ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Students must have an acceptable standard of English before starting an academic course at the College. For A Level courses, students must have a minimum of grade C at GCSE or IGCSE English Language or hold an IELTS pass of 5.0 (or equivalent) or above in each skill. For our International Foundation Programme students must have a minimum of grade C at GCSE or IGCSE English Language or hold an IELTS pass of 5.0 (or equivalent) or above in each skill. Students may be asked to sit an Abbey DLD College English test if they do not posses an English qualification approved by UKVI (UK Visa and Immigration).

This test gives an Academic English-equivalent score and will be used to determine whether a student is at the required level to start their chosen academic course. Students who are below the target entry grade will be advised to join a full time English language course at the college for a suitable period of time before commencing A Level or Foundation courses.

At the start of each academic year of study students following an A Level course without a pass at grade C in GCSE or IGCSE English Language or with an IELTS score below 6.5 (or equivalent) must join an English-language training course for the duration of the academic year which will be timetabled alongside A Level lessons. Students following the English language training course have the opportunity to sit the IELTS examination at the end of their first and second year of study.