Business English, taught around the job you actually do.
Not a general course with a business word list bolted on. We start from what you have to do in English this month: the meeting, the report, the client call. That is what we work on.
- InternationalOr British English
- 25 yearsOf teaching experience
- 1-to-1Or small teams
- OnlineAny time zone, around your hours
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Business English
Meetings, email, presentations and calls. For individuals, or for a team taught together and reported on separately.
See Business English → -
Conversation practice
International or British English, with the grammar explained and a practice plan between sessions. Not just talk time.
See conversation classes → -
Exam preparation
IELTS, OET and all the Cambridge exams, for professional registration, a university place, or a certificate an employer asks for. Marked writing and full rehearsals.
See exam preparation →
Software will let you practise. It will not tell you what to fix.
An AI chat partner never gets tired and never gets impatient. What it does not do is notice you making the same mistake for the thirtieth time and decide today is the day it gets fixed. Every session here ends with specific written corrections, and the next one begins there.
Nobody learns anything while they are bored.
That is not a slogan, it is the method. An hour a week of being picked apart is how adults quietly give up on a language. So we talk about things you actually find interesting, we laugh at the mistakes rather than wince at them, and the correcting happens in its own time at the end where it belongs.
You will work hard. You should also enjoy it, or you will not come back, and coming back is the only thing that actually works.
Nurses and healthcare professionals: we were built for this.
Top Marks English was founded in 2015 to get overseas nurses the English scores their NMC registration required. If that is why you are here, start on the page written for you rather than the general one.
Tell us what you need to do in English.
We will tell you what we would work on first, and roughly how long it will take.
info@topmarksenglish.comEnglish for nurses applying for NMC registration.
Top Marks English was founded in 2015 to do exactly this: get overseas nurses the English scores the NMC requires. We have been doing it ever since.
What the NMC actually requires
- IELTS Academic7.0Reading, listening, speaking
- IELTS writing6.5Not 7.0, which surprises most people
- OETGrade BRoughly 350 in each sub-test
Worth knowing The NMC also lets you combine scores from two test sittings, within limits, and publishes a test-combining calculator. So a near miss in one skill does not always mean starting again. Re-verify all of this against nmc.org.uk before launch, and link to it.
Your nursing is not the problem. One skill usually is.
Most nurses we meet do not need to learn English. They already work in it, read in it, and often trained in it. What blocks the application is a single skill sitting just under the line while the other three are comfortably above it.
That is a different problem from “learning English”, and it needs different teaching: exam technique, structure, and someone marking your work against the actual descriptors, week after week, until the gap closes.
Both are accepted. They are not equally easy for you.
| IELTS Academic | OET | |
|---|---|---|
| Content | General academic topics: charts, essays, lectures on any subject | Healthcare throughout: patient notes, referral letters, consultations |
| NMC score needed | 7.0 reading, listening, speaking · 6.5 writing | Grade B in each sub-test |
| Writing task | A report from data, plus a discursive essay | A referral or discharge letter from case notes |
| Suits you if | You are comfortable with academic argument and essay structure | You think in clinical language and struggle with abstract essay topics |
| Also useful for | Universities, visas, other regulators | Healthcare regulators specifically |
If you have already failed IELTS writing twice on essay topics you had no opinion about, OET is very often the better route. We will tell you which once we have seen a sample of your writing, rather than selling you the one we prefer to teach.
We find the real gap first
Send us a piece of writing and we mark it by hand against the band descriptors, free. You get a written report saying which skill is holding you back and by how much, not a vague “upper intermediate”.
Writing gets marked, properly
You send work, you get it back with a score for each criterion, your errors corrected, a note on what cost you the marks, and a high-band model answer to compare against.
Speaking practised as an exam, not a chat
Full rehearsals to time, recorded so you can hear yourself, with fluency, range and pronunciation fed back separately, because that is how they are scored.
Everything on screen, at exam speed
IELTS is now computer-delivered almost everywhere, so scrolling and typing are part of the test. We practise the way you will sit it.
In British English
You are heading for a British workplace, so you practise with British teachers, British vocabulary and British accents at natural speed. It is the ward handover you have to follow, not a textbook recording.
Around your shifts
Classes are arranged around your rota, wherever you are based. This is the norm here rather than a favour.
“My heartfelt gratitude for your team. It really helped me a lot, all the efforts and patience of your team was really worth it. Thank you!”HLB
“What I liked about Top Marks English, first and foremost, the dedicated teachers. I learned a lot from them. They were very patient in answering all my queries, especially Sarah. I'd been to many different review centres here in my country and most of their resources were the same but Top Marks English is different.”AN · Philippines
“I am glad to tell you that we have got more than 7 in each band! We sincerely want to thank you for taking time to motivate and train us.”PS
Real testimonials recovered from the 2016 site. Check you are happy to republish them.
Do I really only need 6.5 in writing?
For IELTS Academic the NMC requires at least 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking, and at least 6.5 in writing. A great many candidates train for 7.0 across the board and put themselves under unnecessary pressure. Confirm current requirements on nmc.org.uk before you rely on this.
I missed one skill by half a band. Start again?
Not necessarily. The NMC allows scores to be combined across two sittings within published limits, and IELTS now offers One Skill Retake on computer-delivered tests, so a single weak skill can often be resat on its own. Between those two mechanisms, a near miss is usually recoverable far more cheaply than a full retake.
Can I just buy writing correction?
Yes, and for many nurses that is all that is needed. Send your work and get it back marked, corrected and modelled, with no course to sign up to and nothing to commit to. Prices for single pieces and bundles.
How long will it take me?
It depends entirely on the size of the gap, which is what the free marked assessment shows. Closing half a band in one skill is a different job from closing a full band in three, and we would rather give you a realistic timeline than sell you a course.
Do you help with the NMC application itself?
No. We prepare you for the English requirement, which is one part of the process. We are teachers, not immigration advisers, and we would rather say so than guess.
Find out exactly how far you are.
Free, all four skills, marked to the descriptors, with a written report.
info@topmarksenglish.comIELTS preparation, now that it is a computer exam.
Coaching across all four skills for professionals who need a specific score for a professional registration, a visa, or a university place.
- 4Skills covered
- Band 9Model answers from an examiner
- 25 yearsTeaching English, including IELTS
Paper IELTS is being retired.
From mid-2026 IELTS began phasing out paper-based delivery in favour of computer delivery, with a “Writing on Paper” option kept in selected locations and some African and Central Asian centres retaining paper into 2027. Content, question types and scoring are unchanged, and scores remain comparable across formats.
What changes is how you sit it, and therefore how you should practise. Typing speed, reading on screen, and no longer being able to annotate a paper passage are now part of the exam. One Skill Retake is also standard on computer-delivered tests, so a single weak skill can be resat alone.
Writing
Where most scores are lost. Task 1 and Task 2 marked against each criterion, errors corrected, and a high-band model to compare with your own.
Speaking
Full Part 1 to 3 rehearsals to time, recorded, with fluency, range and pronunciation scored separately.
Reading
On screen, at exam pace. Technique for locating answers without the paper habits that no longer transfer.
Listening
One hearing only, a spread of accents, and the discipline of writing answers while the recording continues.
Academic or General Training?
Academic if you are entering higher education or seeking professional registration, nurses and doctors included. The NMC accepts IELTS Academic only. General Training if you are migrating. Listening and speaking are identical; reading and writing differ.
Should I use One Skill Retake?
If three skills are comfortably above your target and one is not, almost certainly. It is faster and cheaper than resitting everything. If two or more are short, a full retake is usually better. We will say which once we have seen your writing.
Do you offer writing correction on its own?
Yes. Single pieces and bundles, priced individually.
Tell us your target score and your test date.
We will tell you honestly whether it is achievable, and how.
info@topmarksenglish.comOET preparation for nurses and healthcare professionals.
The healthcare-specific English test the NMC accepts alongside IELTS. Every task is clinical: case notes, referral letters, patient consultations. For many nurses that makes it the easier route.
Proposed new service — only publish this page if you can genuinely teach OET.
What the NMC requires for OET
- Each sub-testGrade BRoughly 350 of 500
- Sub-tests4Reading, writing, listening, speaking
- CombiningAllowedAcross two sittings, within limits
Sources disagree on whether writing may be accepted at a lower grade. Check the NMC's own OET page before publishing a number.
You already know the vocabulary. That is the whole advantage.
IELTS writing asks you to describe a bar chart and argue a position on a topic you may have no view about. OET writing asks you to turn case notes into a referral letter, something you have done a thousand times in your own language.
The English is not easier. The context is familiar, and for a working clinician that difference is often worth half a band.
Writing: the referral letter
The sub-test that decides most OET results. Case notes in, a letter out, judged on purpose, content, conciseness, genre and language. Highly learnable, and the part we spend most time on.
Speaking: role plays
Two clinical role plays with an interlocutor playing a patient or carer. Scored on clinical communication as well as language: explaining, reassuring, checking understanding.
Reading
Healthcare texts under time pressure, including a fast skim-and-scan section that rewards technique more than vocabulary.
Listening
Consultations and clinical talks. Closer to your working day than an IELTS lecture on urban planning.
Is OET easier than IELTS?
Not inherently. The required standard is comparable. It is often easier for nurses, because the content is clinical and the writing task resembles real work. If you are strong at academic essays, IELTS may suit you better.
Does the NMC accept it equally?
Yes. The NMC accepts IELTS Academic and OET as its two English language tests for this route. Neither is preferred.
I have already sat IELTS. Can I switch?
Yes, and many candidates do after a writing near miss. Whether it is the right move depends on which skill let you down and why. A marked writing sample answers exactly that.
Send us a writing sample and we will tell you.
Free, and we will recommend the route that gets you registered soonest.
info@topmarksenglish.comBusiness English for people who already work in English.
Not a general course with a business word list bolted on. We start from what you actually have to do in English this month, and the material we work from is yours, not a coursebook's.
- 25 yearsOf teaching experience
- InternationalOr British English
- 1-to-1Or small teams
- B1 to C2Levels taught
Bring your own work.
This is the whole idea, and it is what separates us from a course. You bring the email you are about to send, the deck you are presenting on Thursday, the job description you are applying against, or a recording of a meeting you came out of frustrated. That is the lesson material.
It means every session is immediately useful, and it means we see your English doing the job it actually has to do, not performing in a coursebook unit called The World of Business. Most professionals do not need more English. They need their existing English to work under pressure, in the specific situations their job keeps putting them in.
Email that sounds like you meant it
Register is the hard part, not grammar. Direct without being blunt, polite without disappearing into hedging, and firm without sounding annoyed. We look at what you have actually sent and what came back.
Meetings and calls
Interrupting, disagreeing, buying yourself thinking time, and asking someone to repeat themselves without losing authority. Plus the harder skill of following a fast conversation between several native speakers who have forgotten you are there.
Presenting
Structuring a case, talking through numbers, signposting so people can follow you, and handling the questions afterwards, which is the part almost everyone fears most and almost nobody rehearses.
The social part
The five minutes before the meeting, the coffee queue, the dinner after the conference. Advanced speakers routinely handle the technical content and then freeze on small talk, and it is the part that decides whether people want to work with you.
Negotiating and pushing back
Saying no, asking for more, conceding something small to hold something large. Doing it in a second language without accidentally sounding either aggressive or apologetic.
Interviews
If you are applying for a role in English, we rehearse the actual interview (your answers, your questions, your weak spots) rather than practise interview vocabulary in the abstract.
Four steps, and a review date from the start.
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Needs analysis
A conversation and a short piece of writing. We establish two things: what you have to do in English, and where it is currently going wrong. These are not the same question, and most providers only ask the first.
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A written plan
You get objectives, not a syllabus of topics. Something like “chair the Monday call without preparing a script”, because that is a thing you can either do or not do, and we can both tell which.
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Weekly sessions, same teacher
You work with one teacher who remembers what you were struggling with last week and what you are presenting next month. Continuity is most of the value and it is the first thing large providers give up.
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Review at eight weeks
We go back to the objectives and say plainly what has changed and what has not. If it is not working we would rather adjust it, or tell you, than quietly keep invoicing.
- One to oneYour work, your objectives, your schedule. The fastest route for anyone with a specific deadline: a presentation, an interview, a new role.
- Small teamGrouped by tested level rather than job title, and kept small enough that everyone speaks in every session. Progress reported per person.
- DepartmentSeveral groups running in parallel with a single point of contact, one timetable and consolidated reporting. Confirm your capacity for this.
An app cannot diagnose. It will happily let you practise for a year without ever telling you which specific habit is making your emails read as curt, because it does not know and cannot ask.
A large provider cannot be consistent. You get a rotating teacher, a generic curriculum, and the status of a seat licence. Nobody in the chain has read your writing or knows what you are working towards. That is fine for a compliance tick and poor for actually improving.
The reason to work with one experienced teacher is that both problems disappear at once.
Can I bring confidential work?
Yes, and most people do: real emails, real decks, real client names. Nothing you bring is shared, reused as teaching material, or kept after we have worked on it. If your employer needs a confidentiality agreement signed, decide whether you will offer that.
What level do I need to start?
Around B1 and above. Below that, the useful work is general English rather than business English, and we would say so rather than sell you the wrong thing.
How long before I notice a difference?
On a specific, narrow objective, such as handling one recurring meeting or getting your emails to land properly, a few weeks. On overall fluency, months. Anyone promising you a level in six weeks is selling you something.
Do you teach teams?
Yes. Grouped by tested level rather than job title, small enough that everyone speaks every session, with progress reported per person rather than a single attendance figure. Group sizes, reporting cadence and pricing.
How much does it cost?
Individual rates published; team training quoted after the needs analysis.
What if I travel, or miss a week?
Expected rather than exceptional with this kind of client, and planned for. Set out your rescheduling terms here. Notes and materials from any session you miss stay available to you.
Can we certify the level afterwards?
If you need documentation, Linguaskill is usually the employer's choice: results come back quickly and there is no fixed sitting date. Confirm whether you offer this.
Tell us what you have to do in English.
We will tell you what we would work on first, and how long it will take.
info@topmarksenglish.comConversation classes, with the grammar behind them.
You do most of the talking, and we never stop you mid-sentence to correct something. We note things as you go, and the last part of every session is set aside for exactly that: what to fix, the grammar behind it, and something specific to try at home.
- InternationalOr British English
- 55 minSession length
- NewVocabulary every session
- WeeklyPractice plan between classes
Talk, then understand, then practise.
Most conversation classes stop at the first step. That is why someone can spend two years “doing conversation classes” and still be making the same mistakes at the end of it.
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You speak, uninterrupted
For the bulk of the session, about something you actually need English for: a meeting coming up, an interview, a handover, or a topic you choose. We never break your flow to correct you. Once you are talking properly, stopping you is the worst thing a teacher can do, so we take notes instead and keep out of the way.
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Then we look at it together
There is time set aside at the end of every session for this, so it never eats into your speaking. And most of what we look at is not wrong. It is almost right, but not quite. Grammatically fine, and yet no English person would ever put it that way. So we show you how one actually would, and the pattern behind it, because understanding the pattern is what stops it coming back.
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You practise it before next time
Every session ends with a short, specific practice plan, not “speak more English”. Something you can do in ten or fifteen minutes a day, built out of the things we actually looked at together, including the new vocabulary from that session.
Most people need International English, not British English.
If your working day is a call with colleagues in Germany, India and Brazil, none of them native speakers, then British idiom is not what you need. International English is: clear, neutral, and stripped of everything that only lands in one country.
In practice that means fewer idioms, fewer phrasal verbs, and simpler tense structures, because those are the first things to fail when nobody in the room shares your first language. So instead of “we should circle back once things have settled down”, you learn to say “let us discuss this again next week”.
That is not dumbing anything down. It is precision. Being understood first time by six nationalities is a harder skill than sounding idiomatic to one.
British English is what you want if you are moving to the UK, working closely with British colleagues, or sitting an exam for a UK regulator. It matters most for listening, because following a British speaker at natural speed, with the contractions and the understatement and the habit of not quite saying the thing, is a skill in itself.
Your teacher is Sarah Snelling, who is from Leicestershire and has taught both for years. Tell us who you actually have to talk to and we will teach you the one you need.
Fifteen minutes a day beats an hour once a week.
Your practice plan comes out of what went wrong in the session, so it changes every week. It usually combines two or three of these:
One structure, used on purpose
A single target: say, three conditionals used deliberately in real conversations this week. Narrow enough that you will actually catch yourself doing it.
Shadowing a British clip
A short piece of audio we choose together. Listen, speak along, then record yourself. This is the fastest route to natural rhythm and to following fast speech.
A recorded answer
Two minutes answering a question we set, sent over before the next class. We listen in advance, so the session starts from real evidence rather than “how was your week?”.
A written note using the corrections
Five or six sentences reusing the structures from last time. Writing them slowly is what fixes them for speaking.
It is supposed to be enjoyable.
Not a nice-to-have. The whole thing depends on it. Nobody gets fluent in a language they have come to dread speaking, and an hour a week of being picked apart is how people quietly give up. So we talk about things you find interesting, we laugh at the mistakes rather than wince at them, and the correction happens in its own time at the end where it belongs.
An AI chat partner never gets tired and never gets impatient. What it will not do is hear you make the same mistake for the thirtieth time, work out which rule you have misunderstood, explain it, and set you something specific to fix it. Practice without diagnosis is just repetition.
- One-to-one£28Per 55-minute session, just you.
- Pairs£18Per person. Same level, you choose your partner.
- Small group£12Per person, maximum six, grouped by level.
Placeholder prices. Decide your currency as well as your rates. It signals who you are for.
Is this a grammar course?
No. You will spend most of every session speaking. But grammar is not a separate subject from conversation; it is the reason a sentence works or does not. We teach it where it comes up, because that is when it makes sense and when it sticks.
Will you correct me constantly? I would find that hard.
No. We never interrupt you mid-flow. Stopping someone every sentence kills the fluency you came to build, and it makes the class miserable. We note things as you go and go through them in the time set aside at the end, prioritising whatever most affects being understood, usually three points rather than thirty.
How much work is there between sessions?
Ten to fifteen minutes a day, and it is specific rather than open-ended. People who do it progress noticeably faster than people who only turn up, which is the honest reason we build it in.
International or British English: which do I need?
International English if your working day is spent with other non-native speakers, which is most people: fewer idioms, fewer phrasal verbs, simpler tenses, understood first time. British if you are heading for the UK or working closely with British colleagues. Tell us who you actually have to talk to and we will pick for you, and we will flag the American alternative whenever it is one you are likely to meet.
What level do I need to start?
Roughly B1 and above, enough English to hold a conversation, even a halting one. Below that, conversation practice is frustrating and a structured course is better value. The free trial will tell you honestly which you need.
Try it before you pay anything.
Twenty minutes on a video call, enough to hear you speak, tell you honestly where you are, and see whether you like working with us.
info@topmarksenglish.comFounded in 2015 to get nurses into UK hospitals.
Top Marks English began by preparing overseas nurses for the English scores their NHS applications required. That is still the core of what we do.
- 2015Founded
- ThousandsOf professionals taught
- 25 yearsOf teaching experience
Over the years we have widened out to professionals in other fields who need a certificate or simply need to work in English, but healthcare remains the work we know best, and the reason the school exists.
We teach online, which means we teach around your shifts, wherever you are.
Sarah Snelling
Co-founder & Director of Studies
Born in Leicestershire, England, Sarah has taught English for twenty-five years to students of all nationalities, preparing them for everyday life as well as for specific exams. She co-founded Top Marks English in 2015 and has been its director of studies ever since.
Tell us what you need and when.
We answer every enquiry ourselves.
info@topmarksenglish.com