Course Guide

What is an EAP Course?

There are two main types of courses in English for Academic Purposes. One is for students who want to improve their English for study purposes before they attend their degree programme at a British University. These courses are called Pre-sessional courses. The other type is for students who are already at university and who want help with their academic English. These are called in-sessional courses.

What is a Pre-sessional Course?

Pre-sessional courses can be run for 1 to 12 months depending on the students' English language level on entry. They are full-time courses with 20-25 hours of classes per week. The aim of a Pre-sessional course is to prepare students for life and study at a British University.

If you want to study at a university in Britain you should first of all apply to the university for a prospectus or course brochure. This will explain the level of English that is needed for entry to the course of study. You will then probably have to take a test to assess your level of English. The most widely recognised international tests of English for Academic Purposes are IELTS and TOEFL. When the results and completed application form are sent to a university, the Registrar or Admissions Office of the university will advise you whether it is necessary to attend a pre-sessional EAP course in the university before the main course begins.

Pre-sessional EAP courses give students practice in communicating in academic English, that is in writing essays, reports and other academic papers, reading academic texts, listening to lectures and taking notes, and making academic presentations. Pre-sessional courses also prepare you for a life of study at a particular university by establishing personal contact with your department before your main course begins and enabling you to become familiar with, for example, the library and computing facilities.

Pre-sessional courses include trips to places of local interest in order to help you settle into your new community. In addition to this a social programme is provided, and attention is given to your welfare, helping you settle into your accommodation, find banks, food shops, health facilities, etc.

Students who attend pre-sessional EAP courses in British Universities remark on their usefulness in helping them settle and prepare for the academic course ahead. These courses can help you psychologically (getting accustomed to the new culture, customs and climate), practically (finding your way around), socially (you will make lots of lasting friendships on Pre-sessional courses) and of course linguistically by helping you become accustomed to academic English and to brush up on your everyday English.

How to choose a Pre-sessional Course

BALEAP (British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes) recommends that students attend a Pre-sessional course in the university where they plan to study. The following universities have had their Pre-sessional courses accredited by BALEAP.

BALEAP Accreditation Scheme

BALEAP is an organisation which works towards maintaining and improving the quality of EAP courses, and protecting the interests of international students and ensuring they get good value for the fees they pay. One of the ways it does this is by its Accreditation Scheme. This is a quality assurance mechanism which assesses and accredits EAP courses that meet nationally accepted standards in the following areas: Management and Administration; Staffing; Resources and Facilities; Course Design; Teaching and Learning; Assessment; Student Welfare; and Course Evaluation. Currently over 75 British universities are BALEAP members and 19 of these have courses accredited by the BALEAP Accreditation Scheme.

For a list of accredited courses, click here.