How to Verify That a Program Is Taught in English

Many online business programs outside the English-speaking world advertise in English, and many English-speaking universities welcome students who learned English as a second language. Neither fact tells you the language of your lectures, exams and final thesis. This guide shows how to check the language of instruction for a specific program, why an English-test requirement is not the same thing, and what evidence we require before listing a program as English-taught.

Why the website language proves nothing

Schools publish English pages for many reasons, including recruitment. A school can teach one program in English and another in a different language, and two editions of a program with similar names can differ in language and format. A single English language module in a study plan does not make the whole program English-taught.

The rule of thumb: look for a sentence about this program's teaching, not about the website, the admissions process or the university in general.

What good evidence looks like

The strongest evidence is a program-level statement in an official document such as a program specification, catalog, handbook or course page. Examples:

• University of London Global MBA specification: "All teaching is in English."
• University of London MSc Accounting and Financial Management specification: "Language of study and assessment English." This also covers assessment.
• University of the Built Environment: "All University of the Built Environment programmes are taught and assessed in English."
• Western Governors University: "the language of instruction and evaluation at WGU is English," which applies to programs such as its online MBA.

Institution-wide statements like the last two are useful when they are clear and cover every program. Program-level statements are better, because some schools run some programs in other languages.

Check modules, exams and the thesis

A degree is only English-taught if you can complete every required part in English. Look at:

• Compulsory modules. Some study plans list a language for each course. If even one compulsory module is taught in another language, the program is not English-taught for our purposes.
• Exams and assessment. "Taught in English" and "assessed in English" are separate claims. Statements such as "Language of study and assessment" or "instruction and evaluation" cover both.
• The thesis or final project. Check whether the dissertation must be written in English or may be written in another language, and whether supervision is available in English.
• Optional language courses. An elective in another language does not disqualify a program. A required one does.

English-test requirements are not teaching-language statements

An English-proficiency requirement tells you what the school expects from you. It does not, on its own, tell you the language of the program. That is why, outside English-speaking destinations, we never accept a test requirement alone as evidence of the teaching language.

What the tests measure: IELTS says its Academic test is likely the right choice "If you are planning to study in a country where English is spoken," and ETS describes TOEFL iBT as measuring "all four academic English skills — reading, listening, speaking and writing."

Requirements also vary in ways worth reading closely:

• The University of Edinburgh's online MBA says the English requirement applies to "all applicants, including UK nationals."
• Aston University's online Executive DBA accepts evidence that "your master's degree was taught entirely in English" as an alternative to a minimum IELTS score.
• Warwick Business School links the requirement to the teaching language explicitly: "All of our programmes are delivered in English so, if English is not your first language, you may be required to demonstrate a minimum overall standard."

The Warwick sentence is the useful kind: it states the teaching language and the test requirement together.

What our directory requires

We list a program as English-taught only with written evidence from an official source, and we record the quote and its source on the program page. Our methodology gives the full rules. In short:

• In English-speaking destinations (such as the USA, UK, Canada's English-language institutions, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand), an English-language admission requirement or a program page written for an English-speaking online cohort is accepted only when nothing indicates another teaching language. Even then, we mark whether all modules are confirmed in English or still unknown.
• In Switzerland, we require an explicit statement that English is the language of instruction.
• Unclear means not listed. If the language cannot be confirmed, the program goes to editorial review and is not published as English-taught.
• Any required non-English component excludes the program, whether it is a module or the thesis.

Questions to ask the school

If the official pages leave gaps, ask admissions in writing:

1. Is every compulsory module taught and assessed in English?
2. Must the thesis or final project be written in English, and is English-language supervision guaranteed?
3. Are exams, including any proctored or in-person exams, set in English?
4. Is the program offered in more than one language edition, and which one am I applying to?
5. Will the transcript or diploma supplement state the language of instruction?

Keep the reply. It is useful evidence later if an employer or another university asks how you studied. For the other checks to run before applying, see how to choose an online business school.