Great location in an exciting city

Our Brighton English language school is on a beautiful square just five minutes’ walk from the sea and about 1.5 km from the city centre. Within a few minutes’ walk of school, there are many shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. It’s a really enjoyable place to learn English on England’s south coast.

A location map showing where Brighton is relative to London airports and London itself.
A photo of street art in Brighton in the form of a collage photo of Marilyn Monroe, with pink hair and tattoos over her body. This has been pasted onto a concrete wall section which contains other spray painted graffiti tags.
A stunning photo of the iconic Brighton Pavilion, more specifically the many towers and minarets that are slightly silhouetted against the background of the sky in the early morning.
A view of five brightly painted Brighton beach huts which run along the promenade. Behind are three identical looking houses which look very grand, and which, today, will house a number of individual apartments. The sky in the background is very blue.

Why study English with ELC Brighton?

Founded in 1962, ELC Brighton is one of the top language schools in the UK. ELC Brighton achieved a perfect score of 15/15 areas of strength in its latest British Council inspection report. That makes it the joint number 1 English language school in the UK according to EL Gazette’s review of British Council inspectors’ publishable statements.

We think ELC Brighton is ideal for you if you wish to learn English in a professional, friendly and caring school with a good nationality mix, and experience a vibrant, cosmopolitan seaside city.

Discover the history of ELC

English courses in Brighton, UK

Teaching excellence and a place to make friends

ELC Brighton is one of the UK’s oldest English language schools. We achieved a ‘perfect score’ with 15/15 areas of strength in a recent British Council inspection report. As a result, EL Gazette (the English Language Gazette) has named us as one of the top Centres of Excellence for English teaching in the UK, which makes us their joint #1 English language school in the UK.

Our English lessons are taught by professional teachers in a friendly, caring and safe learning environment, and you are sure to make friends among our diverse mix of students of many nationalities.

Meet some of our teachers

Our student regional mix

  • Western Europe: 47%
  • Eastern Europe: 5.7%
  • Central & South America: 6.8%
  • Africa & Middle East: 17.7%
  • Asia (exc. Middle East): 22.8%

School info

  • Founded: 1962
  • Classrooms: 32
  • Students: 120 off-peak; 320 peak
  • Maximum class size: 12
  • Average class size: 10
  • Minimum age: 16

Modern facilities in a historic interior

Our large and spacious facilities span three buildings and include:

  • Free internet and wifi access
  • Interactive whiteboards, iPads, TVs
  • Two student lounges
  • Student kitchen
  • Study centre and computer room
  • Dedicated business centre
  • Large lecture hall
  • Patio garden

Discover our building and facilities

Your home while you study

We offer the choice of living in someone’s home (homestay), in hotels and guesthouses, in self-catering student residence, or a student house. All are within 40 minutes of our school.

Accommodation options in Brighton

A bed in the alcove of a smartly appointed studio room in Brighton at the Britannia student residence.
The study area with matching desk and wardrobe in a studio room at the Britannia student residence in Brighton.
The cream facade of the 5-storey Brighton Hotel with a cloudless blue sky as backdrop.
A smiling student seated in a wicker chair at their homestay accommodation.

Explore near and far with our social programme

Locally, we offer a wide range of afternoon and evening activities including sports, local visits, conversation club, film evenings and quizzes.

And further afield, you can explore some of England’s best loved places on our weekend excursions to places like London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Windsor, Bath, Cambridge and Stonehenge.

See a sample social programme

An image taken in a nightclub. You can see that people are dancing, but they are silhouetted against bright white lights and purple and red spotlights. Looks good!
A pink neon sign with the words "Movie Night" and a blue arrow indicating a direction off to the left.
A stock photo of someone bowling. The person has just thrown the bowling ball and it's still in shot, but the people behind are already cheering. Maybe it's encouragement, maybe they know something we don't.
A hand lifts up a king or a queen during a chess match. We can't tell as their fingers are grabbing the top of the wooden chess piece.
A photo of Pulteney Weir in Bath. It has a series of oval steps that the water runs over, which is visually appealing. In the background is Pulteney Bridge which is apparently one of only four bridges worldwide with shops across it on both sides.
A colourful photo of punts, traditional wooden boats, on the River Cam in Cambridge. The water looks particularly blue, as does the sky, and whilst a number of boats are tied up on one side of the river, you can see a beautiful red brick building and several willow trees in the distance on the opposite bank.
A photo of the green grass leading down to Birling Gap, one of ELC CEO Phil Hopkins' favourite places. From this gap in the cliffs you can walk down to the beach and look at the stunning chalk cliffs rising up on each side. Birling Gap is easily accessible from Brighton and Eastbourne where ELC English language centre has schools.

Travelling to and from us

When it comes to course arrival and departure, your most comfortable and stress-free option will be to transfer from and to your preferred transport hub with our approved local taxi providers.

View all options

Brighton

  • London Gatwick: £100 each way 35 to 50 minutes
  • Eurostar Ashford International: £175 each way 90 to 120 minutes
  • Newhaven Ferry Port: £70 each way 30 to 50 minutes
  • Other options available for London Heathrow, London City Airport, London Stansted, Luton Airport and Eurostar St Pancras.