Foundation year in Europe? (in English)

Hello,

I'm an Egyptian IGCSE student, since unis here only require 8 OLs and 1 AS, I only took these, and score A*s, As and Bs in them.

I realized a bit late that I want to travel badly, but I can't find a university that can accept these subjects (obviously) and I can't find a university that offers foundation year without being too expensive.

I've been searching since a week in lots of countries, but I guess I'm a bit slow with searching.

I don't want a really good ranking, anything below 2k would be nice as long as it's affordable, teaches in English and study duration is no more than 4 years + 1 foundation year.

As for the fees, my parents can pay 13k USD / 11900 Euros per year, in case I find a good Uni, I'm willing to take a part time job or student loans for the rest of the fees.

Hi,

I think currently you are better off taking a gap year and doing the A-level and saving some money and applying then going down the foundation route. Just pick the right A-levels to do for the course.

Tbh I'm so done with school, we didn't know anything about universities and all what we do is go for the Egyptian Unis requirements.

If this is the case, I'd prefer to join an Egyptian University than to take A levels in school.

I'd say your best bets are either do an 'access to HE' course or take a gap year and do some modules with the Open University. However contact some universities first to see if they will accept the access course from the college you're considering or OU modules as a method of entry.

On the topic of finance, UK and most Europe based degrees are only 3 years long so it might be worth asking if you could use that 4th year for a foundation year as it's a much better way than my recommendations. You should also consider living and travel costs, for most universities in the UK you will be spending about £7500 per year, and it's not going to be easy to get a job which will cover that.

To be honest it's probably better to study in mainland Europe but even if the course is in English you'd still need another language to get around.

Great reply buddy, I'm really desperate right now

I don't mind wasting this year doing anything to help me get accepted for next year (if the study period in uni is 3 years that would be great).

Gonna check the "Access to HE" thingie, but I didn't understand what you meant by do some modules with the open University?

Do you know if this Access course is accepted in European universities or not?

Your best option is probably to do A levels - if you don't want to study them in school then teach yourself at home from textbooks (as you would at university tbh, but for free).

If you are sure you definitely want to do a foundation year, look into options to do it at a sixth form/ adult education college, I'm sure my sixth form (Peter Symonds College) offered something like that, although only for very limited subjects. It will be a lot cheaper doing it at a college rather than a university, although of course you won't get the same social experience as you would at university. Still probably more then £2000/ year through...

Bear in mind that living costs in the UK are quite high, particularly in London/ the south. If you want to save money, pick a university further north, the accommodation costs etc. could be half the price. Tuition fees will be £9000/ year at pretty much every uni though, wherever you go.