Poland, International Foundation followed by BSc (Hons) Law
“This was exactly what I needed because I wasn’t strong enough in terms of language. You can see doing a year here in university makes you feel so much more comfortable with any conversations here with people in England.”
Why did you decide to come to the UK?
I was studying in Poland and I took a gap year. I wanted to speak English so that’s why I came here for a year. Later I met my boyfriend and he suggested to me that I could possibly study here in UK. So then I came on one of the open days at Brookes, had a look around, and decided that this was what I wanted to do. So I decided to drop out of my university in Poland and start from the beginning again here.
Why did you choose Oxford Brookes?
At the open day Brookes looked more friendly than the other universities and I really felt very welcome here. Before the year started I had a lot of problems with student finance, and the Union was very helpful. So from the very beginning I got so much support and knew that I just had to go here.
How did you find the foundation course?
I didn’t realise in the beginning how much it would help me, but my biggest problem actually was with writing. I got very lucky with both of my projects during the year as they have both have been under the same lecturer and she really knew my weaknesses. She even offered me some extra tutorials and some extra help when I needed it. The patience of my tutors has been just unbelievable. They always had the time to listen and correct me.
What have you enjoyed the most about your course?
The very first thing I would say is the style of teaching here. I don’t just get the topics and pick one, I can create my own and develop my ideas from scratch. The fact that any time you need to you can email your tutor or get extra tutorials, isn’t any problem here. I didn’t have even a single situation where I wasn’t sure how to do something and couldn’t get help with it.
Would you recommend the foundation course?
If you think you might not be strong enough to enter the first year of the degree, go on this definitely. Even if you think your language is good enough, I think it’s very important that as foreigner students here we build up confidence as we’re struggling with many things, not just university his course has been created not just to help us at University but also to help us understand what life here looks like, where we can go and what we can do. So I think it’s very important for newcomers.
Which of the University facilities have you found most useful?
Definitely the library as I can just go there and find a silent space. I love the fact that people do respect that it’s a quiet area and if you don’t talk you can stay there for hours and hours. The fact that it’s open to 11pm from the early morning is perfect for me as a person who is always working and studying, because any time I have a spare few minutes I can just jump in and know it’s going to be open.