General Foundation Programme
About our programme
The Foundation Programme Department (FPD) aims at preparing students for the engineering programmes offered at MTC through delivering the General Foundation Programme (GFP). The programme enhances students’ skills in four areas: English language, mathematics, computing, and physics. It develops students’ study skills to help them cope easily with academic life.
Key Goals
- to provide an innovative educational environment
- to promote life-long learning for GFP students and staff
- to foster collaboration among students and staff
- to create a positive and supportive learning environment
- to develop students’ English language proficiency to the equivalent of IELTS 5.0 in all skills
- to develop students’ study and presentation skills
- to introduce students to a wide variety of skills and knowledge complying with OAAAQA GFP standards covering Computing, Mathematics and English language skills
General Requirements
- All prospective students, excluding those who already have a valid IELTS certificate with a minimum overall band score of 5.0, are required to take an ‘English Entry Test’ to ensure they meet a minimum standard of English proficiency.
- Applicants meeting the minimum standard will sit for an in-house placement test.
- Students are expected to successfully complete the GFP within one academic year. All students start the programme at either English 3 (MTCE1003) or English 4 (MTCE1004) depending on the placement test results.
- In addition to getting an IELTS overall band score of 5.0 as a minimum (not a requirement for Geomatics students), students are expected to pass English 4, the Research Report Artefact, their Computing, Physics (not a requirement for Geomatics students), and Basic and Pure Mathematics modules successfully in order to complete the Foundation Programme (GFP) and progress to Engineering Foundation Year (EFY).
- Any new intake student enrolling for the GFP who submits a valid IELTS certificate with a minimum overall band score of 5.0, will be permitted to sit for the MTC CMP Exit Examinations for all modules provided that the certificate is presented upon admission to the College.
- The pass mark for all CMP Exit Examinations is 60%. Students must pass all four CMP Exit Examinations to progress directly to EFY. Unsuccessful students are required to complete all four modules as part of the GFP.
Programme Structure
The General Foundation Programme academic calendar is divided into 3 terms. Each term has 11-12 teaching weeks. The modules and the number of study hours per term are listed in the table below:
Modules | Approximate number of hours/week |
English | 15-20 |
Computing | 5 |
Basic Mathematics | 5 |
Pure Mathematics | 4 |
Physics | 6 |
Progression Requirements
English language modules progression
- An overall pass mark of 60% is required to progress to the next module of English.
- A student is allowed to repeat a module only once.
- Students are expected to successfully complete the General Foundation Programme within one year. If a student fails the same English module twice, the student will be recommended to be excluded from the College.
- Only students who successfully complete English 4 are allowed to submit an external IELTS certificate with a minimum overall band score of 5.0, by the deadline that the College sets.
Computing/Physics/Basic and Pure Mathematics progression
- An overall pass mark of 50% is required to pass the module.
- Students who fail a CMP module are eligible for Second Attempt Assessment (SAA) in Term 3.
- Students will study Basic Math and Computing in Term 1 and Pure Math and Physics in Term 2.
- A student must pass all four CMP modules in order to progress to EFY.
Geomatics students don’t study Physics
IELTS Requirement
The final summative English language examination for all MTC students to decide whether they can progress to the Engineering Foundation Year is an IELTS examination that is taken on-site at MTC. Students must attain a minimum overall band score of 5.0 to qualify to the Engineering Foundation Year.
Any student passing MTCE1004 in Term 3 on either first or second attempt will be eligible for a 2-week IELTS booster course. Students completing the booster course will be eligible for an MTC-sponsored IELTS exam at a test centre and on a date assigned by MTC.