For students who apply to UK universities, preparatory courses are a key step in overseas study planning. In particular, the application of undergraduate majors is different from the education system of China and the UK. As a transitional period, the preparatory courses from half a year to one year are also an indispensable stage for many universities to clearly require. In the face of a large group of students, the market has spawned a variety of preparatory training methods for studying abroad in the UK. However, it is a problem for many students and parents to choose a preparatory course from many high labels that is "reliable", suitable for themselves and guaranteed the success rate of application. After all, the preparatory course is not a simple language class or short-term course, but a connection with the British college education system. According to the specialty of international students, there are credits, degrees and systematic training methods. The learning achievements of the preparatory course and the college qualifications have a direct bearing on our application results. In order to help you avoid detours, today we will screen out the most secure way of preparatory training according to the existing preparatory training methods in the market!

Which way does the UK study abroad preparatory training choose?

01. Types of existing preparatory training in the market

Just like the colleges we apply for, there are different levels of institutions and colleges offering preparatory training. If we want to apply for British art study The application standards of top colleges and universities require higher standardized scores of students, so when we choose preparatory courses, we should also be more stringent on the conditions and qualifications of institutions.

The following are three common types of pre study training in the UK, which we will introduce one by one.

　　 Official preparatory courses

The organization and teaching of such preparatory courses are dominated by the university, and most of them are taught within the university, which is of course the most reliable choice. Generally speaking, if students have a fixed target school and choose their preparatory courses, they will have a higher success rate if they can successfully pass the assessment and directly enter the undergraduate stage of the university.

University of London Asia Africa College SOAS Foundation

But correspondingly, this kind of preparatory course has a high admission threshold, which has certain requirements for students' professional and language abilities; The fees will also be higher. Regardless of the cost of living overseas, the tuition will be almost the same as the one-year college fees.

　　 University Authorized Joint Agency Foundation

As its name implies, this kind of preparatory course is a course system jointly run by colleges and institutions, or fully authorized by colleges and universities to a third party. Professional training is provided by educational institutions and supervised by universities themselves. For example, some institutions overseas branch campuses cooperate with British universities in preparatory training.

Lunyi CCW Prep

For such courses, students need to be very careful when choosing. According to the actual situation, it is not ruled out that some institutions and colleges only offer language training courses under the title of preparatory courses in order to "make a living".

　　 Domestic preparatory courses

Independent preparatory courses are generally organized by international schools, domestic universities or intermediaries. The course system is linked to the undergraduate training methods of British universities. Usually, A-Level or GCSE courses are also offered at the same time, which can obtain the corresponding degree certificates. The level is equivalent to the preparatory courses of British universities, and the scores will also be accepted by most British schools.

There is also a very special type of education product - BTEC courses, BTEC The certificate has been recognized by more than 200 universities around the world, and the credits are valid for life. Students can obtain BTEC certificates at the same time during their senior high school study, and directly apply for the first year of British undergraduate education, even some universities in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.

02. Horizontal comparison and summary of three types of preparatory courses

Based on the above three types of preparatory courses, there is no doubt that the official preparatory courses of colleges and universities are in the first place in terms of reliability. According to the learning achievements obtained, the preparatory courses of colleges and universities are also more advantageous to the majors applying for the university.

The second type of preparatory training offered by colleges and institutions abroad is the one with the highest proportion of "pheasants" among the above types. Because the joint training mode is usually based on business cooperation, we cannot quantify the participation of colleges and universities, and the learning achievements cannot be fundamentally guaranteed; In addition, this kind of training is usually held overseas, so the time and economic costs are relatively high.

The third type of preparatory courses set up in China, although not equal to preparatory courses, has the same academic effect as preparatory courses. Due to the impact of overseas epidemics during this period, students are also most interested in them. However, both international schools and domestic universities have limited forms of participation. BTEC is the most obvious choice for ordinary high school students or applicants who need to study abroad.

After excluding the second type of preparatory courses with high risk, we will focus on comparing the differences between the official preparatory courses and BTEC courses of the following institutions:

　　 Time and economic cost:

Overseas preparatory courses need to be applied after obtaining a high school diploma. The training time is 8-18 months ago, and the tuition is about 200000 to 300000 yuan; BTEC course applicants can reach the age of 16, which can be synchronized with high school courses. The domestic teaching fees are far lower than overseas preparatory courses;

SOAS Foundation Fee

　　 Application requirements:

The art and design colleges with preparatory courses have a high comprehensive ranking and a strong faculty. At the same time, the enrollment scale of the school is small and the admission threshold is high; BTEC courses are tailored according to the specific situation of students, and can accept students without art background;

　　 Curriculum:

The official preparatory courses are highly targeted, and the preparatory/bridging courses of language+specialty are set according to the educational planning of the university; BTEC art and design preparatory courses are aimed at the art education system of British colleges and universities, with strong coverage, expanding and unlocking the comprehensive ability of students.

　　 Course gains:

The language ability of the official preparatory courses of the colleges and universities has been improved rapidly, and they have adapted to the overseas learning environment in advance, and the school's enrollment rate is very high; BTEC art and design preparatory courses can obtain British college preparatory diploma and credits, greatly improving the probability of direct undergraduate enrollment;

Through the above comparison, British college preparatory courses are more suitable for students who have graduated from high school or live overseas; Solid economic foundation; Fixed top art schools want to sprint; BTEC courses are more suitable for high school students; Zero foundation or weak foundation; Pay attention to the cost performance ratio of courses; There is a target of studying directly in the UK.

03. BTEC Level 4=College Foundation Course

Therefore, the most important course content and learning achievements for art applicants can be guaranteed by BTEC training programs. In fact, BTEC's courses are equivalent to moving the preparatory courses of the official art design major of the university to China for teaching.

BTCE's courses are seamlessly linked to British undergraduate institutions, and are divided into different systems and sectors according to different majors. Academic courses in the field of art and design are not limited to academic fields, but perfectly combine the development and evaluation of academic traditions and professional skills. BTEC Level 4 is officially equivalent to the one-year preparatory course of top British universities, and has been recognized by almost all British universities.

Officially recognized subject level in the UK

After determining the value of BTEC training plan, qualified and competent training institutions can be selected. As early as early as the beginning of 2019, the study abroad of Natural Light Arts has won the BTEC training qualification for art and design. All the teachers are from the most senior teaching team of the six major departments of Natural Light Arts, and have received the official training of Pearson Group BTEC, and have been awarded qualification certificates.

Natural light qualification of each campus

Our teaching team has strict teaching awareness and audit standards, and the BTEC Teaching Center of Natural Light will regularly conduct periodic assessment of teaching staff to ensure the professionalism of the teaching team and the final teaching results.

In the application season last year, we realized that all students of BTEC program were offered direct undergraduate offers by British universities, including many London University of the Arts Top art schools such as UAL, Goldsmiths, BCU, GSA and UCA are also strong proof of our teaching strength!

In terms of curriculum, based on the mature teaching system of "interdisciplinary" in Natural Light Product 4.0, which covers all majors of six major departments, and the strong support of overseas alliance recruiter resources, Natural Light BTEC Art International Foundation The course structure is flexible according to each student's core needs and own conditions.

The course content is divided into three teaching frameworks: Exploratory/Experimental Exploration, Pathway/Professional Advancement, Confirmation/Graduation Creation. According to the application needs of students, take the independent graduation proposition of the third stage as the purpose of ability training, expand and unlock the ability improvement of students. To complete the first and second stages of BTEC discipline learning, we should train students from four aspects: skill performance, research ability, creative thinking and finished product display.

In the above four aspects, gradually master the core skills of 2D and 3D disciplines, media exploration and experimental ability, independent learning ability, analytical ability, logical cultivation, independent thinking, concept generation, redefinition ability and expressiveness. Thus, BTEC preparatory study and final college application requirements can be completed in an advanced manner.

In addition, at each learning stage, the natural light and official audit standards will be formulated. Only after the final external assessment is passed, can the students obtain the BTEC certificate diploma. Through periodic review tasks, we can control and adjust students' learning progress at any time, and fundamentally guarantee students' learning achievements and the final application success rate!

External review of 2019 natural light BTEC course

Above all, we have made a systematic analysis and comparison of the selection of preparatory training for study abroad in the UK, and have also given suggestions for everyone to choose the learning methods and "pit prevention" that are suitable for the current stage. We also hope that all students can make correct choices through objective facts and analysis at any node in their study abroad planning, so as to double the application success rate.

Finally, I also want to remind you that the existence of preparatory courses is aimed at the individual needs of students, not the "exam free" class of famous schools, but can help us to quickly improve our personal professional ability through systematic learning on the premise of lacking some objective conditions, which is more conducive to our recognition by colleges and universities.

Recommended articles for more UK pre study training:

What are the new adjustments to apply for UK institutions in 2020/2021?

What are the advantages of btec preparatory courses?

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