Leading Expanding Pre-Sessional Programmes Successfully: An International Case Study Analysis

Pre-sessional programmes can be highly rewarding to design and deliver, but they can also be extremely demanding and challenging for those tasked with running them. This paper considers the case of one pre-sessional programme that developed from an online 8-week postgraduate course in 2022, attended by 43 students, into a significantly larger undertaking. Within a couple of years, the programme expanded to offer 2, 4- and 8-week onsite options, along with a 3-week undergraduate pathway. The 8-week course in 2024 was completed by 347 students. In 2025 the projected enrolment figure is approximately 450 students and a new 3-week course also set to begin. This talk will begin by providing the contextual background for the pre-sessional programme and a brief literature review, before discussing the programme’s effectiveness, the challenges alongside the future plans. The paper should be of interest to course designers, faculties, and institutional administrators and managers, amongst others, from both pedagogic, administrative, leadership and income generating perspectives.