Admission to Oxford after the Russian high school

These methods training at Oxford University after school in Russia or in another CIS country:

The completion of the programme A-levels at College in the UK

The most common method of training of foreigners in Oxford is a two-year course "advanced level", which English students are usually held in the last 2 years of pre-University education. It's called the GCE Advanced Level or abbreviated to A-levels. In the first year students study 4 selected item on the second year is still only 3.

For admission to the programme A-levels applicants must be at least 16 years, he must know English language at level not below intermediate (level Intermediate, IELTS 5.0). Those wishing to practice their English while learning can take in school extra lessons.

Students can complete this program in a private boarding school or College. Some colleges also offer a more intensive option of A-levels, which takes only one year. Among the most famous schools are located, for example, D Overbroeck College at Oxford and CATS College in Cambridge.

The passage of the IB (International Baccalaureate)

Alternatives to A-levels can be the International Baccalaureate program (International Baccalaureate, IB), Cambridge Pre-U Diploma (Pre-U) and Foundation programme.

The IB program is international, unlike the British A-level program. It is considered to be broader, since it is the study of 6 subjects and writing a term paper. The program is offered mainly by private schools and has a somewhat elitist. St. Clare College in Oxford has a very good reputation, among other foreign students there received IB Egor Konchalovsky.

Program Pre-U developed by the University of Cambridge and is a kind of a hybrid of A-levels and IB. It exists recently, the first edition took place in 2009. At the moment there is no objective evaluation of the effectiveness of the program, however, there is a growing list of universities that accepts its graduates to study, and Oxford has been one of them.

The passage of the Foundation program

Preparatory Foundation programs are in universities and can last one or two years, depending on intensity. Two-year courses equivalent to the first stages of receiving the bachelor's degree. One-year course is designed for foreigners and adapted to the fact that English is not their native tongue. Students planning to study art, attending preparatory courses are highly recommended: it is believed that they give candidates the opportunity to choose the direction and create a more professional portfolio.

Foundation year courses – this is the shortest way for entry into Western universities. Oxford University offers courses only in two specialties: English language and literature, and history. After completing these courses students can enroll directly into the second year of relevant undergraduate at Oxford.

The "pros" and "cons" of an Oxford education after high school in Russia (CIS)

The majority of experts agrees that the IB gives a better education, while A-levels program is more affordable as complexity and cost. IB is more valued by universities due to a more holistic approach to learning, the complexity and vastness of the course. Accordingly, the chances of going to a more prestigious University by having this certificate. At the same time, the chance to get an excellent rating from students for whom English is a foreign, not as high as for A-levels.
Of the advantages of the Foundation - the ability to finish the program in one year, comparative ease of learning and the existence of agreements with universities. Among the shortcomings of this option is a more superficial program in comparison with the intense and voluminous course A-levels/IB.

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