Reading a Programme Page
Why this comes first. Every fact about a degree — its language, its length, its price, who may apply — has exactly one authoritative source: the page the university publishes itself. Everything else is a copy, and copies age. The Program Finder takes you to that page in one click. This lesson teaches you what to do once you are there.
Extract six facts from any programme page in under ten minutes.
Recognise the wording that quietly changes what those facts mean.
Tell the difference between what the page states and what you assumed.
A habit worth building now: when a page does not answer a question, write "not stated on this page" rather than guessing. A missing answer is information too — it tells you which page to look for next.
The six facts
Read every programme page hunting for these six answers, in this order. If you find them, you can compare any two programmes in the world on equal terms.
Words on the page: language of instruction, taught in, programme language.
The one fact that can disqualify you instantly, and the one most often skimmed.
Words: degree awarded, qualification, BA / BSc / BEng / LLB.
Tells you what you hold at the end, and whether it is a bachelor's degree at all.
Words: duration, standard period of study, 180 / 240 ECTS.
Often given in semesters or credits rather than years.
Words: tuition fee, semester contribution, non-EU fee.
Almost never a single number. Find the one that applies to you.
The six facts (continued)
Words: entry requirements, admission requirements, eligibility.
Look for a second list written for applicants with a foreign school leaving certificate. That list is the one that governs you, and it usually sits on a different page.
Words: application deadline, intake, closing date.
Check whether the date shown is for domestic or international applicants. They are frequently weeks or months apart.
Will my Turkish diploma be accepted as it is? — usually on the international admissions page.
What will living there actually cost? — usually on the student services or visa page.
Is there money available for me? — usually on a separate scholarship page, with an earlier deadline.
Trap 1 — "Taught in English" is not one thing
The same phrase covers at least four different realities. Only the first lets you study without the local language.
Every compulsory course of the degree is delivered in English. Look for a sentence about the whole programme, not about individual modules.
English track — an English version of a local-language degree. The first years may be English, the last years not.
Some courses in English — a handful of modules, usually electives, inside a local-language degree.
English-friendly / English available — marketing language. It states nothing about instruction at all.
Test yourself on any page: can you quote one sentence proving the entire degree is in English? If you cannot quote it, you have not found it.
Trap 2 — the price is rarely one number
Most European pages quote one figure for EU or EEA applicants and another for everyone else. As a Turkish applicant you normally read the second figure.
Where only one figure appears, look for a sentence excluding international students before you celebrate.
Where tuition is free there is usually a compulsory semester contribution: administration, transport pass, student union.
It is not called a tuition fee, and you pay it anyway, twice a year.
A figure can be per year, per semester or per credit. Multiply before comparing two countries.
A "low" per-semester fee can exceed a "high" annual one.
Living costs, health insurance and, in some countries, a blocked account are conditions of the visa, not of the programme.
They dwarf tuition in most of Europe. Chapter 3 puts them on the timeline.
Trap 3 — length, credits and the second requirement list
180 ECTS is normally three years of full-time study; 240 ECTS is four. If a page gives credits but no years, convert. If credits and years contradict each other, trust neither and open the official study regulations.
General: what the university asks of every applicant — a school leaving certificate, a language level, sometimes a subject test.
International: what it asks of applicants schooled abroad — recognition of the diploma, grade conversion, occasionally a preparatory year.
The second layer decides your case, and it is almost never on the programme page itself. Find it before you shortlist anything.
A programme that looks open to everyone on the programme page can be closed to you on the admissions page. Reading only one of the two is the most expensive shortcut in this whole process.
Your turn
Open one programme in the Program Finder, follow the official link, and answer all six questions in writing. Where the page is silent, write "not stated on this page".
Is the entire degree taught in English? Quote the sentence that proves it.
Which degree is awarded, after how many semesters or credits?
What does an applicant from outside the EU pay per year, including compulsory contributions?
Which school leaving qualifications are accepted, and is a Turkish diploma among them?
Which language certificate is accepted, at which score, and how recent must it be?
What is the deadline, and does a different one apply to international applicants?
Then repeat for a programme in a different country and put the two answer sheets side by side. The differences between them are the real lesson of this deck.
Next — Lesson 3. Once a programme survives this test, you start building its document folder.
DOCUMENT CHECKLIST →