Close Home Forum Sign up / Log in

Do I need 12 years of school education or equivalent to study postgraduate courses?

D

Iam currently doing my IGCSE and i do not want to take A Levels so i will take the foundation year instead but I asked someone and he told me that without 12 years of education i will not be allowed to study my Master`s and doctorate from any college, is that true ?
Isn`t the foundation year considered as a replacement for the A Levels and and grade 11 & 12 ?
Iam NOT dropping out! the college already accepted me with the course i currently have (IGCSE) but i will have to take the foundation year.

S

Hi,
I have to admit that I had never heard of the IGCSE so have just done some Googling. As I understand it, they are the equivalent of GCSEs, rather than A Levels.
A foundation year is usually an introductory year, prior to an undergraduate degree, and is often taken by people who are moving into a different subject area, or occasionally those with low grades/low standard of English, for example.
So I am not sure why the college has accepted you onto a foundation year without any A levels, as I thought they (or an equivalent, such as Scottish Highers/Baccalaureate) were a requirement for any foundation year/undergrad course. (Is it because of your high grades/large number of subjects covered?)
However, that being said, if you have done IGCSEs, then you do a foundation year, then a degree, then possibly a Masters, then I can't see that any university would care that you didn't have any A levels. If a college have decided that your IGCSEs are enough to qualify you for a foundation year, then I can't see it being a problem in the future. The degree/masters are the most important things, so if you get through those without any A levels then that would be the most important thing.
Hopefully someone with some personal experience will be along soon to give more advice!

M

If i remember correctly, certain phd program in CalTech used to state that "bachelor degree is not required".

However, some universities allow gifted students at the age of, say 14, to attend certain undergraduate courses.
I happen to know some high school students who published papers in *good* journals; their works are even better than many Master degrees students.

24317