Newest recipient of Honorary Fellowship: Dhruv Patel

APM is thrilled to announce that Dhruv Patel, founder and CEO of Nisia Group, will be the latest recipient of an Honorary Fellowship.

We’ve awarded Honorary Fellowships since 1984. Those honoured include respected founders of and ongoing contributors to the science, theory and practice of project and programme management. Dhruv is receiving the accolade because of his work with the Nisia Group in providing education to children who can’t attend traditional schools.

Give us a general overview of your professional background up to this point

I initially qualified as a chartered accountant and spent some time working in practice before transitioning into business, where I held various positions. Thirty years ago, I discovered software that enabled me to teach remotely. We used it to train large corporations like Unilever and Shell on desktop applications such as Word. This was actually a precursor to the online learning methods we see today.

However, when corporate training shifted to eLearning, there was no longer a need for traditional teachers, and our business seemed poised to fade. That’s when a change in government policy regarding the education of medically ill children sparked a new idea. We saw the potential of our software for these learners, enabling them to study remotely. Dissatisfied with the methods used by Local Authority teachers, I decided to redesign the entire approach.

This was the turning point where I realised I could prove that this model would work. It marked the beginning of my deep passion for education. In 1996, I founded Nisai Group, launching a fully online school to serve children who were unable to attend traditional schools. This mission has been my focus ever since, and it remains the heart of my passion today.

What was your initial reaction when you heard you would be receiving a OBE?

I was completely blindsided. I never expected any recognition at all. It’s incredibly rewarding to have our work acknowledged in the UK, and it’s truly an honour.

Tell us more about your work with the Nisai Group

When we founded Nisai Group, our mission was to provide education for children who couldn’t attend traditional schools due to reasons like medical issues, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), or exclusion due to behaviour. At the time, many people believed these students couldn’t receive a quality education. But we were determined to prove otherwise. We believed that with the right teaching, these children could achieve their full potential.

We developed a personalised learning programme that placed the students at the centre of their education. This required building new software from scratch and training our teachers in innovative teaching methods. Over the years, we’ve seen tremendous success.

Six years ago, we acquired a programme called Units of Sound to support students with low English literacy skills, helping them improve their speaking and reading abilities. Two years ago, we also acquired a company in Canada focused on supporting individuals with dyslexia, specifically in writing. We integrated these two applications with our live teaching, enabling us to teach students with low literacy levels all the way to A-levels, preparing them for university or the workforce.

Today, we are present in 10 countries and serve students from over 30 countries. In Asia, our Nisai Global School offers online education for students aiming to attend international universities. Interestingly, we’re starting to see an increasing proportion of our students in Asia have learning differences (15%), compared to the 90% of our UK students. In both regions, our results are significantly higher than national averages, thanks to the unique way we teach and support our learners.

Do you feel that professional bodies like APM are important to society?

Absolutely. I came from a chartered accountancy background, and I went through non traditional learning; I didn't follow the university route. APM is similar, you get practical experience. I think it's very useful and I think it's a fantastic approach.