Online courses for self-enrolment

Take your studies to the next level, by enrolling on one or more of the free courses on the Academic English Programme (AEP).

If you are a fee-paying international or EU student at Reading, you can take any of our courses to help you get the most from your degree.

Asynchronous courses

AEP's asynchronous online courses are designed for independent learning and contain a mix of short video input and guided independent tasks, which you can work through at your own pace. Teachers will be available to answer your questions via weekly live slots. However, if you cannot attend these live sessions, do not worry - there will also be regularly monitored Discussion Forums where you can ask questions.

Eligibility:

This year, these courses are open to all international/EU University of Reading students studying at campuses in the UK and beyond (e.g. Malaysia and South Africa).

Enrolment:

Follow our self-enrolment instructions for each of the course descriptions. 

Learn and practise a variety of grammatical structures and improve the accuracy, clarity and style of your writing. This course covers crucial aspects of academic grammar including verb tenses, sentence structure and flow, relative clauses, modality, complex noun phrase formation and accurate article and preposition use. This is a five-week course.

Core Academic Writing Skills

Master the key elements of effective written academic communication. This course develops your skills and language to effectively incorporate sources (by summarising, paraphrasing, and synthesising), write cohesive and coherent texts, respond critically, and employ a range of phraseological patterns and sentence structures. This is a six-week course.

Core Academic Writing Skills which starts in the week beginning 25th April, open this web page in two tabs then sign into Blackboard before clicking on this link and following the self-enrol instructions

To enrol for Group three of Core Academic Writing Skills which starts in the week beginning 25th April, open this web page in two tabs then sign into Blackboard before clicking on this link and following the self-enrol instructions.

Better understand what is expected in the most common written assignment genre at university, the essay. The course materials demonstrate what "having a clear voice" and "being critical" mean within this written genre. You are also provided with vital tools for developing an effective argument and coherent overall structure. This is a six-week course.

Dissertation and Thesis Writing

Develop the understanding and skills to write about your research clearly, effectively and appropriately. Each lesson will involve analysis of extracts from successful research writing texts. You will explore the organisational patterns and linguistic features distinct to each section of the text. This is a six-week course.