English for graduate employability
Speaking clubs for universities.
Students can read the literature in English and write the dissertation in English. Then the interview comes, or the international seminar, and none of that reading helps. Weekly speaking clubs give them the practice their degree does not.
The readiness gap
Academic English is not the English they are hired in.
Departments often discover the problem at the point it is hardest to fix — final year, with applications already going out.
The interview is a conversation
Graduate recruitment is spoken, unscripted and fast. A student who has never had to improvise in English will underperform against their actual ability.
Seminars and conferences
Asking a question in front of an international audience, or defending a point in a seminar, requires a fluency that reading and writing alone never build.
Exchange and Erasmus readiness
Students heading abroad need the everyday English of arriving, negotiating, socialising and asking for help — not just the academic register.
What is it?
Structured discussion, not a language class.
Students meet on Zoom once or twice a week in groups of up to six. Each 60-minute club follows a prepared topic built to generate real discussion — opinions, disagreement, reasoning and follow-up questions.
A British native-speaker host runs the session, models natural English and makes sure the conversation reaches everyone rather than settling on the two most confident students.
Nothing is assessed and there is no credit attached. That is what makes students willing to try a sentence they are not sure about, which is where the improvement actually comes from.
Institutional benefits
What the department gets out of it.
Graduate employability
Speaking confidence is the part of employability that is hardest to teach in a lecture and easiest to demonstrate at interview. Clubs are a cheap, measurable addition to an employability offer.
Better prepared exchange students
Students leaving on exchange arrive able to hold a conversation from day one, which shows up in how well they settle and how they represent the institution.
Presentation and seminar confidence
Regular unscripted speaking transfers directly to presenting, defending a thesis and participating in international seminars.
Why direct
One host, not a rotating pool.
Most universities buy this kind of provision through a language bureau. It is worth knowing what changes.
Working with me directly
- The same host each week, who knows the cohort
- Topics adapted to the discipline and to what the department is preparing students for
- No bureau margin on the hourly rate
- Direct contact for scheduling around exam periods
The language bureau model
- Whichever tutor is available, often different each week
- A generic syllabus used across every institution
- Administrative margin built into the price
- Changes routed through an account manager
How it works
From first email to first club.
Tell us about the cohort
Which students, roughly what level, how many, and what you are preparing them for.
Book a trial club
A single 60-minute session for £20 so students and staff can see the format.
Agree a weekly slot
We fix a regular time and split students into groups of up to six by level.
Clubs run weekly
Students receive the Zoom link. Topics and materials are prepared in advance.
Invoice monthly
One invoice at the end of the month. Pause over exam periods and vacations at no charge.
Weekly pricing
Clear prices for small groups.
Each speaking club lasts 60 minutes and the maximum group size is six students. Prices include all preparation, materials and hosting.
| Weekly groups | Speaking time | Price per week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 group | 1 x 60 minutes | £40 |
| 2 groups | 2 x 60 minutes | £70 |
| 3 groups | 3 x 60 minutes | £90 |
| 4 groups | 4 x 60 minutes | £100 |
| Trial speaking club | 1 x 60 minutes | £20 |
Questions
Things departments usually ask.
Which students is this aimed at?
Any cohort that will need spoken English after graduating — which in most disciplines is all of them. It is most often bought by international offices, career services and language departments.
What level do students need?
Roughly B1 to C1. Most degree-level students are comfortably in that range on paper; the clubs address the gap between that level and their spoken confidence.
Can it be tied to a module or credit?
The clubs are deliberately unassessed, so they work best alongside a module rather than inside one. Several departments run them as an optional extra promoted through the international office.
How many students can take part?
Six per group, so a cohort of thirty is five groups. Groups can run at different times across the week, which also helps with timetable clashes.
Can topics match our discipline?
Yes. Tell us the field and topics can be weighted towards it — though a deliberate mix of general and professional themes usually produces better discussion than an entirely technical diet.
What about exam periods and vacations?
Clubs pause and you are not charged. Send us the academic calendar and we will schedule around it.
Where we work
Speaking clubs for universities across the region.
Each country page covers the local picture — what drives demand for spoken English there, how the time difference works, and which cities we already run clubs in. Clubs run online, so anywhere else is fine too.
Also available
Speaking clubs for other groups.
Let your students speak.
Tell us the cohort, their approximate level, how many students are involved and the weekly times that could work.