Aim

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The RLC Pre-sessional Certificate prepares students for the academic part of their intended further/higher education programme through research methods, understanding lectures, note-taking, summarising, adding own ideas, structuring essays, preparing and giving seminars and presentations. 

Course Description 

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The Pre-sessional certificate offers 4 EAP modules Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking + 1 IELTS Module. It is spread over 12 weeks with 21 hours of classes every week. Each lesson is 45 minutes long.

Sample Timetable

Methodology

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Learners will experience a wide range of teaching methodologies covering lectures, presentations, seminars, classroom discussions, field trips, team work, projects, quizzes, case studies and audio-visual materials.

Assessment

These may take the form of individual and team based projects, research and presentations/seminars, tests, personal learning journals, exams, continuous assessment, portfolios, mind maps and organising events, all based on the college fair assessment policy.

Homework

This is an essential part of every student’s course which consolidates classwork and provides extra practice in theory, practice, skills and systems. 

Tutorials

Continuous support is available to help every learner to prepare for an external examination, so that he or she can return home with an internationally recognised qualification. This provides a two-way feedback to pass on advice on how to address any problems shown up by a student's performance in class and in their assessments.  At the same time, students can ask for help in areas that are particularly important for them. 

University Counselling

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RLC has formed links with several British and international colleges and universities.  

Our team of academic counsellors will be delighted to help students to choose the course and institution most suited to them and assist them in their application to these organisations.  

Our aim is to ensure that all students on our Pre-sessional and IELTS examination preparation courses are linguistically and academically equipped to follow a further/higher education programme on successful completion of the course.

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On successful completion of the course, the learner may continue their studies at the next level. 

Counselling is available for learners to discuss the next stage of their University Pathways process either at Richard Language College or in their chosen UK University. 
 

Students’ choice of university and degree course will be determined by their own academic record and by the different specialisations offered by each university.

 
Certain universities are famous for particular subjects, and some courses are only offered by a small number of universities.  

In Britain, undergraduate courses normally last for three or four years. 

Certificates and Transcripts

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Certificates will only be issued to students who have attended 80% or more of lessons of each module.  Transcripts will record only the grades of modules that a student has successfully passed. Full certificates can only be awarded after successfully achieving all units.

English Result

Achieved English levels are only recorded on certificates and transcripts if students have taken the IELTS exam at the end of the course.

Course Profile
 

Reading

Students learn how to prepare for lectures by brainstorming ideas about the topics, researching the key themes, reading and understanding handouts/books/internet/quotes/newspapers. Other key skills include identifying main points of text paragraphs, using gist, skimming for themes, scanning for detail and developing opinions on the text and using text information for referencing/building a bibliography.

Writing
Learners practise structuring assignments, establishing a thesis statement, writing a methodology, writing a literature review, designing questionnaires, presenting graphs and tables, conducting primary/secondary research, analysing, interpreting, triangulating data, upgrading vocabulary, achieving tasks efficiently, developing cohesive arguments, referencing and bibliography skills, using examples to support ideas, adding own opinion, introductions and conclusions, using cause/effect arguments, developing research skills, process writing – drafting and redrafting and  reviewing their original thesis statement in the light of results and developed arguments.

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Language
Learners study how to identify and apply grammar rules, forms, patterns, collocations, phonemes, fluency, stress, rhythm, intonation, phatic language, embedded words, ellipsis, elision and contractions in written and spoken texts.

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Vocabulary
Learners practise using predictive skills to anticipate the meaning of texts. They will use morphology and vocabulary in context to decode the meaning of the text both auditory and written as well as recycle new vocabulary, identify register, range and genre, encode spoken and written text and make word/sentence transformations.

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Listening
Learners develop note-taking skills, identifying key points in lectures/seminars/videos/TV/Radio, following lines of discussion, listening for detail, following cause/effect arguments, understanding how examples support theories, identifying different opinions, adding own opinions, using auditory source information for referencing/building a bibliography.
 

Speaking

Learners study the theory and practice of working in teams, prioritising and management of:

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• people 

• resources

• time 

• stress 

• crisis 

They will also practise and reflect on discussion skills, prepare, practise, present and evaluate group and individual seminars and presentations through participation, structuring talks, formatting slides, speaking from notes and developing an original style.

IELTS

Learners will learn how to communicate in academic English at a higher under-graduate level through decoding, understanding and encoding the meaning and structure of written and spoken text in different academic contexts in a way that steers their language skills towards the level of an educated native speaker. 

Learners will also receive guidance and practice in grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, reading for gist, skimming, scanning for detail, composition, sentence structure, lexical discourse, listening for gist and detail, pronunciation, phonemic and lexical chunking, fluency, rhythm, word stress, task achievement and cohesion and process writing and speaking.

In addition, learners will develop special techniques for effectively responding to a variety of examination type questions and scenarios. 
 

Fees

Accommodation Fees

IMPORTANT

Please let us know if you prefer a host family without pets.

Please check the special diet availability before booking.

Airport Transfer Fees

IMPORTANT
Pickup point:  We will tell/email you once you have confirmed the flight details to us
Waiting fee: A waiting fee of £35 per hour will apply if the driver has to wait more than one hour after the plane has landed.