It is an extremely important job to find the right hosts for the right student.  At Loxdale English Centre, we are lucky to have such a talented Accommodation and Welfare Officer that, in 2024, only 2.2% of our students asked to move to a different host.  We have been in this area of Brighton & Hove since 1979, so we are lucky to have built up a large bank of wonderful hosts.  It takes time to make sure that we choose the best, most appropriate hosts for each student.  The process includes regular visits, communication, police checks, taking references, fire safety information and gas safety certificates.  The feedback from past students is also important in our choice of whether to use a host.

The most important thing when we choose hosts is that that they will make our students feel welcome and at home and have a friendly and comfortable home.  We also choose to have hosts who live within a 28-minute walk from the school and on easy bus routes.  We do have a couple of hosts who live slightly further away and are so wonderful that we give students that we place with them a free weekly bus pass as we know the family environment will make the students there very happy. 

Students have the choice between a single or twin room, which they can share with a student from a different country. It is a great way to make friends from around the world. Our priority is to place students from different nationalities but a similar age in the same bedroom. If this cannot be done, we ensure students are placed in single bedrooms within a family to maximise their exposure to learning English.  However, sometimes students want to come to study at Loxdale English Centre with a friend or family member and want to share the same host.  This is also possible.

Our hosts will provide both a delicious breakfast and dinner after your day learning English. Mondays to Fridays, you will have a cooked lunch at school.  At weekends, your host will provide you with a packed lunch to take on your trips. 

Your host will supply you with a towel and bedding and do your laundry once a week.  If you go to the gym or beach often, you will need to bring your own towel.  You are expected to keep your room tidy so they can clean your room once a week too.

If you are aged 8 to 12, and wish to come with a parent, we can arrange for your parent to stay with you with a homestay host if they are also studying English.  The parent is responsible for taking their child to and from school each day.

If you are 12 years old, and your parent feels that you are responsible enough to walk to and from school alone, then 12 year-olds can stay in homestay accommodation as well.

There is also the option of having a daily transfer service to and from school for 8 to 12 year olds.

However, most students who are aged 8 to 12 years live in our residential centre.