Application Information

Course details

Postgraduate Taught Pre-sessional courses:

Undergraduate Pre-sessional courses:

Postgraduate Research 'Pathway to PhD' courses:

*On the 20 week course, students study in a mixed cohort of all levels for the first ten weeks, before transferring onto a separate undergraduate, postgraduate taught, or pathway to PhD track for the last ten weeks. Students have a one-week break between the first 10 weeks of their course and the second 10 weeks, which allows the administration to make sure students are transferred onto the most relevant curriculum (usually involving a new class and tutor). During this week students will typically be expected to do some minimal induction activity as part of joining their new class, but it is primarily intended as a short vacation.

Application process

Undergraduate students:

If you would like to take a pre-sessional course in order to meet your language condition, you should contact the Admissions enquiry team (with your language certificate) to see if you are eligible for a pre-sessional course - get in touch here.

Postgraduate taught and PhD students:

If you are eligible to take a pre-sessional course, this condition should be added automatically to your Durham University offer once it has been issued. You can then choose whether you wish to attend the pre-sessional course or re-take a language test instead, as a way to meet your language condition.

You can do this by selecting the pre-sessional option from the drop-down menu next to your offer on your applicant portal dashboard.

If you have not had a pre-sessional condition added to your offer, and think you should have, please contact us via your applicant portal to see if it can be added- it may be that you need to provide more (or different) evidence of your current language ability, or we may need to contact your academic department.

If you have already met your language condition, but wish to take a pre-sessional course for the boost in skills and experience, you can contact us via your applicant portal or our enquiry form to request this be added.

How do I pay for the pre-sessional course?

You can check how much your pre-sessional tuition fees are in the table above. Payment for your pre-sessional course tuition fee is required within 2 weeks of the course starting, but we strongly recommend you pay in advance to avoid any issues.

Payment can be made via a range of methods, including bank transfer, direct debit and Flywire options. You can check the details for how to make these payments here.

If you have paid for a pre-sessional course, and obtained IELTS that meets criteria for direct entry, you will be able to decline it and get a refund if you request it before the course starts (or up to 2 weeks after starting the 10-week course and up to 1 week after starting the 6-week course).

If a student leaves the pre-sessional course for any other reason there will be no automatic entitlement to a refund, but a partial refund may be offered at the discretion of the pre-sessional team.

The Durham University Pre-sessional Courses are accredited by BALEAP.