Improving your skills
Derby Language Centre (DLC) provides free, in-sessional, language classes to help you perform better in your studies. You can take them at any point during your time at Derby, whether you are studying on an undergraduate degree or a postgraduate degree.
These sessions will boost your academic English skills and build your confidence, as well as helping you navigate the expectations of UK study. We can support you to give better presentations, improve your academic writing skills, help you to produce reports, essays and literature reviews or provide help with communication skills.
Sessions are delivered every weekday Mondays to Fridays. The courses are made up of blocks of one to four sessions. Courses run throughout the year to help you fully develop your skills.
Certificates are available on completion of each course. These courses are available for international students and/or any student whose first language is not English. Free individual support sessions for help with assignments and coursework can be booked in on Friday mornings, for either a face to face or online meeting.
Book your place on our in-sessional English courses
Class timetable
On campus, face to face at Kedleston Road campus: January to May 2025
Communication skills
| Course |
What you'll learn |
When and where
Tuesdays 1–2pm
|
| Conversation and discussion in the classroom |
A chance to refresh your spoken skills or to get started and meet people. An opportunity for all students to practise and improve the spontaneity and fluency of spoken interactions in English through conversational English and discussion topics such as AI in the world of work and study, career opportunities and studying abroad |
3 week course
Room E618 1–2pm
4 February
11 February
18 February
|
| Communication skills at University |
Improve and develop your discussion, presentation and overall communication skills |
4 week course
Room E618 1–2pm
25 February
4 March
11 March
18 March*
*Room change to N410
|
| Continuing communication round sustainability |
An opportunity to improve and develop your discussion skills through the topic of sustainability |
4 week course
Room N410 1–2pm
25 March, 1 April, 8 April, 29 April*
*Room change to E607
|
| Drop in for individual questions |
Come along to ask questions about your assignments! |
Room E607 1–2pm
6 May
|
An introduction to academic writing
| Course |
What you'll learn |
When and where
Wednesdays 1–3pm
|
| Basics of writing |
Expectations of UK study and key terms to get started |
Room E805 1–3pm
5 February
|
| An introduction to academic writing |
- Referencing, citing and paraphrasing
- Structuring arguments and ideas (sentences and paragraphs)
- Academic style
- Critical evaluation vs description
|
4 week course
Room E805 1–3pm
12 February
19 February
26 February
5 March
|
| How to listen better to improve assignment grades |
How to make better notes, identify key points from lectures and respond successfully in spoken and written form |
Room E805 1–3pm
12 March
|
| Paraphrasing review |
Paraphrase practice and a review of the skills to do it successfully |
Room E805 1–3pm
19 March
|
| Academic style review |
A review of how to make your writing more academic in style |
Room E805 1–3pm
26 March
|
| Developing vocabulary |
Ways to extend and use academic vocabulary in reading and writing |
Room E805 1–3pm
2 April
|
| Ironing out the grammar errors |
A review of tenses, prepositions and articles usage |
Room N508 at 1–3pm
9 April
|
| Proofreading and editing skills |
Tips on how and what to check in your work |
Room N508 at 1–3pm
30 April
|
| Drop in for individual support |
An opportunity to ask questions and get individual support with assignments |
Room N508 1–3pm
7 May
|
Advanced academic writing
| Course |
What you'll learn |
When and where
Thursdays 1–3pm
|
| Accessing higher grades - taking the basics further to see improvements |
A review of the key features of successful writing |
Room E618 1–3pm
6 February
|
| Developing structure in academic writing |
- Review typical report / essay structure
- Writing introductions and conclusions
- Writing the 'main body' and an abstract
|
3 week course
Room E618 1–3pm
13 February
20 February
27 February
|
| Becoming a more efficient reader - making better use of research from reading |
Reading strategies to read quickly and efficiently, making notes and putting your notes into your work |
Room E618 1–3pm
6 March
|
| Becoming a more critical reader, thinker and writer |
Each session will review critical thinking skills and practise writing in an evaluative way |
3 week course
Room E618 1–3pm
13 March
20 March
27 March
|
| Improving cohesion and coherence |
- Writing better sentences
- Writing better paragraphs and developing logical arguments
|
2 week course
Room E618 1–3pm
3 April
10 April
|
| Proofreading and editing skills |
Tips on how and what to check in your work |
Room E618 1–3pm
1 May
|
| Drop in for individual questions |
Come along to ask questions about your assignments! |
Room E618 1–3pm
8 May
|
Online Mondays
| Course |
What you'll learn |
When and where
Mondays 4–5pm Online
|
| Writing tips and advice |
- A weekly online webinar to discuss the topics from the on-campus classes:
- Reviewing expectations, key terms and tips for success
- Referencing, citing and paraphrasing
- Structuring arguments and ideas (sentences and paragraphs)
- Academic style
- Academic voice and critical evaluation
- Typical structure of essays and reports
- Introductions and conclusions
- Writing the ‘main body’ and abstract
- Reading in the research process
- Paraphrasing workshop
- Academic style workshop
- Proofreading and editing skills
|
Online via In-sessional support Teams site at 4–5pm
3 February
10 February
17 February
24 February
3 March
10 March
17 March
24 March
31 March
7 April
28 April
12 May
|
| Individual Support |
Individual support is available to ask questions or for guidance with assignments. |
Friday mornings 10am–1pm
Either face to face, in the Language Centre (South Tower S203) or online
Email englishsupport@derby.ac.uk to book an appointment
|
For more information, email englishsupport@derby.ac.uk
Please note that we are an advisory and support service and not a proofreading service.
We can offer feedback on things like structure, style and development of arguments and part of this could include some feedback on grammatical use and language accuracy. To do this we will look at 1-2 pages of work. To get the most from this service, you should indicate which section you want us to focus on and highlight specific questions for us.
Book your place
Register your interest for our in-sessional English language courses by filling out our form.
Book onto our in-sessional English courses