This Postgraduate Certificate meets the practical needs of language teaching and testing professionals who have responsibilities for testing and evaluation at institutional, regional or national level, but who find it difficult to leave their place of work to undertake full-time study in Lancaster. The PG Certificate is fully web-based, with a compulsory orientation at the start of the programme so that participants can get to know each other, the staff and Lancaster University and, especially, so that they can become acquainted with the course and its means of communication.

Applicants who are interested in a two-year qualification involving a dissertation project should consider the MA in Language Testing programme.

Students who take the PG Certificate programme can easily transfer to the MA programme should they decide to during the year. In addition, students who graduate with the PG Certificate may subsequently re-join for the second year of the MA programme (surrendering the PG Certificate).

The programme consists of 3 modules (20 credits each).

The modules are:

• Language Test Construction and Evaluation (September – December)
• Exploring Language Constructs for Language Testing (January – March)
• Issues in Language Testing (April – June)

The taught modules consist of nine units and a reading week, matching the on-campus teaching pattern in the department. The participants work on one module per academic term, over the course of three terms. The modules are designed for postgraduate, post-experience participants, and include content which is of relevance to their own professional sphere of operation. Input material introduces appropriate themes, approaches and theories and these are supplemented by tasks representing authentic challenges in language testing and seeking to develop particular aspects of the participants' competence.

Each unit of a module generally occupies one week. A typical timetable for a module is as follows:

Students need to be prepared to spend between 5 to 10 hours per week on course readings and tasks. Where possible, they should also plan to be available online during our regular ten-week term times.

Participants carry out tasks individually or in small groups, communicating with one another and their tutor by means of module-specific discussion forums. There is a balance between independent learning opportunities and group endeavours, as participants need to develop both self-sufficiency and the ability to learn from their peers.

Students following the PG Certificate programme work together with students on the MA programme.

Each module is assessed via one assignment of 4,500-5,000 words (making up a total of 20 credits for each module), often tailored to complement participants' job demands and interests.

The tutors for the modules are Tineke Brunfaut, Luke Harding and John Pill or other experienced colleagues from the Department of Linguistics and English Language.

The programme starts in late September and runs for 12 months, ending in early September a year later.

The compulsory orientation is currently delivered online. Students are not required to visit Lancaster.

For confirmation of the current tuition fees please see the individual programme pages.

Lancaster University will normally send an invoice for the programme once it has started, in October. However, if it is more convenient for funders, the University can send out invoices as soon as the student has confirmed that they are accepting the offer to study on the Postgraduate Certificate programme and have completed the registration process.

Yes, it is possible to pay in 2 equal installments.

The course starts in September. Applications are accepted at any time while early applications are preferred. Applications received by July will, if accepted, definitely allow a September start.

If you are interested in applying, please go to the Applying for postgraduate study webpage and follow the instructions. If you have any queries please contact our Admissions team:

For more details about how to apply, please see our General Advice.