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University Foundation Programme (Business - Fast Track)

In partnership with ETC International College (Bournemouth, England), Red Dragon presents a specialist business-route University Foundation Programme.

Course Aims
The University Foundation Programme (Business - Fast Track) is designed for students who wish to enter a British university without taking A-level examinations.  This course prepares students effectively and thoroughly for study at degree level.

The course helps students to develop the language and study skills as well as subject knowledge that they will require to successfully complete a course of study at degree level in the field of Business.  It focuses exclusively on the field of Business, since we have found that this is the area most in demand amongst our students.

The course is validated by Middlesex University, which means that students successfully completing the course at our partner school should be guaranteed an offer of a university place at Middlesex University.

Start Dates
There is just one start date for the Fast-track Business programme each year – this is at the beginning of January each year.  The Fast-track Business variant of the ETC University Foundation Programme is a 24-week course with an intensity of 30 lessons per week.  The start date is appropriate for students wishing to enter university the following September.

The next start date is: 5th January, 2015.

Entry Requirements
Students must have an IELTS level of 4.5 or equivalent for entry to the Fast-track Business Programme.

Students will also require proof of any other qualifications that they have already attained in their chosen subject.  Therefore, students will ideally already have an acceptable High School-level qualification (High School Diploma / Baccalaureat / die Arbitur / A-levels, etc).
 
Progress Monitoring and Course Certification
Students’ progress is monitored continuously at ETC and there are regular progress tests, student questionnaire distribution and tutorials to ensure that students are developing the language and study skills, as well as subject knowledge, that they will require at university.  Students will be assessed by means of university-style course assignments and exams.

Please note that during the ETC University Foundation Programme (Fast-track Business), students will be required to take the IELTS examination (unless they have already taken it and achieved a satisfactory score) as they will need to be able to show that they have an English language level that is sufficient for them to be able to follow their chosen course alongside native speakers at university.

Upon satisfactory completion of the ETC Foundation Programme, the student will receive an ETC Foundation Diploma.  Students will be expected to enter for certain external examinations at the end of each term (see below for details).

Please note that students must attend a minimum of 80% of classes for successful completion of the course.

Course Structure
24 weeks’ duration x 30 lessons per week

This 24-week course includes:
312 lessons (= 234 hours) of Business Studies tuition.
264 lessons (= 198 hours) of IELTS Test Preparation.
96 lessons (= 72 hours) of English for Business tuition.
48 lessons (= 36 hours) of English for Academic Purposes tuition and practice.
6 lessons (= 4.5 hours) of 1:1 Academic Counselling and language support (Tutorial).

Students will be expected to take the LCCI EB exam in Business Practice (Third Level) and the IELTS test at the end of the course.  These exams will normally be timetabled for the final week of the course.  They may also choose to take a Business English examination, such as the Cambridge BEC (Vantage Level) or Cambridge BULATS.

Fees
Enrolment fee: £100.
Books and exam fees are included.
Course fee: £9,500.

Host family or student residence accommodation is available at additional cost: please ask for details if you are interested in this.

Academic Counselling / Choice of University and Degree Course

Our aim is to ensure that all students on our University Foundation Programme will be able to enter an appropriate university on successful completion of the course.

Therefore, every student will receive 6 sessions of 1:1 academic counselling during his or her Fast-track Business University Foundation Programme to assist in choosing the most appropriate course and starting the application process.

Students’ choice of university and degree course will be determined by their own academic record and by the different specializations offered by each university.  (Certain universities are famous for particular subjects, and some courses are only offered by a small number of universities).  In Britain, undergraduate courses normally last for three or four years.

ETC has special links with a range of institutions for further and higher education, including Bournemouth University, Buckingham University, Southbank University (London), Oxford Brookes University, Southampton Solent University and Derby University.

Former ETC students have entered a great number of colleges and universities, in the UK and overseas, including the following:
Cambridge University.
London School of Economics.
UCL (London).
Warwick University.
Nottingham University.
Oxford Brookes University.
University of Manchester.
University of Birmingham.
Cardiff University.
Bournemouth University.
University of Wakaito, New Zealand.
Middlesex University.
Winchester University.
The University of Chichester.
The University of Plymouth.
Derby University.

Assessment and certification
To be considered to have passed the University Foundation Programme (Business), students will need to:
-          Attend 100% of their timetabled classes.*
-          Pass the LCCI EB Certificate in Business Practice Level 3.
-          Achieve a score of at least 65% in each of their 4-weekly progress tests in all of the 4 subject areas (IELTS; English for Business; Business Studies; EAP).
-          Score at least 6.0 in their IELTS test.

Should the student fail to achieve one or other of these items, (or if the university requires a progress report before the end of the programme) we will issue a course attendance certificate, indicating which components they have passed and which not.
*           Should students fail to attend at least 80% of their timetabled classes, they will be deemed to have failed the course.

Recommended Reading List / Sample Course Books
(Books listed in bold type are for essential reading.  Publishers are indicated in brackets).

English for Business
    * New Insights into Business (Longman), Trappe, Tullis.
    * Oxford Handbook of Commercial Correspondence (OUP), Ashley, Duckworth.
    * Pass Cambridge BEC (Summertown), Evans.
    * Language of Business English (Longman), Brieger.
    * Business Vocabulary in Use (CUP), Mascull, Bethell, Aspinall.
    * Business Grammar Builder (Macmillan), Emmerson.
    * New International Business English – New Edition (CUP), Jones, Alexander.
    * Additional practice test materials will be used for this course component.

IELTS Examination Preparation
    * Passport to IELTS (Longman), Hopkins, Nettle.
    * Focus on IELTS (Longman), O’Connell.
    * Insight into IELTS New Edition (CUP), Jakeman, McDowell.
    * 101 Helpful Hints for IELTS – International Edition (Adams and Austin),  Adams, Peck.
    * 202 Useful Exercises for IELTS – International Edition (Adams and Austin), Adams, Peck.
    * 404 Practice Tests for IELTS – International Edition (Adams and Austin), Scovell, Pastellas, Knobel.
    * Additional practice test materials will be used for this course component, but in particular:
    * Cambridge IELTS Practice Tests (CUP), Jakeman, McDowell.

Business Studies
    * How to Pass Business Practice – 3rd Level (LCCIEB), LCCIEB Chief Examiner.
    * A-Z Business Studies Workbook (Hodder & Stoughton), I. Marcouse.
    * Management – Theory and Practice – 5th Edition (Continuum), GA Cole.
    * Modern Business Administration – 6th Edition (FT Prentice Hall), Robert C. Appleby.
    * Organizational Behaviour (FT Prentice Hall), Huczynski, Buchanan.
    * Management (FT Prentice Hall), Naylor.
    * Understanding Organisations (Penguin), C. Handy.
    * Management – Concepts and Practices (FT Prentice Hall), T. Hannagan.
    * Business Explained (Hodder & Stoughton), S. Barnes.
    * Business Functions (Blackwell Business), Open Learning Foundation.
    * Business - The Ultimate Resource (Bloomsbury), C.M.I.
    * Accounting for Non-Specialists (Wiley), M. Jones.
    * Mastering Financial Management (Palgrave), J. Whiteley.
    * Principles of Marketing (FT Prentice Hall), Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders, Wong.
    * Marketing Management (FT Prentice Hall), Kotler.

English for Academic Purposes
    * Academic Writing Course – New Edition (Longman), Jordan.
    * Exploring Academic English – A Workbook for Student Essay Writing (NCELTR), Thurstun, Candlin.
    * Study Skills in English (CUP), Wallace.
    * Study Speaking (CUP), Lynch, Anderson.
    * Ease Listening to Lectures CD-Rom (Warwick University).
    * Writing Academic English – 3rd Edition (Longman), Oshima, Hogue.
    * Writing for Study Purposes (Cambridge), Brookes and Grundy.

For more information, please contact Yurie Oyama at:
Red Dragon Motorsport (UK), 17 Barnes Road, Bournemouth.  BH2 5PG.
Tel: + 44 (0) 7966578999. 
Email: info@reddragon.org.uk

Yurie Oyama is an official representative of ETC International College.