Online Pre-sessional English Programme (OPEP)

On the Online Pre-Sessional English you will study, practise and develop your academic skills, language and literacies in a digital environment.

The course aims to

• Develop your language through reading, writing, listening and speaking
• Improve key academic skills such as interaction in seminars and online forums, summarising and citing academic literature, and critical analysis and discussion of texts
• Advance your ability to demonstrate your academic understanding through multimodal spoken, written, visual and digital communication
• Introduce you to a range of contemporary cross-cutting academic themes such as sustainability and equality
• Enhance key personal attributes such as responsibility, reflexivity and criticality

Over 6 weeks, you will

• Study a range of topics with broad applicability to university study
• Engage in a variety of tasks to give you practice in the kinds of assignment you will be required to undertake at university, in particular: written assignments, multimodal presentations, group discussions and 1-to-1 tutorials
• Work on assessed projects related to your specific academic context, with an essay and a presentation on a subject in your field
• Develop your digital literacies by engaging with a range of different digital tasks and platforms.

All Pre-sessional students will be assessed during their Pre-sessional course. Students need to meet their degree programme English Language requirements in the 4 components of reading, writing, listening and speaking as well as achieving the required overall grade in order to progress. 

Online Pre-Sessional English provides extensive opportunities for working with your peers and Academic English teachers within the University of Edinburgh community.  

Aspects of course delivery: 

• A carefully designed mix of online classroom activities
• Interactive digital content enabling you to consolidate your learning at your own pace
• Independent study focusing on your projects and assignments
• Supportive 1-to-1 tutorials with your assigned teacher
• Written and spoken formative feedback and feedforward from both teachers and peers  
• Opportunities for developing transferable skills and autonomous learning strategies to support successful transition to your postgraduate degree programme
• A reflective portfolio illustrating your active engagement with your learning and your reflective practice

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Read academic texts in your subject area, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose.
2. Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in your subject area, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument.
3. Understand and respond critically to academic lectures.
4. Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your subject area.
5. Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning. 

• Computer with capability for live audio and visual communication
• Stable internet connection
• Workspace where a student can connect to class and work without distraction
• Materials for delivery of the course are provided electronically, there is no need for students to buy any books.

Are you interested to find out more?

Join colleagues from the English Language Education (ELE) team to learn more about the University and the Online Pre-sessional English language programme. This session will be held online and you will be sent a link to access the session the day before. 

Online Information Sessions for 2024 entry

*Please note this course is only suitable for students with a conditional offer to study an online postgraduate degree at Edinburgh.

Please note that students must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh online postgraduate degree programme.

Applications are now open.

Apply now