Intensive support

Our pre-sessional programmes are intensive courses of four, eight or 12 weeks. They are aimed at students holding a conditional offer who need to improve their academic English and study skills before they start their studies

Course content

Activities will include:

• Giving presentations
• Taking part in discussions
• Writing summaries and academic essays
• Listening to lectures and talks.

You’ll study for 40 hours a week and 40% of this time will be teacher-led. You’ll also have regular one-to-ones or small group discussions. By the end of your course, you should have:

• Improved your English.
• Developed strategies for learning on your own.
• Become familiar with our virtual learning environment - Moodle.
• Gained a better understanding of the key skills and language you need to study successfully at university.

How we will assess you

Assessment will consist of:

• An essay  (65%).
• An oral assessment (20%).
• A lecture comprehension assessment (15%).

To pass the twelve , eight or four week programme, you'll need to meet our attendance requirements and achieve a minimum mark of 40% overall. You'll then be able to progress to your chosen Royal Holloway degree.

• Please note that in addition to the requirements above, all students must either achieve or maintain an English language level of B2 (Common European Framework). This means achieving a minimum mark of 30 per cent in each the summative assessments at the end of the programme.

Dates and fees for 2020 entry

*This is the date on which students will move accommodation. Final classes/assessments will be on 8 September.
How to apply

How to apply

Once you have accepted an offer to study at an undergraduate or postgraduate level, you can then apply for one of our pre-sessional programmes through your Applicant portal.

You must already hold an internationally-recognised English qualification at a level that will enable you to benefit from a pre-sessional programme. See ‘How to work out which Pre-Sessional English Language Programme to take’ below.

Deadline for applications

The deadlines for applying for a pre-sessional programme are:

How to work out which pre-sessional English language programme to take

To find out which pre-sessional English language programme (PELP) you need to take, look at the table below:

• Select the relevant heading showing the English language test you’ve taken or are planning to take eg IELTS or Pearson.
• Then select the English language requirement for your chosen degree

The table will then show you whether you need to take the four, eight or twelve-week PELP programme depending on your current English language level.