How We Plan Your English Holiday

How We Plan Your English Holiday (Behind the Scenes)

A Blue Noun English holiday is a balance of two things:

• thoughtful planning, done in advance

• space to respond to what unfolds once you arrive

This page exists for reassurance.
You don’t need to understand how we design your holiday in order to enjoy it — but if you want to see the care and judgement behind it, this is where we show that work.

Once you book your holiday week or fortnight, you can relax — that’s when our planning begins. 

A Structure You Step Into

A Blue Noun holiday is a significant investment, which we honour.

Before you arrive, we design a clear underlying structure — one that holds the week steady while still allowing space for rest, curiosity, and surprise.

This structure includes:

• how days are shaped and paced

• how activities, conversation, and downtime relate to each other

• how English support is woven through the week without dominating it

You don’t need to see or think about this structure while you’re here — but it’s there, doing its work quietly in the background.

You can read more about how the overall structure of our holidays works here:
→ How Blue Noun English Holidays Are Structured

Where the Value Actually Sits

A large part of your course fee goes into work done on your behalf before you arrive.

We carry real overheads in:

• organising and coordinating guest teachers and specialist contributors

• reserving and purchasing activities, events, and cultural visits

• securing tickets in advance

• planning homestay arrangements and local logistics

• holding flexibility so the week can adapt to weather, energy, and opportunity

This is why your holiday arrives with a sense of ease.
The decisions, bookings, and negotiations have already been handled.

If you compare like-for-like — small group size, individual attention, cultural experiences, and coached English support — the value becomes clearer. But we don’t expect you to calculate this. Our responsibility is simply to spend your investment well.

You can see exactly what is included here:

→ What’s Included in an English Holiday

More About Your Holiday Activities

During the planning stage, we’ll ask you questions about the mix of activities you would enjoy seeing in Scotland. We search for music concerts we’d love to share, public talks and events where we know you will find top-quality culture and/or conversation opportunities all around Perthshire, and including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Dundee (for this reason, it’s a good idea to book early!).

→ See a list of our more popular visits in our Activities Directory.

Why the Space Between Things Matters

As important as planning is, not everything of value is pre-planned.

Some of the most meaningful language development on our holidays happens between activities — during walks, shared meals, quiet moments, and unforced conversation.

We design for this on purpose.

You can read more about how language often emerges around activities, rather than during them, here:

→ The Moments Between Activities in Your English Holiday in Scotland