The English Language Center, in cooperation with the Office of Scholarships, organized a workshop entitled "Skills for Obtaining Academic Admission and Contacting Supervisors", designed for those wishing to obtain scholarships from faculty members at Umm Al-Qura University. The workshop was presented by Dr. Samar Al-Musa, Assistant Professor of Language Assessment, and Dr. Zainab Qaffas, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and Teaching English for Special Purposes.

The workshop covered basic issues concerning methods of obtaining academic admission, including defining major and minor specializations, searching for suitable universities, knowing the ranking of universities, and checking the university status through the Safeer website under the Ministry of Education. The workshop also dealt with methods of writing personal statements, how to start writing a research point, sections of the research plan, and concluded with the characteristics of an academic supervisor, how to contact supervisors and their expected responses, and how to deal with these responses to choose the appropriate supervisor.

The workshop was a mixture of important information that each male and female applicant should know, and the steps of searching for academic admission. It included a review of the experiences of the workshop presenters and attendees as well. The workshop also featured interactive activities and brainstorming to achieve the most benefit and practical application.

The trainers emphasized the importance of an early start in the journey to search for academic admission, check recommended university programs, ask questions and seek consultations. They also stressed the need to report to the Office of the Scholarships and the University in case of inquiries or obstacles during the scholarship process.

It is worth noting that the English Language Center, under the supervision of Dr. Sahar Al-Zahrani, offered a variety of courses during the semester in cooperation with the Office of Scholarships to prepare male and female applicants for scholarships at Umm Al-Qura University. These included an IELTS test skills course, how to write a research plan, and how to write a CV. The series of courses concluded with a course on "Skills for Obtaining Academic Admission and Contacting Supervisors."