English Language Courses

The UK is the birthplace and home of the English language with a tradition of teaching excellence. It offers the largest range of English language courses in the world, and there are more than 600,000 students come to study English language from around the world every year.

There are more than 550 accredited English language course providers in the UK, offering a wide choice of English language courses tailored to meet everyone’s needs and requirements. International students can choose to take an English course at your dreamed destination to prepare for higher education, or for business, trade or tourism.

Though the teaching style may vary, it aims to be practical with small classes Students are encouraged to study and communicate in English through games, group discussions, role-playing exercises, problem-solving, simulations, and language laboratories. For intensive courses, students may have opportunities to study on a one-to-one basis with tutors. Some home tuition courses may also available where students live as a paying guest in their teacher’s home.

British Council identified the following types of English language courses provided by accredited course providers in the UK.

For non-European students to study a university degree course in the UK, they must demonstrate their English levels achieve required standard of IELTS score of 6.0-6.5. Therefore, many non-European students want to take an English course in the UK to prepare for their further university study. However, if they are aged 18 or over and apply for a student visitor visa to study on an English course up to 11 months, they cannot switch to a Tier 4 student visa or apply to extend their stay for further study while they are in the UK. The better option for them is to apply for a university foundation course under Tier 4 student visa, where the English level of IELTS score of 4.0-5.0 is only required.