History of the Isca School of English

Ronald and Margery Tomlinson founded the Isca School of English in Exeter .

There were only two published English Course books which is very different to today!

Our school began with five students and they lived in the school and had lessons there too!

Richard and Jo Tomlinson took over the school and as their young family grew so too did the number of young teenagers coming from all over the world to study English for short summer courses!

Sarah Tomlinson our current principal was born and already out and “talking” to students!

In the 1980s, school inspections were carried out by the Education Department. The Isca School of English was recognised as being “efficient”!

As Richard and his wife Jo’s family grew so too did the number of young learners coming to the Isca School

In 2001, the Isca School of English became a specialised summer centre and specialised in teenagers!

The El Gazette began ranking language schools based on their British Council Inspection report. The Isca School became a Centre of Excellence in 2009 and continue to be one to this day!

Sarah Tomlinson became the Principal of the Isca School of English. She grew up in the school and has her parents’ passion for teaching English having lived in Spain for several years and teaching in mainstream schools in the UK too! Finally returning to join Richard and Jo in 2012, she has been well prepared for this role!

The El Gazette has ranked us as a Centre of Excellence since 2008 and since 2017 we have also been named as  the best family-run English Language School in the UK!

It has been a complicated few years for the Isca School due to Covid and Brexit but the Tomlinson family still provides the education and care that they have done for generations. Sarah and her husband Javier now run the school and look forward to welcoming you!