Academic Purposes

Academic Purposes

Our English for Academic Purposes programme is designed to give you the key skills you will need for university life in the USA. It is offered at our English schools in the US, and it can be taken as a stand-alone course, as part of an ISC programme or as part of an ISC Pathway Course at St Giles San Francisco.

The course will help to get you to a level of fluency where you can comfortably follow a course at an American University and it will also prepare you for college life.

The course is 8 weeks with regular start dates throughout the year and offers 20 or 22 morning lessons per week. You can also choose to take an additional 8 lessons per week in the afternoons of General English to increase your progress.

Topics will include academic writing style, note-taking, study skills, practice exams, and an introduction to the local culture. You will also have regular academic counselling from your teachers and, if required, help with university or college applications.

Download a sample timetable for the programme.

Course Content

The course will include the following:

  • Listening skills such as extended listening, active listening and note-taking

  • Reading skills such as finding information quickly in texts, summarising and paraphrasing

  • Writing skills such as planning and linking ideas, essay structure and presenting an argument

  • Speaking skills such as presenting ideas, leading discussions or seminars, debating and expressing an opinion

  • An introduction to North American academic methods and learning culture

  • Study skills including essay writing, independent research, critical analysis and thinking skills, advanced reading and presentation skills


Course Objectives

After you take a IELTS Preparation at St Giles, you should:
Have developed key skills for University life in the USA.
Have developed your listening, reading and writing skills.
Have improved your fluency and prepared for academic life.

Our Students Say