Pre-sessional English language courses

Joining a University of Surrey Pre-sessional English course will provide you with the best possible preparation for your degree course at Surrey. 

You will: 

• Be taught by highly qualified tutors with many years of experience teaching at the University of Surrey
• Be able to progress directly onto your degree course without the need to retake an English language test*
• Become familiar with the University of Surrey learning environment including the Virtual Learning Environment (SurreyLearn), the Library and the marking systems
• Be able to make friends with other students who will also be doing their degrees at Surrey.

*Progression is dependent on successfully completing the course; students have achieved a 97% success rate on our Pre-sessional over the last five years.

Plus: Our support does not end with the Pre-sessional

Tutors are available to support you when you start your degree course with:

• One-to-one sessions to provide support with assignments
• Courses to continue to develop your academic skills
• Reunions with your former classmates and tutors to catch up with news and find out how you are all getting on.

If you choose the on-campus Pre-sessional, you will follow the same course as the online students but with the following added benefits:

• Guaranteed accommodation
• The opportunity to talk more freely with tutors and classmates; on-campus students tend to develop closer bonds with each other
• A greater opportunity to develop your speaking and listening skills as you are likely to be using English all day
• Time to become familiar with the campus and all the student services
• A chance to explore the historical town of Guildford and the surrounding area
• Easy transport to London and other cities – students often enjoy sightseeing together
• Time to become more familiar with British culture and the academic environment at Surrey before your degree course starts.

• Both online and on-campus students will study in small classes with a tutor from 9:30-13:00 (UK time): 3 hours per day.
• You will be set self-study and group-study tasks every day and over weekends (an average of 2-3 hours per day).
• You will be allocated a personal tutor and will have regular one-to-one tutorial meetings with them throughout the course. These meetings will usually take place between 14:00 and 16:00 UK time, taking time differences into account for online students.

• Academic Speaking Skills: developing your seminar discussion and presentation skills.
• Academic Reading Skills: weekly reading activities, including academic journal articles, to develop your reading speed and your understanding of texts as well as your critical reading and note taking skills. This will prepare you for the considerable amount of reading that will be required on your degree course.
• Academic Listening Skills: weekly listening tasks using a variety of listening resources including recorded lectures delivered by lecturers from a range of departments at the University of Surrey.
• Academic Writing Skills: your tutors will help you to develop accuracy and cohesiveness in your writing, and you will learn to write in an academic style.
• Research Skills: you will be guided through the process of writing a longer researched and fully-referenced academic essay so that you are well prepared for your written assignments on your degree course.
• Critical Thinking Skills: in all the above skills, you will learn to think critically.
• Use of AI: during the course we will consider the use of AI and ensure that you are familiar with the University of Surrey guidelines for its appropriate use.
• University of Surrey online Resources: the Virtual Learning Environment at Surrey is called SurreyLearn and whether you are studying online or on campus, most of the course materials will be provided through this. You will learn to access the materials and submit assignments through SurreyLearn, and will also learn to use the University Library. All of this will give you a head start when you arrive at Surrey.

• The undergraduate Pre-sessional is only available online.
• It may have slightly different contents and assessments but will be taught and assessed on the same elements.

At the end of the course you will be assessed on your academic reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. The assessments will be a mixture of assignments, tests and continuous assessment. 

1. Degree offer: A degree offer from the University of Surrey
2. Proof of English language proficiency: Evidence of your English language level. We can accept a range of English language tests taken within the last two years. See the full list of accepted tests.
3. Identification: A valid, clear and colour copy of your passport.
4. Sponsorship letter: If you are a sponsored student, please provide a copy of your sponsorship/financial guarantee letter.

1. Degree offer: A degree offer from the University of Surrey
2. Proof of English language proficiency: If you require a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) for a student visa, you will need to supply an UKVI IELTS (Academic) or UKVI PEARSON (Academic) result taken within the last two years.
3. Identification: A valid, clear and colour copy of your passport.
4. Sponsorship letter: If you are a sponsored student, please provide a copy of your sponsorship/financial guarantee letter.

If we require further information in order to assess your application you will be sent an email advising you to login to our Surrey Self-Service portal.

You will then be able to see which documents we require and will be asked to upload this information.

If you present a variety of pieces of evidence of competence in English, you will only be judged on the most recent piece of evidence.

Once we have made a decision on your application, you will be sent an email advising you to log in to the self-service portal, where you will be able to see the outcome.

If your application is successful, your offer letter will be available on the Surrey Self-Service portal. This letter can be used for official purposes (if required).

We advise accepting your offer as early as possible through our Surrey Self-Service portal.

After accepting your offer, to secure a place on the course, the following must be provided:

• A 10% deposit
• Satisfactory evidence of sponsorship (if applicable).

If you accept without payment or evidence, your status will show as ‘provisionally accepted'.

If you decide that you do not wish to accept your offer of a place, please decline through the Surrey Self-Service portal.