Academic English Courses & Workshops

Yes, this is a university requirement and must be completed within your first academic year.

Yes, this can be done at any time before the completion of your first calendar year by providing evidence of an IELTS 7.0/TOEFL 90 score or greater (or its equivalent on any KAUST accepted admissions English language test). You must provide a valid test certificate of one of these accepted English language tests to Admissions and the Office of the Registrar.

No, this has to be done by yourself through an external, official testing center or online provider.

Yes, you are assessed by varied course language assignments. No external language testing (IELTS/TOEFL etc) is required.

If your course attendance, participation and progress have been satisfactory, you will be given opportunity to improve upon and resubmit your assignments. If this has not been adequate, you may be required to resit the course over the following semester.

Running in both the Fall and Spring semester, this semester-long course should be completed within a student's first year at KAUST and ideally during the first semester of a student’s arrival on campus . You are strongly encouraged to do so in order to gain the maximum language and communication benefit for your studies. If this is not possible and you would like to complete the course in the following semester, please discuss this option with your GPC/GPSA by the course add/drop date to ensure you maintain full-time registration.

The fall/spring semester course involves 3 x 1.5 hour classes (4.5 hours in total) per week, with students required to attend all sessions.

You need to check the KAUST Student Course Catalogue to sign up for the course which corresponds to your preferred group/class time. You will receive an email reminder from the Office of the Registrar to do this a couple of weeks prior to the start of semester.

Contact the English Language and Communication Program team: elcp@kaust.edu.sa