Close
Unconditional Pre-sessional English course
This course has been designed to help you further improve your academic skills, become familiar with the UCL community, and adjust to life in London before starting your degree.
On this page:
- course dates and fee
- entry requirements
- course overview
- how to apply
- application deadline
- accommodation
- visa information
- refunds.
Course dates and fee
The course is face-to-face and runs between 1–19 September 2025.
The course fee is:
- £2,095
As well as paying your course fee, you should consider how to meet your living costs while studying. You’ll need to fund your accommodation, food, and travel expenses. Think about everyday costs too, such as clothes and entertainment. To learn more, please see the cost of studying at UCL guide.
Entry requirements
This course is suitable for you if:
- You hold an unconditional offer to study any UCL postgraduate degree.
- You have met the English language condition for your degree with an English language test accepted by UCL and the result was between IELTS 6.5 (UCL English Language Level 1) and 8.0 (UCL English Language Level 5) or equivalent.
- You want to better prepare yourself for academic study at UCL.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to consider you for this course if you hold:
- a UCL undergraduate offer (whether conditional or unconditional)
- a UCL postgraduate conditional offer.
Conditional UCL offer holders
If you hold a conditional UCL offer for an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, you may be eligible for our other Pre-sessional English courses for:
If you hold a degree offer from the IOE, you may be eligible for their PASHE course.
Course overview
What will you study?
The course centres around an independent research project focusing on developing your academic research and writing skills before you start your UCL degree.
This involves:
- Researching an area related to your future degree using UCL Library tools.
- Learning about principles of academic research, for example, finding and selecting sources and citing your sources.
- Producing academic writing based on your research.
- Supporting your ideas with evidence from sources.
- Discussing and presenting your research.
You will receive individual feedback from your tutor on your work in weekly tutorials throughout the course.
The course is not formally assessed, so you can focus on developing your academic skills without the pressure of preparing for and completing end-of-course assessments.
What will your typical week look like?
Your weekly timetable will typically include up to:
- 15 hours of contact time in lessons
- independent research time
- 20 minutes of contact time in a tutorial.
How will you study?
You will have timetabled lessons on the UCL Bloomsbury campus Monday to Thursday.
Your lessons will be highly interactive and you will be expected to speak, participate and contribute extensively. There will be very little lecture-style input. This will help you to improve your English and reflects the way you will study on your UCL degree programme.
After your lessons, you will have time to work on your independent research project, which is integral to the course.
You will also have the opportunity to work with students from other classes, so you can meet a broad range of students and improve your collaborative skills.
On Fridays, you will have an individual tutorial with your tutor to discuss your research and receive feedback on your progress.
This is also an opportunity for you to discuss aspects of the course which are of particular concern or interest to you, or any difficulties you may be experiencing.
Please note: This is a full-time and intensive course, and you must be available for the duration and participate fully.
Your tutor
Your tutor is an approachable and dedicated Associate Lecturer in English for Academic Purposes, who will work closely with you and help prepare you for your future degree studies at UCL.
Additionally, the Pre-sessional Senior Team will support you while you are on the course.
Example weekly timetable
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning 9:30am – 1pm Lessons | Academic integrity and citing your sources Academic integrity and avoiding plagiarism Using Turnitin similarity checker Citing your sources: referencing styles Authorship and ethical use of AI in writing | Supporting your ideas with evidence Incorporating your sources appropriately paraphrasing Summarising Synthesising your sources | Writing about your research: organising your ideas Structuring your writing ‘Good’ paragraph structure Topic sentences Writing introductions | Explaining your research to others Explaining your research to non-specialists Defining key terms Identifying limitations Dealing with difficult questions | Individual tutorials (20 minutes) Independent research time |
| Afternoon Group work Independent research | Independent research | Whole group: Faculty orientation task 2-3:30pm | Independent research | Whole Group: giving and receiving peer feedback; reflecting on feedback 2-3:30pm |
Technical requirements
Please note the following technical requirements:
- a modern laptop (mobile devices such as tablets or phones are not appropriate)
- a headset or headphones (highly recommended) or functioning speakers and a microphone
- a working webcam
- Chrome and Firefox installed
- an internet connection of 20 Mbps or higher.
Meet our previous students
Hear from previous students of the Unconditional Pre-sessional English course.
How to apply
Follow these steps to apply for the course:
- Check you meet the above entry requirements.
- Complete the online application form.
- Upload the following with your application:
- All pages of your 2025-26 UCL postgraduate degree offer, confirming your offer is unconditional.
- The English language test result that meets the English language requirement of your postgraduate degree.
- The personal details page of your passport.
- Your most recent UK visa (if you have one).
- Pay the application fee of £90 via the UCL Online Store.
- Wait to hear back from us via email. If we offer you a place on the course, our email will include details about how and when you need to pay the course fee.
Please make sure you fully complete your application because missing information will cause a delay.
Application deadline
Complete applications should be submitted by 12pm UK time on 4 July 2025.
Applications may close earlier if the course becomes full.
Accommodation
We will send you further information on UCL Accommodation when you receive your offer.
Look at the accommodation website to see what’s available and get an idea of the cost.
Visa information
If you require a Student Visa, use the CAS issued for your UCL degree course to come the UK and study the Pre-sessional as 'Supplementary Studies'.
We will provide further information and advice when we offer you a place on the course.
Refunds
Full refunds of the course fee will be made in the event of a visa application refusal where a further visa application is not possible. Claims must be supported by a Refusal of Entry Clearance letter.
Other refund requests must be received by 12pm (UK time) on 4 July 2025 (the refund request deadline) to be considered and are subject to a 10% administration charge.
Refund requests must be submitted by email to: presess@ucl.ac.uk
No refund will be made if you withdraw or are withdrawn (for example, because of poor attendance) from a course after it begins.