969 conviction for child molestation in California. Vahey's CV showed he had been registered as a teacher in the state of New Jersey in 1986, and Woodhead said it was reasonable to have assumed that would not have been the case if he had been convicted of child molestation. 'The system in America broke down,' he said." Regulatory and statutory bodies have since praised the transformation of safeguarding practices and processes in the school as "comprehensive and robust".[38]

Parents at Cognita's Saint Andrews Sukhumvit 107 School in Bangkok, Thailand, prepared a petition containing an open email to Sir Chris Woodhead in 2012, alleging lack of transparency and a disdain for parental views following a decision by Brian Rogove, Cognita's former Asia Pacific CEO, to change the leadership of the school.[39]

In 2012, Cognita's director of education, Geraint Jones, was quoted as saying "13 weeks' paid holiday is enough compensation for hard work during term time" and that "teachers have a duty to go beyond their classroom duties", indicating that putting up wall displays, collecting dinner money, performing lunch duties and providing cover are vital tasks of the teaching job and should not be delegated to assistants. Jones also criticised the inefficiency of state schools, saying "it makes me sick".[40]

## List of schools

[edit]

### United Kingdom

[edit]

* Akeley Wood Senior School, Buckingham, Buckinghamshire
* Akeley Wood Junior School, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
* Breaside Preparatory School, Bromley, London
* Charterhouse Square School, Islington, London
* Clifton Lodge School, Ealing, London
* Colchester High School, Colchester, Essex
* Cumnor House School for Boys, South Croydon, London
* Cumnor House School for Girls, Purley, London
* Downsend School, Leatherhead, Surrey
* Downsend Pre-Preparatory School Leatherhead, Surrey
* Downsend Pre-Preparatory School, Ashtead, Surrey
* Downsend Pre-Preparatory School, Epsom, Surrey
* Duncombe School, Hertford, Hertfordshire
* Glenesk School, East Horsley, Surrey
* Hendon Preparatory School, Hendon, London
* Huddersfield Grammar School, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
* Hydesville Tower School, Walsall, West Midlands
* King's School, Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon
* Kingscourt School, Catherington, Hampshire
* Long Close School, Slough, Berkshire
* Meoncross School, Fareham, Hampshire
* Milbourne Lodge School, Esher, Surrey
* North Bridge House Nursery School, London
* North Bridge House Pre-Preparatory School, London
* North Bridge House Preparatory School, London
* North Bridge House Senior School Hampstead, London
* North Bridge House Senior School Canonbury, London
* Oakfields Montessori School, Upminster, London
* Oakleigh House School, Swansea, Wales
* Oxford House School, Colchester, Essex
* Polam School, Bedford, Bedfordshire
* Prince's Gardens Preparatory School, Westminster, London
* Quinton House School, Northampton, Northamptonshire
* St Clare's School, Porthcawl|St Clare's School, Porthcawl, Wales
* St Margaret's Preparatory School, Gosfield, Essex
* St Mary's School, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
* St Nicholas Preparatory School, Kensington, London
* Salcombe Preparatory School, Southgate, London
* Southbank International School Westminster, London
* Southbank International School Kensington, London
* Southbank International School Hampstead, London

### Spain

[edit]

* Colegio Europeo de Madrid, Madrid
* Hastings School of Madrid, Madrid
* The English Montessori School, Madrid
* British School of Barcelona, Barcelona
* El Limonar International School, Murcia, Murcia
* El Limonar International School, Villamartin, Villamartin
* British School of Valencia, Valencia
* Mirasur International School, Pinto, Madrid
* Colegio Internacional Meres, Asturias

### Switzerland

[edit]

* FOUR-FOREST Bilingual International School, Luzern
* International School – Zurich North, Zurich
* Obersee Bilingual School, Wollerau

### Singapore

[edit]

* Australian International School, Serangoon Gardens
* Stamford American International School, Serangoon
* Brighton College Singapore, co-located with Australian International School and Stamford American International School, opening in August 2020

### Hong Kong

[edit]

* Stamford American School, Kowloon
* Woodland Pre-Schools

### Thailand

[edit]

* St. Andrews International School, Rayong, Rayong
* St. Andrews International School, Sathorn, Bangkok
* St. Andrews International School, Sukhumvit 107, Bangkok
* St. Andrews International School, Dusit, Bangkok

### Vietnam

[edit]

* International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC), Ho Chi Minh City
* International School Saigon Pearl (ISSP), Ho Chi Minh City
* International School Ho Chi Minh City - American Academy (ISHCMC-AA), Ho Chi Minh City

### Brazil

[edit]

* PlayPen Bilingual Education, São Paulo
* Instituto GayLussac, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro
* Centro Educacional Pingo de Gente & Laviniense, Manus
* Colegio Maxi, Londrina, Paraná
* Maxi Global School, Paraná
* Escola Villare, São Caetano do Sul, Brazil

### Chile

[edit]

* Dunalastair School Chicureo
* Dunalastair School Las Condes
* Dunalastair School Peñalolén
* Colegio American British School, Santiago
* Colegio Manquecura Ciudad de Los Valles, Santiago
* Colegio Manquecura Ciudad del Este, Santiago
* Colegio Manquecura Valle lo Campino, Santiago
* Colegio Pumahue Chicauma, Santiago
* Colegio Pumahue Chicureo, Santiago
* Colegio Pumahue Curauma
* Colegio Pumahue Huechuraba, Santiago
* Colegio Pumahue Peñalolén, Santiago
* Colegio Pumahue Puerto Montt, Puerto Montt
* Colegio Pumahue Temuco, Temuco
* Colegio San Francisco Javier Huechuraba
* Colegio Manquecura de Ñuñoa, Santiago
* Greenland School, Santiago

### India

[edit]

* CHIREC International, Hyderabad

### United Arab Emirates

[edit]

* Horizon English School, Dubai
* Horizon International School, Dubai
* Ranches Primary School, Dubai
* Royal Grammar School Guildford, Dubai

### United States

[edit]

* York Preparatory School, (New York), USA

### Italy

[edit]

* Florence Bilingual School, Florence

### Mexico

[edit]

* Colegio Olinca, Mexico City

### Colombia

[edit]

* Bureche School (Redcol), Santa Marta
* Colegio Británico de Cartagena (Redcol), Cartagena
* Colegio La Arboleda (Redcol), Cali
* New Cambridge School – Cali (Redcol), Cali
* Colegio Santa Francisca Romana (Redcol), Bogotá
* Gimnasio del Norte (Redcol), Valledupar
* New Cambridge School (Redcol), Bucaramanga
* Newport School (Redcol), Bucaramanga
* Vermont School (Redcol), Medellín

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "About Cognita". Cognita.
2. ^ "Current Investment - Cognita". Bregal Capital. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
3. ^ a b c "Cognita History". Cognita.
4. ^ "Ffynone House School Swansea future under threat". BBC News. 25 January 2012.
5. ^ "Parents' joy as independent school's future is secured".
6. ^ "FHS Trust Trustees Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
7. ^ "Article: Breaking: Cognita's backers sell stake to KKR". EducationInvestor.
8. ^ "Cognita expands its Latin American network of schools through a partnership with Chilean private schools group". Cognita. 20 June 2013.
9. ^ Haworth, Thomas (April 2014). "Teacher's sadness after adminstrators [sic] called in to school". Swindon Advertiser.
10. ^ "Teacher's sadness". swindonadvertiser. 22 July 2016.
11. ^ "World's largest early years setting opens". Nursery World. 13 September 2017.
12. ^ "Downsend Launches New Senior School And GCSE Expansion Plans - Downsend School". Downsend School. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
13. ^ "The New Campus - International School Ho Chi Minh City". www.ishcmc.com. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
14. ^ "Cognita welcomes the American British School in Chile - Cognita". Cognita. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
15. ^ "El grup educatiu Cognita inverteix 4,7 milions en un campus a Castelldefels". aldia.cat (in Catalan). Europa Press. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
16. ^ "Woodland Pre-Schools Now Part of Cognita Schools Group". Little Steps. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
17. ^ Reuters Editorial. "Switzerland's Jacobs Holding to acquire schools group Cognita". U.K. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018. `{{cite news}}`: `|author=` has generic name (help)
18. ^ Magazine, Relocate. "Schools giant Cognita to be acquired by Jacobs Holding | Editorial | Relocate magazine". www.relocatemagazine.com. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
19. ^ "Santo Tomás de Ñuñoa School joins Cognita Chile - Cognita School". Cognita School. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
20. ^ Redacción (29 November 2018). "El Colegio Europeo de Madrid se asocia con el grupo Cognita, líder mundial en educación". Noroeste Madrid (in European Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2019.
21. ^ "Welcoming the British School of Valencia to Cognita". Cognita School. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
22. ^ "Byron Trott's fund takes stake in elite education network". Financial Times. 31 January 2019.
23. ^ "Cognita welcomes Colegio San Francisco Javier Huechuraba in Chile". Cognita School. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
24. ^ News, The PIE (5 July 2019). "K-12: Cognita enters Switzerland with ISZN acquisition". thepienews.com. Retrieved 15 July 2019. `{{cite web}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)
25. ^ "Cognita expands in Brazil". Cognita School. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
26. ^ "Pingo de Gente - Colégio Laviniense Ensino Integrado" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 24 December 2021.
27. ^ Stacey, Viggo (6 May 2019). "Brighton College links with Cognita on Singapore school". The Pie. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
28. ^ "Mirasur International School se incorpora a Cognita, uno de los grupos líderes mundiales en educación | Cognita". www.britishchamberspain.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 24 December 2021.
29. ^ "Chile: Cognita acquires Santiago private school". EducationInvestor Global. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
30. ^ "Brazil: Cognita acquires nursery and high school in São Paulo state". EducationInvestor Global. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
31. ^ Mollon, Jenny (28 February 2021). "Cognita Acquires Horizon English School". whichschooladvisor.com. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
32. ^ "Bär & Karrer berät Cognita bei Beteiligungserwerb an Obersee Bilingual School". LAWSTYLE (in German). 13 May 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
33. ^ Daniel Boffey (10 June 2012). "Woodhead Schools Pension Probe". The Observer. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
34. ^ Sherriff, Lucy (13 June 2012). "'Spies' Sent To St Michael's School in Llanelli, Wales, To Pick Up Information". HuffPost. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
35. ^ Boffey, Daniel; Editor, Policy (27 October 2012). "Expulsion row hits ex-Ofsted chief Sir Chris Woodhead's schools empirel". The Guardian. `{{cite news}}`: `|last2=` has generic name (help)
36. ^ Daniel Boffey (10 April 2011). "Free schools: private firm Cognita 'milked profits'". The Observer. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
37. ^ Booth, Robert (24 April 2014). "Southbank International School was warned over vetting processes". The Guardian.
38. ^ "Global Insights: November 2016 by ECI Schools". 25 October 2016.
39. ^ Problems of for-profit school company, Cognita, spread to Bangkok
40. ^ Barker, Irena (12 October 2012). "'It makes me sick' - interview with Geraint Jones". Times Educational Supplement.

## External links

[edit]

* Cognita official site