Butler Schools

“I recently graduated, with distinction, from The International Butler Academy in the Netherlands: What a help your books were, what a source they are.” JGA

While many fine Butlers learned their trade with on-the-job training in fine homes and hotels, a handful of butler training schools around the globe are providing a fast track to the world of butling for their graduates. However, occasionally, the effort to provide a fast track is resulting in a failure to provide necessary, marketable skills, thereby leaving graduates at a disadvantage and placement agencies at a loss and worsening the repute of all butler schools by association.

Most schools are characterized by earnest efforts to provide a useful education and it requires significant work and dedication to provide such a service. Consequently, in order to maintain the repute and standards of the profession and the professionals within it, the Institute is supporting two court cases being filed by alumni and ex-students of the South African Butler Academy, who have felt sufficiently aggrieved to take legal action. Court documents are available for review and anyone wishing to provide further information can contact the chief litigant, Ms. Yang Lin via e-mail.

Ms. Lin Yang-SABA Press Release.

The Institute has developed a list of subjects that schools should cover in theory, as well as with sufficient role-playing and practical drills and real life exercises so as to give graduates the basic and actual skills they need. When this is accomplished, and personalized continuing education programs and internships are made part of the line-up, graduates, agencies and employers will have more certainty that the graduates from that school can be counted upon to perform satisfactorily and there should be no more issues with disappointed graduates who cannot find positions.

The Institute strongly recommends internships under existing butlers to provide the necessary experience and resume/CV building that will not only provide graduates with the certainty on their actions, but also appeal to employers who generally prefer to hire experienced butlers. (See also our page on Internships.)

We recommend that prospective students investigate each school fully before committing their finances and time. Perhaps the following questions should be answered before selecting a school:

Does the curriculum contain the full range of subjects (see this list for an idea of the kind of subjects that should be covered at a minimum) one would expect, with theory, role-playing, hands-on drilling, actual performance of the skills, as well as field trips?

We would like to emphasize that a 4-12 week course does not a polished professional make. Schools give the basic idea. Internships provide the familiarity and greater certainty one needs to be a butler. A few years of in- residence experience puts one along the road to being an accomplished Butler. As for being the consummate Butler, that’s a lifetime quest. But as you begin the journey, make sure the school you choose is right for you.

Due diligence obviously includes consulting with past graduates and even placement agencies on their experience with each school.

The kind of information that will prove useful includes:

  1. What are the entry criteria?
  2. Is there any practical work experience and if so, where, what, and when?
  3. What are the qualifications of the trainers?
  4. How many trainers are working/have worked as butlers?
  5. How many graduates are currently working as butlers?
  6. What employment agencies recognize the graduate certificate?
  7. To what extent does the school assist in placing graduates?
  8. Is there a student handbook setting out rights and expectations?
  9. Does the school have a complaints forum or refund policy?

INDIAN OCEAN AND UAE

The Butler Experience
www.thebutlerexperience.com

AUSTRALIA

The Australian Butler Training School
www.australianbutlers.com

Magnums Butler School
www.magnumsbutlers.com

CANADA

The Charles MacPherson Academy
www.charlesmacpherson.com

ENGLAND

The Royal School of Butlers, Blenheim Palace
www.blenheimpalace.com/pages/jobs/the-royal-school-of-butlers.html

The Butler Training Academy
www.guildofbutlers.com

The Butler Valet School
www.butler-valetschool.co.uk

EUROPE

Butler Bureau (Austria)
www.butlerbureau.at

The International Butler Academy (The Netherlands)
www.butlerschool.com

USA

Starkey International (Household Manager School)
www.starkeyintl.com

Professional Domestic Institute (Household Manager School)
www.housestaff.net