The longer you live and study in the UK, the more fluent and confident you become in communicating in English.
At ELC Eastbourne we offer a comprehensive, immersive and enjoyable long stay course designed to improve your English language skills and let you learn all about life in the United Kingdom.
An English Study Year course (or Academic Year programme) provides students with the chance to live and learn amongst native English speakers for a much longer and more immersive period of time than normal educational programmes. A mixture of academic classes and at least six months spent amongst local people, learning about their culture and customs and speaking English on a day-to-day basis is a guaranteed way to improve your fluency in the language.
Our Study Year programme at ELC Eastbourne is designed to provide a comprehensive language programme which will help you prepare for your future and achieve internationally recognised exam qualifications.
What’s more, when you stay with us for a longer period of time, you really start to feel like you’re part of the family. You’ll have the time to get to know the staff and other students, many of whom will become friends from life.
You’ll also have plenty of time to appreciate English culture from the inside, and we recommend staying in a homestay for a real window onto British life.
* Minimum age: please see more information regarding levels of care and supervision for 16 and 17 year olds in international classes. We occasionally accept 15 year olds in international classes provided they are part of a group with a group leader.
Our programme is a minimum of 24 weeks (6 months) in length, and allows you to study on a wide variety of ELC English courses, including:
Your own personal adviser will meet you regularly to plan your personal programme and give ongoing study advice and support.
You can decide how intensively you’d like to study, by selecting how many lessons (hours) per week of classes you’d like to follow.
Eastbourne is a great place to study English for 24 weeks or more for many reasons:
Also the size of the town and the cost of living here make Eastbourne cheaper than many other destinations in the UK, including Chester and Brighton, making this a good cost-effective option. As most of our homestays are within walking distance you probably won’t need to buy a travel card or bus pass either.
The Study Year Programme (or Academic Year Programme) is ideal for you if you are highly motivated, and you need to:
Our most flexible and economic option is our Study Year Programme. You will normally start on the General English course, then when you have reached a B1 intermediate level you can join an exam preparation course (e.g. IELTS or Cambridge First). The Study Year Programme includes one free airport taxi transfer on arrival and one free examination.
Ideally you would register as soon as possible if you want to book the residence option for accommodation, but in general by mid to late November would be OK. We close for 2 weeks over Christmas each year, so we would want to arrange things before then.
On your first day of school please bring your passport, pen/pencil and a notebook/paper. You can also buy some stationery in the school office.
We usually have general English classes at C1 level. We also run a Cambridge Advanced course 5 times a year.
In principle yes. We try to match students well to their host family in the first place but people are different so sometimes things don't work. In that case we will move you. Normally we require 1 week's notice to change homestay and 4 weeks' notice to change from the residence without penalty. We also have a limited allocation of rooms in the residence so may not have availability at short notice.
We are open on every public holiday except for 2 weeks over Christmas when the school closes for lessons. However some of the administration team will check emails over the Christmas period.
We have a student 'kitchen' with microwaves and kettles. There are also vending machines for hot drinks and snacks. Within 5 minutes' walk of school there are many shops, restaurants, cafes and supermarkets.
We will try to match you to the best available homestays during your stay. The more information you can give us, the better we can match you. Please let us know, for example, if you smoke, if you have any allergies or special diet requests, if you like pets etc.
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Our language learning levels relate closely to how the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) define them, but with a difference which we have found to help our students at Elementary level.
| ELC level | Equivalent CEFR levels | |
|---|---|---|
| A0 | ||
| A1 | ||
| Upper A1 | Lower A2 | |
| A2 | ||
| B1 | ||
| B2 | ||
| C1 | ||
| C2 | ||
We offer an English level test which anyone can take. It involves 50 questions and, depending on your level, will probably take you from 10 to 20 minutes. At the end of it, we will tell you your probable level.
But when you book, we will ask you to take a more detailed and accurate test, to make sure that you start in the class which is best for you.
A study year programme with ELC can take you to new places, for sure, but it’s a big commitment to come to the UK for a longer period, and we want to make sure the programme is just what you need.
Maybe you have questions for us, like:
Whatever your concerns, or questions, or dreams for the future, please start a conversation with us, and we’ll be happy to give you personal support.