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Postgraduate research pre-sessional English  Academic year courses

During the academic year, we offer pre-sessional courses starting in September/October or January.

The length of the course you need depends on your current level of English and on the level required for your degree. 

Find the right pre-sessional course for your research degree using the entry requirements on this page. 

Find the right course for you

To find a course, simply:

  1. Choose your year of entry from the following sections
  2. Select the entry requirements that most relate to your situation
  3. Select your preferred pre-sessional course to learn more and apply.

2026/27 courses and entry requirements

If you plan to start your pre-sessional course in September 2026 or January 2027, use the following information to check which courses you can study on.

If you have an English qualification that isn’t IELTS (International English Language Testing System), see our entry requirements page for other English qualifications. 

​​​​If your degree requires an overall IELTS score of 6.0   

Your current score: 4.0 with no component below 4.0  

You need:   

Your current score: 4.5 with no components below 4.5  

You need:   

Your current score: 5.0 with no components below 5.0   

You need:   

Your current score: 5.5 with no components below 5.5  

You need:   

If your academic programme requires an overall IELTS score of 6.5 with no less than 6.0  in each component 

Your current score: 4.5 with no components below 4.0  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.0 with no components below 4.5  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.5 with no components below 5.5  

You need:  

Your current score: 6.0 with no components below 5.5  

You need:​  

If your academic programme requires an overall IELTS score of 6.5 with no less than 6.5 in writing and 6.0 in all other components 

Your current score: 4.5 with no components below 4.0  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.0 with no components below 4.5  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.5 overall with 6.0 in writing and no components below 5.5  

You need:  

Your current score: 6.0 overall with 6.0 in writing and no components below 5.5 

You need:​  

If your academic programme requires an overall IELTS score of 6.5 with no less than 7.0 in writing and 6.0 in all other components 

Your current score: 4.5 with no components below 4.0  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.0 with no components below 4.5  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and no components below 5.5  

You need:  

Your current score: 6.0 overall with 6.5 in writing and no components below 5.5 

You need:​  

If your academic programme requires an overall IELTS score of 7.0   

Your current score: 5.0 with no component below 4.5  

You need:   

Your current score: 5.5 with no components below 5.0  

You need:   

Your current score: 6.0 with no components below 6.0   

You need:   

Your current score: 6.5 with no components below 6.0  

You need:   

2025/26 courses and entry requirements 

If you plan to start your pre-sessional course in September 2025 or January 2026, use the following information to check which courses you can study on.

If you have an English qualification that isn’t IELTS (International English Language Testing System), see our entry requirements page for other English qualifications.

If your research degree offer is from one of the schools in the following list, please send your offer letter and most recent English language qualification by email to the Language Centre via pre-sessional@leeds.ac.uk so that we can advise you on your eligibility for a pre-sessional course: 

  • School of Computing 
  • School of Media and Communication 
  • School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies 

​​​​If your degree requires an overall IELTS score of 6.0  

Your current score: 4.0 with no component below 4.0 

You need:  

Your current score: 4.5 with no components below 4.5 

You need:  

Your current score: 5.0 with no components below 5.0  

You need:  

Your current score: 5.5 with no components below 5.5 

You need:  

If your academic programme requires an overall IELTS score of 6.5  

Your current score: 4.5 with no components below 4.0 

You need: 

Your current score: 5.0 with no components below 4.5 

You need: 

Your current score: 5.5 with no components below 5.5 

You need: 

Your current score: 6.0 with no components below 5.5 

You need:​ 

If your academic programme requires an overall IELTS score of 7.0  

Your current score: 5.0 with no component below 4.5 

You need:  

Your current score: 5.5 with no components below 5.0 

You need:  

Your current score: 6.0 with no components below 6.0  

You need:  

Your current score: 6.5 with no components below 6.0 

You need:  

Summer courses 

If you wish to study between June and September, visit our summer courses page. 

Contact us 

If you have any questions, please email the Language Centre via pre-sessional@leeds.ac.uk.