Before entering an Australian university, it is recommended to take preparatory programs – Foundation
Usually, graduates of domestic schools, before entering an Australian university, take preparatory programs (Foundation). Unlike regular nine-month preparatory programs, the International Student Services unit Insearch at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) offers three- to four-semester diploma programs with subsequent transfer to the second year of university. Admission requires a certificate without C grades and English level around IELTS 5.5 or TOEFL 195. The cost per semester is 7,500 Australian dollars. The average cost of university study is 20,000 dollars. Thus, a student can save 5,000-10,000 Australian dollars by studying through a diploma program.
Alas, there are no shortened paths for admission to universities in New Zealand. Traditionally, one must take a preparatory program. For example, the Foundation Certificate of the University of Auckland, offered by the Academic Colleges Group. Despite the name, holders of this certificate can apply to any other New Zealand university. The cost of the preparatory program is 18,600 New Zealand dollars. The average cost of study at the University of Auckland is 23,000 New Zealand dollars.
Great Britain is known worldwide for its developed education system, including various professional colleges. However, admissions committees of British universities are wary of holders of two-year professional diplomas, preferring secondary school graduates who have passed A-level exams with good grades. This policy is especially characteristic of universities in the top thirty of national rankings. Besides Oxford and Cambridge, which have their own admission requirements, these include universities such as Imperial College, St. Andrews, Warwick, London School of Economics, Durham, Exeter, Bristol, York, King's College London, Bath, Edinburgh, and others.
Therefore, the choice of initial education through a professional college with subsequent study at a British university must be approached with a clear understanding of the entire process and future prospects. An example is Edinburgh's Telford College. Certainly, it is tempting to pay £5,600 per year for college instead of an average of £10,000 at a university, saving £4,400, but Telford College has a limited number of transfer programs and only with specific universities. These are two-year diploma programs in event management (then directly to the third year of Queen Margaret University), hospitality management (third year of Middlesex University), business (third year of Heriot-Watt University), computer science (third year of Abertay University in Dundee). Also, students who complete business programs can enter the final year of the business faculty at the University of Sunderland.
Therefore, the fastest and most proven path to British universities remains through preparatory programs. Among the many, for the topic of this article, the recently created INTO program, operating on the basis of the universities of East Anglia, Newcastle, Manchester, and Glasgow Caledonian, stands out.
The standard price of nine-month INTO programs is £9,600. Upon completion, students can apply to other UK universities, so the universities hosting the programs express their interest in students by offering various discounts.
Thus, applicants this year for INTO at the universities of East Anglia and Newcastle have been awarded a number of scholarships covering the cost of tuition. The scholarships are paid in two stages: as discounts on the preparatory program tuition (£4,800) and as a reduction on the first year of the bachelor's degree program (£4,800).
At INTO of Glasgow Caledonian University, a scholarship in the form of a £1,500 discount is offered to all students enrolled in the preparatory program. Additionally, for students moving from INTO to the first year of Glasgow Caledonian University, the university offers an additional discount of £1,000 per year of study.
Admission to the INTO preparatory program requires a secondary school certificate and a language level of IELTS 5.5.
The opportunity to save could be provided by the so-called fast track bachelor's degree programs, which reduce the duration of study from three years to two by using summer vacations. They were introduced in 2007 on the initiative of the British Ministry of Education as a pilot project in a number of universities in the country. Currently, such programs, mainly in business and computer science, are offered by a number of UK universities, for example, Portsmouth, Derby, Buckingham. However, studying on fast track programs raises some concerns. Most likely, they make further study in master's programs at universities in other countries, primarily the USA, impossible.
Also read related article: INTO BACHELOR'S DEGREES ALONG THE AMERICAN LINE
Based on materials from ЦМК «Парта»