English as a Foreign Language
About 10% of the students at Battle Abbey School study English as a Foreign Language. They take Cambridge ESOL examinations (English for Speakers of Other Languages) KET and PET Key/Preliminary English Tests FCE and CAE First Certificate English and Certificate in Advanced English and in the Sixth Form IELTS, the International English Language Testing System required for university entry.

English as a Foreign Language pupils should be at the following levels at the start of each school year:

Pupils can enter the school in years 7 and 8 with Elementary English and Year 9 Low-Intermediate. For Year 10 their English should ideally be Upper-Intermediate and for Year 12 Advanced. Pupils should aim to leave the school at Level 6.5 or 7.5.

Overseas pupils applying to Battle Abbey School take a Placement Test and for Year 12 a short telephone interview to assess their speaking level.

Lessons are individual or shared, with normally just two students. The number of weekly lessons required by each student is decided at the beginning of each school year. Lesson fees are disbursed at the end of each term and are up to £440.00 each term depending on whether the lessons are one-to-one or shared.

This year the boarding community includes students from Hong Kong and mainland China, Russia, Germany, France and Slovakia.

Each year EFL pupils leave the school at the end of Year 13 to study at the university of their choice, for example Medicine, Architecture and Computer Science in Hong Kong, London and Cambridge, and Japanese Studies in Hong Kong.

EFL students also take GCSE and A Level in for example Chinese and Russian, with lessons taught by Cantonese/ Mandarin, and Russian teachers.