Pre-sessional courses

Pre-sessional English courses 

In the summer, we will be running both on-campus and online courses with different entry points. In the autumn, we will be running online courses only. Upon successful completion, these courses will lead to progression to our academic undergraduate and postgraduate courses starting in September 2024 and January 2025.

• Class sizes will be kept small with a maximum of 15–20 students for every teacher to ensure personal attention
• We will accept a range of approved English Tests for entry to include IELTS, LangCert Academic, PSI Skills for English and Peason PTE UKVI (please see our English Language Requirements section for more information)
• The course will be run by a team of highly experienced English language professionals
• Results of the courses are valid for entry to degree courses in the 2024-2025 academic year

Please note the following details for the ONLINE only courses:

• You can join the course from anywhere in the world
• You will not need a visa for the online course as you will be studying in your home country. A CAS will later be required upon successful completion of the pre-sessional course in order to join your main degree programme
• All students will study and be assessed online in our specially designed course
• Students will need access to a laptop/PC; a webcam and headphones; internet speeds with a minimum bandwidth of 600kbps (up/down) with a recommended speed of 1.5 Mbps (up/down)

Course content

Our aim is to provide you with a solid foundation for your university studies and to give you the language and study skills needed for your degree.

Students on the courses will need to complete the equivalent of 23 to 30 hours per week plus homework. Teachers will be available in-person and online to support students through activities which will take the form of lectures, presentations and other learning activities, such as guest lectures. The course will be a mixture of teaching and tutorial support.

The aim of the course is to develop and improve:

• Your confidence and ability to communicate effectively in academic English
• Your performance in all four language skills within the context of your studies (reading, writing, listening and speaking)
• Your independence as learners as well as your critical and analytical skills, which are key to succeeding at university in the UK
• Your essay and report writing skills through ongoing practice (including summarising and paraphrasing, avoiding plagiarism, use of citations)
• Your listening and note-taking skills necessary to benefit from university lectures (including recognising signposting language and dealing with unknown vocabulary)
• Your ability and confidence to participate in group discussions and seminars on academic topics (including structuring arguments)
• Your presentation skills in a range of academic activities (as well as your pronunciation and intonation)
• Your strategies for reading academic books, journal articles and case studies, and for carrying out your own research (including identifying genre, structure of journal articles, text cohesion and writer’s stance)

In addition, you will have access to some of the University’s online library facilities to make sure you can access key textbooks needed to complete the course.

Course assessment

Assessment will take place in the final week of the course and will assess all four skills of writing, speaking, listening and reading. Students will receive an overall grade and grades for individual components of the course which can be used for entry onto their chosen degree course.

Examples of assessment may include:

Further details of the assessment will be provided to you throughout the courses and in the course handbook.