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Junior Courses

Junior Courses

Our Junior Courses help children and teenagers communicate with confidence, at school, in exams, on holiday and in life.

Looking after our Young Learners

Welfare and Safeguarding are at the heart of what we do. The College motto "Safe and Happy Language Learning" informs all our plans. Find out more about our Welfare and Safeguarding.

For many of our junior students, our Course is their first time away from home on their own. The College has comprehensive welfare and safeguarding services and a permanent Head of Safeguarding to look after our students.

Because we will be acting for you, looking after you child, unless you will be in York during your child's course, we will ask you to complete a Parental Consent Form. You can find out more about Parental Consent here

All students in our Homestay Accommodation are on full-board and have a local bus pass provided if living further than 2km from the College. We request that all juniors have appropriate insurance cover. We will ask for evidence of this before the course. If you prefer, we can sell you (at cost) insurance cover provided by us.

Key Points of our Junior Courses

  • 22.5 hours per week including Lessons Out
  • Minimum age: 11 (8 if accompanied by a parent)
  • Maximum age: 19
  • Maximum class size: 14
  • Average class size (2023): 8

Specially designed for younger learners

We have a skills-based timetable specially designed with younger learners in mind and covering the language skills they will need now and in the future. We make the most of our young learners being in York in an English speaking environment. For a more detailed description of our Young Learners' Courses, follow this link.

Students aged 18 and 19

A lot of children have their 18th birthday in their last year at school. Some students take their final school exams when they are 19. Under the law in the United Kingdom, you become an adult when you are 18.  If we said "no adults" it would mean a child born in February would not be able to join a junior course during the Easter Holidays - but their best friend, born in May, would be able to join!  So we welcome students still at school (or who have just left school at the start of the holidays. We expect young adults to understand the responsibility of being the older students on the course and to follow all the rules, as if they were still 17.  Students aged 18 and 19 do not share accommodation with younger students and, although they do share classes, they only share with other students aged 16 or older.

Junior Courses throughout the year

We run Young Learners' Courses over Easter, during the Summer and in October. Each course follows the same structure but has a programme designed to make the most of the time of year in York, a truly year-round city!

York for children and teenagers

York is a great city for Young Learners! Big enough to be interesting, small enough to be friendly and safe. Most of the shopping streets are traffic free and everything is within 30 minutes' walk of everything else! As one of the top tourist destinations in Europe, York has lots for students to see and do!

York is famous for York Minster, our beautiful cathedral and some world-class museums. But did you know York is also home to the original "Diagon Alley"?

We include all of these into our programmes through our "Lessons Out".  During free time, York also has great shopping!

Supervision

Our students are allowed to go into the city after class. However, if they are under the age of 16 they must be with another student and they must return home for their evening meal (unless eating as part of a College activity. Students are allowed to travel to and from their accommodation alone at the beginning and end of the day. Parents of students aged 11~13 can ask for their child to be taken to and from College. This is our school run service which is available for an additional charge.

On excursions, students are given free time to explore the venue or town we are visiting but must do so in a group of at least three students.

The College operates as normal on all public holidays.  However, students need to remember that the local buses may run to a restricted timetable!

Airport Transfer Service

Accompanied Airport transfers (Sundays only) are mandatory for all students under 18.

Questions?

We have a section of Frequently Asked Questions especially for our Young Learners' Courses. Find out more here

 

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