Aston University China (This update: April 2016) Country Manager: Pengbo Song ABS SEAS Pharmacy Optometry Senior High School Leaving Generally considered to be of higher standard than GCSE. Students who have achieved an average of 80% in the academic subjects may be Certificate considered for a Foundation programme. Please ensure that the students have completed all 3 years of high school and not just 2! Grading system A 80 – 100% B 70 – 79% C 60 – 69% (Min pass mark = 60%) D 50 – 59% The Diploma is awarded after the student completes and passes with a min of 60% in each prescribed subject and obtains a total of 196 credits from the 3 years of Senior High School. Chinese is the medium of instruction but English language is a compulsory subject in Senior High School. English Language Requirements Students from China must produce evidence of English Language ability which meets UKBA requirements. Senior High School Leaving Certificate English does not meet UKBA requirements. University Entrance Examination In order to be accepted into a Chinese University, students are required to sit for the University Entrance Examination or Gaokao. The national examinations are usually held at the beginning of July. There are 2 categories: Humanities and Sciences & engineering. Candidates can only register for one category. Students may submit their results from this exam in addition to the Senior High School Leaving Certificate. As a guide, a score of over 500 would be considered very good in addition to the Senior High School Leaving Certificate. Aston does not admit students from China based solely on their Gaokao score. Ameson Education and Cultural We have a signed agreement with Ameson that we will accept students from their ‘Elite Chinese Student Programme’. This is up to a year of Exchange Service preparation for the best performing students from the top 94 high schools in China. Acceptance depends on their marks in University of Cambridge English and Maths test results and the GaoKao – Chinese University Entrance Exam. Northern Consortium The Northern Consortium is a consortium of 12 UK universities: Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leeds Met, Liverpool, Liverpool, John Moores, Manchester, Manchester Met, UMIST, Salford, Sheffield International Foundation & Sheffield Hallam. Year (IFY) Pre-Masters Programme The Northern Consortium runs a number of Foundation (IFY) and Pre-Masters (PMP) programmes throughout China; the current locations are (PMP) listed below. CITY INSTITUTION PROGRAMME Kaplan ACE IFY Chengdu Kaplan ACE PMP Chongqing Kaplan ACE @ No 1 Middle School IFY Hangzhou Kaplan ACE IFY/PMP Guangzhou Oncourse Ltd IFY Qingdao IFY/PMP Kaplan ACE Wuhan Oncourse Ltd IFY/PMP Changsha Kaplan ACE IFY/PMP Shanghai SBC Shanghai IFY Suzhou Kaplan ACE IFY Beijing Beijing AOJI IFY/PMP Xian On course IFY Harbin Beijing AOJI group IFY The IFY has 4 streams: Business & Management / Science & Technology / Engineering/Humanities Modules for Business & Management EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Maths & Statistics Double module Business Studies Modules for Science & Technology EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Maths Chemistry Biology Modules for Engineering EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Maths Chemistry Physics Modules for Humanities EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Economics Government & Politics International Relations Business studies Both streams require students to undertake 4 modules. There is no separate ICT module but ICT is explicitly included in the EAP and Maths modules. Students receive 4 grades for their modules. EAP B = 6.5 IELTS and EAP C = 6.0 IELTS equivalent. IELTS / TOEFL will be waivered, provided the student passes the EAP (English for Academic Purposes) module with a min of grade B for ABS related programmes and C for all other programmes (on the IFY) with the required min grade as specified on the PMP table Lancaster Foundation Accepted by ABS. Must get distinction in overall Foundation Programme and IELTS 6.5. programme Run at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Shanghai International Studies University International Foundation Foundation year is preparatory for the two year HND programme offered at the College. This is accepted as 3+1 by some UK institutions but College of Shanghai University not suitable for Aston and foundation programme is not acceptable for direct entry onto degree programmes. of Finance and Economics (SUFE) NCC Education Not accepted as although there's nearly 30 hours of teaching a week, they take in students with an IELTS level of 4.0 and there is no insistence on completing the 3 years of High School. Have NCC accredited centres in China (Dalian & Shenzhen) & UK (Croydon) Tertiary education in China There are 2 main sectors of tertiary level education in China: formal and non-formal. The formal sector is composed of various types of universities attended by students who have graduated from High School and the non formal sector largely fulfils the education & training needs of the adult population who missed out on a university education through a range of institutions and courses from television universities to correspondence and self-taught courses. There are four main types of institutions: Polytechnic universities – usually science & engineering orientated Comprehensive universities – usually with an emphasis on arts & basic sciences. 'Normal' universities - usually concentrates on arts & sciences combined with education. Sectoral institutions, eg agriculture, medicine, steel etc - managed by the appropriate line ministries rather than the education ministry There are 4 main categories of non-formal tertiary education: the television universities, adult education colleges & schools (often attached to a university), correspondence courses and self-taught courses. Universities vary greatly in size and scope. Some are very large by UK standards - Peking University has over 17,000 students - but many have just a few hundred. About 100 universities (including all those under the Ministry of Education) do research, but many offer only diploma level courses. Until the late 1980s the term 'key', was used to designate universities with special responsibilities, funding and standards, but this term has now fallen into disuse. There is no official ranking of Chinese universities. Staff may wish to use the following criteria to ascertain the quality of the institution: Is it a 211 institution or 985 Project institution? (see below paragraph for further information) For a list of informal ranking from Netbig – see the final page of this document for 2006 rankings or contact the International Office for previous years. The 211 Project (see attached sheet for list of institutions) selects just over 100 universities as centres of excellence by a competitive assessment of business plans forwarded by each university. Universities, individual departments or consortia of departments from different universities are eligible for consideration. Funding is awarded to the most attractive of the proposed projects, and is renewable every 3 years subject to project performance. The funds comes from the state ministries & local governments. Project 985 is a constructive project for founding world-class universities in the 21st century conducted by the government of the People's Republic of China.On May 4, 1998, President Jiang Zemin declared that "China must have a number of first-rate universities of international advanced level", so Project 985 was begun. In the initial phase, nine universities were given grants in excess of CNY1,000,000,000 each, over a period of 3 years. The second phase, launched in 2004, expanded the programme until it has now reached almost 40 universities. Many participating universities receive tens of millions of yuan each year. A large part of the funding goes to academic exchange, allowing Chinese academics to participate in conferences abroad, and bringing foreign lecturers to China. Participating comprehensive universities are required to devote at least 15% of project funds to humanities projects. For institutions focused on science and technology, this is lowered to 5%. If you are not able to find the institution on the 211 Project list, 985 Project list or on Netbig list, there could be a number of explanations eg the University has merged with another institution and adopted a new name (see list attached). Chinese names do not always translate precisely into English so there could be another version of the University’s name The University has changed its name in recent years If you need further clarification about an institution please contact the International Office University or College Diploma Students with 2 or 3 year diplomas can be considered for undergraduate study - Year 1 entry. Look for a min of 80% average in relevant academic subjects Bachelors degree Bachelors degrees in China take 4 years full time to complete. University Students who have studied 1-2 years (full-time) at a recognised university may be eligible for first year entry, dependent on subjects, institution and grades (an average of 80% in academic subjects is recommended). For entry to an postgraduate degree at Aston, SEAS – prefers to look for 75%+ for 211 and prestigious universities and 80-85% for all other universities. ABS look for 80% GPA from 211 universities and 85%+ from all other universities. Typical minimum GPA requirements from Chinese universities are GPA 3.0 to 3.4 out of 4.0. When a university student graduates