University Foundation course

Our Foundation Course prepares international students for university study worldwide. You will receive personalised careers advice from specialist staff who will help you apply for any university in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

The Business Stream can lead to a university course in:

• Business
• Management
• Marketing
• Accounting
• Economics
• Travel and Tourism
• Hotel Management and related areas

The International Affairs Stream can lead to a university course in:

• Politics
• International Relations
• Law
• Sociology
• Social Anthropology
• Psychology
• Philosophy and many others

These are just some of the universities that our graduates have chosen for their future studies.

UK University destinations

• University of St. Andrew’s
• University of Sussex
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of Manchester
• Imperial College London
• SOAS, University of London
• City University London
• Oxford Brookes University
• University of York
• New College of the Humanities

Europe and worldwide University destinations

• Utrecht University
• Maastricht University
• Bocconi University
• Munich Business School
• University of Seoul
• University of Oregon
• Université catholique de Louvain
• École hôtelière de Lausanne

IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It measures your ability to communicate in English across the four language skills — listening, speaking, reading and writing — and is for people who intend to study or work where English is the language of communication.

It is recognised worldwide in more than 4,500 institutions in 120 countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Not surprisingly, therefore, it is the most popular examination for St Clare’s students.

IELTS is regarded as the single most important requirement for non-native speakers who wish to enter a university in the UK. Tests can be taken in Oxford every month and the results are available within three weeks. You will normally need a score of 6.0 or higher to join a university in the UK.

Monitoring progress

The team at St Clare’s is very experienced and successful in preparing students for IELTS. We can help you in the following ways:

1. Entry test: we give you a number of tests on arrival to help assess your level on entry.
2. Setting goals: your teacher discusses your needs and agrees “learning milestones”.
3. Classroom tasks: small classes provide a supportive learning environment.
4. After-class: teachers set homework tasks which extend your classroom learning.
5. Self-Access: you are given guidance on computer-aided learning and test packages.
6. Regular tests: you take internal tests in class to help decide the date of your examination.

Success at IELTS

During the classes you practise the skills required for success at IELTS:

1. Examination strategies
2. Practice tests
3. Speaking and listening tasks
4. “Against the clock” activities
5. Top tips from the examiners

An additional lesson each week focuses on Careers and Higher Education during the first term. This allows students to spend time considering their strengths, exploring potential educational and career opportunities and learning about university applications.

Helen Forey, our Careers and Higher Education Adviser is always on hand to help you with:

• advice on courses and careers throughout your stay
• guidance with the draft of your personal statement, and
• support in selecting the right university for you

Students can visit the Careers Library at any time or sign up for an appointment with our specialist adviser.

Inspection Reports

Three rigorous Inspection Visits and three outstanding Inspection Reports confirm that St Clare’s is truly a “centre of excellence” for all of our adult courses.

Every part of the college (academic, pastoral and legal) has been carefully monitored by the independent inspection regimes below:

1. The British Council Inspection: with the focus on teaching and course design for English Language classes. Read the Report here
2. The British Accreditation Council: with the focus on teaching and course design for Academic Subject classes. Read the Report here
3. The Independent Schools Inspectorate (Private Further Education): with the focus on teaching and course design for both English Language and Academic Subject classes. Read the full Report here

University endorsement for the course

Extract from External Examinator’s Report 2014

The programme is clearly of a high quality and provides excellent preparation for Higher Education. The curriculum is well-planned, coherent and current. I feel that the inclusion of the IT and Global Issues modules provide added value to the overall programme.

I was very impressed by the quality of the students as evidenced by the work I reviewed and by the University offers received by current students. In comparison to the levels of performance achieved by other International Foundation Programmes with which I am familiar, the St Clare’s UFC has students of a very good level. I saw work reflecting a range of abilities/performance, including some of very high quality.

The range of grades was reasonable and in general grades were quite high. Furthermore, students with lower marks had clearly been given a high level of support in order to provide them with every chance to succeed. There is substantial evidence of very careful monitoring of student progress and staff involvement in this process.

Dr Elizabeth Wilding
External Examinator – University of Reading

Entry Requirements

Students wishing to enrol on the University Foundation Course must:

• have successfully completed secondary school in their own country
• be 17 years or over
• have a knowledge of English at or above the following:

1. for entry in September; IELTS score 5.0 or equivalent CEFR B1
2. for entry in November; IELTS score 5.5 or equivalent CEFR B2

Application procedure

1. Complete this online registration form and pay the £100 registration fee
2. Send your high school leaving certificate and / or most recent transcript of grades

3. Show proof of English level, either by:

• sending an official English language test certificate or
• by completing the St Clare’s grading test and have an interview via SKYPE

4. We assess your application and if successful you will receive an offer letter detailing the fees
5. Once you have accepted the offer and paid the deposit of £500, you will receive full course confirmation with useful pre arrival information and visa support documents (if necessary)

6. If needed, apply for a visa. If you have questions about your visa please do not hesitate to contact us.

7. Full fees are due three weeks before the start of the course
8. Please read the terms and conditions

Students can choose to study for 28 or 35 weeks. Each student’s level of English will be tested before a place is offered on the course. Those students with a specific IELTS score will be given the choice of starting the course in late October and follow a 28 week course. Those students who need to improve their IELTS score will need to start the course in early September and follow a 35 week course; the first 6 weeks will be intensive English preparation.

Students may register for the course if they have the correct standard of school qualification and if they turn 18 in the first term of the course (ie. before the end of December). Students who are still age 17 when they start the course will be required to live in homestay until they turn 18.

Course dates and fees

College holidays

Accommodation fees

Some course elements may incur additional costs:

Personal Language Training
Students can add one-to-one lessons to their language classes. Lessons last 55 minutes and are charged at £55 per lesson.

Examination fees
Fees for the following examinations are currently between approximately £30-£150. Please contact Manuela Williams, Admissions Registrar, for more details. Cambridge examinations (may be taken each term except CPE and CAE). Entry and fees are due about three months before the exam date.

• FCE First Certificate in English
• CAE Certificate in Advanced English
• CPE Certificate of Proficiency in English

Other examinations

• TOEIC, TOEFL (for further study in USA) SAT I, SAT II, (3 sets)
• IELTS (for further study in the UK)

Optional college weekend trips / theatre visits / excursions, etc.

• Day excursions at weekends — free to £40
• Theatre tickets and transport — £25 to £45
• Weekend trip with overnight stay (two nights) — £70 to £300
• Additional sports and other activities — £10 to £15 per week
• Stationery/book purchase (loan of books is included in fees)
• General spending money — allow around £80 per week
• Remember, key deposit, police registration (for students from countries outside the EU) and book purchase all need to be paid for in the first week

Please read our Terms & Conditions

What the Accommodation fees include

College houses

• Accommodation from the day of arrival to the morning after the last day of the course; bed linen and towels; room cleaning (weekdays); heating and lighting.
• Accommodation fees include your stay in your house during the mid-semester breaks but not the two week spring break.
• If you have chosen to include meals you are entitled to lunch Monday to Friday (excluding the semester breaks)

Homestay

• Fees include accommodation as a guest with a local host (appraised and inspected regularly by our Student Services Officer), single room, bed linen and towels, laundry facilities, breakfast and dinner every day (lunches can be bought in college Monday to Friday) and support provided by the Student Services Officer in college. Some of our hosts offer a single superior option (ensuite facilities).

Travel Insurance
All students studying on our academic year courses are covered by our travel insurance. This insurance policy covers, for example, medical expenses, personal accident, cancellation expenses, personal belongings and travel delay. This detailed Travel Insurance policy document lists those items that are covered. There is no extra charge for this insurance. All students are advised to take out personal possessions insurance for items such as laptops, cameras, mobile devices, and phones.

View a list of our teachers for the University Pathways