How important are modern foreign languages when applying for universities?

Hi, today I received my GCSE results and I got 7A's 1B and 1D which allowed me to get into the sixth form of my choice.

However I decided to research what A-level grades would I specifically need to take certain courses at University. Many of the courses required a GCSE grade in a
modern foreign language of a grade C or above but I only got a D in German.

what I was wondering about is how important is the modern foreign language
when I do apply for university and if I can get in with any other qualification to
prove I can speak another language (for example a level 3 course which I can
take over the summer holidays)

I also want to know if being bi-lingual helps the situation that I am in because I
speak Albanian with my family at home?

thank you for reading my post and hopefully you can answer my questions

Reply 1

alouette-

3

What and where do you want to study ?

Reply 2

alouette-

3

I disagree with needing a qualification. If it's the OP's mother tongue, s/he shouldn't need proof in the form of a qualification.

Reply 3

LekaD

OP

9

Original post by alouette-

What and where do you want to study ?

I'm not sure where since I haven't finished my A-levels but definitely in London

For example if I want to study economics at UCL it mentions I need a grade C
GCSE (or equivalent)

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/degrees/economics-bsc-econ/

Reply 4

LekaD

OP

9

Original post by JohnGreek

Depends on whether she puts herself down as Albanian on UCAS (many bilinguals also happen to have dual citizenship). If not, she's going to have to at least mention the fact that her native tongue is Albanian somewhere in her P.S. In any case, having a formal qualification for a language is never bad for one's CV in the future.

My Parents originally came from Kosovo which is why I can speak Albanian however I do not have a citizenship since I was
born in the UK.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

ageshallnot

21

Original post by LekaD

Hi, today I received my GCSE results and I got 7A's 1B and 1D which allowed me to get into the sixth form of my choice.

However I decided to research what A-level grades would I specifically need to take certain courses at University. Many of the courses required a GCSE grade in a
modern foreign language of a grade C or above but I only got a D in German.

what I was wondering about is how important is the modern foreign language
when I do apply for university and if I can get in with any other qualification to
prove I can speak another language (for example a level 3 course which I can
take over the summer holidays)

I also want to know if being bi-lingual helps the situation that I am in because I
speak Albanian with my family at home?

thank you for reading my post and hopefully you can answer my questions

Out of interest, apart from UCL which unis/courses require a foreign language GCSE? (Apart from language courses.)

Reply 6

LekaD

OP

9

Original post by alouette-

What and where do you want to study ?

I haven't researched too much in where I want to study as I haven't started my
a-levels yet but I want to continue studying in London:

for example if I want to study economics at UCL it mentions that I need grade C in a modern foreign language (or GCSE equivalent)

Reply 7

ageshallnot

21

Original post by LekaD

I haven't researched too much in where I want to study as I haven't started my
a-levels yet but I want to continue studying in London:

for example if I want to study economics at UCL it mentions that I need grade C in a modern foreign language (or GCSE equivalent)

Yes, I know about UCL who are known to be keen on language study. However, if you don't have the required qualification you can take a language course while you are there: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate/application/requirements/a-level-gcse

Anywhere else?

Reply 8

cloverjones

You only need a qualification in a language if you are going on to study that language in uni. If you aren't doing a language based course you don't need any language qualifications. I'm doing Spanish and Italian at uni and I'm pretty certain that having a language qualification when wanting to study a non-language related course at uni is useless

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 9

Doones

21

Original post by LekaD

I haven't researched too much in where I want to study as I haven't started my
a-levels yet but I want to continue studying in London:

for example if I want to study economics at UCL it mentions that I need grade C in a modern foreign language (or GCSE equivalent)