Non-native English speakers will have to go through an English language assessment when they enter the School. English as an Additional Language Programme (EAL) is provided to students who do not meet the English standards set by Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS Shanghai). The programme allows these students the ability to improve their English proficiency, a necessity for all YCIS Shanghai classes. Language skills from all areas of the curriculum are taught; listening, speaking, reading and writing. The programme is designed to compliment the mainstream curriculum and gives students the necessary skills to function socially and academically in the school. The length of the programme, determined by the level of the student's proficiency, varies from six months to a year. In Years 5 and 6, the academic language demand increase usually requires these students to remain in EAL longer than three terms.