In Brighton, you don’t go to your lesson: the lesson takes place where you sleep. You stay with your English teacher, and the lesson happens in their living room or around the kitchen table, one to one. You are the only student, and everything happens in English: there is nobody to switch back to your own language with.
Brighton has the Channel on one side and the Sussex hills on the other, an hour by train from London. A town where you do your shopping on foot and hear the English of shopkeepers and neighbours, not the English of textbooks. Adults, seniors, teenagers: the format doesn’t change, what we adapt is the number of hours and the length of stay.
Why Brighton
It is a seaside town that doesn’t close out of season: two universities, students, theatres, and the narrow shopping streets of The Lanes with their jewellers and antique dealers, where in November as in July there are people to talk to. The seafront, the white Regency houses and the pebble beach do the rest: you go out, you walk, you order something at the counter, and the lesson carries on without anyone calling it a lesson.
You arrive by plane or by ferry: Gatwick is half an hour away by train, and the ferry from Dieppe docks at Newhaven, the neighbouring port. Trains to London Victoria run all day, enough to spend a Sunday in the capital and be back in Brighton for dinner. If you want everyday English in the capital itself, the same stay exists in London; if you are working towards an exam, it exists in Oxford, where the seafront gives way to colleges and libraries. You’ll find the differences between regions on our page about a language stay in England.
How it works
You stay with your teacher in Sussex: in Brighton, towards Eastbourne or in a town on the coast. The exact location is given to you before you confirm, with the rest of the profile. The lessons are all one-to-one, from 10 to 30 hours a week depending on what you choose, and the 10-hour option is taken only together with activities or cultural visits.
You have a single room and you eat with the family, all meals included; a private bathroom is an option, depending on the house. You arrive on Sunday and leave the following Saturday, on any date of the year, with lessons from Monday to Friday. If the ferry or your flight gets you in the day before, a night is added. Transfers are arranged to and from Gatwick or the port of Newhaven.
Your teacher is qualified, we chose them and their home has been inspected: they host you where they live. Before you confirm you receive their profile — who they are, how they live, where the house is, whether there are children or pets — and if something doesn’t suit you, I look for another family. If you already have accommodation, the “lessons only” format keeps the same one-to-one hours at your teacher’s home, without accommodation or meals. To enter the United Kingdom you need a passport and, unless you are a British or Irish citizen, the Electronic Travel Authorisation, which you apply for online: the page about the ETA explains the steps.
A day in Brighton
In the morning, breakfast together and then the lesson hours at home, starting from your level and from what was left unfinished the day before. In the afternoon you go out: the seafront, the market, The Lanes, a museum when it rains, or a walk on the South Downs. You ask for directions, you ask someone to repeat a sentence said too fast, you order at the counter. In the evening you have dinner at the table with the family and talk about the day. Cultural visits are booked separately and chosen with your teacher, depending on the area where they live.
How much a stay in Brighton costs
A single figure covers the room, the meals and the lessons; the rest is what you add — the visits, the train from Gatwick, a bathroom to yourself. The journey here and what you spend while you’re here aren’t included.
A personalized stay according to your goals
Prefer to focus solely on individual lessons? Our "Lessons Only" programmes offer personalized tuition without accommodation at the teacher's home.
Stay at the teacher's home
- Full-board accommodation with daily one-to-one lessons
- Total immersion in the teacher's daily life with cultural activities
- Rates from £880 depending on the chosen programme
*With the 10-hour option, the week also includes General Activities and/or Cultural Visits.
⚠ For a student under 18 staying at the teacher's home, General Activities and/or Cultural Visits go with the lessons.
These are indicative starting prices and may vary.
Who goes to Brighton
On the same train to Brighton, in different weeks, very different people get on. Those who use English at work take one or two weeks at 25 or 30 hours and focus it on their job; those picking it up again after years start at their level, with no group to keep up with, and with 15 or 20 hours keep their afternoons for the sea and the town. Seniors often choose the shoulder season, when the coast is quiet, and sleep in someone’s home rather than in a hotel. Those preparing for an exam — Cambridge, IELTS, school-leaving exams — work with their teacher on the format of the test.
If it is your child who is going, you receive the family’s profile before anything is confirmed, and in the evening at the table it’s the family who ask them how their day went. Up to 18, in the afternoon they go out with their teacher — the seafront, the alleys of The Lanes, a walk on the South Downs — rather than waiting for the next day’s lesson in their room. Up to 16, someone they have already seen in a photo waits for them at Gatwick, or at the port of Newhaven if you arrive by ferry, unless you drop them off yourself. And if they are under 13, I place them with a family used to younger children, where an adult is always present.
Frequently asked questions about a language stay in Brighton
Do I need to speak English already to go to Brighton?
No. Since the lessons are one-to-one, all levels are accepted, from complete beginner to advanced. Your level is assessed before you leave.
How long should I stay in Brighton?
Two weeks if you can: the first is for daring to speak, the second for settling what you have learned. A week at 25 or 30 hours is the choice when the goal is specific: an interview, a presentation.
Whose home do I live in exactly, and where?
Your teacher’s, in their house, with full board. The families are in Sussex: in Brighton, towards Eastbourne or in a neighbouring town. The exact location is in the profile you receive before you confirm.
What if I don’t like the family’s profile?
We look for another one. The profile is sent to you before anything is confirmed, precisely so that you can say no. You only commit once you have said yes to a specific family.
Can I go out of season, in autumn or winter?
Yes, stays can be booked all year round, week by week, arriving on Sunday and leaving on Saturday. Out of season the town stays lively thanks to its universities, and it is easier to talk to people.
Can my teenager go to Brighton on their own?
Yes. They are their teacher’s only student and they live with the family. Up to 18 their afternoons are filled, with activities or visits; up to 16 someone collects them at Gatwick, or at the port of Newhaven if they arrive by ferry, unless you travel with them; and under 13 there is always an adult at home. You know whose home they will sleep in before you say yes.
Can I take only the lessons, without the accommodation?
Yes, that is the “lessons only” format: the same one-to-one lessons at your teacher’s home, and you arrange your own accommodation, in a hotel or a rental.
Going to Brighton
The starting point comes down to three things: your dates, your level and what you want to work on — or, for your child, their age and what worries you. I look for the Sussex teacher who fits and I send you their profile before anything is confirmed. When you want to go ahead, the contact page is where to do it.
