Academic English Qualification Courses

These summer short courses are designed for undergraduate students at any university who use English as an additional language and are considering Master's level study at an English-medium university in the future.

Students on the Academic English Qualification Courses (AEQC):

  • develop their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in English
  • receive a certificate of performance at the end of the course
  • can use their certificate of performance to meet language requirements for a postgraduate degree at the University of St Andrews (subject to achieving required scores)
  • may be able to use their certificate of performance as English language evidence when applying for a degree at another institution.

Who can apply?

To apply for an Academic English Qualification course, you must:

  • be studying or have already completed an undergraduate degree programme
  • not yet hold an offer to study at the University of St Andrews
  • be able to provide evidence of English language ability equivalent to B1+ level or higher on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
  • have a laptop to use both in class and for out-of-class assignments. 

Certificate of performance

If you successfully complete all the assessment on the course you will receive a certificate of performance. This certificate will describe your overall performance in the course and show levels of achievement in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

The scores in the certificate are aligned to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Using an AEQC certificate as English language evidence

With an AEQC certificate you will be able to prove your English language ability when applying for a postgraduate degree at the University of St Andrews. This certificate will be valid for use at the University for 25 months.

Different English language requirements apply to different subject areas. To find out if you can use an AEQC certificate as evidence of your English language ability, you need to check the postgraduate language requirements for your subject area first. These requirements may change from year to year.

With an AEQC certificate you will be able to evidence English language levels from CEFR B2- to C1. See the CEFR benchmarking table to understand the scores.

You may also be able to present this certificate as evidence of English language ability when applying for a degree at another institution. Please contact the relevant institution to confirm.