International Foundations
A fellow TSR member PM me for info on international foundations. We messaged briefly. I think some other TSRers may be interested so I share my very limited knowledge here. I have no connection with any education services provider.
International foundations, also called international pathways, are offered to non-UK students who do not meet uni entry requirements, maybe they missed the required grades or their home academic qualifications are not recognised by the uni. The courses aim at preparing, or "beefing up" students for uni studies.
Students apply to the institutes direct and choose a stream of study, e.g. business mamagement, healthcare, engineering and social sciences according to their desired degree orogrammes. Entry requirements are set by the institutes are often very lenient, e.g. satisfactory completion of secondary education, formal qualifications (e.g. GCSE and A-Levels) are not always required.
International foundations are often referred to as RQF Level 3 equivalent, but are not always well or widely recognised because the qualifications are awarded by the individual institutes. Say if a student completed the course satisfactorily (say 50% overall) but still failed to meet uni entry requirements (say 55%), very probably he might end up with nothing because the qualification may not be well recognised by employers. The Home Office's "level up" student visa policy requires the the qualification of the course of a student visa application must be higher than that of the previous student visa, so there is not possible to "repeat" an international foundation course. PSW (post study work) visa is for degree holders and is not available to international foundation graduates.
So international foundations are not shortcuts to uni. The institutes rarely publish the progression rates to unis, but I know the rates are not close to 100%.
International foundations may be categorised into 3 groups according to the institutes, (1) offered by uni, (2) offered by private education providers, (3) offered by private education providers in collaboration/cooperation with unis. I will share my views separately in later posts.
International foundations, also called international pathways, are offered to non-UK students who do not meet uni entry requirements, maybe they missed the required grades or their home academic qualifications are not recognised by the uni. The courses aim at preparing, or "beefing up" students for uni studies.
Students apply to the institutes direct and choose a stream of study, e.g. business mamagement, healthcare, engineering and social sciences according to their desired degree orogrammes. Entry requirements are set by the institutes are often very lenient, e.g. satisfactory completion of secondary education, formal qualifications (e.g. GCSE and A-Levels) are not always required.
International foundations are often referred to as RQF Level 3 equivalent, but are not always well or widely recognised because the qualifications are awarded by the individual institutes. Say if a student completed the course satisfactorily (say 50% overall) but still failed to meet uni entry requirements (say 55%), very probably he might end up with nothing because the qualification may not be well recognised by employers. The Home Office's "level up" student visa policy requires the the qualification of the course of a student visa application must be higher than that of the previous student visa, so there is not possible to "repeat" an international foundation course. PSW (post study work) visa is for degree holders and is not available to international foundation graduates.
So international foundations are not shortcuts to uni. The institutes rarely publish the progression rates to unis, but I know the rates are not close to 100%.
International foundations may be categorised into 3 groups according to the institutes, (1) offered by uni, (2) offered by private education providers, (3) offered by private education providers in collaboration/cooperation with unis. I will share my views separately in later posts.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 1
Before moving on I would talk about education advisors or agents.
Overseas students are not always familiar with UK education and many of them would approach education advisors for help - I am not an education advisor.
Most education advisors' services are "free" to students. They help students applying to unis, secondary schools and international foundations. They are paid commissions by the education institute on successful referral of students, so parts of the tuition fees go to them. How much is the commission? Only they know.
Some education advisors typically charge students at £1k to £2k, depending on the services required. It seems they would care of the students' interests more. But ask whether they accept commissions from education institutes before making the conclusion.
Overseas students are not always familiar with UK education and many of them would approach education advisors for help - I am not an education advisor.
Most education advisors' services are "free" to students. They help students applying to unis, secondary schools and international foundations. They are paid commissions by the education institute on successful referral of students, so parts of the tuition fees go to them. How much is the commission? Only they know.
Some education advisors typically charge students at £1k to £2k, depending on the services required. It seems they would care of the students' interests more. But ask whether they accept commissions from education institutes before making the conclusion.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 2
(3) International foundations offered by private sector education providers in collaboration/cooperation with unis
Majority of the international foundation programmers in UK are under this category. Many unis have this collaborative/cooperative arrangements. INTO, Kaplan, OnCampus and Study Group are the more well-known education providers. Each provider has collaboration/cooperation agreements with several unis. But uni usually has agreement with only 1 provider.
Students are often diverted to the providers' website when they clicked "apply" or "further info" or so on the international foundation page of an uni website. The international foundation is 100% managed by the provider and 100% taught by provider's staff.
The form of collaboration/cooperation between unis and providers are not known to students.
The international foundations under this category are mostly 1-1. Students select the stream of study and uni degree programme on application. Offers for international foundation always come with the uni's conditional offer (e.g. 55% overall in international foundation). Changing uni or undergraduate programme is usually not possible.
Entry requirements and degree course progression requirements varies between unis. Usually higher or more stringent for more competitive unis - fair enough.
In case a student failed in meeting the unis conditions (or progression requirements), the provider might help finding a place in another less competitive uni that it also has collaboration arrangement, maybe for less competitive course. But there is no guarantee.
Majority of the international foundation programmers in UK are under this category. Many unis have this collaborative/cooperative arrangements. INTO, Kaplan, OnCampus and Study Group are the more well-known education providers. Each provider has collaboration/cooperation agreements with several unis. But uni usually has agreement with only 1 provider.
Students are often diverted to the providers' website when they clicked "apply" or "further info" or so on the international foundation page of an uni website. The international foundation is 100% managed by the provider and 100% taught by provider's staff.
The form of collaboration/cooperation between unis and providers are not known to students.
The international foundations under this category are mostly 1-1. Students select the stream of study and uni degree programme on application. Offers for international foundation always come with the uni's conditional offer (e.g. 55% overall in international foundation). Changing uni or undergraduate programme is usually not possible.
Entry requirements and degree course progression requirements varies between unis. Usually higher or more stringent for more competitive unis - fair enough.
In case a student failed in meeting the unis conditions (or progression requirements), the provider might help finding a place in another less competitive uni that it also has collaboration arrangement, maybe for less competitive course. But there is no guarantee.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 3
(1) International foundations offered by unis
Simple enough, these group of international foundations are managed by unis and taught by uni teaching staff. Only a handful unis offer this programmes. The unis include KCL, Queen Mary, SOAS, UCL and Warwick.
Students apply direct to the unis. The unis won't give conditional offers for undergraduate prigrammes. Instead, students have to apply through UCAS as an normal A-Level student with international foundation entered as "other qualifications". The unis help in UCAS applications by giving references and predicted grades.
These programmes are generally well regarded and accepted by many (incl RG) unis.
The entry requirements are very high, usually for students missed the respective uni's entry grades very narrowly. Some even higher than the usual entry grades of less competitive unis.
My personal advice: these are better options than a gap year to retake A-Levels for overseas students.
Simple enough, these group of international foundations are managed by unis and taught by uni teaching staff. Only a handful unis offer this programmes. The unis include KCL, Queen Mary, SOAS, UCL and Warwick.
Students apply direct to the unis. The unis won't give conditional offers for undergraduate prigrammes. Instead, students have to apply through UCAS as an normal A-Level student with international foundation entered as "other qualifications". The unis help in UCAS applications by giving references and predicted grades.
These programmes are generally well regarded and accepted by many (incl RG) unis.
The entry requirements are very high, usually for students missed the respective uni's entry grades very narrowly. Some even higher than the usual entry grades of less competitive unis.
My personal advice: these are better options than a gap year to retake A-Levels for overseas students.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 4
(2) International foundations offered by private sector education providers
This group is similar to (3) but operated and managed by the private sector.
Frankly, I don't know much.
This group is similar to (3) but operated and managed by the private sector.
Frankly, I don't know much.
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