Pre-sessional English Course (online)
Do you need to improve your English language and academic skills to meet the entry requirements for a degree course at The University of Sheffield in Autumn 2025? Our fully online Pre-sessional English course can help you to do so.
Course overview
- Who: Anyone preparing to study a degree at The University of Sheffield
- Cost: £459 per week - includes all tuition and course material
- Level: CEFR B2 to C1
- Hours: 12.5 hours of tutor-led classes, a 1 to 1 tutorial and 7-10 hours of guided independent study per week
- Time: Summer 2024
- Minimum age: Adult learning environment. Minimum age 18 years (some exceptions considered).
- Maximum class size: 16 students
- Social programme: Online social activities are available
- Apply: Apply now
Our fully online Pre-sessional English courses are designed to improve your English language and academic skills to meet the requirements for entry onto a degree programme at The University of Sheffield. The course can be studied from your home country over the internet before you travel to the UK to begin your academic course at the university.
The highly qualified and experienced tutors on the course will also support you with improving your English language and academic study skills in lively and interactive classes, which will help you succeed when you join your degree programme.
Joining a Pre-sessional English course saves you the trouble of taking multiple IELTS exams before you can start your degree. If you successfully complete the assessments on the Pre-sessional English course, and have otherwise met all the other conditions outlined in your offer, you can progress directly to your degree programme when the course finishes.
Course structure
Our online Pre-sessional English Course is made up of the following components:
- General Language Development
- Academic English skills: academic writing, academic reading, academic listening and academic speaking.
- Spoken English skills: you will be taught to communicate more effectively in English in areas such as presentations and seminars.
- Writing skills: you will be taught academic writing skills focusing on paraphrasing, summarising and synthesis.
- 1-1 tutorials - regular meetings with a tutor providing you with the opportunity to discuss your work and progress in the areas of Reading and Writing.
For prospective undergraduate students the course contains an additional focus on reading skills as these will form the basis of your studies when you begin your degree course.
Every moment in ELTC is useful. They use modern technology and modern techniques in teaching. They are so supportive and encourage you to improve your skills.
Haider Al-Hamadani (Iraq)
PhD Mechanical Engineering
Assessment and progression
In order to progress to your academic course at The University of Sheffield you must complete and pass the pre-sessional course assessments.
The pre-sessional course will assess your four skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) and academic literacy through a combination of integrated academic assessments.
You may be asked to participate in a seminar, give a presentation and write an essay based on academic sources.
Progression to University
Progression from the Pre-sessional Course onto your University of Sheffield degree programme will also include consideration of:
- Attendance of teacher-led lessons
- Engagement with your personal tutor
- Completion of tasks and assessments
If you fully participate and pass the pre-sessional course assessments you will be able to progress directly onto your University of Sheffield degree course.
Results from our Pre-sessional course are only accepted by The University of Sheffield. The results are valid for 2 years and can be used for entry onto a degree course at the start of the academic year immediately following Term 3 and 4, or the following academic year should you choose to defer the start date of your degree course. If you plan on attending a different university after studying our Pre-sessional English course, you will need to ask your prospective university which English language qualifications they can accept.
Example timetable
- Provisional Online Timetable (Summer 2025)
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Please note these are example times and may be subject to change before or during the course. All times are UK local time (BST) and all lessons are taught online.
Monday
09:30 - 11:00 - Lesson 1
11:30 - 13:00 - Lesson 2
Tuesday
09:15 - 10:45 - Lesson 1
11:15 - 12:45 - Lesson 2
Wednesday
09:15 - 10:45 - Lesson 1
11:15 - 12:45 - Lesson 2
Thursday
09:15 - 10:45 - Lesson 1
11:15 - 12:45- Lesson 2
Friday
09:15 - 10:45 - Lesson 1
11:15 - 12:45 - Lesson 2
Tutorial
You will have a personal tutor assigned to you in each term. You will meet them regularly to discuss your work and progress on the course. These tutorials will typically take place at a time between 1.30pm and 2.30pm.
Asynchronous Content
There will be approximately 90 minutes per day of required asynchronous content, including readings, lectures, language practice activities, writing tasks and preparation for speaking tasks.
Please note: This timetable is currently provisional for Summer 2025 and may be subject to change.
Dates, fees and entry requirements
We're offering two online Pre-sessional English courses in Summer 2025:
- 10 Week Online Pre-sessional Course
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Start Date: Monday 23 June 2025
End Date: Friday 29 August 2025
Application Deadline: Monday 2 June 2025 at 11:59pm (BST)
Cost: £4,590 (£459 per week)
Entry Requirements:
Your Overall IELTS score: No more than 1 IELTS band below the overall English language requirement for your degree course
Your Individual IELTS component scores (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening):
- No component below 5.0
- A maximum of two components at 5.0
- No component more than 1.5 bands below the overall IELTS requirement for your degree course
- No component more than 1.0 below the minimum requirement for that component
You must also hold a conditional or unconditional offer to study a degree course beginning in September or October 2025 at The University of Sheffield before applying for this course
To view example entry requirements for this pre-sessional course based on the English language requirements for your degree programme please visit our Term 4 entry requirements webpage:
- 6 Week Online Pre-sessional Course
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Start Date: Monday 7 July 2025
End Date: Friday 15 August 2025
Application Deadline: Monday 16 June 2025 at 11:59pm (BST)
Cost: £2,754 (£459 per week)
Entry Requirements:
Your Overall IELTS score: No more than half (0.5) an IELTS band below the overall English language requirement for your degree course
Your Individual IELTS component scores (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening):
At least 5.5 in every component and no more than half (0.5) an IELTS band below the minimum IELTS component requirements for your degree course
You must also hold a conditional or unconditional offer to study a degree course beginning in September or October 2025 at The University of Sheffield before applying for this course
To view example entry requirements for this pre-sessional course based on the English language requirements for your degree programme please visit our Term 4 entry requirements webpage:
Tuition fees
The standard tuition fee for online Pre-sessional Course in Summer 2025 is £459 per week. This fee includes:
- All tuition and course materials
- Course assessments
- Weekly 1 to 1 tutorials with your personal tutor
- Individual feedback
- Online lectures by University of Sheffield academic staff
- Access to online course materials and virtual learning environments
- Online University Library Access
- ELTC Student Exclusive Online Social Programme
Technical requirements
The online components of the course will be delivered using Blackboard Collaborate.
To access the online content, students will require a desktop or laptop computer with a webcam and microphone, and a broadband internet connection (recommended minimum speed 5mbps).
Tablets with a Blackboard compatible browser may also be used to access the course, however we strongly recommend students use a desktop or laptop computer ahead of a tablet device where possible.
Computer equipment and internet access is not provided as part of the course.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How to pay
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Paying your tuition fees is a crucial part of your registration at University.
For information on how to pay your tuition fee correctly, as well as the things you need to look out for, visit:
Information about your ELTC tuition fee
How to pay your tuition fees and important information
We can also accept payments from sponsors:
- Do I need an IELTS for UKVI certificate?
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No, as the course is online and a visa is not required to attend we can be more flexible with the English tests we can accept for entry purposes. Acceptable tests include:
- IELTS for UKVI
- Trinity Integrated Skills in English (ISE) taken in the UK
- Pearson Test of English Academic UKVI (PTE Academic)*
- LanguageCert International ESOL SELT
- IELTS (Academic)
- IELTS Indicator (taken after July 2020)
- LanguageCert International ESOL B2 Communicator or C1 Expert (online version)
- Pearson PTE Academic (non UKVI)*
- Cambridge English C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency
- TOEFL iBT and Special Home Edition
- NCUK English Language Test
* The online version of Pearson PTE Academic is not accepted.
Our entry requirements for IELTS and LanguageCert exams can be viewed on this webpage.
If you have taken TOEFL iBT or Pearson PTE you can use the table on this webpage to convert your score into an IELTS equivalent score.
Apply
To apply for our online Pre-sessional Course you need to submit your application through our online application form.
Before submitting your application please read our terms and conditions and take note of the following information:
Deadlines
The final deadline for applying to our online pre-sessional courses is three weeks before the start date of each course. We strongly recommend you submit your application as early as possible as places on the course are limited and we may have to stop accepting applications earlier than the standard deadline in the event of high demand.
Entry requirements
Please check that you meet the entry requirements for the pre-sessional course you are applying for. See the 'Course dates and entry requirements' section above for more information.
Additional guidance
You can find further information about how to complete an application to a Pre-sessional English course on our how to apply webpage:
Online Pre-sessional English - How to Apply
Please read our Terms and Conditions before submitting your application.
For more information on how we hold and process your personal data, please see the University's Privacy Notice for prospective, current and former students.
Information for Under 18s
Our courses are designed for adults. Applicants who are under 18 are subject to a number of restrictions and administrative procedures.
The standard minimum age for our courses is 18 years. However, we will consider applications from applicants who are under 18 in some circumstances, and subject to satisfactory guardianship arrangements being in place. Please contact us for more information.
For further information on under 18s at the university please visit our "Students under the age of 18" webpage".
Still need help?
If you still have any questions about our online Pre-sessional English course then please get in touch by sending an email to eltc-admissions@sheffield.ac.uk and our Admissions Team will be happy to help.