ACADEMIC EQUIVALENCY

Aligning academic qualifications from different countries is one of the most difficult aspects of international student exchange. How does a Philippine High School Diploma match up with one from Montreal? How does a college degree from a Philippine State College compare to a BSc.(Hons) Degree from a UK government university? Can a Philippine degree holder undertake a Master’s degree by research in New Zealand, and so on…..

And then there are other things to consider. The USA always states that students MUST have 12 years of secondary education to enter college. But this does not take into account the number of classroom contact hours in each year of high school and the number of weeks in an academic year.

And then there are the issues of grading and the quality of the school. In the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, high school qualifying exams are marked by external moderators giving an objective view of the academic standard achieved by the students. In the Philippines and the USA all student work is marked by their teachers, hence the need for university entrance examinations or tests like SAT to create a common denominator.

How therefore can a Philippine students know if they are qualified to enter an overseas college or university? There are some services that will attempt do this job for you such as World Education Services (www.wes.org) which for a mere USD$160.00 will tell you the academic equivalency of your degree or the credit transfer you will get if you wish to study in the USA. Or you can go to the National Recognition Information Center (NARIC) web site for the UK (www.naric.org.uk) and for £40.00+ they will give you the same kind of service, and just as slowly as WES – unless you want to pay more for a rushed delivery (£200.00!!). And, surprise, surprise, the Australians have their own organization for this called National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) (http://aei.dest.gov.au/AEI/QualificationsRecognition/Default.htm) which publishes a Country Education Profile for the Philippines which can be subscribed to for AUD$45.95+/year! As Inter-Ed designed the framework for the recognition of Philippine Colleges and Universities – and received no acknowledgement and no credit for the work done on this Profile - you can save your money and talk to us!!!

A large part of the job of Inter-Ed is to examine student academic records and decide how their qualifications will be accepted. We do all this at no cost to the student. And all the institutions we work with accept our evaluation. 

To bridge the gap of knowledge, age and social maturity, many universities require Philippine students to undertake a Foundation Year to give them a thorough preparation for their university studies to ensure that they will succeed.

BACHELORS DEGREES 

The Philippines, the USA and the Western Provinces of Canada have a four year bachelor’s degree of which the first two years are general education subjects, and the second two years more focused. In general there is little research within these degrees. In contrast the UK, NZ, Australia and Canada (Ontario & Quebec) have a very focused three year Bachelor’s degree with a significant level of research in the final year. These degrees are notated as BA (Hons) or BSc. (Hons).

MASTER’S DEGREES

In the Philippines and the USA, Master’s degrees are coursework degrees and take two years to complete. In Canada and NZ taught Master’s degrees take 2 academic years to complete and in Australia 1.5 academic years. These degrees are 65% coursework and 35% research. A taught Masters in the UK takes 12 months of continuous study and again is typically 65% coursework and 35% research.

In addition, the UK, Canada, Australia and NZ have Master’s degrees by research taking the same length of time as the taught Masters, but are purely by research. These degrees are known as MPhil and have nothing to do with philosophy whatsoever! Most students taking these programs carry on for two more years of research to receive their Ph.D.

Confused? Actually this barely scratches the surface with Certificate, Diploma, HND, GNVQ, ladderized programs, step programs, Post-Grad Diplomas, PGCE’s, etc. etc. Come and talk to us at Inter-Ed where we can explain everything to you and even link it all together with migration opportunities. It’s quicker, more convenient and far less expensive than paying an ACRONYM that knows nothing about you, your circumstances or your institution and hoping for a result that resolves all of your issues. Inter-Ed really is the Authority in World Class Education. Call NOW on 819-1001/02 for an appointment for FREE ACADEMIC COUNSELLING.