Online Pre-sessional Academic English - Course Overview
The Keele online Pre-sessional Academic English courses have been carefully developed to give you the skills you need for success in your degree.
The Keele Pre-sessional provides:
- At least 21 hours of work each week including a mixture of contact time with tutors in classes, individual meetings with tutors, meetings with other students and individual work.
- Classes will be held at times to suit students working in different time zones.
- Contact with experienced and qualified language teachers.
- Instruction and practice in reading, writing, speaking and listening for academic purposes.
- All course materials.
- Access to virtual Blackboard module, Microsoft Teams and online access to University Library.
- Personalised feedback at the end of the course, with individual recommendations for self-study.
- A Certificate of Completion.
- A blended learning approach to enhance your study experience.
- Exposure to the types of assignments, readings, lectures, assessments and teaching you will have in your degree programme.
- Contact with lecturers and academic staff from a range of subject areas.
The minimum enrolment age is 18 years.
Deposit Requirements
You are required to pay a non-refundable £150 deposit to secure your place on the course. The deposit amount will be deducted from the full course fee. Details of how to make a deposit payment can be found on our International Deposits webpage - we recommend the online payment method.
If you are receiving sponsorship to cover your tuition fee you will need to provide a letter of sponsorship/financial guarantee as evidence that this is valid for the a Pre-sessional English Language course.
Academic Requirements
A SELT (Secured English Language Test) as defined by the UKVI (UK Home Office) is the preferred method of entry to the Keele Pre-sessional English Programmes.
However, non-SELTs (Academic IELTS, IELTS Indicator, TOEFL, TOEFL Internet Based Test including the Home Edition, PTE Academic, Duolingo the LanguageCert and Password English NCUK version) will be accepted for entry to the 2024 Pre-sessional English online provision. Your certificate must be valid up to the start date of your Pre-sessional English Course.
Please see individual course pages for the English Language requirements for that course, and refer to our English language requirements page to see what scores we ask for.
If your profile does not match the scores below, please contact international@keele.ac.uk for further advice. If you have any other questions about other qualifications, please contact admissions@keele.ac.uk
English language requirement with six week pre-sessional English
| IELTs without pre-sessional | IELTs Academic and IELTs Indicator | TOEFL IBT (including Home) | Pearson Academic (including online) | Cambridge English | Trinity ISE SELT | NCUK English Test | LanguageCert ESOL SELT | Language Gallery UPP | |
| Group A | 6.0 with 5.5 in all components | 5.5 with 5.0 in all components | 71 with 15 in all components | 51 with 51 in each component | 162 with 154 in all components | ISE II with Pass all components | D (with E in all components) | B2 Pass (24 in all components) | 60 |
| Group B | 6.5 with 5.5 in all components | 6.0 with 5.0 in all components | 79 with 15 in all components | 59 with 51 in each component | 169 with 154 in all components | ISE II with Merit all components | C (with E in all components) | B2 Pass (27 in all components) | 65 |
| Group C | 6.5 with 6.0 in all components | 6.0 with 5.5 in all components | 79 with 17 (writing), 17 (listening), 18 (reading) and 20 (speaking) | 59 with 54 in each component | 169 with 162 in all components | ISE II with Merit in all components | C (with D in all components) | B2 Pass (30 in all components) | 70 |
| Group D | 7.0 with 6.5 in all components | 6.5 with 6.0 in all components | 87 with 19 (writing), 19 (listening), 19 (reading) and 20 (speaking) | 62 with 59 in each component | 176 with 169 in all components | ISE II with Distinction in all components OR ISE III with Pass in all components | B (with C in all components) | B2 Pass (35 in all components) | 80 |
| Group E | 7.0 with 7.0 in all components | 6.5 with 6.5 in all components | 87 with 22 in all components | 62 with 62 in each component | 176 with 176 in all components | ISE III with Merit in all components | B (with B in all components) | C1 Pass (with 25 in all components) | 85 |
If you are entering the final year and your course is in Group A, the requirements are slightly higher:
| Group A (Final Year) | 6.0 with 6.0 in reading and writing and 5.5 in speaking and listening | 5.5 with 5.5 in reading and writing and 5.0 in speaking and listening | 71 with 18 in reading, 17 in writing and 15 in speaking and listening | 54 with 54 in speaking and writing, 54 in reading and 51 in listening | 162 with 162 in reading and writing and 154 in speaking and listening | ISE II with merit in reading and writing and pass in speaking and listening | C with D in reading and writing and E in speaking and listening | B2 Pass (30 in written and 27 in spoken | 63 |
English language requirement with eleven week pre-sessional English
| IELTs without pre-sessional | IELTs Academic and IELTs Indicator | TOEFL IBT (including Home) | Pearson Academic (including online) | Cambridge English | Trinity ISE SELT | NCUK English Test | LanguageCert ESOL SELT | Language Gallery UPP | |
| Group A | 6.0 with 5.5 in all components | 5.0 with 4.5 in all components | 63 with 14 in all components | 51 with 45 in each component | 164 with 147 in all components | Cannot be used for entry at this level | Cannot be used for entry at this level | B2 Pass (21 in all components) | 50 |
| Group B | 6.5 with 5.5 in all components | 5.5 with 4.5 in all components | 71 with 14 in all components | 54 with 45 in each component | 162 with 147 in all components | ISE II with Pass all components | Cannot be used for entry at this level | B2 Pass (24 in all components) | 55 |
| Group C | 6.5 with 6.0 in all components | 5.5 with 5.0 in all components | 71 with 15 in all components | 54 with 51 in each component | 162 with 154 in all components | ISE II with Pass all components | D (with E in all components) | B2 Pass (27 in all components) | 60 |
| Group D | 7.0 with 6.5 in all components | 6.0 with 5.5 in all components | 79 with 17 (writing), 17 (listening), 18 (reading) and 20 (speaking) | 59 with 54 in each component | 169 with 162 in all components | ISE II with Merit in all components | C (with D in all components) | B2 Pass (30 in all components) | 70 |
| Group E | 7.0 with 7.0 in all components | 6.0 with 6.0 in all components | 79 with 19 (writing), 19 (listening), 19 (reading) and 20 (speaking) | 59 with 59 in each component | 169 with 169 in all components | ISE III with Pass in all components | C (with C in all components) | B2 Pass (35 in all components) | 75 |
If you are entering the final year and your course is in Group A, the requirements are slightly higher:
| Group A (Final Year) | 6.0 with 6.0 in reading and writing and 5.5 in speaking and listening | 5.0 with 5.0 in reading and writing and 4.5 in speaking and listening | 63 with 15 in reading and writing and 14 in speaking and listening | 51 with 51 in speaking and writing, 51 in reading and 45 in listening | 154 with 154 in reading and writing and 147 in speaking and listening | ISE II with pass in all components | Cannot be used for entry at this level | B2 Pass (27 in written and 24 in spoken) | 53 |
Please note
Enrolment on the Pre-sessional Academic English programme does not guarantee progression onto your chosen academic course at Keele University. In order to meet the English requirements of your course you need to:
- attend all timetabled lessons;
- be committed to participating fully in English in all classes;
- complete all homework, assessments and other work as required;
- spend time on self-study each day of the programme.
2024 Course Dates and Fees
The on-line programme meets the high professional standards consistently achieved by our on-campus programme.
| Course length | Course dates | Standard Fee | Standard Deadline for Application |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 weeks | 10/06/24 - 23/08/24 | £4,930 (includes materials) | 19/05/24 |
| 6 weeks | 15/07/24 - 23/08/24 | £2,740 (includes materials) | 23/06/24 |
You will need to have access to a computer or laptop (a tablet alone will not allow you to take advantage of all materials), headphones or earbuds and a microphone, a camera (this could be integrated or a separate camera), and a stable internet connection (in some locations a VPN may be required).
This course is designed to give you a valuable ‘head-start’ to academic success in your chosen degree programme. It offers a unique opportunity to develop the skills and confidence you need for your studies. The eleven week course is suitable for candidates whose conditional offer is subject to achieving a higher level of English and provides instruction and practical workshops in reading, writing, listening, speaking and vocabulary development for academic purposes.
Aims:
- To consolidate and extend your grammatical and lexical English knowledge and to improve your general communication skills.
- To encourage you to become autonomous learners and to introduce them to the skills required for academic study.
Our 6 week course is designed for those of you who have not quite reached the required level in English language and hold a conditional offer subject to meeting the language requirements. It offers you a unique opportunity to develop your skills, competence and confidence in academic English. Instruction and workshops enable you to consolidate, practise and review the academic skills needed for success in your chosen degree programme.
Aims:
- To enable students to develop a secure language base by extending their grammatical and lexical knowledge.
- To help students meet any remaining conditions of entry to their degree programmes.
- To improve students’ skills in written and spoken English.
- To familiarise students with a UK university’s facilities and systems.
- To develop students’ awareness of UK academic culture.
- To enable students to experience learner autonomy.
Progression onto your degree programme is dependent on achieving the equivalent (or higher) grade requirements listed on your conditional offer. If you are successful in gaining the required grades in the final assessments, you will be eligible to progress.
You will also need to pay the tuition deposit for your Degree course and be able to apply for a Student Visa. Other UK Visa's may be considered at the University's discretion.
If you have already applied to Keele you do not need to make a fresh application to study this course.
Students who would like to join one of these programmes can contact our admissions office by emailing admissions@keele.ac.uk. Please include your name and student number in your email.
We will continue to consider applications after the recommended application submission date. However, if you are not able to start on the first day of the course, you should be aware that the amount of study and work you are required to complete remains the same and all students are required to pass the course irrespective of the point at which they commence it.
The course fee must be paid in full, regardless of length of attendance and circumstances for late arrival.