PRE-SESSIONAL ENGLISH PROGRAMME
XJTLU Pre-sessional English Programme is designed to help students develop the English language and academic study skills necessary to meet the challenges of studying at master’s level.
Knowledge and skills
After the course students will be able to:
- Select and evaluate appropriate sources relating to their field of study with a degree of independence
- Produce an extended piece of academic writing that demonstrates an ability to express and support a stance
- Deliver a presentation on a topic related to their field of study
- Enter into, participate in, and lead a seminar or other types of academic discussion
- Develop and engage with reflective learning and critical thinking processes
- Demonstrate competence in strategies to avoid plagiarism, collusion, and the embellishment of data
Structure
- The 6-week face-to-face (FT-PSE6) course will combine live seminars and one-to-one tutorials with weekly asynchronous online lectures, lesson preparation materials and self-study materials completed outside class time. Seminars and tutorials will be conducted synchronously on Taicang campus, while self-study aspects of the course will be organised using XJTLU’s dedicated virtual learning platform, Learning Mall Core (LMC). The last week of the course will include assessments and induction to in-sessional academic English courses.
- The 12-week hybrid (FT-PSE12) course will combine live seminars and one-to-one tutorials with weekly asynchronous online lectures, lesson preparation materials and self-study materials completed outside class time. Seminars and tutorials will be conducted synchronously online (first 6 week block) then on Taicang campus (second 6 week block), while self-study aspects of the course will be organised using XJTLU’s dedicated virtual learning platform, Learning Mall Core (LMC). The last week of the course will include assessments and induction to in-sessional academic English courses.
- The 12-week distance/remote learning (PT-PSE12) course will combine live seminars and one-to-one tutorials with weekly asynchronous online lectures, lesson preparation materials and self-study materials completed outside class time. Seminars and tutorials will be conducted synchronously using the videoconferencing platform BigBlueButton, while self-study aspects of the course will be organised using XJTLU’s dedicated virtual learning platform, Learning Mall Core (LMC). The last week of the course will include assessments and induction to in-sessional academic English courses.
The course will focus on language and transferable academic skills, with typical content covering:
Writing:
- Writing clear and well-organised paragraphs and essays
- Paraphrasing, summarising, and quoting
- Referencing and understanding the principles of Academic Integrity
- Synthesising information from various sources together with your own voice
- Improving cohesion and coherence in your writing
Speaking:
- Giving academic presentations
- Participating in academic seminar discussions
- Using appropriate functional language in academic speaking
- Using information from sources in academic discussions and presentations
Reading:
- Analysing and identifying key features of texts of different genres
- Skimming, scanning, understanding the gist, and reading for detail
- Identifying important information and selecting key ideas
- Evaluating texts (including critical analysis of author, bias, purpose, genre, etc.)
Listening:
- Preparing to attend lectures
- Following the structure of lectures
- Identifying key ideas in lectures
- Taking effective notes during lectures
Academic skills:
- Understanding differences between academic cultures
- Reflecting on and improving your performance
- Managing your time
- Giving, receiving, and acting upon formative feedback to continuously improve your work
- Following a systematic process approach to assessments
Fees
FT-PSE6, PT-PSE12: RMB 22,000 (full fees as deposit)
FT-PSE12: RMB 40,000 (full fees as deposit)
How to apply
Application Deadline:
6-week Full-time Course: 26 June 2025
12-week Full-time & Part-time PSE Courses: 15 May 2025
Payment Deadline:
6-week Full-time Course: 3 July 2025
12-week Full-time & Part-time PSE Courses: 22 May 2025
Places on the PSE course are limited and available on a ‘first-come, first-served basis’. If you would like to attend the course, please submit your PSE course application via online Master’s Application System.
If you are a conditional offer holder
To complete the Pre-sessional course and be eligible for admission to your XJTLU master’s programme, you are required to:
- fulfil the attendance requirement
- complete all the course assignments and pass the final writing and speaking assessments.
Failing to meet either of the above requirements will be considered as having failed the course and, as a result, failing to meet the English language entry requirement on your current offer. In such a case, your conditional offer will be deferred to the following year and you will be given one more chance to take the PSE course. Admission to your master’s programme will ultimately depend on successful completion of the retaken course.
If you are an unconditional offer holder
Unconditional offer holders are also encouraged to take the PSE course because the course is not purely focused on raising English proficiency level but rather also aims to provide essential academic skills to help ease transition between an undergraduate programme at a Chinese institution and a master’s programme at an EMI (English as Medium for Instruction) university like XJTLU. If you are interested, please submit your PSE course application via online Master’s Application System.
Minimum Entry Requirement
| School | Programme | Minimum requirements for PSE programmes | |
| 6-week full-time/12-week part-time PSE | 12-week full-time PSE | ||
| SAT | MRes Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems | 5.5 (5.0) | – |
| MSc Multimedia Telecommunications | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Sustainable Energy Technology | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MRes Low Carbon Electrical Power and Energy Technology | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Applied Informatics | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MRes Computer Science | 6.0 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Social Computing | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Financial Computing | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Human-Computer Interaction | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| SCI | MRes Advanced Chemical Sciences | 5.5 (5.0) | – |
| MRes Molecular Bioscience | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MRes Environmental Sciences | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MRes Bioinformatics | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MRes Materials Science and Engineering | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| SMP | MSc Financial Mathematics | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) |
| MSc Actuarial Science | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MSc Applied Mathematics | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MSc Data Science | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| AOFE | MA Global Education | 6.0 (5.5) | – |
| MA Child Development and Family Education | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Digital Education | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| Doctor of Education (EdD)* | 6.5 (6.0) | – | |
| HSS | MSc Media and Communication | 6.5 (5.5) | – |
| MA TESOL | – | – | |
| MA China Studies | 6.5 (6.0) | – | |
| MA International Relations | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MA International Business and Global Affairs | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MA Applied Linguistics (with specialization in multilingualism) | – | – | |
| DES | Master of Architectural Design | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) |
| MSc Construction Management | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MSc Sustainable Building Design and Engineering | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MSc Civil Engineering | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MDes Industrial Design | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MSc Urban Planning | 6.0 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Urban Planning (specialisation in Urban Design) | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| MSc International Professional Practice in Architecture | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) | |
| IBSS | MSc Management | 6.0 (5.5) | – |
| MRes Management | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Project Management | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Business Analytics | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Operations and Supply Chain Management | 6.0 (5.0) | – | |
| MSc Finance | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Investment Management | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Economics and Finance | 6.0 (5.5) | – | |
| MSc Professional Accounting | 6.0 (5.0) | – | |
| AOPHA | MSc Applied Statistics | 5.5 (5.0) | – |
| MRes Medicinal Chemistry | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| MRes Pharmaceutical Sciences | 5.5 (5.0) | – | |
| FTA | MSc Cultural and Creative Industries | 6.0 (5.5) | – |
| EEH | MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation | 6.0 (5.5) | – |
| IRE | MSc Advanced Robotics Systems | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) |
| CHP | MRes Advanced Microelectronic Technology and Materials | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) |
| AAC | MSc Artificial Intelligence | 6.0 (5.0) | – |
| IFS | MSc Digital Business | 6.0 (5.5) | – |
| IME | MSc Intelligent Engineering Science and Industrial Operations | 6.0 (5.0) | 5.5 (5.0) |
*Requirements mentioned in the above table are for IELTS (Academic) English, we also accept TOEFL iBT, and PTE (Academic) taking at onsite official test centre. Please refer to the equivalence table for the accepted English qualifications.
*Marked with a ‘-‘ indicates that this master’s programme is not eligible for PSE programme
*Doctor of Education (EdD) is only eligible for the 12 week part-time programme.
Overview
Our Pre-sessional English (PSE) programmes are designed to help students improve and develop their general and discipline-specific English language and study skills, with a particular emphasis on academic writing and speaking, in order to enable them to function effectively in their postgraduate master’s programmes. Taught by lecturers from the XJTLU English Language Centre, our programme is BALEAP(British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes) certified and has been conferred “Validated Programme” status by CIOL (Charted Institute of Linguists).
The programmes (for applicants who are approximately 0.5 IELTS bands below the requirements for direct entry onto their Master’s programmes) are comprised of 112 hours of teaching and approximately 105 hours of self-study, and there are two options available of two different lengths, i.e., a 6-week full-time summer intensive course taught onsite on the Taicang campus, and a 12-week part-time course. The 12-week part-time course is designed for part-time programme students who cannot take the 6-week intensive course and full-time programme students who prefer a longer and less intensive course with the same language and skills focus as the 6-week intensive course.
There is also a 12-week full-time intensive course for students whose IELTS level is approximately 1 full IELTS band below the direct entry requirements for their Master’s programmes. This is a hybrid programme with the first 6 weeks being taught online, and the remaining 6 weeks taught onsite on the Taicang campus. This course is comprised of approximately 232 hours of teaching and 210 hours of self-study.
Once you are accepted onto a Pre-sessional English course, you will not need to retake a language test. This means that you can concentrate on developing your postgraduate study skills.
WHO SHOULD TAKE A PRE-SESSIONAL ENGLISH COURSE?
If you have applied for an XJTLU master’s programme and meet the minimum English language requirements for the course, as shown below, you may be accepted onto the Pre-sessional course subject to Programme Director approval. Upon successful completion of the Pre-sessional English course, your XJTLU master’s offer letter will be changed to “Unconditional” for English level.
If you have already met the English language entry requirement of your prospective master’s programme, you are also welcome to take the PSE course to support improvements in your academic English language skills.
If you have applied for an XJTLU Doctor of Education (EdD) programme and meet minimum English language requirements for the 12 week part-time course, you may be accepted onto the Pre-sessional course subject to Programme Director approval.
FULL-TIME PSE6 (FT-PSE6)
PART-TIME PSE12 (PT-PSE12)
FULL-TIME PSE12 (PT-PSE12)
Block 2: Face-to-face XJTLU Entrepreneur College (Taicang);
4 teaching hours per day + approx. 3 hours self-study per day