Our work with university faculties and English language teaching departments supports the development of curriculums and teacher training. We work directly with lecturers to design materials and course structures. We also advise on entrance requirements for further study at international universities.
See an example case study of our work with universities:
The Ministry of Higher Education Pre-Orientation Programme
| Partner | Ministry of Higher Education |
| Length | Three months |
| Scale | 100 teachers / 10 trainers / 300 students / potential impact on 20,000 students |
About the project
The Ministry of Higher Education first introduced the innovative Pre-Orientation Programme (PoP) to state university entrants in 2011. The programme aims to prepare university entrants with English skills, IT soft skills and leadership training.
We were invited by the Ministry of Higher Education to train 100 English teachers to deliver the ‘English skills component’ and advise on English course materials. The aim of the British Council project was to increase the English language skills of university entrants – many of whom take courses in English.
Course content
We designed a tailor–made training programme aiming to develop the knowledge, teaching methodology and skills of the English language teachers who deliver the MoHE Pre-Orientation programme. The course combined both input sessions such as classroom management and materials exploitation, and teaching practice, where participants were observed teaching a class of students and received feedback on their delivery. 300 pre-intermediate students who volunteered to take part in the teaching practice groups received a free 40 hour English language course.
Teacher training
The teacher training was delivered by teams of British Council trainers, trainers from the English Language Teaching Units of Sri Jayawardenapura, Kelaniya and Colombo Universities and trainers from the Presidential Initiative: English as a Life A Skill. The training was delivered to almost 100 English teachers over a three month period in two sessions.
Reviews of the Pre-Orientation Programme
One of the teachers commented "Incorporating regular teaching practice into the course made this workshop different from others. The interactive nature of the sessions made it useful and different to other training programmes."
One of the students commented "I was not in school during the English lessons, even the tuition classes I cut. But in this class I was there. This is because of you my dear teachers."