Intensive & Cambridge Programme 2025
30th June to 27th July
11-17 years old
Malahide, Dublin
Intensive English & Cambridge Exam Prep & Multi Activity Programme
Walking / Very Short Bus Journey
Intensive & Cambridge Programme
Our Intensive Programme offers 20 full hours of tuition per week, including 5 hours of Cambridge Exam preparation sessions. This programme is perfect for students who would like extra English tuition or are interested in preparing for or sitting one of the Cambridge Exams. We offer Cambridge lessons at PET, FCE and CAE level.
Award Winning School
We were delighted to be awarded Best Language School 2024 at The Education Awards. In 2019, we were voted Best Language School in Ireland by the Education Stars Award, based on Google and Facebook reviews. The Fingal Business Excellence Awards named us finalists for Business of the Year 2023. The Education Awards also shortlisted us for ‘Best Language School’ in 2023, 2022, and 2021. In 2015, we became the first language school in Ireland to be shortlisted for the Study Travel Magazine Star Awards – Junior Course Under 18’s Global Industry Award. We have also been honoured by Malahide Chamber of Commerce with the ‘Service Excellence Award’ for a clear demonstration of excellent and consistent customer service and with the ‘Organisation of the Year’ Award.
Perfect Location
The Irish College of English has been in the heart of Malahide for over 25 years. Situated on Dublin’s coastline, Malahide’s many attractions include Malahide Castle, a beautiful Seaside Village, Marina and Coastal Walks. Our location offers students the best possible experience of Dublin. Students enjoy Dublin city’s highlights while living in a safe residential area. Uniquely, our juniors can either walk to school or are a very short bus journey away in surrounding neighborhoods.
Choosing Dates
We are flexible regarding arrival and departure days and times. The majority of students arrive on a Saturday or Sunday and begin school on a Monday and leave on the corresponding Saturday or Sunday e.g. Sat to Sat or Sun to Sun. (We may sometimes also accept weekday arrivals and departures e.g. Mon to Mon, Wed to Wed etc. but please contact us pre-booking to advise). Extra nights are also available if necessary. We operate professional airport transfers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by a member of our staff should you require this service.
Home Stays Nearby
All our students stay in carefully selected home stays either in Malahide or surrounding areas, so that they can walk to school or take a very short bus journey. Our hosts are the highlight of the experience and have quality assurance procedures in place, ensuring great stays for all our students.
Sample 2 Week Timetable
Each Week Includes:
- 20 hours English tuition per week
- Packed lunch at school: 12.00pm – 12.30pm
- 3 half-day activities per week: 1.30pm – 5.00pm
- 2 afternoons Cambridge exam classes: 1.30pm – 4.00pm
- 1 full day Saturday excursion
- Sunday is a free day to relax with the hosts or meet with friends
- 2 free optional evening activities
- Activity programme rotate on a 4 week cycle
Activities
What's Included
All Inclusive
We believe in offering an all inclusive course price. Everything is included, there are no extra charges for assessment registration or administration. All activities, travel passes, entrance fees and meals are included.
Classes
Tuition:
We have a specially designed Junior Syllabus to encourage your child’s progression and confidence. We believe in real materials and growing to love the language by living it. Classes are international.
- Hours: 20 full hours tuition per week and use of text book is included
- Times: 8.45am – 12pm each week day with a 15 minute break and 1.30pm – 4.00pm.
- Maximum class size: 15 students
- Entry levels: All levels from beginner to advanced
Intercultural Irish Teenage Programme
As part of our continuous efforts to maintain high quality classes and to enhance our student’s intercultural experience, we have weekly lessons called the Intercultural Teenage Programme. Irish teenage students will join lessons to lead an exercise alongside the teacher which allows our students the opportunity to connect with Irish teenagers, their peers, and we have had an incredibly positive response to this programme.
Student Report & Certificate
Students receive a Certificate of Attendance and Attainment at the end of their course and also an individual hand written teacher report on their progress.
Accommodation
Accommodation: Home Stay
All our accommodation is in home stays either in Malahide in walking distance of our school or in surrounding areas with a very short bus journey. Our hosts typically take 2-3 students at a time. Hosts will do student’s laundry as part of their normal home routine. We carefully match students with hosts.
Meals
Hosts provide breakfast, packed lunch and evening meal. Meals are nutritious and we can cater for some special diets on request.
Welcome Pack
On arrival we also give students a welcome pack including a reusable water bottle and our school has a water refilling station.
Activities
Weekday Activities
Students have a full schedule from 8.45am – 5pm each day from Monday to Friday. Classes in the morning and activities & tours in the afternoon/evening.
Students have an experienced ICE Leader with them on all activities. Our students go to Dublin city centre at least twice a week and have an engaging fun programme of tours, sports, shows and leisure activities.
Evening Activities
Two evenings per week students can attend our optional Disco Nights at no extra cost.
Full Day Trips
Each Saturday our students have a full day trip accompanied by an ICE Leader to see the best of the surrounding areas. Sample Day Trips: Glendalough, Kilkenny, Belfast, Dublin Zoo.
Travel Pass
Students receive a Dublin Travel Pass for unlimited public transport for the duration of their stay, students use the travel pass for the activity programme in Dublin and travel where necessary to and from school.
Prices
2 WEEKS
Intensive Programme3 WEEKS
Intensive Programme4 WEEKS
Intensive ProgrammeAirport Transfers: € 55 each way
Junior Photo Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
Students are woken by their host, have a shower and eat breakfast. Students are given a packed lunch for the day. Students walk to school and return home at about 6 pm after their tuition and activity programme. On returning home, students have dinner with their hosts and chat about their day. Students may spend the evening relaxing with the family or friends or attend an organised evening activity (2 evenings per week). A strict curfew of 9.30pm applies when all students must be home on our English Summer Camps Ireland. Students and hosts have 24 hour access to an emergency phone number and a member of our team is always on duty to help.
At any one time we normally have between 15 and 27 nationalities represented at our school.
The programme is all inclusive with no extra costs. Most students bring between 60 and 100 euro pocket money per week for souvenirs, sweets etc.
We base a 2 week stay on 14 nights accommodation, 3 weeks on 21 nights and 4 weeks on 28 nights. Most students arrive on a Saturday or Sunday and depart on the corresponding Saturday or Sunday but we are also happy for students to arrive and depart during the week.
We are very flexible as to arrival/departure time so please book best available flights and we can organise airport transfers 24 hours a day with under age sign in should you require it.
In addition, we can work with UM airline services and fill in forms of indemnities for departure if required by certain airlines for students travelling alone.
There is a maximum of 15 students per class with on average 13 students per class
All our teachers have a Bachelors Degree and a further Teaching English Qualification and all our teachers are recognised as qualified English Language Teachers under ACELS.
We test students pre arrival and on their first day, their teacher will access if they are in the correct level.
We monitor student’s progress including weekly tests.
Students are able to move levels should we feel they are not in the correct level.
We have from A1 to C1 Level catering for beginners to advanced learners.
A strict curfew of 9.30pm applies.
Yes, we offer a 24 hour emergency contact number and are always available to help.
Hosts will show students to school. On arrival they will be tested and given welcome information and shown to their correct level class.
Yes, we provide letters for all students coming from outside the EU who need a visa to enter Ireland.
A deposit of 200 euro on booking is paid. The remainder of fees are due 4 weeks pre arrival.
Our ‘Book with confidence Guarantee’ is designed to offer flexibility while also ensuring we can provide the best service to all students. We highly recommend that students/parents/guardians/group organisers purchase travel insurance to protect against unexpected changes to their travel plans. Fees,Enrolment and Refunds
Yes, typically once a week by the host.
Yes, you will receive a packing list within the student handbook pre-arrival.
No, students are not allowed to leave Malahide/Portmarnock or their neighborhood, without written consent from their parents and we would advise parents not to encourage students to travel to Dublin City alone.
No, you will need to book your own flights
Approximately 40% of our students are individuals and the rest come with organised groups. Individuals will all be together for afternoon activities and are separated by age so it is easy to make new friends.
No, our age range is from 11 to 17 years of age. However, under certain circumstances, if a child turns 18 and is still in high school up until the summer of the camp, we may accept them on the programme.
You will receive your host profile including a map of their location 3 weeks pre-arrival.
You will receive your host profile including a map of their location 3 weeks pre-arrival.
Yes, their email address will be on their profile.
We are always here to help and will move a child to a new host or class and assist in whatever way we can to ensure your child is happy.
Yes, on our home stay programmes students are often unsupervised e.g. going to and from school, in the evenings, during free time etc.
We have a member of our staff wait for your child at the airport with a sign. We also ensure we have your child’s mobile number and they have our driver’s number and also our emergency number in case of any delay etc.
Yes, just request help on departure and our driver will help your child check in and bring them as far as security if you wish and there is no extra charge for this.
Yes, we are happy to do any sign ins at no extra cost.
All our hosts are from our locality which means they are all within walking distance or a very short bus journey away from the school. This ensures they are members of the local community which we feel is very important. We visit all hosts and ensure they and their homes are suitable for hosting students. We also ensure all family members are garda vetted and continually monitor feedback to ensure we work only with welcoming caring hosts.
The majority of hosts have twin rooms but some have single or triple rooms. You can request that your child shares with another child, or if you prefer a single room you can also request this and we will do our best to accommodate these requests. Students may share their room with a student/s of the same gender and similar age. Most hosts take 2 or 3 students at a time.
Children are placed one nationality per home stay unless they request to stay with a friend of the same nationality. There can however be short overlaps of same nationalities in a home, should a flight change etc.
We can arrange for a child to stay with their friend, please request at the time of booking.
For Groups we place students in a mix of singles and pair per request.
Yes, an extra night is 42 euro to facilitate flights. If more than one night is required, full camp fees apply to the extra days and students will attend our camp.
Students either walk to and from school (within a 30 minute walk) or take a short bus journey. As students have a travel pass with most programmes, they can also take a local bus for a few stops if they prefer not to walk.
Yes, they are all English Speakers.
Sunday is a free day to relax, we ask both hosts and students to spend at least part of the day together taking part in the normal family routine, students are also free to meet up with friends but must stay in their locality and not go to Dublin city.
Yes, just note it at the time of booking as a special request.
Yes we can cater for some special diets within reason, just check with us pre-booking and sometimes a supplement will apply. Please note that home stays don’t operate professional kitchens and therefore cannot accommodate students with severe allergies or complicated food requirements.
Yes, this is your choice. We would however advise all children to have our airport transfer service meet them at the airport for safety reasons. Also Immigration at Dublin Airport states that all children under 18 years of age should have someone to meet them at Dublin Airport.
Yes, we will coordinate a time between you and their host.
Your child will receive a certificate of attainment and attendance and also an individual teachers report on their progress.
Yes, all of our programmes are aligned to the CEFR and we offer levels from A2 to C1 e.g. Beginner to Advanced Learner across our programmes.
Yes, all of our programmes are aligned to the CEFR and we offer levels from A2 to C1 e.g. Beginner to Advanced Learner across our programmes.
Your end of our course Certificate will record the number of hours you have studied at our school and it will note that you have progressed with reference to the CEFR descriptors at a certain CEFR level.
