Adult Courses

​ We welcome adults all year round to Totnes, either to do an online course or in-school course.

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• Choose your teacher- all our teachers are experienced and qualified to teach EFL; however, if you have attended one of our in-school classes at the Gate House, then you might like to choose your teacher! We will match you with the teacher you want as long as they are available when you want to study.

• Book and pay for your course by bank transfer or credit card. Or just book for one of the clubs.

• Pre-course level test (online) and interview with Amy, our Academic Manager before you start your course- do our online test and arrange a time to chat on Skype, Zoom, Wechat or Whatsapp with Amy before the lessons start so you and Amy can plan your course together.

• System check before you start- we will send you a meeting link before you start to check that everything is working your end. Rick our School Manager will send you the details and test link.​

Online Adult English courses 

• Book as many lessons as you need

• 1 lesson= 45 mins

• Choose what you want to do-Exam prep for IELTS, FCE or CAE or general English practice

• As many lessons as you want- choose day and time

• 16 years+

In-school Adult English courses

​ You can choose from:

• Our General English classes inside the classroom 16+ out of season, 18+ in summer

• Our Cultural Experience classes outside in the local area of Totnes - 18+

• Our 50+ programmes combining lessons and activities with similar- aged people- 50+- inside the classroom

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​​Our General English course forms the core of our year -round teaching programme for 16 years+, except the summer (22nd June -15th August 2020) when the minimum age is 18 years. Students aged 16 and 17 attending our school in the summer are encouraged to join our Young Adult Summer Camp.

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Our General English classes will help you to improve all four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking and we integrate our classes with our optional social programme to help you use the language in the real world.

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Students who do a General English course can add:

• Intensive lessons: an extra 6 hours of Exam Preparation, Business English or General English per week

• Part-time work experience: daily part-time unpaid Work Experience in a local shop or business

• One to one classes: individual classes with your teacher 

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Intensive English 

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Our Face to Face Intensive English course combines 15 hours of General English with an extra 6 clock hours of lessons a week. The focus of the Intensive lessons varies according to the needs of the students.

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If you want to extend your General English practice, we will concentrate on developing your confidence as a speaker and communicator in English through authentic speaking and listening activities.

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If you want to prepare for an examination such as Language Cert, Cambridge B2 First, CAE or IELTS, the focus will be on exam techniques with regular practice tests. We've had great success helping students to get good exam results so book this option now to help us fulfil your potential.

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If you want to improve your business communication skills, the focus will be on 'work related' English and interview, telephone and presentation skills practice.

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Please tell us your aim when you book this option- if you are the only student we will still run the course with half the number of hours on a one to one basis e.g 3 hours one to one instead of 6 hours in a group.

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This course is eligible for Bildungsurlaub 'work holiday' for German students. Click here for more details

Part-time work Experience (unpaid) 

Improve your CV and your future job prospects by doing unpaid work experience in an English company.​

You attend classes for half the day and work for half the day to make the most of your time abroad. This is good for people who have only 2-4 weeks available to study or for younger students with little work experience in their home country.

Types of placement available: Tourism, museums, charity shops, restaurants, fitness centres.

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Who can apply?
At present this programme is only open to students from the European Union or Switzerland, who have full legal rights to work in the United Kingdom. Minimum Level B1. 

Funding available
If you come from the European Union you can apply for Erasmus+ funding to cover your placement and living expenses. Contact us today if you have questions about this funding.

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For Full-time Work Experience click here.

I really enjoyed working in the cafe. Julia and Colin were very kind, helpful and funny. I had a great time.                                                                                                                                                                 Jana (Switzerland) 17 years

Course summary

Course dates: any Monday out of season ie 3rd January - 22nd June; 20th August - 21st December 2018

Minimum age: 18+ years

Course length: minimum 2 weeks

Level for full-time work placement: Intermediate to Advanced

Hours of work placement per week:  30 - 40 clock hours per week

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Price for English lessons as above for General or Intensive English

Price for full-time work placement:  

£550 for first 12 weeks; £550 for succeeding 12 weeks thereafter

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One to one classes in school 

There is no better way to give your language skills a huge boost than our one-to-one classes. You have one of our fabulous teachers all to yourself to focus on exactly what you need, whatever your level. 

In your first lesson you will discuss your goals, strengths and areas to work on, and make an action plan with your teacher. Some people send us information about what they want to study before they arrive so that we can design a programme in advance. If you have the time, we really recommend that you do this. You can choose to focus on General English or Business English, or a combination.

Most of our students combine One-to-One lessons with General English or Intensive English so that they have a balance of group and individual lessons, which is the best way to progress as quickly as possible.

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Included for all our adult courses, both in school and online

• Pre-course online test

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• Day 1 induction, test and assessment of needs

• Weekly tutorials

• Monthly progress tests

• Certificate of attendance

I really liked the lessons with my class, they were really interesting and useful and my teacher was great. I really appreciated his way of interacting with us.    Nicole (Italian) 17 years