The Presessional English for Academic Puporses programme is designed to help you to develop your English language and academic skills in preparation for your studies at the University of Birmingham. It is especially designed by our academic staff and will develop:·
- Accuracy and fluency in English for academic study
- Academic reading and writing skills and critical use of source materials
- The ability to listen to lectures, take notes and participate in academic discussions
- Speaking skills for presentations and seminars
- Grammatical competence and strategies for building discipline-specific vocabulary
Teaching takes place in small classes with no more than 18 students to maximise class participation. Regular 1-1 tutorials are provided every two weeks to provide feedback on your learning. Additional language support is available during summer Presessional courses.
The first week of your programme includes an introduction to all the University’s facilities and support services including the welfare team. The last 1-2 weeks of the course is usually timetabled for assessment and feedback on your progress.
The online Presessional English courses
Online Presessional English courses are produced by our own academic staff at the University and are delivered to the same high quality as our on-campus courses. You will have 14.25 hours of live classes per week taught online, in addition to pre-class and post-class activities. This is 19 sessions of 45 minutes per week. All the course materials and tasks are easily accessed from our virtual learning environment, Canvas.
- They will include a mixture of interactive, class-based discussion and listening tasks set by your dedicated class tutor, as well as guided reading and written tasks with feedback to develop your skills.
- You will be fully supported throughout your course and will receive regular 1-1 tutorials (face-to-face online) to discuss your progress and answer any questions.
- You will be assessed using a mixture of coursework and online tests.
Student views
Jia Sue (China)
"I developed my skills and learned how to write and reference a good essay, how to summarise and paraphrase ideas and how to collect information for an essay. It was all extremely useful for my current studies. The people on my course who had not done this Presessional found it more difficult so I would recommend doing a Presessional course instead of re-taking IELTS."
Contact Hours
Typical Timetable
Presessional courses taught face-to-face on campus have 15.8 hours of tuition per week.This is 19 classes of 50-minute lessons. Classes are held Monday – Friday and are scheduled between 9.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.
During the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the proportion of in-person teaching (when permitted) will vary depending on UK Government guidelines; but is expected to be 25% of the total teaching hours. For on-campus courses in summer 2021, delivery will be a mixture of on-campus and online teaching.
Live online teaching is scheduled between 8.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. GMT. Recordings can be accessed on Canvas. Live online classes are of 45 minutes duration with 19 sessions per week (or 14.25 hours total weekly). Up to 20 hours per week should be allowed for completion of all pre and post-class activities and coursework.
For online Presessional courses, timetabled sessions will take into account the needs of students studying in different time zones.
Sample timetable for on-campus Presessional English 2021
| | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|
| 9 - 9:50 am |
Reading and Writing |
Reading and Writing |
Academic Orientation |
Reading and Writing |
Reading and Writing |
|---|
| 10-10:50 am |
Reading and Writing |
Reading and Writing |
Academic Orientation |
Reading and Writing |
Reading and Writing |
|---|
| 11-11:50 am |
Listening and Speaking |
Listening and Speaking |
Academic Orientation |
Listening and Speaking |
Listening and Speaking |
|---|
| 12- 12:50 pm |
Listening and Speaking |
Listening and Speaking |
Enrichment |
Listening and Speaking |
Listening and Speaking |
|---|
| 1-1:50 pm |
Enrichment |
Enrichment |
Enrichment |
Enrichment |
Enrichment |
|---|
Enrichment classes are in addition to the taught classes scheduled weekly.
There is no teaching on Saturday or Sunday. There is a one week teaching break between 5 to 9 July 2021.
The University closes for 15 days in each academic year, from 1 October to the following 30 September. Eight of these days are public holidays: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day holidays; Good Friday and Easter Monday; May Day; Whit Monday; August Bank holiday Monday.
For all bank holidays and University-closed days please click here.
Assessment Methods
Course assessment
All courses are assessed using a mixture of coursework, portfolio assessment and tests.
Over the duration of your course, you will study three modules: Reading and Writing; Speaking and Listening; Academic Orientation/English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP). Each module assesses your language skills: Reading, Writing Speaking and Listening. You will need to meet the English Language Entry Requirements for your programme with your scores in these assessments:
- Reading and Writing module - you will take a Reading into Writing exam.
- Speaking and Listening module - you will take a listening exam and take part in a seminar discussion
- ESAP module - you will provide activities from your course work and you will do a group presentation.
Progression
The requirements for successful completion of your English presessional programme are:
- The achievement of the appropriate final mark for all assessed work (examinations and assessed coursework)
- A minimum of 90% attendance
- Fulfilment of the university requirements for reasonable diligence