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EC Virtual Pre-Pathways

The first step towards university level English, this is a 15-week* per level course designed to intensify the student’s language learning and fast-track them to the required level for entry to the EC Virtual University Pathways course. They will learn the core skills of English as well as enjoy some university counselling sessions with a Pathways coordinator.

Included with every course:

  • Live classes at a time chosen by individual students. Five time zones available: 00:00, 08:00, 12:00, and 16:00, London time.
  • Lessons delivered by qualified, experienced English-speaking teachers
  • 5 days of 90-min face-to-face virtual English classes
  • 30 mins a day of structured classmate collaboration
  • Unlimited self-study with access to materials on EC Online
  • Learner Oriented Assessment
  • FREE access to Microsoft Office for the duration of the course including Word, PowerPoint, and much more!
  • Ability to upgrade and add one-to-one lessons
  • One-to-one university counselling sessions with a Pathways expert

Meet our teachers from around the world here

This course is suitable for students who

  • who need to upskill to qualify for EC Virtual University Pathways
  • who want to build or improve their English ability in all areas and skills
  • who dream of attending a Canadian college/university
  • who cannot travel but are committed to learning

What can you expect on this course?

Why Choose EC Virtual?

1.  Smaller Classrooms (10 students max)

  • Allows for more intensive learning
  • Increased time for teacher-to-student interaction
  • Closer monitoring of speaking and listening
  • More personalised feedback from the teacher

2. Collaborative Sessions

  • Students work freely and independently with each other, replicating real life workplace collaboration
  • More time for student reflection and interaction
  • Microsoft Teams allows students to message,  video call and share documents
  • All collaborations are monitored by the teacher,  but the main interactions are among students

3. Classroom Dynamics

  • Whole-class activities with participation from all students
  • Collaborating in a multi-cultural environment

4. Curriculum

  • Virtual classes will follow the same in-school  EC curriculum
  • All classes use National Geographic Learning eBooks adapted for online delivery
  • Learning is supplemented by our learning platform,  EC Online

5. Flexibility

  • 5 different time zones, 24 hours a day around the globe
  • Classes are held 5 days a week to maximise learning
  • Option to boost their English further by adding private classes

Sample Timetable:

What can you expect on this programme?

Class Time Zones
Students can choose between their school’s local time zone or the following time table (in case the student is back in-country).



Please note that the clock changes in the UK in the last week of October and last week of March. This will impact the local time of lessons.

How Does It Work?


1. Before class (15mins). The teacher will set up a pre-class assignment with relevant questions for students to prepare for the class. This can be anything from reading or listening from the course book, a relevant video or article, or a Flashpoint from EC Online. Students are able to come to class prepared to fully participate and get their best from the lesson.

2. During class (90mins). How Does It Work? Small groups of 8-10 students from around the world collaborate via video call with their teacher. They outline objectives and goals, discuss the questions and task(s) from the pre-class assignment, review any questions and set up the post-class collaborative activity as well as the pre-class assignment for the next day.Students should be prepared for a much more intensive class than a normal face-to-face session!

3. After class (30mins). Students are asked to work on a writing or speaking post-class collaborative activity, which they upload on Teams. Each assignment has clear success criteria to help students self-evaluate, set their own goals and see their progress. They discuss virtually with their group and the teacher monitors the chat.

 *Level Progression

At EC our progress guarantee - based empirically on our understanding of learner language acquisition ability - shows that students who study 20 or more hours a week, attend all their classes, and engage and commit to their learning will progress one EC level every 10-15 weeks.
We also recognise that each student is individual. This means we also operate a dynamic progression system - integrating ongoing live assessment combined with formal testing. This allows flexibility for those students who are making good progress to move up at a faster rate, to continue to be pushed and challenged.