The region of Flanders offers a broad range of higher education programmes but does so almost exclusively in Dutch. Newcomers who pursue integration within Flemish society acquire first the Dutch language which remains a very intense process. Students wishing to pursue their higher education studies mainly face difficulties of ‘academic language’ and have a higher risk of early drop-out. The Intensive Preparatory Year wishes to combine the preparation for higher education studies (study attitude, personal development, etc.) with content-related language study (i.e. Information Technology or Accountancy). This workshop touches upon the hurdles of these students and the corresponding structure of our programme.