The Presessional English courses
The Presessional English courses are produced by our own academic staff at the University and designed to help you to develop your English language and academic skills in preparation for your studies at the University of Birmingham.
- 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 minimum enrolment age is 16.
Read more about our flexible arrangements
Student views
Faysal Khaleel (PhD Mechanical Englineering)
"The variety of topics we touched upon during the course has given me considerable knowledge about the latest official statistics and the related global and local trends. I can speak, write, and read in English with much greater fluency and accuracy than before, to the extent that I am now very close to using English as the native speakers do."
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
The first week of your programme includes an introduction to all the University’s facilities and student support services. The last 1-2 weeks of the course is usually timetabled for assessment and feedback on your progress.
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 to Friday and are scheduled between 9.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.
Live online classes are of 45 minutes duration with 19 sessions per week (or 14.25 hours total weekly). Live online teaching is scheduled between 8.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. GMT.
Up to 20 hours per week should be allowed for completion of all pre and post-class activities and coursework. Timetabled online sessions will take into account the needs of students studying in different time zones.
During the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the proportion of in-person teaching may vary depending on UK Government guidelines and covid-related restrictions.
Sample timetable for on-campus Presessional English 2022
| 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.
Please note that the Spring Bank Holiday in 2022 will be moved to Thursday 2 June and Friday 3 June will be an additional bank holiday to mark The Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The University will be closed over the Easter break from Friday 15 April (Good Friday) to Wednesday 20 April 2022. There is a one week break after the Easter closed period.
Additional bank holidays and University closed days are: Monday 2 May, Thursday 2 June, Friday 3 June (Platinum Jubilee), Monday 29 August.
Assessment Methods
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