Pearson & BBC Live Classes

A worldwide, award-winning English learning project for secondary students and teachers

In partnership between Pearson and the BBC, Live Classes give students a unique opportunity to enter an online language classroom. English is so much more than a classroom subject – it’s an essential communication tool for students all over the world.

Teachers around the world value the project for the "opportunity to show students the real purpose of learning English, helping them see their capabilities and motivating them to study."

For students it is a "unique experience to test their skills, share opinions and start meaningful communication in English" with their peers from different schools across the globe.

During and after the lesson, the students not only speak English and improve their communication skills, but they also get to know each other, learning to respect and embrace diversity.

Lessons for 2021/2022 How to join Register for Live Classes

ELTons Winner 2020 banner — 2020 ELTons award winner

Pearson and BBC Live Classes is the winner of a 2020 ELTons award.

This international award from the British Council recognizes innovative products, projects and solutions that help learners and teachers while shaping the future of English language learning.

The award pays tribute to the passion for global learning that Pearson and BBC Live Classes proudly facilitate and support.

As part of our ELTons submission, we produced a teaching tips video by reaching out to our online community of teachers for their advice on distance teaching and how Live Classes helped them to move online.

Watch the teaching tips video

Read more about the ELTons

Who is Live Classes for?

The project is free and equally available to every group across the globe and encourages different nationalities, races and religions to come together in an international project.

It's open to students, who:

are between 9 and 19 years old
are eager to communicate in English
need to be motivated and engaged
want to meet students from other countries

And schools, which:

have good internet connection
are equipped with a laptop and a projector, or an interactive whiteboard
can fit the lesson into their timetable

What we're offering in 2021/2022

Whether your English lessons take place in the classroom or online, you can choose between our two lesson formats – Live Classes or Big Live Lessons.

Live Classes for groups learning in class

A fully interactive online experience for around 10 groups of students joining the lesson with their teacher at school. This type of lesson is recommended for learning, taking place face-to-face, in class, allowing students to see and interact with each other in a live environment.

Big Live Lessons for individual students learning at home

An alternative to Live Classes, Big Live Lessons are for individual students joining the lesson on their own at home. This type of lesson is recommended for distance teaching, such as schools and students during lockdown periods.

This year we're offering 17 exciting lessons available to students between 9 and 19 years old, from A1 up to B2+ level. Our lessons are inspired by our high-quality courseware content and BBC videos.

Explore the lessons

Watch this video guide to find out which lesson format is best to choose for your current teaching scenario.

Why join Live Classes

Live Classes is a unique global initiative that brings many opportunities and benefits to every teacher, student and school attending.

As an English teacher, you'll:

provide a unique learning experience to your students
motivate your students to learn English
innovate your teaching methods through this global project
receive support from an excellent English teacher who will give your students a dynamic and highly-effective English lesson
receive a Pearson & BBC Live Classes Champion certificate for your professional portfolio

Your students will:

gain a unique chance to enter an international class
have an opportunity to interact and learn with other teenagers from around the world
attend a class led in English by an excellent English teacher
get extra opportunities to learn and practice the language
receive a Pearson & BBC Live Classes International Student certificate for their language portfolio

Your institution will:

gain kudos by participating in a unique, international project
develop its reputation and respect in the eyes of ministry officials, parents and future candidates
receive a Pearson & BBC Live Class Partner School certificate to display in your school

How to join Live Classes

Step 1: Choose the right lesson for your students' age and language level. It's important that the lesson is set up at the right level so they don't feel demotivated or over-challenged.
Step 2: Register your group, choosing from different days and times available in the schedule.
Step 3: Follow email instructions. Your lesson access details will be shared with you individually and you will receive a lesson toolkit, including your lesson plan, some pre-lesson activities and worksheets to be used in class.
Step 4: Prepare yourself and your students for the lesson.
Step 5: Join the lesson 10 minutes ahead to check audio and video.

How to prepare

Familiarize yourself with the lesson toolkit - As the teacher, it's crucial to make sure you understand the lesson plan and can support your students at different stages of the lesson. Check your lesson plan in advance, familiarize yourself with a detailed lesson concept and print out the Student's Worksheet.
Create supporting classroom setting - For the best experience, gather your students in groups or at their desks in front of the screen, ideally displayed on an interactive whiteboard or TV, connected to a computer.
Check technical requirements - Follow the technical requirements.

Technical requirements

Reliable internet connection

A reliable internet connection is the key success factor for the project.

Please make sure you have a good connection before registering for the project.

Equipment

For the best Live Classes experience, we recommend:

TV, projector or interactive whiteboard (connected to a laptop if not integrated)
webcam
microphone
speakers (internal or external) for sound

Alternatively, for groups up to 10 students:

a laptop with integrated camera and internal microphone
a desktop with external camera and external microphone

Step-by-step video guide

Understanding time zones video guide

Why students and teachers love Pearson and BBC Live Classes

Stat - most teachers and learners rate the project excellent — *"I really appreciate the opportunity for my students to try something different...I think that live classes motivate my students to study"*

Hana, a teacher from the Czech Republic

Stat - Nearly 2,500 schools from 81 countries have participated in the project so far — *"I could test my knowledge of English, try to communicate in English. The lessons were excellent with great sense of humour”*

Justyna, a student from Poland

Stat - we have run 250 live classes and Big Live Lessons in 2020/2021 — *"I find the classes very useful, especially the procedure and approach towards students making them feel active members in the project"*

Nikolai, a teacher from Greece

Over 35,000 students from 81 countries have participated in Live Classes in 2020/2021 — *"I loved experiencing new forms of communication with other geographical realities and having good time with them showing how things work respectively in the own countries"*

Maria, a student from Italy

Ready to sign up?

Register for Live Classes now