English Language Support

Academic Writing Courses:

These courses run in terms 1, 2 & 3. Separate courses for UG, Masters and Doctoral students.

These workshops cover areas such as:

• Academic vocabulary
• Reading strategies
• Incorporating reading into writing
• Criticality in reading and writing
• The process of writing an assignment/dissertation
• Editing

Dedicated academic writing workshops for different subject areas are also available as part of the Subject Specific English suite. See below for more details

Dissertation Writing Courses:

These courses run in term 3. Tailored to the needs of Masters students and focused on the difficulties involved in writing longer texts. Follow-up, one-to-one writing tutorials are provided during the summer vacation.

Dedicated dissertation writing workshops for Business School students are also available as part of the Subject Specific English suite. See below for more details

Writing cafes:

These sessions run in terms 1, 2 and 3. There is also some limited availability during the vacation time (subject to staff availability). The purpose of the cafes is to provide students with a quiet space to focus on their writing, whilst also having academic English specialists on hand to answer questions and provide feedback. The sessions, which run for 90 minutes, are drop-in style - allowing students to fit them around their already busy schedules.

• Further information and sign up

One-to-one Tutorials:

Available to doctoral students throughout the academic year to help with essays, dissertations and other assignments. All tutorials are held online via Teams.

There are also dedicated one-to-one tutorials held in some faculties. See below for further details.

• Further information

Guided Independent Learning (GIL):

Available throughout the academic year. The GIL programme enables students to study on their own. Students can use the online resources available on the Guided Independent Learning SharePoint site. Areas for study include grammar, essay planning, vocabulary, listening, note taking, seminar participation, pronunciation, and preparing for English language exams.

Presentation Skills

This course runs in terms 1, 2 & 3. The course will enable you to enhance your communication skills in the context of giving an academic presentation. Participants are able to give a short presentation and receive detailed feedback. There is a strong focus on activities aimed at developing clarity and coherence, both in organisation and oral expression.

Current Issues

Run in terms 1, 2 & 3. Although Current Issues actually forms part of our Communicative and Cultural English Suite, it is a useful way to build skills for seminars and group tutorials. It provides a forum for discussion of current affairs based on news broadcasts and other sources.

Oral Communication Skills:

Run in terms 1& 2. OCS is all about spoken communication in social contexts and situations and includes information on UK (United Kingdom) cultural events and activities. Students have plenty of opportunity to practise their oral skills with each other on topics which, while not specifically academic, will help them to integrate successfully into the cultural and social life of the University.

Current Issues:

Run in terms 1, 2 & 3. Current Issues provides excellent seminar practice via discussion of topics of current importance in the world and includes valuable vocabulary input.

Conversation cafes:

This is an opportunity to sit down with people from Exeter and enjoy talking on your choice of subjects in a social relaxed atmosphere: no preparation needed, and refreshments are provided. The idea is to practise your fluency in a relaxed, social atmosphere and ask all those questions about the UK and Exeter you have wanted to ask and talk about your own countries too. 

Pronunciation:

Run in term1, 2 & 3. These workshops involve plenty of practice and interaction with the tutor with the aim of making students more aware of key features of spoken English, from individual sounds and word stress to sentence stress and intonation. 

Intercultural Communication:

Run in terms 1, 2 & 3. These workshops aim to improve your intercultural competence and help you excel in an international learning environment. 

Run in term 3. These workshops help students planning to work in an English-speaking context with writing CVs, covering letters, personal statements, and preparing for job interviews.

Employability support workshops are also run specifically for Business School students in terms 1, 2 & 3.

Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy 

Academic English for Postgraduates in Engineering 

Provision runs in terms 1, 2 and 3 and provides practical strategies to extend and expand academic written and spoken English. Workshops in terms 2 and 3 focus on dissertation proposals, dissertation writing and oral interviews. 

Academic Writing for Science 

This course runs in terms 1 and 2 and focuses on specific skills and strategies including use of source material, research reports, data commentary, academic style and organisation techniques. This course is suitable for students studying on any Science programmes at the university.

Academic English for Business 

Workshops run in terms 1, 2 and 3. The provision is open to students at all levels including doctoral students in Business. A range of language skills are covered, including: 

• Oral communication skills. 
• Presentation Skills. 
• Academic Reading and Writing. 
• Language Development and Grammar. 
• Dissertation writing (term 3). 

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 

Academic Writing for Sports and Health Sciences 

Provision runs in terms 1, 2 and 3 and provides practical strategies to extend and expand academic written English. In addition to a course of workshops open to all SHS students, assignment specific workshops are available for PGTs and UGs. 

Academic Writing for Psychologists 

This course runs in terms 1 and 2 and aims to expand skills and strategies for written work. Sessions include input on synthesising sources, evaluative writing, understanding tutor feedback and accurately answering assignment questions. This course is open to students on any psychology programme. 

Professional English for Medicine and Healthcare 

A series of five workshops running across terms 1 and 2 and covering English skills specifically relevant to students on medical, clinical and healthcare programmes. Sessions cover communicating with patients, reflective and scientific writing and effective teamwork. 

Academic Writing for Science 

This course runs in terms 1 and 2 and focuses on specific skills and strategies including use of source material, research reports, data commentary, academic style and organisation techniques. This course is suitable for students studying on any Science programmes at the university. 

Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Academic English for Postgraduates in English and Film: Terms 1 and 2 

Academic English for Postgraduates in Drama: Terms 1, 2 and 3. Dedicated group tutorials. Dedicated One-to-one tutorials. 

Academic English for Postgraduates in International Film Business: Terms 1 and 2. Dedicated one-to-one tutorials in term 3. 

Academic English for Postgraduates in History: Terms 1 and 2. Dedicated one-to-one tutorials in term 1 and 3. 

Academic English for Postgraduates in Modern Languages, Cultures and Visual Studies: Terms 1, 2 and 3. Dedicated one-to-one tutorials in term 1, 2 and 3. 

Academic English for the School of Education: Terms 1 and 2. Dedicated one-to-one tutorials available in terms 1, 2 and 3. 

Academic English for LLM: Term 1 and 2. Dedicated one-to-one tutorials available in terms 2 and 3. 

Academic English for LLB: Terms 1and 2.

Academic English for Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies: Terms 1 and 2 including dedicated one-to-one tutorials. 

Academic English for Social Scientists: Terms 1 and 2

 Key areas of focus in all these courses include: 

• Essay structure and paragraph organisation 
• Appropriate incorporation of source material 
• In-text / Bibliographical referencing 
• Demonstrating argument and criticality in writing 
• Subject-specific discourse, grammatical structures and vocabulary