Bristol Community Learning – Essential English Skills

Looking to improve your English skills for work and everyday life? This course helps you develop confident and effective communication skills through reading, writing, speaking and listening activities based on real-life situations.

It is for Bristol residents aged 19 and over with few or no qualifications who are working at Entry 1 to Entry 3 level. The course takes place on Fridays from 25 September 2026 to 18 December 2026 and is designed to help learners progress from basic literacy skills to a higher level of competence.

What you’ll learn

Speaking, listening and communication

• Contribute to discussions and make presentations in varied and unfamiliar contexts
• Present information persuasively
• Adapt communication to different audiences and purposes
• Support and develop discussions

Reading

• Select and analyse texts from multiple sources
• Gather relevant information, ideas, arguments and opinions
• Identify audience, purpose, points of view, bias and implicit meaning
• Compare and summarise information effectively

Writing

• Produce extended written documents that communicate information, ideas and opinions clearly
• Use a range of writing styles, structures and sentence forms
• Apply accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar
• Write for different purposes and audiences

What happens next

By the end of the course, you will have stronger reading, writing, speaking and listening skills for work and everyday life. You will gain transferable skills that can be used for workplace communication, official documentation and understanding a range of texts, helping you prepare for further study, employment and practical daily activities.