Secondary Focus: Academic preparation courses

As parents increasingly look for added value in the study abroad plans for their children, secondary programs overseas are an attractive option, combining immersive language learning with gaining an educational qualification and enhancing the skills needed to study and work in an international environment. With a view to ensuring success at this age and also attracting a wider student base, schools are offering a range of academic preparation courses to ensure a soft landing before the real hard work begins.

William Waugh from Pickering College  in Canada says, “The ESL Boarding Academy is offered to students entering Grades 9 or 10. The students must meet Pickering College’s academic requirements, while falling short of the English language requirement. The program is one year in length, with the aim to have students enter a mainstream English boarding program at Pickering College or another school the following year.” He adds, “We are just wrapping up our first year of the academy and it has proven to be a popular option for students. In our first year we welcomed students from China and South Korea and anticipate that we will see growth from other popular source countries where English proficiency can be a challenge.”

While a key aim of any academic preparation course for secondary students is to improve language proficiency, John Menzies from Abbey DLD Group of Colleges  also points out some of the other advantages. “We know that English proficiency is a key factor in determining success for international students, both in their studies, and in their wider experiences of studying and living in the UK,” he says. “The preparation program also provides a softer introduction to the UK educational system as students will take academic classes alongside their English lessons and spend more time in the school getting to know their teachers and fellow students.”

The academic preparation courses offered at Abbey DLD can be taken from one to three terms before entry onto a full academic program and students sit regular formal and informal English and academic tests to measure their progression throughout the course. John says that the school has seen more interest in the preparation courses recently as a way for students to “give themselves time to embed in a British school environment before starting their GCSE or A-level studies”, as well as improve their English levels. He continues, “The recent growth in numbers of preparation students in our colleges suggests that there is a growing understanding of and interest in preparation programs internationally.”

While some schools might see academic preparation courses as offering a pathway to full-time study at their own school, Bishopstrow College in the UK is a specialist in this sector, partnering with 100 schools in the UK that offer conditional entry for students who successfully complete their academic preparation courses. Rowan Courts says, “As Bishopstrow College is 100 per cent focused on academic prep we definitely see the demand for it, often at capacity for these programs, but specifically for the Academic Summer Program.”

The school offers four different preparation courses, depending on the age of the child and start date. Rowan adds, “The college operates as a traditional British boarding school, but with an innovative four-term academic year. Terms start in September, January, March and June, with a further start date in July for our five-week Academic Summer Program. We offer a variety of preparation programs focusing on intensive English language tuition and immersion in the National Curriculum, including Mathematics, Science, Geography and History.”

For some academic preparation courses, self-development is an important part of the content and Jodie Fear from Millfield School  in the UK says that the school has a range of academic summer programs for students between the ages of eight and 16 years wanting to get a taste of life in a UK classroom and “gain some essential study skills that our term-time students would need to succeed with their UK education”. The highest level of these, according to Jodie, is, “Global Studies for age 14-16-year-olds with a B2 or above English level – a course where students learn more about themselves, their place in the world and how they can influence their environment through the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”.