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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.
Our 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 are 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.
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).
Follow our self-enrolment instructions for each of the course descriptions.
We recommend you self-enrol before the start of the course, but it is possible to enrol at any time during the term.
Learn and practise a variety of grammatical structures and improve the accuracy, clarity and style of your writing.
This five-week 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 course will run again in Autumn 2023.
"The course was beyond my expectation. It was very well structured and organised … and I think it should be compulsory to every international student in the first year (preferably in the first term)"
Law student, Summer 2020
Master the key elements of effective written academic communication.
This six-week 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.
To enrol for the Core Academic Writing Skills course starting Monday 23 January 2023, sign into Blackboard then click on this link and follow the self-enrol instructions.
"I have learnt how to write logically and coherently."
Literature & Languages student, Autumn 2019
Better understand what is expected in the most common written assignment genre at university, the essay.
This six-week course demonstrates 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.
To enrol for the Essays: Criticality, Argument and Structure course starting Monday 23 January 2023, sign into Blackboard then click on this link and follow the self-enrol instructions.
"I attended the Essay programme about critical thinking and structure and I keep receiving compliments from my lecturers about my clear and well-formatted structure."
Law student, 2018
Develop the understanding and skills to write about your research clearly, effectively and appropriately.
Each lesson of this six-week course 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.
To enrol for the Dissertation and Thesis Writing course starting Monday 23 January 2023, sign into Blackboard then click on this link and follow the self-enrol instructions.
"As the sessions progressed, I was no longer anxious or worried about how to begin my dissertation."
Agriculture, Policy and Development Student, Spring 2020
Improve the confidence and quality of your academic presentations (for both online and face-to-face delivery). This course covers all aspects of academic presentation planning and delivery, including key language and pronunciation.
This is a six-week course - there are three weeks of input followed by three weeks in which students can deliver short presentations and receive feedback.
This course will run again in Autumn 2023.
"This course is very important and helpful for overseas students who have a weakness in how to present their academic work effectively - the course intensively addresses this problem."
Biological Sciences student, Spring 2020
We run a large series of one-hour webinars designed to help you with the language needed in a range of academic communication contexts.
If you would like individual advice and feedback about your academic writing or speaking, you can meet our experienced academic language tutors on a one-to-one basis.
We work with many of the academic departments at Reading to provide subject-specific modules and workshops. Please check with your own Department to find out if this is an option for you.