About us

Who we are

The UCL Centre for Languages & International Education is a centre of excellence for teaching and learning, specialising in academic communication, pedagogy and student support from pre-degree up to doctoral level across all UCL faculties.

We first opened in 1991 as the UCL Language Centre, delivering English for Academic Purposes (EAP), credit-bearing Modern Foreign Language (MFL) modules and evening language courses. Our name was formally changed in 2009 to reflect our wider teaching remit and role of enabling international students to access UCL degree programmes.

Our Faculty

In 2019, we joined the IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, a world-leading centre for research and teaching in education and social science. The IOE has been ranked number one in the world for education for the past 11 years in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2024).

What we offer

• A portfolio of full-time pre-degree courses (undergraduate and graduate) and specialist summer courses for international students, ongoing throughout the calendar year.
• Discipline-specific academic writing and speaking support for native and non-native English speakers, offered through the UCL Academic Communication Centre (ACC).
• Degree-integrated MFL, EAP and British Sign Language (BSL) modules at undergraduate and graduate level.
• A range of cutting-edge credit-bearing modules in science, medical sciences, health, business, management, humanities and education, taken via the UCL Summer School and delivered through UCL faculties.
• A suite of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) evening language courses, available to UCL students, staff and the local London community.

Expertise

All of our language teaching staff hold a teaching qualification and an increasing number are Fellows or Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy.

We bring together expertise from across a broad range of areas, including:

• Teaching across nine foreign languages, EAP and BSL, including research skills in students' chosen language.
• Development of international students’ academic, linguistic and study skills at pre-undergraduate and pre-graduate level, enabling them to successfully transition between diverse education systems and access the UK's top universities.
• Subject teaching in Maths, Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences at pre-degree level.
• Teaching and pastoral care of international students under the age of 18, including through our residential programmes.
• Overseas consultancy expertise in undergraduate foundation course development.

BALEAP (The British Association for Lecturers in EAP) Accredited

The BALEAP Accreditation Scheme is designed to establish and sustain the standard required of specialist courses in EAP to enhance the student experience. We first gained accreditation for our Pre-sessional English course in 2010.

Our place in UCL

We are proud to contribute high-quality, academically prepared international students to all UCL faculties across a range of degree programmes and levels. We help students gain access to UCL degrees who would not typically have the opportunity to do so due to their home qualifications or language level, whilst strengthening the diversity and multiculturalism of UCL's student body.

Our teaching activities also enable over 2,000 UCL degree students from all UCL faculties to take foreign language courses, helping to maximise their skills as global citizens, boost their employability and access to the wider world.

People

We have an international teaching and professional services community of over 200 staff from across the world. CLIE staff have access to the extensive portfolio of professional development activities and qualifications of UCL Arena, as well as the UCL Organisational Development portfolio. Our staff retention and satisfaction scores are high with respect to recognising cultural difference, sense of purpose and working autonomy.

Last year, we welcomed 4,500 students from over 30 different countries through our doors. This, combined with the rich diversity of our staff, makes CLIE a truly international place to work and study.

Privacy

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