Opportunity only comes to those who are well prepared. ARCH Education is a premier education institute that aims to prepare Hong Kong students for a successful academic experience abroad, especially the world's most prestigious universities and colleges, by providing a full range of training, tutoring and consulting services.

Jennifer Ma, one of the company's founders, says ARCH Education focuses on training students' personal skills and critical thinking in addition to improving their academic performance. Students are also encouraged to actively take part in extra-curricular activities and develop specialised skills to differentiate themselves. All these are meant to help them find the right way forward and get prepared for studying abroad in order to maximise the chance of being admitted to a university of their choosing.

The objective of ARCH Education is to bridge students' gap over the course of their education - or fixing the missing link between where the child is right now, and where he or she wants to be on the path to a successful future. Jenniferpoints out candidly that Hong Kong parents are overly concerned about sending their children to different tuition classes but neglect the importance of the development of children's personal skills. The factis, however, most prestigious universities overseas look beyond students' academic skills, such as critical thinking, debating skills, comprehension and writing skills, etc.

"Many elite universities not only require a high level of academic achievement but also the student's general knowledge and ability to think independently," she says, "as a result, we have skills enrichment classes in place to enhance students' ability to think, speak, read and write. It's also worth to note that we have beenappointed by some local elite schools to teach their students through our skill enhancement programmes."

ARCH Education is very experienced in preparing students for studying in top UK and US universities and boarding schools, such as Oxford and Cambridge in the UK and Ivey League in the US. Jenniferherself is a top-class grad with first-class honours from the University of Oxford. Her academic background and personal experience is a convincing story parents and students would appreciate to hear.

Generally speaking, top UK universities look at students' academic achievement first, while top US universities place high emphasis on students' all-round development. In the UK, for example, fourth-form students are required to choose between arts and science classes - that early decision already determines what they are going to study in the university. However, in recent years, programmes offered by UK universities have become more diversified and flexible. Social-science students, for example, are allowed to take other electives outside their concentration. In addition to academic results, US universities further look into the student's leadership skills and innovative spirit, and whether he or she fits into the university's culture.

Jennifer suggests students start preparing and equipping themselves two or three years in advance if they are genuinely interested in applying to top US and UK universities. She says: "We start off with building the student's profile by identifying where the weaknesses are and find ways to improve them. We may encourage he or she to take part in extra-curricular activities ordevelop specialised skills while training their leadership skills. During the process, we observe the personality type of the student in order to help them choose the right school that fits. We have full-time education consultants on the ground and they are ready to provide first-hand schooling information and advice to students and parents alike."

Without a doubt, the prerequisite to setting foot in a top university is excellent academic performance, let alone prestigious schools such as Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard. "It would be a pity if a student fails to meet the minimum entry requirements by a very small margin. Therefore, we offer academic tutoring classes to hone their academic skills. The classes are taught by highly qualified tutors based in the UK through our online learning platform in partnership with a UK tutorial school. Students, on the other hand, can make most of the time spared in lateafternoon to do other extra-curricular activities or pursue other interests, since the online tutorial classes are taught in flexible hours at night (Hong Kong time). In the meantime, we will regularly update parents on their learning progress," explains Jennifer in detail.

The London School of Economic (LSE), which ranks as UK's third best university, has recently engaged ARCH Education and the University of Hong Kong to teach its International Foundation Programme (IFP) in Hong Kong, according to Jennifer. The programme will commencein September this year.

"We position ourselves as the education partner of parents and students instead of an average tutorial school out there. We provide a comprehensive range of training, tutoring and consulting services to help students find a direction towards actualising their aspiration or ambitions. In what I call the 'miracle cases' we handled in the past, some marginal students managed to get into top universities after our assessment and intensive training, even though their school teachers had advised them not to apply. It feels so encouraging," she continues.

A preparatory programme is taught in small classes and each course comprises of four to eight classes. It focuses on training students' personal skills, such as independent thinking, reading, comprehension and debating skills. The company also provides consulting services to parents and students. An education consultation would sit down with parents and the student in a private setting, conduct a comprehensive assessment of the student's personal circumstances and profile, and make recommendations on training and schooling choices.

"We can also tailor our programmes to includetutoring, skill training and counselling to meet the specific needs of the student. This could last for one to three years and throughout we look after the student's academic progress, as well as his or her participation in extra-curricular activities and skill development," Jennifer adds.