As an O-level/Higher NITEC/NITEC certificate holder, other than the typical routes of JC, Poly or ITE, you have the option to enter James Cook University(JCU)!

JCU offers a 8-month Foundation Programme that is an alternative pathway to university, allowing a student to attain a degree within 3 years.

The foundation programme’s syllabus is similar to the JC syllabus in that it covers critical thinking, statistics, economics and humanities.

The difference is that these are designed specifically to complement the suite of undergraduate programmes at JCU. While JC students have a choice in subject combinations to help them gain enrolment into specific undergraduate programmes, the subject combinations in our foundation programmes are pre-determined by the university to give students the widest range of options based on our programme offerings.

It would be more similar to a JC than a Polytechnic as there are no internships or work-integrated learning components at the foundation level.

JCU’s Foundation Programme’s contact hours are fairly high with students in classes 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Students are assessed not only through examinations but various forms of assessments such as assignments/course work, quizzes, class tests and presentations

The programme is fairly intense due to the adoption of the trimester system, with each trimester being 4 months long. Students go through 10 subjects over 2 trimesters (8 months), covering 5 subjects per trimester. While this is the standard path most students take, there is a flexibility for students to extend the duration if they need to, so they can better manage the course load.

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Pros of enrolling in JCU’s foundation programme:

- Shorter time taken to attain a degree

Taking the JCU Foundation Programme -> JCU Bachelor’s Degree	Taking the JC route -> University	Taking the Poly route -> University
32 months for all degrees (including 8 months of JCU Foundation Programme), except Bachelor of Education(Early Childhood Education) [44 months]	60 months/72 months depending on the degree taken(includes the 2 years in JC)	On average 72 months depending on degree taken and whether University offers course credits for your diploma(includes the 3 years in Polytechnic)

Cons of enrolling in JCU’s foundation programme:

- No internship unlike Polytechnic

- Longer terms (4 months per term)

Duration	8 months
Admission Criteria	GCE O Levels with Grade C average in 5 subjects and to attain minimum age of 17 years in the year of commencement OR Higher NITEC OR NITEC with 2 years of work experience + interview OR MYP Certificate (IB Middle Years Programme) (Year 10) with at least 32 points
Intake	March, July, November
Fees	S$13,910 in total including prevailing GST
Future Education (qualifying results obtained)	JCU Bachelor Degrees - Bachelor of Arts(Majoring in Psychology) - Bachelor of Business - Bachelor of Business(Majoring in Business Intelligence and Information Systems) - Bachelor of Business(Majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management) - Bachelor of Business(Majoring in Human Resource Management) - Bachelor of Business(Majoring in International Business) - Bachelor of Business(Majoring in Management) - Bachelor of Business and Environment Science - Bachelor of Business and Environment Science(Majoring in Aquaculture) - Bachelor of Commerce - Bachelor of Commerce(Majoring in Accounting) - Bachelor of Commerce(Majoring in Banking and Finance) - Bachelor of Commerce(Majoring in Economics) - Bachelor of Commerce(Majoring in Financial Management) - Bachelor of Commerce(Majoring in International Trade - Bachelor of Education(Early Childhood Education - Bachelor of Information Technology - Bachelor of Bachelor of Psychological Science - Bachelor of Bachelor of Science(Majoring in Aquaculture Science and Technology) - Bachelor of Bachelor of Science(Majoring in Data Science) - Bachelor of Tourism, Hospitality, and Events