General English
Our most popular English language course.
Our General English and Intensive English courses are designed to help students make rapid progress in English, and focus on the four key language skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking – with lots of additional work on vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
The courses are 15 hours per week, 20 hours per week or 30 hours per week*.
Our classes are small, with a maximum of 15 students. In the lower and higher levels, there are often only 6 – 8 students per class.
We use course books published by the UK’s leading suppliers (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Pearson produce many of the books we use), continually reviewing the latest editions and carefully selecting what will work best for our students. Titles we use include English File, Speak Out and Outcomes.
*Academic hours: each academic hour = 50 minutes class time
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Our academic team continually reviews the syllabus to ensure our lessons are fresh, modern and relevant to today’s international topics. In class we use the most recent up-to-date editions of textbooks by leading British academic publishers. Our teachers are experienced and very highly-qualified, and include PhD-holders from Oxford Brookes and Harvard universities.
There are progress tests for all students every two weeks, enabling our teachers to closely monitor learning and to guide and support each student more effectively. There are also fortnightly tutorials, during which individual learning targets are discussed and reviewed.
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Every year students from more than 70 countries join our General English courses, so you'll be in good company. Our students make lifelong friends from all over the world, learn about other cultures, receive invitations to visit countries they’ve never been to before and, best of all, get lots of practice in listening and speaking English!
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Most of the students in our General English and Intensive English courses are age 18 – 25, and many of these are current undergraduates or recent graduates aiming to improve their English for their university courses or professional careers. We also have a significant number of gap-year students, focusing on improving their English before university. Professionals and students already in higher education also attend courses at OSE.
Mature students are always welcome and come from a range of professional backgrounds – doctors, lawyers, accountants, civil servants and more. The inclusive structure and layout of the school mean that everyone feels welcome and at home.
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The school has an extensive social programme.
Evening events include Pub Night every Thursday (our most popular activity, usually with 20-30 students). We offer paid activities as well as fun and free. We run international dinner evenings at our school, quiz nights and we are currently looking forward to our student Secret Santa Christmas party in the last week of term! We are more than happy to provide more information on our activity programme if requested.
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A proportion of our alumni go on to study at university here in the UK (often Oxford).
We have close and long-standing relationships with specific UK universities, especially Oxford Brookes University, and our Academic team is always on hand to help and advise students aiming to move on to Foundation, Undergraduate or Postgraduate courses.
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We offer classes at 8 different levels (subject to availability):
A0 (Beginner)
A1 (Elementary)
A2 (Pre-Intermediate)
B1 (Intermediate)
B2 (Upper Intermediate)
B2E (Upper Intermediate exam class)
C1 (Advanced)
C2 (Proficiency)
All new students are asked to complete our online placement test pre-arrival to check their level and place appropriately.
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Students can join our school on any Monday, and can study as long as they wish. Our courses are structured so that new students immediately feel part of the class and participate in academic activities with their new classmates.
Some students study for as little as one week, some for one year or more. It simply depends on the student and their individual needs.
General English 15 (morning)
This is our most popular English language course, largely for the simple reasons that lessons are in the morning, and end at 12:30 (our General English 20 ends at 13:35, and our Intensive English 30 course at 16:00 or 17:15.)
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We have classes at all levels:
A0 (Beginner)
A1 (Elementary)
A2 (Pre-Intermediate)
B1 (Intermediate)
B2 (Upper Intermediate)
B2E (Upper Intermediate exam)
C1 (Advanced)
C2 (Proficiency)
We use course books published by the UK’s leading suppliers (Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Pearson produce many of the books we use), continually reviewing the latest editions and switching to them when they appear. Titles we use include English File, Speak Out and Navigate.
General English 15 (afternoon)
This is our most popular English language course, largely for the simple reasons that lessons are in the morning, and end at 12:30 (our General English 20 ends at 13:35, and our Intensive English 30 course at 16:00 or 17:15.)
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The afternoon General English 15 course is cheaper than the morning course, simply because some students prefer to study in the morning and to have free time in the afternoon. Not everyone feels this way, and the lower price helps to persuade others to change their minds! The result is a busy school in the afternoons as well as in the mornings.
General English 20
Our General English 20 courses are enhanced version of our General English 15 course, with one additional hour per day of lessons in specific academic areas. This extra hour is a separate and valuable course, enabling students to strengthen their English language skills, using a range of subjects from history and politics to British food and entertainment, to activate their speaking, reading, writing and listening skills.
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Students in an exam class will also have the opportunity during this hour to work on exam strategy and test practice.
These classes are usually smaller than the General English 15 classes, and give students greater opportunity for individual work with their teacher.
Intensive English 30
Our Intensive English courses are for students with the ambition and the desire to work hard to achieve even greater progress in their English. This course is more demanding than our General English 15 and 20 courses, and students study both morning and afternoon – but if you really want to move ahead quickly, this is the course for you.
As with the General English 15 and 20 courses, the focus of the Intensive course is on the four key language skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking – plus additional work on vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Students at B2 or above have the opportunity to join our Fluency course in the afternoons, where the focus is on listening and speaking. The Fluency classes are usually small, and students are able to make significant progress in their conversation skills.