Pre-sessional English (PSE) Programme Tutors

at  Lancaster University

The International Pathways Team is recruiting tutors for Lancaster University’s Pre-sessional English (PSE) programmes.
In 2023, over 350 plus students attended the programmes. The majority were from East Asia. Around 40% of the students were undergraduates. Altogether, approximately 60% of the students were enrolled in degree programmes in the Management School, ca. 30% were studying in a variety of areas in the Social Sciences, and the remainder were pursuing degrees in Science and Technology or Health and Medicine.

THE 4-WEEK PRE-SESSIONAL ENGLISH PROGRAMME

The 4-week PSE caters for international students intending to study at Lancaster University who are required or wish to improve their English language and study skills before starting their degree programme. The programme comprises 4-weeks of teaching, preceded by an orientation period for tutors. Contracts will run from 26 August to 27 September 2024.
This programme will be delivered both in person and online to allow students flexibility in travel. The online programme will run alongside the in-person course, starting one week earlier to allow for students’ familiarisation with the IT platform. We are currently only looking for in-person tutors however, if student numbers are higher than expected, we may ask a few tutors to move to online delivery. These tutors would need to meet the technical requirements (laptop, fast wifi etc.). Please do not apply expecting to teach online.

QUALIFICATIONS

Tutors must have excellent communication skills in written and spoken English and must also have very good presentation skills, as well as an ability to handle digital teaching and learning resources and processes. They should have relevant experience of PSE/Study skills teaching, preferably within the UK higher education context. Tutors should have or be near completing a master’s degree or equivalent in ELT/Applied Linguistics or CELTA/DELTA qualifications with experience of teaching international students. See Person Specification for further details.

TUTOR DUTIES

Tutors are expected to moderate students’ progress using the programme materials provided or developed during the induction week. The posts are full-time and intensive, and involve teaching on the programme, lesson planning and preparation, setting and marking of assignments and tests, paper-based and digital record-keeping, report writing, provision of digital feedback on students’ writing, student profiling, participation in programme planning and in all other aspects of course-related administration, including meetings, as determined by the programme Coordinators.
A tailor-made package of teaching materials and other resources is provided for each main programme component. A full-time week induction, in which tutors are introduced to the programme teaching materials etc., is built into the beginning of the posts and is at the full rate of pay.
Tutors are not required to attend student University-organised social events after class. However, tutors are very welcome to attend if they would like to help build rapport with students.
Tutors are expected to follow the University’s environmental and sustainability policies, such as by reducing and recycling waste, and minimising carbon emissions. Further information on these policies can be found at www.lancaster.ac.uk/sustainability/sustainability-practice