The Student Room Group
Reply 1
Either another modern language or English Language.

Obviously if you took something like the IB, then you need the language core on that.
yeh i think the 'equivalent' part is talking about different types of exams rather than different subjects - so yeh like the person above said the IB... or some other international exam, scottish highers etc.
Reply 3
Les_Miserables
Yes, but like...OK, I'm thinking of doing Modern Languages at university. (This is one of two or three prospective options, by the way).

I do have a modern language at A-level...Modern Greek. However, I don't have another one (like French), and I need to have one A-level in a modern language which I'm going ot continue in university. As you guys probably know, not many universities offer Greek as an option, and definitely not the unis I chose. I'd like to do French at university (as my "continued" language, so to speak) and another one "from scratch".

I do have qualifications in French - I have the B1 (remember the old DELF exams? Well, with the new European Common Framework system, I now have the equivalent of B1). And I was wondering what level of this system equals the A-level French.

Thanks so much!!

Ok well I have no idea what DELF or B1 mean, but you should try emailing university admissions asking if that type of qualification is accepted. However, I myself have never heard of it, nor have I seen it on a list of acceptable alternatives to A Level language, so I'd guess it isn't going to be equivilant.
Basically this means that you can really only do a degree in one language ab initio (not French, I've only seen one university that didn't want an A Level in it) and then maybe start another language in the second year. Or you could do language ab initio with Modern Greek, but the only places that do Modern Greek to my knowledge are KCL and Cambridge, although I remember being told that there were three other places that do it too.
Sorry, but the only way you'll be able to do 2 languages is if one of them is Greek. The only place I have seen that will let you do two languages from scratch is UCL, and that's only with Eastern European languages. Unless you do an A Level in French, or and alternative like French in the IB, the likelihood of you being able to do it at uni is very very small.
I've never heard of DELF or B1 either, but if there's a website for the qualification, it might say what it's equivalent to, or they might be someone you could email to ask about it. You could also email the undergraduate admissions officers at the unis you're thinking of applying to. If the qualification you have isn't appropriate, you'd have to do Greek, Greek combined with another language from scratch or another non-language subject combined with a language from scratch. It's extremely rare to find French offered from scratch or even post AS level though, and most good unis ask for an A-level in any modern language if you want to start one from scratch, so you'd need to find out if they'd accept Greek.
Reply 5
To be fair, apart from French and German most unis do ab initio courses in all the other languages apart from Spanish in some cases. I have never seen a single honours Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Modern Greek, Japenese etc course ask for an A Level in the relevent language because so few places offer A Levels in them.
Reply 6
Thing is, I am up to A-level standard, more or less. I mean, I have the grammar and I've done some literature and stuff. I just don't...have the qualification. Oh well...I'll see what the options are. Thanks sooo much for all the replies......!!:smile:
Reply 7
You could email an admissions tutor at the uni in question of course. I'm sure they'd be happy to help.
In some unis, you can start one language ab-initio in your first year and pick up a second ab-initio language in your second year, possibly Durham but I'm not sure.
Reply 9
I've heard of DELF! And the Spanish equivalent is DELE.
What level of DELF do you have? I'm sure language admission tutors know what DELF is, or at least what linguistic ability you should have with it. Send them an E-mail?
Lauraaaaa
I've heard of DELF! And the Spanish equivalent is DELE.
What level of DELF do you have? I'm sure language admission tutors know what DELF is, or at least what linguistic ability you should have with it. Send them an E-mail?


Yay, someone's heard of them!! I have B1...it's the old A1-A4. I was going to do the A5-A6 (the new B2) but I left...

Good idea, I'll email the admissions tutors...

Thanks!!
Reply 11
I would seriously suggest doing an A-level in French if you feel you're up to standard on it. Very few Universities will let you enter the course if you don't have prior 'acknowledged' qualifications in it.
Reply 12
Oh I see! How about you contact the admission tutors at Universities you're interested in studying french at? Or, you can take a gap year in which you concentrate on French!
WokSz
Oh I see! How about you contact the admission tutors at Universities you're interested in studying french at? Or, you can take a gap year in which you concentrate on French!


I'll definitely do the former. In fact, I'm thinking that if I do decide on Modern Languages in the end (and boy does it look fascinating - I LOVE languages), I'll do an ab initio one (not French, obviously) in my first year, concentrate on that, and then the next year I can pick up another one :smile: Result!