EJO was founded in 1962, receives around 5,000 students a year, and has welcomed an estimated 250,000 students since its inception over 50 years ago.

Elizabeth established a huge network of host families across the south of England for homestay courses and was instrumental in the development of the inspection and accreditation criteria for short course providers and for young learners which form the basis of the accreditation process today.

Elizabeth withdrew from the day-to-day running of EJO in 2001 but the standards that were close to her heart remain central to its ethos.

Andrew Pritchard a partner at EJO, said: “People came to EJO because they knew that Elizabeth cared about how their children were looked after and how they were taught.”

“Perhaps her greatest legacy is that every year EJO welcomes the children, grandchildren and now even great grandchildren of students who studied with EJO.”

Co-founder of FELCO (The Federation of English Language Course Organisations), which later joined ARELS (The Association of Recognised English Language Schools) Elizabeth also served as vice-president for FIYTO (The Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations).