English for Academic Purposes: Pre-sessional English – Upper-Intermediate Foundation Certificate

Improve your English language skills. Build on academic skills such as taking notes, contributing to seminars, making presentations, handling reading assignments, and writing essays and reports. Reach the correct level of English for your university course.

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Overview

This course will help you improve your English language and academic skills and develop your knowledge of life at university in the UK. You will build on your existing knowledge of English and develop academic skills such as taking notes, contributing to seminars, making presentations, reading strategies, and writing essays and reports. You'll gain a head start by learning about the University before you start your main course and reach the required level of English to be successfully accepted to the University.

Why us?

You will be taught in a small group by experienced tutors, with additional out-of-classroom activities during British Studies time
You will have access to our modern facilities that include a language laboratory and a well-equipped centre for self-access language work

You will meet other international students who will be studying at the University
You will have a head start and know your way around the University before your main course begins

Course structure

This pre-sessional course uses a variety of teaching methods in order to develop your English skills and prepare you effectively for university study in the UK. You will participate in small group classes, larger group lectures, and small group or individual tutorials enabling you to practise your English with the help from both your teacher and your classmates. You will receive regular feedback on your work and be well supported to develop your English language to your best level. There is also a large bank of extracurricular material that you can use to help you during your independent study time, which is available on our Virtual Learning Environment, CANVAS.

There will also be lots of opportunities for you to practise your speaking during the course, as well as group projects which you will take part in, and you will stay in regular contact with your teacher in tutorials and classes.

By the end of the course we expect you to have a level of English that is the University of Sunderland equivalent to an IELTS score of 6.0. This is the English language requirement for most University of Sunderland courses.

The University of Sunderland’s Language Centre is a dedicated space for language learning and teaching in Wearside View 108 and includes:
- Open-access Sanako language laboratory for independent study
- Study area for group work
- TVs, DVDs, textbooks, magazines and dictionaries
- Assistance from a language technician
Opening times are Monday to Thursday, 11am-1pm and 2-4pm.

For teaching, we also have two Sanako language laboratories, with Sanako Study 1200.
Language Centre

Facilities

You will have full access to all on campus facilities including the library, computer suites and open access Language Centre.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

This course is for people who do not speak English as a first language to help you improve your English and be successfully accepted to a main course at the University of Sunderland. Joint CAS for EAP and your main programme is available.

We welcome applications from those with an IELTS or equivalent score of 5.5 or above with no individual skill score (speaking, listening, reading and writing) lower than 5. If your level of English is higher than IELTS 5.5 you can study this course and achieve a score 0.5 band higher than your entry score.

If your IELTS or equivalent score is lower than 5.5, you can choose one of these alternative courses to improve your English language skills:

IELTS 4.5: English for Academic Purposes: Pre-sessional English – Pre-Intermediate
IELTS 5.0: English for Academic Purposes: Pre-sessional English – Intermediate

If you need any help completing your application, please contact our student support team.

Fees and finance

The fee for this course is £1,000.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

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Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

Page last updated: 09 April 2025

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.