About us

ECS Scotland is an independent British Council accredited English language training centre founded in Edinburgh in 1995 by Jane McKinlay and Ian McPhail.

Jane's daughters help her with the day-to-day running of the school. Laura and Flora take care of bookings, administration, social programme and generally helping the clients with getting to know Edinburgh.

Our aim has always been to provide a relaxed and positive learning environment for adults of all ages and nationalities in which to practise and improve their English language skills. As a small, family-run school, the atmosphere is friendly and students are genuinely made to feel welcome.

Even in the era of globalisation, big companies and cheap services, ECS Scotland continues to maintain its original ethos of small group learning and reasonably priced, good quality teaching.

Our approach

Learning and teaching in the school is led by the Principal, Jane McKinlay, who has a long career in teaching English as a Foreign Language both in the UK and abroad. Jane believes that small groups are the key to learning English effectively as it provides each student in the group with ample opportunity to practice and communicate. In addition to small groups, daily practice outside the classroom is essential. Jane makes sure that coffee breaks are taken together every morning as this provides an extra opportunity to speak English with other students and teachers in an informal social environment.

Throughout the week we offer students the opportunity to "Walk & talk" with us around Edinburgh and we arrange social meetings in local bars and restaurants for our students to chat with each other outside the classroom.