York, the cultural capital of the North of England, is an ideal place to learn English. Whatever your interests, you will find more than enough to do between lessons, in the evenings and at weekends. York has everything you can expect from a modern city: a wide variety of good shops and shopping arcades, a busy street market, excellent cafés, restaurants, clubs and pubs, cinemas, theatres and an opera house - plus facilities for various sports. Yet at the same time, it is also one of the oldest cities in Britain and was founded by the Romans almost 2000 years ago.

As you walk around the compact city centre, you will see a wide variety of buildings from the different periods of the past 900 years as well as Roman remains dating back nearly 2000 years. Perhaps the most famous building is the Cathedral. This magnificent medieval building - known as the Minster - took over 200 years to complete.

York is also in the centre of Britain - 2 hours from London and Edinburgh. The Lake District is also within reach as well as the seaside resorts of Scarborough and Whitby.

About the school

The English Language Centre offers a year-round programme of General English courses, intended for students who wish to improve their English for personal and professional purposes.

Groups, Levels and Ages

Students are grouped according to their level following a diagnostic placement test. Classes usually have no more than 12 students per group, although in reality the average number for most of the year is 8 - 10 per group and sometimes even smaller in the Winter. Our teachers endeavour to give all students a high degree of personal attention and to encourage them to participate as much as possible. The ELC General English Programme is for adult students only and the minimum age is 16 (except for closed groups by special arrangement).

Our Courses

General English A – 15 hours of classes each week: 0915 – 1245 Monday to Friday

General English B – 24 hours of classes each week: 0915 – 1600 Monday to Thursday and
0915 – 1500 on Fridays
These courses feature a combination of general language improvement and communications skills work. The focus is on improving grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation as well as developing the 4 key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing.
A typical day’s timetable could be:

0915 - 1045 Course work covering essential grammar components and language structures

1045 - 1115 Break

1115 - 1245 Reinforcement of new structures, vocabulary development and practice in the 4 skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing

1245 - 1345 Lunch break

1345 - 1445 Communicative activities and skills

1445 - 1500 Break

1500 - 1600 Projects, British culture, functional English, discussions and debates

Assessments, Reports and Certificates

Students are given regular progress tests at the Centre, based on work taught in class. Progress test results are recorded to provide a close monitoring of students’ language development. All reports are made available to students and their sponsors as required. In addition all students receive an end of course Certificate of Attendance and if requested, a final report detailing their level and language ability.

The tuition fees include tuition, all teaching materials, and free use of the Self-Access Centre (Computers with free Internet & email access) until 1700 each day.

Examination Courses

We prepare students for a wide range of examinations including the following University of Cambridge examinations:

• Preliminary English Test (PET)
• First Certificate (FCE)
• Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) by arrangement
• Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) by arrangement
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
• We also prepare students for the TOEIC examination, for which we are the only Accredited Centre in York

Students can choose to combine their General English course with preparation lessons for these examinations, at no extra cost except for the exam fee. For full details of this course and examination fees, please see the additional course information sheet ‘General English and Examinations”

All our courses are Accredited by the British Council, and we are a member of EnglishUK.

Book a language course online >>