On Saturday 28^th September Centre of English Studies (CES) will celebrate its 40^th birthday in the magnificent dining hall of Trinity College Dublin. 150 industry guests and friends will be there to join in the celebration with the Quinn family and CES teams.

CES is a multi-award winning school which is now spread across Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada and Taiwan.  Each year we welcome over 25,000 students from 80 countries.

CES was started in 1979 by Rosemary Quinn. The school was based in St. Paul¡¯s College in Raheny, Dublin and quickly gained a reputation for the care and attention that every student receives.

In the next 10 years the school expanded to three junior schools on the northside of Dublin city welcoming students from mainly across Europe.  Still to this day St. Paul¡¯s College is used as one of the summer centres. It is testament to CES that many of the agents that started with them are still working with CES today.

Justin Quinn joined Rosemary in 1989 and in 1990 CES made the big move into the city Centre. Our new location was at 31 Dame Street in the very heart of Dublin on the same street as Trinity College and Dublin Castle. CES was one of the founder members of RELSA / MEI in Ireland and a driver of quality in the sector in Ireland.  CES continued to grow and develop and expanded its markets across Asia & South America. In 1996 we developed Coppinger Row in Dublin to have a second training centre in the city. In 1997 we started our first RELSA Teacher Training Course, the first school in Ireland to offer an Irish approved Teacher Training Certificate. CES now offers CELTA across most locations.

Jonathan joined the team in 1999 from an international sales role in Novum Refrigeration bringing a great knowledge of the South American market.   

2005 was a great year in CES, we welcomed Swandean School of English (London and Worthing) to the CES family and Michael joined the CES team, moving to the UK to help and grow the CES brand.

Over the next 15 years, CES has grown and developed as a global market leader in the EFL sector.  The acquisitions of Leeds Languages, Oxford House, Action English, Randolph School of English, Harrogate Language Academy and Global Village in Toronto all followed. CES has grown in each location and proud that many of the past owners will be with them on the night to celebrate. 

CES is a proud member of MEI, English UK, IALC, EAQUALS, ALTO and Languages Canada. Justin is the current Chair of EAQUALS and a former board member of MEI, Jonathan is on the board of ALTO and Michael is an associate board member of English UK.  All three are proud to serve on industry boards to promote and help industry growth.

The Quinn family is delighted to have achieved so much over the last 40 years and pays a huge thank you to our agents, friends and industry colleagues for the help and guidance over the last 40 years.

Let¡¯s hope the next 40 are just as exciting!

Justin Quinn 
CEO