How the course works

The Waterloo School Foundation Course works on a modular system with credits awarded for the successful completion of each module.

There are 6 credits available for each term, totalling a possible 18 for the whole Foundation course.

You must have passed a minimum of 13 to be awarded the certificate, and 16 for a Distinction grade.

The First Term (27 hours per week)

The first part of the course lasts for three months and is designed to build up your English language confidence, introduce you to life and study in Britain, and to take you through two of the four modules of the ABE Certificate programme: students can choose between two options for the second module. Details of the modules are as follows:

This is what your timetable might look like (this is just a sample, and timings could change).

The Second Term (24 hours per week)

In the second three months of the course, we aim to pass you with at least a score of 6 in the IELTS exam - an almost universal standard level of English, and you will begin the second pair of ABE Certificate modules, again with a choice on the second module.

Students may be able to repeat some of the modules from the first semester in which they failed to obtain credit(s).

* students can opt to sit an external official IELTS exam and present their certificate to us to receive their credits, or they can sit an unofficial WSE IELTS mock exam on the final day of the Second Term and be awarded the credits that way.

A sample timetable:

The Third Term (21 hours per week)

In the final three months of the course, you will complete your ABE Certificate, continue with learning about life in the UK, and do an intensive course in EAP, equivalent to a pre-sessional course at a university.

Students may be able to repeat some of the modules from the first two semesters in which they failed to obtain credit(s).

A sample timetable:

*if a student opted out or failed a module in the First or Second term