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A few questions that I cannot find answers for regarding application to Oxford. :)

Hello everyone!
This year, I am planning to send an Oxford undergraduate application to study Chinese language. Now, I have read this year's undergraduate prospectus but I still have some uncertainties regarding international qualifications.
I am 18 years old and on senior year. I am from Serbia. I attend a secondary school primarily specialized in learning languages, so I am attending Chinese language department. I have been learning this language for almost 4 years (secondary education in my country lasts 4 years while primary education lasts 8 years. I hope this is also not a problem to apply to Oxford, right?)
1. Since I will not have finished secondary school by October 15 this year, my subject teacher will have to also predict my grades at the end of school year, right?

2. I have ALWAYS been an straight A student since the primary school and throughout the whole secondary school and I know this last year will not be an exception. International qualifications regarding Serbia are found on Oxford university website, and it says that I need to have a 5 in majority of subjects when I get a Secondary School Leaving Diploma (By the way, a grade 5 in my country is equivalent to grade A, just to understand) and that is A-level requirement. But Chinese language requirements say that I need A-levels: AAA. What is the difference between A*A*A and AAA? Are those same as A-levels? It is not specified for Serbia what AAA and A*A*A levels are, just what is equivalent to A-levels. (and I fulfill that requirement). So can someone explain this to me?

3. If I fulfill A-levels, do I need to have IB and Advanced Highers? I also do not know what these are and cannon find appropriate explanation on the internet.

4. English language requirements say that I need to have passed the IELTS exam and have a minimum band 7 as both overall score and score in all four sections. It occurs that I have a band 7 as overall score, but: band 7 in Listening, Writing and Speaking and 7.5 in Reading. Even though it is on the border of acceptable, is this score still acceptable?

I simply do not want to worry about qualifications and language requirements so that I dedicate my time to writing personal statement and two pieces of written work. I want to know that I am not applying in vain so I hope I have sufficient qualifications to apply to Oxford.
Thank you very much in advance, I would really appreciate anyone's help! I really want to give my best and enroll at this university, it has been my dream since the age of 12! :biggrin:
Reply 1
Original post by Nancy97
x


1. Yes, that's right.
2. You don't need to worry about the A level requirements because your Serbian grades / qualifications are accepted for entry.
3. The IB (International Baccalaureate) is a widely-offered alternative to A levels, while Advanced Highers are the Scottish equivalent of A levels. As before, you don't need to do these because the Serbian Matura is accepted.
4. As long as you meet the English language requirements, you should be fine.
Original post by Nancy97
Hello everyone!
This year, I am planning to send an Oxford undergraduate application to study Chinese language. Now, I have read this year's undergraduate prospectus but I still have some uncertainties regarding international qualifications.
I am 18 years old and on senior year. I am from Serbia. I attend a secondary school primarily specialized in learning languages, so I am attending Chinese language department. I have been learning this language for almost 4 years (secondary education in my country lasts 4 years while primary education lasts 8 years. I hope this is also not a problem to apply to Oxford, right?)
1. Since I will not have finished secondary school by October 15 this year, my subject teacher will have to also predict my grades at the end of school year, right?

2. I have ALWAYS been an straight A student since the primary school and throughout the whole secondary school and I know this last year will not be an exception. International qualifications regarding Serbia are found on Oxford university website, and it says that I need to have a 5 in majority of subjects when I get a Secondary School Leaving Diploma (By the way, a grade 5 in my country is equivalent to grade A, just to understand) and that is A-level requirement. But Chinese language requirements say that I need A-levels: AAA. What is the difference between A*A*A and AAA? Are those same as A-levels? It is not specified for Serbia what AAA and A*A*A levels are, just what is equivalent to A-levels. (and I fulfill that requirement). So can someone explain this to me?

3. If I fulfill A-levels, do I need to have IB and Advanced Highers? I also do not know what these are and cannon find appropriate explanation on the internet.

4. English language requirements say that I need to have passed the IELTS exam and have a minimum band 7 as both overall score and score in all four sections. It occurs that I have a band 7 as overall score, but: band 7 in Listening, Writing and Speaking and 7.5 in Reading. Even though it is on the border of acceptable, is this score still acceptable?

I simply do not want to worry about qualifications and language requirements so that I dedicate my time to writing personal statement and two pieces of written work. I want to know that I am not applying in vain so I hope I have sufficient qualifications to apply to Oxford.
Thank you very much in advance, I would really appreciate anyone's help! I really want to give my best and enroll at this university, it has been my dream since the age of 12! :biggrin:


8+4 = 12 years of education. That's the same in my country, so I'm pretty sure you're good to go.

1) Yes.

2) As and A*s only exist in the UK A levels (They don't exist in my country's A levels, for instance). As an international, you should follow the international qualifications page. In your case, that really does mean 5s in a majority of subjects, regardless of what the A level criteria is. I'm going to guess it means anything upwards of 50% of your subjects, so if your teacher is willing to predict this, definitely consider applying. However, it is rather vague, so contact the Admissions Office of colleges you're interested in and ask specifically. They might also specify which subjects you have to attain a 5 in (eg any languages you currently study).

3) No. As long as you you meet any one of the approved qualifications listed here, you're fine. http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/international-students/international-qualifications The Serbian diploma is acceptable to Oxford, so you don't need any additional qualifications

4) You meet the requirement, so your score is acceptable to Oxford. I wouldn't bother resitting.
Original post by Nancy97
X


One moment, I might be wrong here but I thought Chinese was only offered as part of Oriental Studies where you're supposed to learn it from scratch, in which case you couldn't apply if you've already been learning it for four years? I may be totally wrong but that's what I thought the case was...

Edit: Apparently I'm wrong, you can still apply if you have learned Chinese before. Ignore me!
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Plagioclase
One moment, I might be wrong here but I thought Chinese was only offered as part of Oriental Studies where you're supposed to learn it from scratch, in which case you couldn't apply if you've already been learning it for four years? I may be totally wrong but that's what I thought the case was...


The course is not strictly for ab-initio learners and previous study of the language is definitely acceptable :smile:
Original post by colourtheory
The course is not strictly for ab-initio learners and previous study of the language is definitely acceptable :smile:


Ah, okay. I just asked someone else and they've echoed what you just said. Thanks!
Reply 6
Oh, then I guess I should concentrate on writing personal statement and two essays. Thank you veeeeery much @BJack, @mishieru07 and @colourtheory !! Nope, @Plagioclase, I won't ignore you but thank you that you took your time to help, I appreciate that! :biggrin:
Umm, can I also ask in this thread questions about the reference letter or should I make a new one in other section? I don't think I should overload this forum with threads, so I think I can ask here... :smile:
Original post by Nancy97
Oh, then I guess I should concentrate on writing personal statement and two essays. Thank you veeeeery much @BJack, @mishieru07 and @colourtheory !! Nope, @Plagioclase, I won't ignore you but thank you that you took your time to help, I appreciate that! :biggrin:
Umm, can I also ask in this thread questions about the reference letter or should I make a new one in other section? I don't think I should overload this forum with threads, so I think I can ask here... :smile:


It doesn't really matter but you'll possibly get more responses if you make a new thread.
Reply 8
Oh, and one more question. :smile: Since I don't have Secondary School Diploma yet, and even though my subject teacher will include the in reference letter my predicted grades for this senior year, do I need to send in my application form certificates with my previous years' grades i.e. Primary and Secondary school grades, or simply last year's grades? Or are predicted grades sufficient? :/

And excuse me If I ask some (for you) 'stupid' questions, I just want to take care of every single detail and not to worry about them, so I have to check with people who are informed about this. :biggrin:
(edited 8 years ago)

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