Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾

On this page, you'll find the essential entry requirements for our foundation year. This includes eligibility, academic requirements for each country and the English language requirement.

To enter the UPC – Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøվ’s International Foundation Year – you will need to check that you meet the following entry requirements:

• eligibility
• academic requirements
• English language requirements.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the UPC, you’ll have to meet the following criteria:

• Be at least 16 years old when the course starts.
• Be in the last year of high school (when applying) or have already graduated.
• Have a qualification that’s unsuitable for direct entry to a Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ undergraduate degree. Please find further information below.

Academic requirements

We will look at high school transcripts from your previous two years of study, as well as any available from your current/final year.

You should be able to show excellent grades in your annual transcripts overall and in required/relevant subjects.

Required and relevant subjects

UPCSE required subjects

If you’re applying to the UPCSE, you'll choose to study two optional subjects:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Mathematics
• ±Ê³ó²â²õ¾±³¦²õ.Ìý

We’ll only consider your application if you:

• Meet our overall entry requirements for the UPC.
• Meet our entry requirements for your two optional subjects.
• Have studied your two optional subjects within your final three years of high school, including:
  • in your last year of high school and
  • one other year in high school.

UPCHÌýrequiredÌýsubjects (UPCH Mathematics only)

If you’re applying to study Mathematics on the UPCH as an optional subject, we’ll only consider your application if you:

• Meet our overall entry requirements for the UPC.
• Meet our entry requirements for the Mathematics optional subject.
• Have studied mathematics within your final three years of high school, including:
  • in your last year of high schoolÌýand
  • one other year in high school.

UPCHÌýrelevant subjects

For all UPCH subjects except Mathematics, we understand you may not have studied the UPCH optional subject(s) you are applying for at school.

Therefore, we will look at your grades in three relevant subjects.

Here are some examples of relevant subjects:

Other qualifications we accept

Advanced Placements (APs)

AP exams are accepted for direct entry to a Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ undergraduate degree. Check the United States of America page for further details on AP requirements for undergraduate study.

We'll consider you for the UPC if you do not have enough AP exams (or AP plus SAT Reasoning test, or AP plus ACT) for your intended Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ undergraduate degree.

You'll need a minimum grade of three in each AP exam taken and a grade of four in the subject(s) that are relevant to your undergraduate degree aim at the point of your application.

If you took the SAT Reasoning test, we'll expect a combined score of 1,280 in SAT (1) Reasoning test.

If you took the ACT, we'll expect a minimum score of 27.

We will also require your high school transcripts and for it to meet our entry requirements

AS levels

We’ll consider you if you're in your first year of A-levels (AS-level) but can’t complete your A-levels in your current school.

We will require evidence that your school does not provide the second year of A-Levels (A2s) in your country.

You'll need to take no fewer than three AS-levels and achieve the equivalent in assessment or predicted scores of no less than B in all subjects and A in the required or relevant academic subject(s).

If you're able to complete your A-levels and apply for a Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ undergraduate degree, we will not consider you for the UPC.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Certificate

We'll consider you if you have achieved or predicted to achieve scores of at least five in three required and/or relevant individual subjects.

International Baccalaureate Career Program Diploma

We'll consider you if either:

• You also meet our high school diploma requirements (see entry requirements by country).
• You have also taken at least two International Baccalaureate individual subjects and have achieved or are predicted to achieve scores of at least five.

US High School Diploma

You’ll need a CGPA of 3.4/4.0 or 3.6/4.3 overall and in required and/or relevant academic subjects.

Home schooling

If you have been home schooled, you’ll need to provide us with your past academic transcripts or results, or predicted grades, and to show your accomplishments by providing evidence such as:

• Evidence of your home academic studies (copies of completed assessments, certificate of participation or completion of online courses).
• Individual, group or project work and/or internships.
• Relevant work experience.
• Publications in blogs or vlogs.

We will accept a reference from a previous school counsellor, an academic or a professional who can comment on academic abilities and merit.

We will not be able to consider your application if you have not completed any qualifications.

You will need to take some examinations before applying such as:

• a local high school certificate
• Advanced Placements
• AS-levels
• SAT
• GED (General Education Development).

GED (General Education Development)
For the we require:
an overall score of 680 (85%) with no less than 170 in required and/or relevant subjects:

• UPCH applicants: GED Language Arts and GED Social Studies.
• UPCSE applicants: GED Science.
• All applicants choosing mathematics as an optional UPC subject: GED Math.

Mature applicants

You are considered a mature applicant if you’re 21 years old or older.

We can be slightly more flexible with the entry requirements for mature students, but we do expect you to meet a certain academic level to ensure you:

• engage with the UPC course
• progress to your undergraduate degree at Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾.

If you’re a mature applicant thinking of applying, please email us first with information on your past studies, and details of experiences relevant to your future studies, so we can assess your suitability.

Qualifications we do not accept

We do not consider applicants who have taken or are taking qualifications that allow direct entry to Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ undergraduate degree programmes.

This includes:

• A-levels
• IB Diploma.

Please checkÌýÂ鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøվ’s undergraduate prospectus to check which qualifications are accepted for direct entry to a Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ undergraduate degree programme.

Other qualifications we do not accept include:

• Another foundation course in the UK or in another country (either enrolled or completed)
• International General Certificates of Secondary Education (IGCSEs). If you’ve completed IGCSEs and further studies, we’ll need proof of your further studies (e.g. your national high school certificate).

English language requirements

Students who need a visa

If you need a visa to study in the UK, you must have an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) or Pearson PTE Academic UKVI taken after September 2023 at the time of application for us to consider you for the entrance tests.Ìý

There are five levels of English proficiency needed to meet Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøվ’s English language requirements for undergraduate study.

You can check which Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ level of English proficiency your intended degree programme currently requires by looking at the undergraduate prospectus.Ìý

The English level you need to be considered for the UPC will depend on the English language requirement of your future Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ degree.

You need to take your test at a centre approved by UKVI and meet the minimum English entry requirements below.

Law

If you wish to apply for Law LLB during the UPC, you will need higher scores.

IELTS for UKVI (Academic)

An overall score of at least 7.5 and the minimum scores in each section below:

• 7 in writing
• 6.5 in each other section.

Pearson PTE Academic UKVI

An overall score of at least 80 and the minimum scores in each section below:

• 76 in writing
• 67 in each other section.

English language requirements for your future Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ degree

The UPC Academic English subject fulfils the English requirement for entry to a Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ degree, however you must achieve the required Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ English Language Level 1-5 of your future degree.

You can check which level your intended degree programmecurrently requires by looking at the undergraduate prospectus.Ìý

If you're unsure you’ll meet the English language entry requirement you may wish to consider a related degree with a lower English requirement (UPC and degree level).

Level 4

Level 4 is currently required for:

• Biochemistry BSc
• Biological Sciences BSc
• Biomedical Sciences BSc
• Human Sciences BSc
• Neurosciences BSc
• Pharmacology BSc.

Level 3

Level 3 is currently required for:

• Applied Medical Sciences BSc
• Cancer Biomedicine BSc
• Infection and Immunity BSc
• Medical Innovation and Enterprise BSc/MSci
• Nutrition and Medical Sciences BSc
• Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences BSc.

Level 2

Level 2 is currently required for Natural Sciences BSc/MSci.

Natural Sciences BSc/MSci offers optional streams in a broad range of areas of expertise, such as:

• Biomedical Sciences
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Genetics, Neuroscience and Psychology
• Inorganic and Materials Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Earth and Environment
• Medical Physics
• Physics
• Astrophysics.

UPC with a Modern Foreign Languages (UPCMFL)

Applicants with an IELTS for UKVI (Academic) score of 7.5 (overall and in each section), or equivalent, can study other languages on the UPC instead ofÌýAcademic English.

This includes:

• Arabic
• Dutch
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Mandarin
• Portuguese
• Spanish.

Students who don't need a visa

If you don't need a visa to study in the UK, you can apply with one of these English language qualifications.