General English
General English Course
Duration
6 months (intensive)/ 9 months
Start Dates
You can apply now for entry in June or October 2023
Fees
Home: Year 1 fee, £11,100 International: Year 1 fee, £15,000
Attendance
Entry Requirements
112 UCAS tariff points. GCSE in English Language at Grade C/4.
Student Satisfaction
95% of Our students would recommend IBCM / IBCM Student Survey 2022
Awarding Body
NCC
UCAS Course Code
N/A
Course Overview
The General English classes concentrate on improving every aspect of your English. Our approach is to provide a stimulating and highly-interactive environment in which you can develop your language skills.
We firmly believe in developing each student’s language ability so that you are able to develop as quickly and effectively as possible. In any typical week, you will work on developing and improving all language skill areas with a focus on active communication skills in real-life situations.
Berlitz Dublin’s General English course focuses upon the following:
- Speaking skills
- Listening Skills
- Reading Skills
- Writing Skills
- Pronunciation
- Grammar & Vocabulary
On this course you are given regular homework. Students are tested on a weekly basis to check your progress and regular tutorials are provided to discuss your progress and individual needs.
The General English programmes can be combined with our Pathways programmes.
All programme syllabuses have been carefully designed to ensure students make maximum progress.
A range of course books are used over the programme. These have been carefully-selected to ensure that
students benefit from a range of quality study material.
The levels of the classes range from complete beginner (A1) to advanced (C2) and you will have a placement test on your first day to find the right level for you.
You will be taught at our Central Manchester location and will attend three terms each year. You will attend classes 3 days a week, averaging 12 hours a week. Your classes will be scheduled Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm and you will experience a variety of teaching methods. Most modules are delivered through lectures, seminars and workshops.
- Lectures provide a broad outline structure for each topic to be covered. Lectures offer a good way of covering a lot of information and, more importantly, of conveying ideas to many people at once.
- Seminars enable you to complete directed self-study and to answer questions and solve problems which are set by the lecturer. You will discuss your answers and solutions within the seminar group. Seminars will enable you to explore further the topics introduced in the lectures.
- Workshops follow on from lectures and seminars. They are designed to enable you to work within a small group to perform set tasks (e.g. working on an exercise or case study).
Assessment
To achieve each module you will have to demonstrate competence in each of the relevant learning outcomes identified above. Assessment may take the form of a completed written assignment or report, a project, or a presentation (or combination of any of the above). Some group work may take place, although you will always be assessed on an individual basis.
You will be given formative assessment early on in each module to enable you to identify where your strengths are and which areas you need to develop in order to be successful.
You will then be assessed at the end of each module against the required Learning outcomes. All assessments go through our own Internal Quality Assurance process to ensure that they meet the highest possible standards and give you every opportunity to achieve (see IBCM Assessment and Verification Policy)
Students will be awarded a grade of pass, merit or distinction for each module and an overall grade at the end of the qualification.
All of our assessment and internal quality procedures are regularly monitored and an Assessment Board will be held at the end of each term to verify all decisions made as well as to investigate any issues of concern.
Should you not meet the learning outcomes on your first submission, you will be given one opportunity for a resubmission. You may also be given the opportunity to resubmit in order to obtain a higher grade. If, at the resubmission, you still do not meet the required outcomes, one opportunity to retake the unit can be authorised. This unit can then receive a maximum pass grade.
If a unit is still not passed at this stage it is deemed to have failed. Your assessor will discuss the options with you, such as an alternative unit in the case of optional units, or whether you are able to study the core module again (repeat). See IBCM Assignment submission procedure. Full attendance at lessons for the repeated module is required along with appropriate payment.
There are compensation provisions within both the HNC and HND provision in that students can still be awarded the qualification if they have not achieved a pass in one of the 15 credit units completed, but have completed and passed the remaining units.