English schools
Southbourne School of English
Celebrating our 60 year anniversary in 2026, our English school is one of the oldest in Bournemouth, with a proud family tradition of excellence in English teaching and programmes over three generations. We have welcomed tens of thousands of students since 1966, providing English courses for both adults and juniors year-round.
Price starting from
GBP£480
Southbourne School of English
School features
Accepts Beginners
Perfect for first-time learners. No previous English knowledge is required, and classes start with the basics before progressing steadily to everyday communication.
Conversation-focused
Classes emphasise real-world speaking practice. Students spend most of their time interacting, building the confidence to communicate naturally in everyday situations.
Intensive
You will spend the majority of your time outside of class studying and reviewing class materials to make sure you can keep up with the high pace of the class. This is best for students that are serious about mastering English and want to potentially move onto either higher education or full-time employment.
Cambridge Preparation
Targeted preparation for Cambridge English exams with structured training and goal oriented lessons.
Southbourne School of English
Our Courses
Southbourne School of English
General English
Our General English course includes 3 hours of morning lessons in a classroom setting of up to 16 students (average of 12), from Monday to Friday. In these lessons, the teacher helps students build on the four language skills - writing, reading, speaking and listening - as we all as a focus on grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary.
Course length
1+ weeks
Available starts
January - December
Schedule (weekdays)
Morning class: 09:15-12:45
Course hours per week: 15
School intensity
Weekly course
4 weeks
8 weeks
12 weeks
24 weeks
Costs
Total course costs
Books are included in the course price, so there are no additional textbook or material costs.
Beginner
This level serves as an introduction to English for those with little to no prior knowledge. The curriculum focuses on building foundational communication skills, enabling students to communicate very basic needs and understand simple conversational language. Students concentrate on acquiring a limited vocabulary for everyday situations and learning to read and produce short, simple pieces of writing. As they progress to an elementary stage, the focus shifts to communicating basic needs, speaking about personal topics, and mastering sufficient vocabulary for everyday routines. By the end of this stage, students can recognize main grammatical structures and write short personal texts and notes.
Intermediate
This level aims to refine fluency and introduces more complex interactions for richer conversation. The curriculum begins by enabling students to communicate in everyday situations, hold short conversations, and use main grammatical structures to write texts with some detail. It progresses to building confidence in a reasonable number of situations, where students demonstrate good control of main grammatical structures and can write longer texts using paragraphs with reasonable accuracy. The term concludes with students being able to communicate effectively, express ideas and opinions in most situations, and discuss a range of topical issues using a wide range of structures.
Advanced
This level focuses entirely on achieving near-native command and nuance across various professional and academic contexts. The curriculum starts with students expressing feelings, opinions, and ideas accurately and precisely using a wide range of vocabulary. It emphasizes producing a full range of written texts with natural cohesion and understanding authentic texts with little difficulty. The term culminates in students demonstrating a very good degree of grammatical control, ensuring they can communicate with precision and authority suitable for complex social, academic, or professional environments.
Southbourne School of English
Intensive Course
Our Intensive English course also includes 3 hours of morning lessons from Monday to Friday, with an additional 1.5 hours in the afternoon from Monday to Thursday, totalling 21 hours per week. The lessons focussing on the same as our General English course, with an additional 6 hours of negotiated syllabus.
Course length
1+ weeks
Available starts
January - December
Schedule (weekdays)
Morning class: 09:15-12:45
Afternoon class: 13:45-15:30
Course hours per week: 21
School intensity
Weekly course
4 weeks
8 weeks
12 weeks
24 weeks
Costs
Total course costs
Books are included in the course price, so there are no additional textbook or material costs.
Beginner
This level serves as an introduction to English for those with little to no prior knowledge. The curriculum focuses on building foundational communication skills, enabling students to communicate very basic needs and understand simple conversational language. Students concentrate on acquiring a limited vocabulary for everyday situations and learning to read and produce short, simple pieces of writing. As they progress to an elementary stage, the focus shifts to communicating basic needs, speaking about personal topics, and mastering sufficient vocabulary for everyday routines. By the end of this stage, students can recognize main grammatical structures and write short personal texts and notes.
Intermediate
This level aims to refine fluency and introduces more complex interactions for richer conversation. The curriculum begins by enabling students to communicate in everyday situations, hold short conversations, and use main grammatical structures to write texts with some detail. It progresses to building confidence in a reasonable number of situations, where students demonstrate good control of main grammatical structures and can write longer texts using paragraphs with reasonable accuracy. The term concludes with students being able to communicate effectively, express ideas and opinions in most situations, and discuss a range of topical issues using a wide range of structures.
Advanced
This level focuses entirely on achieving near-native command and nuance across various professional and academic contexts. The curriculum starts with students expressing feelings, opinions, and ideas accurately and precisely using a wide range of vocabulary. It emphasizes producing a full range of written texts with natural cohesion and understanding authentic texts with little difficulty. The term culminates in students demonstrating a very good degree of grammatical control, ensuring they can communicate with precision and authority suitable for complex social, academic, or professional environments.
Southbourne School of English
B2 First Cambridge English Course (FCE)
We offer a variety of Cambridge English Examination preparation courses for students at different levels. Preparation time for the examinations take 4 weeks.
As well as learning in class, we will give you regular homework, examination counselling and a mock examination during your course. We also like to make sure you sit the right exam for your ability.
The B2 First course is the most widely taken examination, used to demonstrate the effective use of English.
Course length
4 weeks
Available starts
16th February, 3rd August and 16th November
Schedule (weekdays)
Morning class: 09:15-12:45
Afternoon class: 13:45-15:30
Course hours per week: 21
School intensity
4 weeks
Costs
Total course costs
As well as learning in class, we will give you regular homework, examination counselling and a mock examination during your course. We also like to make sure you sit the right exam for your ability.
B2 FIRST PREPARATION
The course is intensively focused on the four papers of the exam: Reading and Use of English, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. Students practice with past papers and learn specific strategies for each section. The goal is to enable students to communicate effectively in face-to-face situations, express opinions and present arguments, and follow the news. By the end of the course, students should be ready to take the official exam.
Southbourne School of English
Campuses & Location
Bournemouth
Located in the heart of a quiet, residential suburb of Bournemouth, our school is just a 5-minute walk from the vibrant Southbourne high street which has independent cafes, bars, restaurants, supermarkets and more. Another 5-minute walk through a wooded green space takes you all the way to the award-winning Southbourne beach, which boasts 9 miles of sandy beaches that are some of the best in the UK. There is a bus stop just outside the school which takes you into the centre of Bournemouth in just half an hour.
Accommodation
Available accommodations
Homestay
Our homestays are carefully selected, and many of our hosts have been working with the school for years. A typical homestay offers a warm, family-style environment and may include one or more adults, with or without children. Homestays are located within walking distance or a short bus journey from the school, and students aged 18+ are guaranteed a single room all year round. Living with a host is a great way to enjoy home comforts and learn more about the English way of life. For students under 18, the school will always try to arrange twin-room accommodation with a student of the same sex and a similar age, although during peak periods they may be from the same country.
Prices from GBP£180/week.
Option:
- Part-board Homestay Accommodation
- Low season: GBP£180/week
- Summer season: GBP£215/week
If you’re interested in exploring other accommodation options, please feel free to take a look at our other accommodation options.
Apply now
We are now accepting applications
Southbourne School of English
Student demographics
Students come from all over the world to study at this school.