• Dr Graham Simpson
• Meriel
• Jon
• Colin

• Brian
• Alex
• Sasha
• Mihoko

• May
• Anne
• Sophie

Dr Graham Simpson

Dr Graham Simpson is our Principal and started what became the Oxford English Centre in 1979. He studied social sciences and trained as a teacher at the University of Leicester before moving to Oxford University for his doctorate.

Dr Simpson is a member of the senior common room at Pembroke College, Oxford; a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; and a member of Oxford Rotary Club.

He enjoys most sports, especially cricket; tennis and a strange Oxford summer pub game called "Aunt Sally" which we have on our garden terrace and which he would be glad to explain to you. Graham can often be found cooking behind the school BBQ or singing at our karaoke evenings.

Meriel, Academic Team Leader

Meriel has worked at the Oxford English Centre since 1990. She studied publishing and Japanese at university and went on to do a master's degree in Social Anthropology. Meriel holds the RSA Dip. TEFL and a Certificate in Business English. She specialises in Business English, Medical English and Teacher Training, and has developed courses and materials in these areas. Meriel speaks Japanese and enjoys reading, theatre, swimming and travel.

Jon, Senior Teacher

Jon joined the Oxford English Centre in 1988. After studying Biological Sciences at university, he went on to do a Master's degree in Communication Studies. Jon holds the RSA DELTA and a Certificate in Business English. He has worked with Meriel to develop our Business English Programme. Jon is a family man with 2 young children. He is interested in natural history and sport.

Colin, Senior Teacher

Colin has been a teacher at the Oxford English Centre since 1988. He studied Politics at university and holds the RSA Dip. TEFL. Colin has helped develop our Medical English and Teacher Training courses. He enjoys sports and spending time with his family who like to join our Social Activities Programme.

Brian, Senior Teacher

Brian joined the Oxford English Centre in 1995. He studied Engineering at university and holds the RSA DELTA. As well as being an experienced teacher, Brian is our technical expert. If there is a technical problem Brian will fix it! He enjoys football, reading and computers.

Alex, Marketing

Alex was born and raised in Oxford. He enjoys showing students around our beautiful city and talking to them about culture and history. He has visited a lot of different countries and likes to meet new people from all over the world. He enjoys team sports, theatre and a pint of English beer after work! Alex can speak fluent French.

Sasha, Registrar

Sasha joined the Oxford English Centre in April 1999. She studied Applied Social Science at University and holds the ARELS Welfare Certificate. Sasha has got 2 young children. She likes spending time with her family and enjoys days out in the countryside, cooking, travelling and sports.

Mihoko, Assistant Registrar

Mihoko joined the Oxford English Centre in January 2006. She studied Food and Nutrition at University in Tokyo. She used to live in New Zealand, Canada, the USA and now has settled in Oxford. Mihoko enjoys travelling, playing tennis and teaching Japanese in her spare time. She loves languages and as well as English speaks Turkish and Japanese. She likes cooking and her famous Sushi is sometimes served in Caramba, the school café.

May, Accommodation and Welfare

May is a fluent Arabic speaker and studied it further at Westminster University in London combined with Linguistics. Before joining us, May taught English as a foreign language both in the UK and in Egypt. She very much likes to take an active role in the School Social Programme and often accompanies students on excursions and evenings out. Her favourite activities are karaoke and games night.

Anne, Senior Teacher

Anne studied for a joint honours degree in Physical Education and Biology in London. Following that, she completed her PGCE course to become a high school teacher. Anne started teaching English 12 years ago after spending a year in the Philippines. She has the RSA DELTA and joined the Oxford English Centre in 2005 after teaching for 4 years in a university in Cambodia. In her free time she particularly enjoys playing tennis, walking, cooking, watching movies, and spending time with friends.

Sophie, Senior Teacher

Sophie studied English Language and Literature at the University of Manchester. She worked for Oxford University Press for three years before deciding to have some adventures abroad and become an English teacher. She had so much fun abroad she stayed for six years. In 2008, she joined the Oxford English Centre after having worked in Poland, Italy and Ukraine. She has a DELTA qualification and is involved in the teacher training programme at School. She is also a qualified CELTA tutor. Her interests include theatre, choir, travel and learning foreign languages.