This course is designed for mature, motivated adults who need to improve their English language skills for general use. Group sizes are small (maximum 12) - so joining a course here is about participating.

The courses are lively and fun, but also challenging, because we know that making rapid progress is the highest priority. All participants are serious about improving their practical English language skills as quickly as possible.

The day is split into two parts:

• Morning sessions: You will spend the morning developing your general English language skills, focusing on listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as covering grammar and vocabulary.
• Afternoon sessions: In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to spend more time on key areas of the language in order to focus on specific areas of need.

Wednesday afternoons are free: you can join in our organised social events, spend time on self-study or simply spend the time as you wish.

The day is split into two parts:

15 hours per week

In all General Course programmes, you will spend the morning developing your general English skills. Key areas include:

7 hours per week

No afternoon classes on Wednesday

In the afternoons the work is based on a number of different topic areas, depending on the interests and needs of the group:

The topics which can be included on each course are shown above. Within your chosen course you will cover a variety of topics, but you may not cover them all. We will advise you about this when you start.

The key to the value of our courses is what you can do after you leave us.

All our courses are very practical. We help you to use the language more effectively. A course here will help you to:

• communicate much more confidently
• speak more accurately and fluently
• improve your grammar
• increase your vocabulary
• be able to socialise in English more effectively
• have an increased chance of success if you later take an examination course
• be much better able to study on our English for University course, if that is your aim
• be able to get, and succeed in, a job which needs English

Read more about how we help you progress as quickly as possible.

For dates and fees click here.

Each course runs for the length of a course block. This is usually six or seven weeks, but in the summer it is two weeks. Please see the current Dates and Fees for the dates of each course.

If you are staying in the school for a number of months, you will have regular progress reviews with a personal tutor to ensure that your total course experience closely matches your needs.