Free materials for adult ESOL

ESOL Materials for Teachers and Learners

Resources designed for learners preparing for ESOL Skills for Life qualifications.

I'm an ESOL teacher and trainer, and these are materials I've written for my own classes in England. They're free to download, adapt and use.

Adult learners and their teacher walking and chatting on a busy London high street

Learners talking together round a café table

For teachers

ESD resources

Reading and grammar units built around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, using real stories of people and communities making a difference.

See the resources

Learners at a bus stop, one checking the timetable

For teachers

Task-based learning

Activities where learners use English to get something done: planning, solving, deciding and reporting back, with language work that grows out of the task.

See the activities

For learners

Practise English

Free games for practising words, spelling and grammar at home. Choose your level and start.

Start practising

Two learners reading and writing together

For learners

Graded Readers

25 short picture books for Pre‑entry learners, in three stages. Swipe through the pages and tap any word to hear it.

Start reading

Learning in the community

ESOL happens in classrooms, but most of the English that matters is used outside them: at the bus stop, at reception, over a coffee at break. The materials here are written with those places in mind.

Learners waiting together at a bus stop on a high street — Waiting for the bus

A learner asking a question at a college reception desk — Asking at reception

A teacher with learners round a table, getting books and folders out — Starting the lesson

Three learners chatting over coffee in a college café — Talking at break

Three learners walking and talking in a college corridor — On the way to class

A teacher joining a group of learners at lunch — Lunch with the class

About me

I'm Sam Pepper. I'm a language learner, teacher, trainer and translator. I've taught English in the UK and across the Middle East and North Africa, and for the last few years I've worked mainly in adult ESOL in London.

I'm an ESOL specialist and teacher trainer, and I train teachers on both online and in-person CELTA courses. I've also worked in several quality assurance roles in the adult learning and FE sector.

I work as a CPD training consultant for NATECLA, the national association for teachers of English and community languages to adults, and I provide bespoke professional development for ESOL departments around the UK. I've also worked as a syllabus writer and content creator for BBC Learning English and the British Council.

I write most of my own materials, because I've rarely found published ones that fit adult learners at the level I'm teaching. This site is where I put them so other teachers can use them too.

I hold the DELTA and an MA in Professional Development for Language Education, and I'm a Cambridge CELTA Main Course Tutor.