We recently wrote about how pre-sessional English courses set international students up for success at university and beyond – something that can be clearly demonstrated both anecdotally and through statistics such as drop-out rates. In that piece, we showed how universities also benefit when their international students are brought up to speed on their language and soft skills before their course begins. Picking up on this theme, our partnership with Arts University Bournemouth is a great example of how tailored pre-sessional English courses provide great results for both students and universities.
About Arts University Bournemouth
Based on the south coast of England, Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) is a small but leading university that specialises in architecture, film, performance and design. Founded in 1880, its alumni include the Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and the critically acclaimed director Edgar Wright. Its student numbers hover just below 4,000, with 9% of them being international students from outside the EU (somewhat lower than the national average of 26%).
Creating a bespoke English programme
Having worked with universities of all sizes, we understand that no two partnerships are ever the same. When it came to our work with AUB, we’d be helping a smaller university expand their reach across territories by setting up a bespoke pre-sessional English course and supporting their recruitment efforts . As they’d previously had no way of preparing international students for studying with them, they approached us about creating a bespoke programme and we began working together in March 2023.
Kamila Dolejsi, Academic Director EFL UK & OI Digital Institute, recalls: “We worked closely with the university when designing our delivery of this course. Our goal was to ensure the content and delivery truly prepared their students for study at AUB upon completion of our programme, which required a tailored approach to the Pre-Sessional English course.”
To ensure our programme met AUB’s needs, we met with key staff to gain a thorough understanding of their requirements. Given their specialism, it was no surprise that that they asked us to create a programme that built in arts-specific topics and language that suited the students’ field of study, and that also integrated curated AUB content. This would give students the head start they needed for success, as well as giving the programme a branded feel. “We tailored the writing genre to fit this specialty and worked hand in hand with AUB to curate impactful and topical guest lectures,” Kamila adds.
AUB had some practical requirements, too. They were after a course that could be flexible over dates, with a timetable and schedule able to work around their students in the hope of increasing attendance rates. Another key feature they requested was closed cohorts, meaning that the course could only be attended by AUB students. The aim of this was to increase student camaraderie and university affiliation before course candidates arrive on campus, making for a richer student experience and the ability for them to ‘hit the ground running’ from day one.
The finished tailored pre-sessional English course
With all these requirements in mind, we designed a tailored pre-sessional English course with closed cohorts and the ability for students to choose between 6-week, 12-week, 16-week and 8-week intensive options. The academic content is tailored to arts-specific topics, with curated AUB content added in – including additional subject-specific sessions led by someone from the university. They’ve also supplemented the course content by running a visa session with students in the final week.
Popular with students
AUB have made the most of being able to engage with their students, and it’s paid off. Since the programme’s inception, 46 students have completed it and gone on to progress to their chosen programme at AUB – a pass rate of 98%. Students widely agree that their confidence in English improved through the programme’s interactive activities, writing practice and group discussions. They also felt that the course prepared them well for academic life at AUB, particularly in terms of critical thinking and communication skills.
“The course assignments, particularly in writing, were well-structured, with detailed feedback from instructors,” says MA Graphic Design student Xuebingqing Yang. “The diverse and engaging topics often sparked lively discussions and collaborative group work, enhancing their learning experience. The daily course schedule, while intensive, occasionally introduced unique knowledge points, making the programme feel enriching despite its short duration.” MA Illustration student Hongyuhan Zhu adds: “the Oxford International Digital Institute instructors are patient, attentive and approachable, fostering a relaxed and enjoyable learning atmosphere”.
Popular with staff
The students aren’t the only part of the AUB community to enthuse about the programme. “Oxford International Digital Institute services are a real asset to smaller universities,” comments AUB’s Dan Meyer, Country Manager, China – International Recruitment. “Working with them offers us the ability to provide a broader range of English courses than we could do on our own. Through Oxford International Digital Institute, we are able to offer a mixture of bespoke AUB English sessions and Oxford International Digital Institute’s general English classes with weekly start dates, which gives our students maximum flexibility to meet their educational needs.”
Separately, we were also able to offer support to AUB’s China team through our Global Recruitment Team, providing training to their staff and help with conversion activities, bolstering their efforts and increasing reach. “Oxford International Digital Institute has supported AUB and our students with consistently excellent customer service,” Dan concludes. “From the institutional side, this includes personal contacts in the Oxford International Digital Institute team who respond quickly and efficiently to our enquiries, kept us posted with students’ progress, flexibility to add additional fast-track sessions as demand dictates, fast turn-around of results at the end of the classes, and excellent in-country support for our team in China.”
If you’d like us to design something similar tailored to your institution, get in touch today to explore how we can deliver bespoke and tailored pre-sessional English courses for your international students.
