6-Week Pre-sessional English Programme

The English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) course you select depends on your academic specialism.

For entry to the 6-week Pre-Sessional, students must:

  1. Be 18 years of age or over.
  2. Hold a conditional offer of a place on an appropriate University of Edinburgh PGT degree programme
  3. Hold a conditional offer of a place on an appropriate University of Edinburgh PGR degree programme if applying for English for Arts and Humanities (EAH), English for Education and Social Sciences (EESS) or English for Science, Technology and Medicine (ESTM) (please note: although we can accept applications from PGRs, students should be aware that the course is mainly designed for PGT applicants)
  4. Have either completed Pre-Sessional EGAP or have the required language test scores for ESAP entry which are:
IELTS Entry Requirement for degree programme:  IELTS Requirement for Summer EAP programme:6 weeks:  
6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in each component  6.0 overall with at least 5.5 in each component   
7.0 overall with at least 6.0 in each component   6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component   
7.0 overall with at least 7.0 in the writing component and 6.5 in each other component   6.5 overall with at least 6.5 in the writing component and 6.0 in each other component   
7.0 overall with at least 7.0 in each component   6.5 overall with at least 6.5 in each component   
7.0 overall with at least 6.5 in the writing component and 6.0 in each other component   6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in the writing component and 5.5 in each other component   
7.0 overall with at least 6.5 in the reading and listening components and 6.0 in each other component   6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in the reading and listening components and 5.5 in each other component   
7.0 overall with at least 6.5 in each section 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in each component 

Please note that the certificate must be a valid Academic English IELTS for UKVI certificate of the appropriate level. We cannot accept results from more than one certificate.  

We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.

 

PTE Entry Requirement for degree programme:  PTE Requirement for Summer EAP programme:  6 weeks:  
65 overall with at least 59 in each component  59 overall with at least 54 in each component   
73 overall with at least 59 in each component  65 overall with at least 54 in each component   
73 overall with at least 73 in the writing component and 65 in each other component  65 overall with at least 65 in the writing component and 59 in each other component   
73 overall with at least 65 in the writing component and 59 in each other component  65 overall with at least 59 in the writing component and 54 in each other component   
73 overall with at least 65 in the reading and listening components and 59 in each other component  65 overall with at least 59 in the reading and listening components and 54 in each other component   
73 with at least 65 in each component65 with at least 59 in each component

Please note that the certificate must be a valid PTE Academic UKVI certificate of the appropriate level. We cannot accept results from more than one certificate.  


 

Key Information 

Start DateMonday 14 July 2025
Duration6 weeks
Course Fee£3858
Course Location
  • Phase 2: ESAP (6 weeks)
    • EBM - Central
    • ELLM - Central
    • EAH - Central
    • ESALA - Central
    • EESS - Central
    • ELTEM - Holyrood
    • ESTM - King's Buildings
Application deadlineMonday 2 June 2025 17:00 (BST)

EBM aims to develop and improve your confidence and academic language & literacy skills to a sufficient level to bridge the gap between your entry language level and that required to participate successfully in a range of Business School Masters Programmes. It further aims to raise your awareness of what you should expect on their programme and of what is expected of you by the Business School.

Pre-requisites 

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh PGT degree programme in the Business School.
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry. 

 

Method of Delivery

  • This course has been designed to be delivered in-person.
  • In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress.

 

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in EBM:

  • Academic Business reading, writing, listening and speaking skills
  • Writing a business argument-based essay           
  • Working collaboratively to research and write a case study report           
  • Learning how to write reflectively through blogging        
  • Reading and referring to journal articles or to other appropriate business genres or sources of information e.g. case studies; graphics and data sets             
  • Participating in an academic seminar /seminar- style discussion 
  • Researching and delivering individual and group presentations  
  • Participating in other forms of business related group interaction e.g. negotiation       
  • Responding to guest lectures       
  • Developing vocabulary on a range of business related topics

 

Intended Learning Outcomes 

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

  • Read academic texts in such Business fields such as Management and Finance, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in your discipline. If required by the genre, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument
  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in your discipline
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your Business fields
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning

 

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.


ELLM aims to develop and improve your confidence and academic language & literacy skills to a sufficient level to bridge the gap between your entry language level and that required to participate successfully in a Law Masters programme. It further aims to raise awareness of what you should expect on your Law Masters programme and of what is expected of you by the Law School. 

Pre-requisites

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh PGT degree programme in the Law School.
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry

 

Method of Delivery

This course has been designed to be delivered in-person. 

In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress. 

 

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in ELLM:

  • Academic legal reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills      
  • Writing a legal argument-based essay      
  • Reading & researching case reports       
  • Reading & referring to academic law journal articles       
  • Reading & interpreting statutes
  • Participating in an academic legal seminar            
  • Researching & delivering a presentation                
  • Participating in guest speaker seminars 
  • Developing academic & legal vocabulary development   

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in your discipline
  • Read and critically evaluate academic texts in the discipline of Law, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose 
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres appropriate to the discipline of Law, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to support your argument
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to seminars and group discussions, and deliver academic presentations in the discipline of Law
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning  

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.

 


EAH aims to develop and improve your confidence along with your academic language and literacy skills to a sufficient level required to participate successfully in your future postgraduate programme. It also aims to raise your awareness of what you should expect on your future programmes. EAH provides opportunities to carry out, in a supported environment, academic tasks typically required across a range of master’s programmes in Arts and Humanities. 

Pre-requisites

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh PGT (or PGR) degree programme in an appropriate School.
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry.

 

Method of Delivery

  • This course has been designed to be delivered in-person. 
  • In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress.

 

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in EAH:

  • Specialist written assignment: lectures covering different aspects of academic writing; practical sessions providing guidance and practice in evaluating and selecting sources, the process of constructing an academic assignment, and making effective use of peer and tutor feedback to produce a successful final draft; Annotated Bibliography and Discipline Specific Writing workshops.
  • Reading specialist academic texts: engagement with and critical evaluation of discipline specific written sources, both prescribed and self-selected; developing effective reading strategies.
  • Spoken interaction: seminar skills with a range of opportunities to contribute to in-class discussions; presentation skills sessions involving research output in various formats.  
  • Listening to Guest Lectures: lectures by University of Edinburgh subject specialists; engagement with and critical response to content.   
  • Course Director Lectures: lectures on cultural factors in writing, studying in Edinburgh and continuing to improve academic English.
  • Introduction to living and studying in Edinburgh: talks and interactive sessions with UoE students and EUSA; visits to and reports on discipline relevant Edinburgh locations.

 

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

  • Read academic texts in Arts and Humanities, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in Arts and Humanities, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument
  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in your discipline
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your disciplinary field
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning.

 

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.


ESALA aims to develop and improve your confidence along with your academic language and literacy skills to a sufficient level required to participate successfully in your future postgraduate programme. It also aims to raise your awareness of what you should expect on your future programmes. ESALA provides opportunities to carry out, in a supported environment, academic tasks typically required across a range of master’s programmes in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 

Pre-requisites

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh PGT (or PGR) degree programme in an appropriate School.
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry.

 

Method of Delivery

  • This course has been designed to be delivered in-person. 
  • In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress.  

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in EASALA:

  • Specialist written assignment: lectures covering different aspects of academic writing; practical sessions providing guidance and practice in evaluating and selecting sources, the process of constructing an academic assignment, and making effective use of peer and tutor feedback to produce a successful final draft; Annotated Bibliography and Discipline Specific Writing workshops.
  • Reading specialist academic texts: engagement with and critical evaluation of discipline specific written sources, both prescribed and self-selected; developing effective reading strategies.
  • Spoken interaction: seminar skills with a range of opportunities to contribute to in-class discussions; presentation skills sessions involving research output in various formats.  
  • Listening to Guest Lectures: lectures by University of Edinburgh subject specialists; engagement with and critical response to content.   
  • Course Director Lectures: lectures on cultural factors in writing, studying in Edinburgh and continuing to improve academic English.
  • Introduction to living and studying in Edinburgh: talks and interactive sessions with UoE students and EUSA; visits to and reports on discipline relevant Edinburgh locations.

 

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

  • Read academic texts in Arts and Humanities, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in Arts and Humanities, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument
  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in your discipline
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your disciplinary field
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning.

 

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.


EESS aims to develop and improve your confidence along with your academic language and literacy skills to a sufficient level required to participate successfully in your future postgraduate programme. It also aims to raise awareness of what should be expected on your future programme. EESS provides the opportunities to carry out, in a supported environment, academic tasks typically required across a range of master’s programmes in Education and Social Science fields. 

Pre-requisites

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh PGT (or PGR) degree programme in an appropriate School.
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry.

 

Method of Delivery

  • This course has been designed to be delivered in-person. 
  • In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress.

     

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in EESS:

  • Specialist written assignment: lectures covering different aspects of academic writing; practical sessions providing guidance and practice in evaluating and selecting sources, the process of constructing an academic assignment, and making effective use of peer and tutor feedback to produce a successful final draft; Annotated Bibliography and Discipline Specific Writing workshops.
  • Reading specialist academic texts: engagement with and critical evaluation of discipline specific written sources, both prescribed and self-selected; developing effective reading strategies.
  • Spoken interaction: seminar skills with a range of opportunities to contribute to in-class discussions; presentation skills sessions involving research output in various formats.  
  • Listening to Guest Lectures: lectures by University of Edinburgh subject specialists; engagement with and critical response to content.   
  • Course Director Lectures: lectures on cultural factors in writing, studying in Edinburgh and continuing to improve academic English.
  • Introduction to living and studying in Edinburgh: talks and interactive sessions with UoE students and EUSA; visits to and reports on discipline relevant Edinburgh locations.

 

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

  • Read academic texts in Social Science and Education fields, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in Social Science and Education fields, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument
  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in your discipline
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your disciplinary field
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning

 

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.


ELTEM provides opportunities to carry out in a supported environment academic tasks typically required on the TESOL, Language and Intercultural Education and Language Education taught masters programmes.  

Pre-requisites

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on an MHSES PG degree programme.  
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry.

 

Method of Delivery

  • This course has been designed to be delivered in-person. 
  • In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress.

     

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in ELTEM:

  • Academic writing: Classes practice features of writing in the field such as synthesising reading and citation, structuring texts and constructing arguments; preparing students for submitting the assignment, and ultimately for writing for their programmes.           
  • Reading skills and strategies: Classes are centred around reading relevant topics, focussing on reading skills and strategy development and content familiarisation, as well as familiarisation with sub-genres of academic article.             
  • Presentation skills: Classes highlight and practise common features of presentations and develop confidence in public speaking.           
  • Seminar and discussion skills: Student-centred classes linked to reading texts focus on constructivist cooperative speaking skills to develop collaborative speaking skills and disciplinary knowledge and understanding.   
  • Conference: The course culminates with an academic conference where students present posters and attend and respond to peers’ posters.  Classes throughout the final week introduce students to basic research skills and these are advanced through autonomous groupwork to research and prepare academic posters, thus consolidating, utilising and combining skills developed throughout the course in an authentic event.

 

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

  • Read academic texts in your discipline making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to your purpose
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in the discipline of language teacher education, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument
  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in the discipline of Language Teacher Education
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your discipline 
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning

 

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.


ESTM aims to develop and improve your confidence along with academic language and literacy skills to a sufficient level required to participate successfully in your future postgraduate STEMM programmes. It raises awareness of what to expect on your future programmes and provides opportunities to carry out in a supported environment academic tasks typically required across a range of master’s programmes in STEMM subjects. 

Pre-requisites

  • You must hold a conditional offer of a place on a University of Edinburgh PGT (or PGR) degree programme in the College of Science and Engineering or the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.
  • You must have either completed Pre-Sessional Phase 1 (EGAP) or have the required language test scores for Phase 2 entry.

 

Method of Delivery

This course has been designed to be delivered in-person. 

In addition to a normal teaching week of 15 hours per week of classroom-based tuition, students must expect to to complete a minimum of ten further hours per week of independent study, including tasks, recorded lectures and other materials accessed digitally, in order to make the necessary progress.

 

Syllabus

This is the content you will cover in ESTM:

  • Research-focussed text writing: lectures covering different aspects of academic writing; practical sessions providing guidance and practice in evaluating and selecting sources, the process of constructing an academic assignment, and making effective use of peer and tutor feedback to produce a successful final draft; Annotated Bibliography and Discipline Specific Writing workshops.
  • Reading specialist academic texts: engagement with and critical evaluation of discipline specific written sources, both prescribed and self-selected; developing effective reading strategies.
  • Spoken interaction: seminar skills with a range of opportunities to contribute to in-class discussions; presentation skills sessions involving research output in various formats. 
  • Listening to Guest Lectures: lectures by University of Edinburgh subject specialists; engagement with and critical response to content.  
  • Course Director Lectures: lectures on key elements of academic writing in STEMM disciplines, studying in Edinburgh and continuing to improve academic English.
  • Introduction to living and studying in Edinburgh: talks and interactive sessions with UoE students and EUSA; visits to and reports on discipline relevant Edinburgh locations.

 

Intended Learning Outcomes

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

  • Read academic texts in your discipline, making critical use of genre knowledge and strategies appropriate to their purpose
  • Write clearly and appropriately in genres common in STEMM disciplines, synthesizing and critically evaluating content from sources to create your argument
  • Understand and respond critically to academic lectures in STEMM disciplines
  • Use clear and appropriate English to respond critically and contribute meaningfully to group discussions and deliver academic presentations in your disciplinary field
  • Reflect on and make autonomous decisions regarding your learning

 

Assessment

To meet the conditions of your Conditional Offer for your degree programme, you need to achieve the required grades on a group of assessments of your academic English skills which you take during ESAP:

  • A Reading-into-Writing assignment in which you read a range of academic texts and synthesise them in a written assignment, relevant to your chosen academic field
  • A Listening assessment in which you listen to a lecture and engage in a group discussion about the content and themes
  • A pair of Speaking assessments in which, firstly, you give an oral presentation on a topic relevant to your chosen academic field and, secondly, participate in a 1-to-1 Question and Answer session with a tutor

Further details on assessments will be available following successful enrolment on the programme.