University In The Uk

[qpgwmh]

Hello,

I'm really interested in finding out if anybody on here--or their partners--have any experience or knowledge of obtaining entry to a University degree course.

My wife and I are at the start of our information search but already there seem to be so many options and differing courses that we are confused. Which is why we're keen to know of anybody's own experiences.

Any advice at all is very gratefully received.

Thank you

[Expat2B]

Hello,

I'm really interested in finding out if anybody on here--or their partners--have any experience or knowledge of obtaining entry to a University degree course.

My wife and I are at the start of our information search but already there seem to be so many options and differing courses that we are confused. Which is why we're keen to know of anybody's own experiences.

Any advice at all is very gratefully received.

Thank you

Assuming that the person seeking to apply has been educated in Thailand, perhpas your first priority should be to consider which University will accept the qualifications the applicant has. Mrs E2B came to the UK as a student (which allowed us 2 years of living together prior to getting married). The 2 issues most universities will have is the applicants educational acheivement and their understanding of English.

Mrs E2B was studying at Chula when we met and this turned out to be the crucial factor for her eventual acceptance at Buckingham University (The UK's only private university where an honours degree can be completed in 2 years). She also had an outstanding score in her English Proficiency test (I have forgotten the name of this test, but it was biased towards US rather than British English).

Buckingham were very reluctant to accept her unless she completed an expensive and time consuming foundation course, which we both felt would be of little real value. The big issue is that Thais completing High School at 18 are only really adjudged to be at GCSE rather than 'A' Level Standard. Many of the better (and thus more worthwhile) universities just willnot budge on this point. Buckingham finally concluded that her GPA was good enough from her Chula studies to effectively meet "A" Level matriculation standards and offered her a place. This wasn't cheap at c. £13k per annum, but compared reasonably well to a 3 year course elsewhere and at the time Buckingham was a very convenient location for us.

If you would like to be a bit more specific about your requirements drop me a PM and I will ask Mrs E2B to respond.

[MrsExpat2B]

Assuming that the person seeking to apply has been educated in Thailand, perhpas your first priority should be to consider which University will accept the qualifications the applicant has. Mrs E2B came to the UK as a student (which allowed us 2 years of living together prior to getting married). The 2 issues most universities will have is the applicants educational acheivement and their understanding of English.

Mrs E2B was studying at Chula when we met and this turned out to be the crucial factor for her eventual acceptance at Buckingham University (The UK's only private university where an honours degree can be completed in 2 years). She also had an outstanding score in her English Proficiency test (I have forgotten the name of this test, but it was biased towards US rather than British English).

Buckingham were very reluctant to accept her unless she completed an expensive and time consuming foundation course, which we both felt would be of little real value. The big issue is that Thais completing High School at 18 are only really adjudged to be at GCSE rather than 'A' Level Standard. Many of the better (and thus more worthwhile) universities just willnot budge on this point. Buckingham finally concluded that her GPA was good enough from her Chula studies to effectively meet "A" Level matriculation standards and offered her a place. This wasn't cheap at c. £13k per annum, but compared reasonably well to a 3 year course elsewhere and at the time Buckingham was a very convenient location for us.

If you would like to be a bit more specific about your requirements drop me a PM and I will ask Mrs E2B to respond.

The name of the test is TOEFL darling

[qpgwmh]

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond Mr and Mrs E2B.

It would seem that as each University sets different entry criteria the best starting point would be to draw up a shortlist of interesting degree courses and contact the Universities individually.

May I ask, did Mrs E2B find it difficult to obtain suitable work upon graduation? I am concerned that a non-UK born graduate would always play second fiddle to a UK grad.

Thanks

qpgwmh

[dunez]

I am also interested in this topic though for a slightly different reason, I am English, though studying a BA here in Thailand and I want to return to the UK to do my masters. I hope that I can be accepted based on the fact I have a BA from here. I do also have 2 a levels.

[ukjackthai]

I want to return to the UK to do my masters.

Thats my plan also. It's very hard to get into a university in England if you have just graduated (Public)high school in Thailand. I graduated high school in England, just GCSE's and no A-levels and got straight into ABAC - Basically I skipped 2 years of education...

ABAC is connected to many UK and USA based universities and they will recognise my BA when I choose to take a MS there.

Fluent English skills (take the tests - TOFL, IELTS etc) is a must in addition to high GPA's if you want to study in England.

Good luck!

[Expat2B]

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond Mr and Mrs E2B.

It would seem that as each University sets different entry criteria the best starting point would be to draw up a shortlist of interesting degree courses and contact the Universities individually.

May I ask, did Mrs E2B find it difficult to obtain suitable work upon graduation? I am concerned that a non-UK born graduate would always play second fiddle to a UK grad.

Thanks

qpgwmh

I think upon graduation much depends upon the graduates fluency in English and relevant work experience. Mrs E2B has exceptionally good English skills and acheived 253 in TOEFLm as well as a 2:1 in her degree, so that was not an issue for her. Given the number of immigrants now filling positions in the UK, being from overseas is not the handicap it once was. Since I run my own business Mrs E2B was able to gain "work experience" in general admin etc. working for me, which probably helped with her applications. Be aware however that the traditional "graduate jobs" in the UK are in short supply these days and the likelihood of obtaining one of these positions even as a UK national will depend upon the quality of the institution at which you studied (i.e. try to avoid former Polys), the quality fo the course and the final result (probably in that order).

Whether spending £25k on a degree course was worthwhile is perhaps a little questionable. Essentially Mrs E2B studied in the UK so that we could live together whilst she completed her degree so from that perspective it was money well spent, whether it would have been good value otherwise is rather debatable. Whilst average graduate starting salaries appear relatively high, they hide considerable difference between the lower and upper end of the graduate income scale (the median grduate starting salary is probably a better indicator if you can find this information).

Now Mrs E2B is working her income is not that high, but she does obtain valuable experience and some financial independance.

I hope this helps. I think your approach in producing a shortlist then having individual discussions is the right one, just choose your institutions carefully and be aware that the easiest institutions to enter may well not be the best places to study in the longer term.

[Expat2B]

I want to return to the UK to do my masters.

Thats my plan also. It's very hard to get into a university in England if you have just graduated (Public)high school in Thailand. I graduated high school in England, just GCSE's and no A-levels and got straight into ABAC - Basically I skipped 2 years of education...

ABAC is connected to many UK and USA based universities and they will recognise my BA when I choose to take a MS there.

Fluent English skills (take the tests - TOFL, IELTS etc) is a must in addition to high GPA's if you want to study in England.

Good luck!

Since the entry requirements to Thai universities at 18 is roughly equal to 8 GCSEs this is perhaps not so unusual. As ABAC courses are taught in English I guess fluency in English would also be another strong point in your favour.

High GPA's are a must for acceptance at good universities for masters courses immediately after first degrees. The choice of university for a masters and the course followed is even more important for masters courses than for first degrees. A few years after graduation it is much easier to access masters courses even at the better universities without a great first degree or even a first degree at all in some cases.

[qpgwmh]

Hello - What is ABAC and GPA?

[Expat2B]

Hello - What is ABAC and GPA?

ABAC is a Thai university where courses are taught in English.

GPA is grade point average an american approach to grading performance at school and University. If I remember correctly GPA runs from 1 to 4, with 3.5 to 4.0 being approximately equivalent to an A. GPA is very important for access to competitive UK Masters Courses (for overseas studnets) and also indicates academic achievement at school and High School. The better UK universities will expect to see a minimum of high High School GPA's and a high score in IELTS or TOEFL.

[hullmonkey1]

If your wife is over 25 years old and holds a british passport (not sure about residency) she can sit an entrance exam in english and maths to get into a lot of uni's. She would also be eligable to have her course fees paid by your LEA (Local education authority)

[torrenova]

To start with, will you have to pay fees or not ? If you have to, can you afford them ?

If you are a mature student, say mid 20's then you can gain entrance without normal academic qualifications.

You will need a reasonable score on IELTS.

Watch out for some courses which are just plain rubbish. I mean, there is a course in kite flying - good for what job ? Tony Blair and his mob of idiots have expanded higher education so much that it has been devalued. Employers don't know what to do with these"degree" educated people and the poor kids themselves have no hope of getting out from under the debt mountain that Labour has left them.

[Rinrada]

Tony Blair and his mob of idiots have expanded higher education so much that it has been devalued. ....silly statement....

Unlike almost any other countries in the world the expanded education system over here is to all intensives purposes open ,available and basically FREE to almost anyone who fullfills the entrance criterias and is prepared to get off their glut max and put in a little bit of effort....including locals.....

I advised a family with a couple of Thai kids at Millfield a couple of years ago to go for the LSE as their best bet ...which they have done and are now in their final years doing accountancy.....but... peng @20k a year...

The daughter Khun 'miss no name' wants to be PM of Thailand one day and ......I would not be supprised if she did

...even at the mo she is a right PIA ....but very confident. all the qualities ..plus a UK education.....

[seonai]

Difficult topic this and raised a lot of feelings with me. In no particular order - I agree that the UK has made degrees so 'common' that no one gives them much kudos any more and this has had a great effect on our workforce ie too many over qualified people for not enough jobs.

I disagree with advising the OP to avoid former Polys as the whole Poly v Uni concept was rubbish and classist.

Agree that LSE is one of the best Unis.

And ... I am bored listening to school leavers who say 'I just want a degree, don't care what it's in, I just need a degree to get a job...' Few students seem to care what they study and have no intention of using their degree when they leave Uni. I find that very sad. I loved Uni and I'd do it again just for the experience (I was a mature student tho)

[CarlBkk]

Tony Blair and his mob of idiots have expanded higher education so much that it has been devalued. ....silly statement....

Unlike almost any other countries in the world the expanded education system over here is to all intensives purposes open ,available and basically FREE to almost anyone who fullfills the entrance criterias and is prepared to get off their glut max and put in a little bit of effort....including locals.....

I advised a family with a couple of Thai kids at Millfield a couple of years ago to go for the LSE as their best bet ...which they have done and are now in their final years doing accountancy.....but... peng @20k a year...

The daughter Khun 'miss no name' wants to be PM of Thailand one day and ......I would not be supprised if she did

...even at the mo she is a right PIA ....but very confident. all the qualities ..plus a UK education.....

Interesting. I went to Millfield, no Thais at that time but currently there are 4 children from 2 families there, one of them a political name. However, if they are big in their own country they will be brought down to earth at that school.

[qpgwmh]

Thanks for some interesting insight and useful information.

My wife is naturally creative and has a real flair for and passion for design. We've identified some Fashion courses in London and the next steps are to find out what the entrance criteria are (I don't think that with her Thai College qualifications that she could walk straight in) and at what point in time she would be considered as a home student as the high fees would be restrictive if not.

[sonicdragon]

Thanks for some interesting insight and useful information.

My wife is naturally creative and has a real flair for and passion for design. We've identified some Fashion courses in London and the next steps are to find out what the entrance criteria are (I don't think that with her Thai College qualifications that she could walk straight in) and at what point in time she would be considered as a home student as the high fees would be restrictive if not.

London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins are two of the best institutions in the UK for fashion - they run foundation/diploma courses that your wife may be able to get onto much more easily than a degree, which can then be used to gain entry to their full degree courses. That is what my wife's cousin did (at LCF) 15 years ago.

[seonai]

Some Unis have different criteria for getting in other than qualifications. You should call the admissions secretary to ask. Also if she's over 26 she would be called a mature student and again have different entrance levels.

[Prakanong]

Some Unis have different criteria for getting in other than qualifications. You should call the admissions secretary to ask. Also if she's over 26 she would be called a mature student and again have different entrance levels.

Is it 26 now?

I was classed as a mature student for entrance but did not get the extra grant (oh those were the days) as I was 25 when I went first time.

To get in I did an "Access" course to get onto a degree in Sunderland but then packed that it to go ful time at Sheffield and from there onto post-grad.

Now 20 odd years later I am studying again for an MBA from Birmingham - doing this in modular form in Singapore.