Elac at Prior Park Bath

Key facts about the centre

Bath and Prior Park College

The city of Bath, a World Heritage Site, is one of the jewels of England.  The compact city centre which is surrounded by seven hills like Rome, developed around its hot spring water.  It is a fascinating blend of Roman, medieval and Georgian architecture, combined with a thriving shopping centre and excellent leisure facilities.
There are lots of reasons to visit Bath:

• One of the finest examples of Roman towns in Britain
• Excellent shopping centre with many small attractive boutiques alongside the better known High Street shops
• Superb restaurants, cafés and coffee bars
• Regular exciting street entertainment
• Two local cinemas (including a new Odeon Multiscreen) showing the latest films
• Several theatres including The Theatre Royal, one of the best theatres outside London
• A great many museums and historical sites
• Excellent leisure facilities including parks, sports centres and the Thermae Bath Spa
• Easy access to walking in the beautiful Somerset countryside
• Inter-city train service to London every half hour
• Close to many great places of interest such as Bristol, Oxford, Stonehenge and Glastonbury

Our course takes place at Prior Park College, an impressive independent school with amazing views overlooking Bath.  The college was originally built in the Palladian style for Ralph Allen, a wealthy businessman who wanted to demonstrate the beauty of Bath stone.  Set in 57 acres (23 hectares) of parkland, the grounds provide a wealth of sports facilities including tennis courts, Astroturf pitches and football pitches.

In addition to the main school building, there are purpose-built and well-equipped classrooms, a school hall for drama productions, discos and talent shows, arts and crafts and music rooms.

Coach transport is provided to take students to and from their homestay accommodation.

Accommodation with a host

Living with a host is the best way to get an insight into another culture and another way of life.

Elac hosts are chosen with great care by our accommodation officer, and are all known to us individually.  They offer a warm welcome and a secure environment in which to live and practise your English.

Prior Park College is situated close to excellent residential areas.  You will have breakfast and dinner with your host, as well as lunches at the weekend.  Lunches on Monday to Friday are taken in the school restaurant.

Excursions from Bath

Bath is surrounded by interesting destinations for a day trip – including London, which every student has an opportunity to visit.  Among our destinations are Bristol, Oxford, Cardiff, Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bournemouth.  Most two week programmes will include the following:

Excursion 1 – London (full day)

The journey to London takes about 2½ hours, so we get an early start to give us as much time to visit the capital as possible.

The trip includes a tour of the famous landmarks before lunch, and then a chance for students to decide if they want to visit a museum, gallery or attraction, or whether they want to spend time browsing in the shopping areas.

Visit the London Town website

Excursion 2 – Oxford (full day)

This excursion is sometimes by coach and sometimes by train, depending on the day and availability of tickets. We spend time before lunch walking around the city taking in all the famous locations, and visiting of the Oxford Colleges (depends on availability).
In the afternoon, students can choose to spend time visiting some of the city museums, shopping or having a go at ‘punting’ on the river.

Visit the Oxford City website

Excursion 3 – Bath: Roman Baths (half day)

There’s so much to see in the city without travelling anywhere, and one of our half days aims to give you a good understanding of Bath through its most famous attraction, the Roman Baths.

Following a tour of the Baths and the Pump rooms, there will be free time to spend browsing in the excellent shopping centre.


Visit the Bath City website

Excursion 4 – Salisbury

For students on a three week course, the third full-day excursion is to Stonehenge and Salisbury.

We travel by coach firstly to Stonehenge, the world-famous stone-age site just south-west of Bath.  Here you will have the opportunity to visit the site (audio tours are available) for around an hour.

We then head into Salisbury which takes about 30 minutes, where you will have an opportunity to visit the cathedral, with the tallest spire in Britain, before spending some time in the beautiful ancient market town.

The museum of Salisbury and West Wiltshire is opposite the entrance to the cathedral for those who want to discover a little more of the 2,500-year history of the famous town.  Otherwise, enjoy a walk in the bustling market town, and see some of the beautiful and historical half-timber buildings.

Visit the Salisbury website

More information, including full centre addresses, maps and directions is available on Elac's Education website.
Please click here to go to that page.