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For international students preparing to study at a British university, achieving the required IELTS score can become one of the most important objectives in the months before their course begins. A student may already have received a conditional university offer but still need to increase their overall IELTS score from 6.0 to 6.5, or perhaps achieve 7.0 in a particular skill. When university deadlines are approaching, the question they naturally want answered is how long that improvement is likely to take. 

Receiving an offer from a university can represent the culmination of years of work. For an international student, however, that offer may come with an additional condition: achieving a particular level of English before the course begins. IELTS is one of the qualifications commonly used to demonstrate this ability, and students may be required to achieve not only a particular overall band score but also minimum results in individual skills such as writing, speaking, reading and listening. 

Receiving a university offer is an exciting moment for any student, but for an international applicant the wording of that offer can sometimes create as many questions as it answers. You may have been offered a place on the course you wanted, but the offer is described as "conditional". Another student may already have an "unconditional" offer. Does this mean their application was stronger than yours? Is your place guaranteed? What happens if the condition relates to English and you narrowly miss the required IELTS score? 

For international students hoping to study at a British university, one of the first questions they are likely to ask is what level of English they need to gain admission. University websites usually provide clear entry requirements, often expressed through IELTS scores or other recognised English-language qualifications. A student may discover that their chosen course requires an overall IELTS score of 6.5, for example, and immediately begin preparing to achieve that result. 

Achieving an IELTS score of 6.5 is a significant accomplishment for an international student. It represents years of language learning, preparation and the ability to demonstrate a substantial level of English proficiency under examination conditions. For many students, it may also be the result they need to satisfy the English-language requirement of their chosen university, allowing them to move forward with their plans to study in the United Kingdom. 

Can you teach a young learner to become more intellectually mature? 

When we think about preparing a young learner to study at university, language ability and academic qualifications are usually among the first things we consider. For an international student planning to study in English, there may be an additional focus on achieving a particular IELTS score or reaching B2 or C1 level. These are important objectives, but there is another area of development that can have an equally significant influence on how successfully a young person makes the transition into higher education: intellectual maturity. 

For an international young learner preparing for university, moving from B2 to C1 English can represent an important stage in their education. At B2, a student may already be a confident communicator. They can participate in conversations, explain opinions, understand relatively complex texts and manage many of the situations they encounter at school or while travelling. To an outside observer, they may already appear fluent. 

For an international young learner planning to study at university in an English-speaking country, language preparation can easily become dominated by numbers. What IELTS score does the university require? Is B2 sufficient, or does the student need to reach C1? What result must they achieve in writing, speaking, reading and listening? 

For younger learners studying in English, pronunciation can be one of the most noticeable - and sometimes intimidating - aspects of learning the language. A student may have a strong vocabulary, understand complicated grammar and perform well in written work, yet still find it difficult to communicate those abilities confidently when speaking. 

For parents considering an English course for a 16- to 19-year-old student, one question naturally comes before many others: how long should the course be? 

When professionals consider taking an intensive English course, one of the first questions they ask is also one of the most difficult to answer: how long should I study for?