EAP (English for academic purposes) Pre-sessional courses
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Improve your academic English prior to starting your Master's at the RCA with our pre-sessional courses.
For our 2025/26 intake, we will be offering three intensive online pre-sessional courses before the main RCA programmes begin:
- Spring eight-week Pre-Sessional
- Summer eight-week Pre-Sessional
- Summer four-week Pre-Sessional
Our pre-sessional courses have been accredited by our national industry body BALEAP. In their report, BALEAP said the Pre-Sessional course is "exemplary in its design, reflecting the academic discourse needs of receiving Arts & Design disciplines."
Our pre-sessional courses are specifically designed for the types of learning activities and requirements of art and design postgraduate study.
These courses support you in getting ready to communicate at the appropriate level and with effective academic skills for your RCA programme.
Please see below for dates and registration information.
“The course is very strongly aligned to student needs and expectations of the destination degree programmes…the focus on critical and dialogic speaking, seen in art & design disciplinary pedagogies across the RCA, forms the heart of the pre-sessional course.”
We offer you the opportunity to work in a small class group with regular online collaboration, tutorials and feedback. You will be supported by experienced EAP tutors to develop your academic critical reading, reflection and discussion skills, as well as learning how to research and write in a post-graduate context. You will be able to access a variety of stimulating materials related to Art and design and will practise skills in critical analysis and reflective thinking crucial to your art and design programme learning outcomes.
How will you learn?
All students study via zoom Monday to Friday (9am – 12pm BST) with their EAP tutor or (Wednesdays) through a webinar with invited speakers from the RCA research community. The course includes integrated independent study tasks which support the learning within the course.
"The RCA Pre-sessional Course syllabus comprises a series of ‘process of enquiry’ cycles, conceived to develop the ways of thinking and practising valued by departments. The Course syllabus is organised thematically…The final week focuses on ‘moving on’ to postgraduate study at the RCA. Core principles, such as ‘tolerance of ambiguity’, are threaded throughout the Course and developed in relation to a rich curriculum of Art & Design oriented texts, videos, and webinars…Critical engagement and the development of a personal, critical voice form key elements of the syllabus and are enacted in stages across the programme, building from description through personal reflection to evaluation."
– BALEAP Accreditation report RCA 2022
Eight-week course
If you haven't reached the required English language requirements for your programme, we offer two eight-week intensive EAP pre-sessional courses designed specifically for students joining the RCA.
You will have the opportunity to work with a dedicated EAP tutor to fully prepare for the kind of learning activities that you can expect to take part in on your RCA programme. We will support you to complete a number of pieces of coursework and demonstrate key learning outcomes throughout the course. You will also have the opportunity to hear from RCA research students in regular research and practice presentations which mirror the types of learning experiences on RCA programmes.
Entrance requirements for our 8-week Pre-Sessionals
IELTS: 6.0 overall with minimum 5.5 in all other skills, or equivalent recognised by the College.
See English language requirements for equivalent qualifications.
Teaching dates
- Spring 8-week Pre-Sessional: 7 April – 6 June 2025
- Summer 8-week Pre-Sessional: 30 June – 29 August 2025
These are full time intensive online courses with self study tasks as well as online live interaction.
You will have teaching sessions from Monday to Fridays, 9am – 12 noon UK time, plus one-to-one tutorials, collaborative tasks and integrated independent study.
You will need to spend at least 12 hours per week on integrated study tasks outside of the online teaching sessions.
Course fees
£3,990
There is an early payment discount for payment of course fees.
To be eligible for this discount, you must pay your Pre-Sessional fees by:
- Spring 8-week Pre-Sessional: Friday 7 March 2025, 11.59am GMT
- Summer 8-week Pre-Sessional: Friday 6 June 2025, 11.59am GMT
If you pay on or before this date then the fee is reduced to £3,660
“The weekly webinar series… now curated by two RCA PhD students supported by RCA staff, is a particular strength of the course and an example of exemplary practice.”
Four-week EAP pre-sessional course
We also offer an online, four-week version of the pre-sessional course during the summer if you have reached the English language level required but wish to improve your communication skills specifically for academic study at the RCA. The pre-sessional course provides a valuable chance to practise academic English in the context of art and design with authentic and relevant tasks and materials.
Entrance requirements
You must have already reached the English language requirements for your programme.
Teaching dates
- Monday 4 August – Friday 29 August
This is a full time intensive online course with self study tasks as well as online live interaction.
You will have teaching sessions from Monday to Fridays, 9am – 12 noon UK time, plus one-to-one tutorials, collaborative tasks and integrated independent study.
Course fees - 4 week Pre-Sessional
£2,080
There is an early payment discount for payment of these course fees.
To be eligible for this discount, you must pay your Pre-Sessional fees by:
Spring 4 week Pre-Sessional: Friday 27 June 2025, 11.59am BST
If you pay on or before this date then the fee is reduced to £1,750
Booking
All booking takes place through our admissions team: our admissions team will need to confirm your language test results and eligibility. If you believe you are eligible for one of our Pre-Sessional courses, please email [email protected] and state which course you would like to joning:
- Spring eight-week course
- Summer eight-week course
- Summer four-week course
You must book and pay for your Pre-Sessional course by the following times in order to secure your place:
- Spring eight-week course: book by 24 March 11.59 UK time
- Summer eight-week course: book by Monday 16 June 2025, 11.59am BST
- Summer four-week course: book by Monday 7 July 2025, 11.59am BST
Why join the EAP Pre-Sessional course?
The Pre-Sessional EAP course offers you a tailor-made supportive course with specific tasks and materials relating to RCA Art & Design programmes.
Group Support
The online EAP course offers you the chance to work in a small group (12–14 students) with an experienced EAP tutor to guide you through the development of your academic skills. During the online class time you will respond to reading and listening material, plan and develop pieces of writing and practise your critical analysis and reflective thinking skills. Your EAP tutor will be able to review your skills and provide regular personal feedback to help you identify your learning needs and appropriate methods for development.
All the tasks on the course are designed to reflect the same learning outcomes that you will be expected to achieve on your MA programmes. For example, you will need to critically evaluate current thinking in your field and express your position on relevant issues. We help you develop the language and communication skills to do this in a supportive collaborative environment.
“I liked the way of teaching English by "doing" and not just understanding grammar, for example. The uses of contemporary authors and themes relevant to the time we are living in, made the classes more and more attractive.”
Art & Design Materials and Tasks
You will be guided through a variety of online study materials using authentic texts and themes from Art and Design disciplines across the college. We use these to develop your vocabulary, reading and listening skills and independent research skills.
As well as group work with your EAP tutor, you will work on a collaborative group project supported by discipline tutors, and take part in a weekly webinar conference with invited specialists from the college research community.
“The online teaching methods were great, the tutor was very patient and interesting and it was a pleasure to have lessons.”
In-sessional academic skills support
We support students with academic skills during your studies. We have a number of workshops throughout the academic year.
Here is an example of what we currently offer:
Academic and professional skills workshops
- For all students, these workshops run online and in person weekly throughout the academic year. We aim to introduce strategies to support the development of effective research, communicative and reflective academic and professional skills.
English with confidence workshops
- We offer weekly one hour workshops for speakers whose first language is not English. These workshops are repeated across all three campuses every week and take place in person only, in small groups during terms 1 and 2. Participants will spend time speaking about any themes and strategies that they have chosen and would like to discuss with an academic skills tutor. Please see our moodle pages here for more details.
Academic skills workshops – embedded in programmes
- We work closely with programme tutors to develop workshops across the academic year which directly link to the academic skills and assessment needs of a programme.
One-to-one tutorials
- Our team can offer supportive advice and a chance to talk through academic skills development. Current students can refer to our Moodle pages for more details.
Most of these courses are open to all students at the College; some of them are delivered through your programme.
Current students can also find resources to support your academic skills on our online learning platform, Moodle: Academic Skills.
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Contact us
If you need more information about the pre-sessional course details, email
[email protected]
