Foundation Year Program

FOUNDATION

NUFYP (NU Foundation Year Program) – a one year intensive program at the Center for Preparatory Studies of NU.

The program provides intensive personal development, study skills, mathematics, and academic language proficiency preparation to the undergraduate programs of NU.

Following the results of the study at NUFYP, NU Schools accept students for further education at the undergraduate programs.

The guide for undergraduate and foundation programs.

How to apply

Entry examinations and requirements

Important dates

Selection process

Enrollment

Useful resources

Applicants must go through the online application to participate in the competition:

Step 1.

Create your

Personal account

Go to http://admissions.nu.edu.kz portal, press the “Sign up” button and fill out the required information in English. Please select the undergraduate program during choosing the Academic level.

After completing the application, confirm it by clicking on the link sent to your mailbox.

Be sure to read the instructions about the application procedure given in your Personal account.

Step 2.

Fill out the

application form

Open the Foundation and Undergraduate Programs link at the “My Application Forms” page and fill out the Foundation and Undergraduate Application Form that includes a Consent form for personal data processing. Make sure you have entered all the required information in the correct manner and press the “Upload” button.

Step 3.

Submit the required documents

After filling out the application form you are required to upload to your Personal account:

1. a scanned copy of proof of your studies at a final grade/course with a photo (according to the template in a Personal account in one of the languages) or a scanned version of a certificate/diploma with transcripts if you have already completed a relevant level of study.

2. a scanned copy of national ID card and/or passport. The copies from eGov or any other platforms/electronic services are not accepted. Important: to take the entry exam an applicant must have an original of a passport or a national identity card which was uploaded to a Personal account;

3. Motivation letter in English.

Upload a 3*4 photo for documents to the “Profile” section in your Personal account.

The format of requested documents is available in a Personal account.

Step 4.

Pay the application

fee and submit

application

To finalize the application process, please click on the "PAY AND SUBMIT APPLICATION" button on your Personal account under the "My Application Forms" section. The application fee shall be paid online through the payment options available in the Personal account. The use of other payment methods for the application fee is not acceptable.

The application fee is 5000 tenge. The application fee is increased 3 times from the established amount when paid within the last two weeks before the first officially approved deadline and during the extension period for accepting applications for participation in the admission process (15000 tenge). The application fee is non-refundable, irrespective of the application outcome or payment errors.

If there is no card you may use the card of another person.

After submission applicants cannot make any changes in their applications and submitted documents.
The Admissions Department will check your application and contact you if there is an issue with the application or specify if some documents are missing and deadlines to submit them. Incomplete or incorrect (uncorrected) applications will not be considered in the competition.

Step 5.

Submit IELTS/ TOEFL certificate

(only after paying the application fee and submitting the application)

In order to provide IELTS/TOEFL certificates, applicants should fulfill the following requirements:

To send an official electronic report of valid IELTS/TOEFL certificate via the Test administrator directly to NU;
To upload its scanned copy and insert its TRF number to the “Upload IELTS/TOEFL results” section of a Personal account. Applicants can submit any number of certificates for the competition, but the last certificate uploaded to their Personal account will be considered.

IELTS/TOEFL certificates are considered without superscoring.

Take care when entering information regarding codes for test certificate submission via the Test Administrator or the Test Center. See below:

Code for IELTS: NU, Admissions Department
Code for TOEFL iBT: 6762

Detailed Instruction on the provision of IELTS/TOEFL certificates is available in applicants’ Personal account.

Minimum requirements for language test results are available in the “Entry examinations and requirements” section;
Tests taken remotely, not in the Test Center, such as IELTS Online, TOEFL iBT Home Edition and TOEFL PDT results are not considered in the competition;
All provided certificates must be valid by August 1, 2024 - the beginning of the respective academic year.
Deadline for submission of IELTS/TOEFL certificates is available in the “Important dates” section.

Please note that submission of IELTS/TOEFL certificates in the electronic database of NU is not within the competence of the University. You should independently contact the Test center and make sure that your certificate has been sent. Please note that this action takes at least 7-10 working days. If the certificate is received after the deadline specified by the Admissions Department, results will not be considered in the competition.

Further steps

Please check your email 1-2 weeks before the NUET exam – the information about the upcoming exam date, time and venue along with Exam Rules will be sent there.

Please keep in mind that sometimes letters from the University may go to the spam box.

If you experience any difficulties with the application, send an email to info_admissions@nu.edu.kz. Do not forget to provide a detailed description of the problem, your IIN (for citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and Applicant ID number.

Instructional video with a sample application form for the Foundation program

Watch the instructional video with an example of completing the application form for the Foundation program. Some details can differ from the last application version. Please note that personal details given in the application form are fictional.

Applicants meeting the following eligibility criteria can take part in the competition:

Students in the final year of secondary education institutions, technical, vocational, post-secondary and higher education institutions;
Students studying in higher education institutions;
Graduates from secondary, post-secondary or higher education institutions.

The selection process consists of the following stages:

Stage I. Submission of application package and test results : October–December;
Stage II. NUET: February–March;
Stage III. Consideration of Applicants’ competition results by the Admission Committee: April–May;
Sending notifications about admission: May-July*;
Documents submission (upon request of the NU): June–July.

*Applicants from the waiting list may receive an admission offer if vacant places become available until the start of the classes.

Applicants who failed to receive minimum passing scores cannot progress to the next stages and will be excluded from the competition.

Minimum requirements of language test results:

Academic IELTS minimum requirements: overall score of 6.0 (5.0 in each section);
TOEFL iBT minimum requirements: overall score - 60, writing - 16, reading - 6, speaking - 15, listening - 5.
All provided certificates must be valid by August 1, 2024 - the beginning of the respective academic year;
Deadline for submission of IELTS/TOEFL certificates is available in the “Important dates” section;
IELTS Online, TOEFL iBT Home Edition and TOEFL PDT results are not considered in the competition;
IELTS/TOEFL tests must be taken in person at the Test Center (not remotely).
IELTS/TOEFL certificates are considered without superscoring.
Only applicants who provide IELTS/TOEFL results, which meet minimum requirements and within the specified deadline, can be allowed to take NUET exam (see below).
Applicants who provide IELTS/TOEFL results that meet the minimum requirements within the prescribed period and are allowed to take the NUET exam can later provide additional IELTS/TOEFL results to improve the results of language tests. The deadline will be published in the “Important Dates" section.

NUET (NU Entrance Test) – test that evaluates academic training for studying at the University.

NUET is held in 2 subject sections - Mathematics and Critical Thinking & Problem Solving.
Number of questions – 60.
Test content – multiple-choice questions.
Test duration – 120 minutes. Minimum passing score – 120 in total for 2 subjects, while minimum passing score for each of the subjects shall not be less than 50. For example, 50 + 70 = 120 – is a minimum passing score in total.
In case of applying for both Foundation program and Undergraduate programs according to the “NUET applicants” category, an applicant is invited to the test once and takes it 1 time. Therefore, it is important to indicate in the application form the same city for passing the test. Foundation and Undergraduate programs’ Admission Committees will consider the results of one exam.
Test results are available in 6 weeks in a Personal account.
The number of tasks and duration of the entry examination are subject for change by Test administrators.
Information about access to the entry examination is placed in the applicant’s Personal account.
Applicants are informed about examination date and venue, information on format, as well as required documents and Rules of conduct during the examination via email approximately 5 days prior to the exams.
Examination schedule is published in the “Important dates” section.
If a violation of rules or conditions of passing the test occurs, the applicant's results are canceled . In this case, the applicant is excluded from the competition. Disqualified applicants will not be able to enroll to NU in the future.
There is no appeal procedure.

Online application period: October 16 – December 07, 2023 (12:00 PM Astana time).
The deadline for the submission of IELTS/TOEFL certificates: December 20, 2023 (23:59 Astana time).
NUET entrance exam: February- March, 2024
Deadline for provision of additional IELTS/TOEFL certificates in order to improve results of language tests (for applicants who have taken NUET exam): to be announced
Sending notifications about admission: May – July, 2024
Submission of hard copies of documents (upon request): June – July, 2024
Orientation week : to be announced
Start of classes : to be announced

City	Date
Astana	February 18, 2024
Almaty	February 18, 2024
Uralsk	February 25, 2024
Karaganda
Atyrau
Semey
Taldykorgan
Kokshetau
Shymkent
Aktobe	March 3, 2024
Petropavlovsk
Pavlodar
Ust-Kamenogorsk
Taraz
Kyzylorda
Kostanay
Aktau

Applicants, who did not pass the previous stage of the competition, will not be allowed to participate in the next stage;
At the third stage the Admission Committee composes the ranking of applicants based on the NUET and IELTS/TOEFL results. Based on the approved number of seats the Admission Committee recommends applicants for admission to the NU.
Depending on the number of places allocated for NUFYP, applicants who meet the requirements will receive an admission offer to the NUFYP under the Grant according to their ranking. An official notification letter about the decision of the Admissions Committee is sent to these applicants. Applicants can also check their status in their Personal account.
Applicants not recommended for admission under the Grant, but included in the ranking shall be put in a waiting list. In case of a vacant place in the list of applicants recommended for admission, applicants from the waiting list may be recommended by the Admission Committee for admission to study at the Center for Preparatory Studies. Applicants in the waiting list can also be offered an opportunity to participate in the competition for admission on a fee-paying basis with financial aid in accordance with the internal documents of the University.
Successful completion of the admission stages does not guarantee admission to the Center for Preparatory Studies of the University.

Description of the status assigned to the applicant at every competition stage

All registered applicants can check the status of their application in the Personal account. Description of the status below is presented in the order of assignment to the applicant in the Personal account.

Application in processing. This is interim status, which means that the application is being processed. The Admissions Department will check the application package and inform the applicant on further steps, if necessary.

Needs to take NUET. This status is given to applicants before the NUET exam to notify them about the necessity to take the test. The invitation with instructions will be sent to the applicant's email about 5 days prior to the exam. The exam schedule is available in the “Important dates” section.

Not allowed to take NUET. The applicant was not allowed to take NUET exam due to non-compliance or violations of the competition conditions before the exam. He/she terminates the participation in the enrollment competition for the Foundation program, however he/she can still participate in the enrollment competition for the Undergraduate program in another category if meets the requirements

Passed NUET. Successfully passed the NUET and received passing scores.

Failed NUET. The applicant failed to score a required NUET passing mark. He/she terminates the participation in the enrollment competition.

Missed NUET. Didn't show up at the NUET exam. He/she terminates the participation in the enrollment competition.

Meeting entry examinations minimum requirements. Applicant’s documents and his/her scores meet the minimum entry requirements of the competition. Applicants with this status will be included into the final ranking and are advised to wait for a notification from the University. If he/she has high scores in the exams, then there is a high probability that he/she will soon receive an admission offer. If the scores are low, it is advised to wait for the next notification. If seats are vacated, admission offers can be sent.

Withdrawn. The applicant refused to participate in the admission competition at his/her own request. This status can be put down at any time from the beginning of the competition.

Withdrawn due to UG choice. The applicant was automatically excluded from the NUFYP competition due to the undergraduate admission offer acceptance. Applicant can be enrolled to one academic program and/or level of education only.

Recommended for admission to NUFYP. Recommended for enrollment by the decision of the Admissions Committee and will receive an admission offer with the conditions for enrollment.

Waiting list to NUFYP. Applicant is not included in the number of recipients of the invitation due to a low ranking. Nonetheless, there is a chance that offers may be sent if one of the previously recommended applicants refuses to enroll. In case there are no more vacant seats, the applicant will be rejected or can take part in the additional competition for a fee-paying NUFYP.

Accepted admission offer to NUFYP. Applicant accepted the admission offer within the specified period and submitted enrollment confirmation form and paid the guarantee fee. All payments are made in the applicant's Personal Account. Any incorrectly made payments are non-refundable. Follow the instructions to make the payment.

Further conditions for enrollment:

Submission of the required documents.
Signing the contract on educational services.
Participation in the orientation week held by the Center for Preparatory Studies for newly arrived students.

Refused admission offer to NUFYP. Applicant filled out the form and indicated refusal from enrollment after receiving the admission offer or did not fulfill the conditions of enrollment

Refused in favor of UG. This status is available to the applicants applied both to NUFYP and Undergraduate programs. This status is given to the applicant who rejected to study in the NUFYP in favor of the Undergraduate program. It is given after the written refusal of the applicant to study at the NUFYP.

Rejected by the Admissions Committee. Rejected by the Admissions Committee due to the absence of vacant places for enrollment and based on the completion of the selection.

Did not submit the documents/Refused. The applicant did not provide the documents within the specified period. This means that the applicant refuses to study at the University.

Did not come to Orientation week/Refused. Failed to show up for Orientation Week, which means the applicant refuses to study at the University.

Enrolled to NUFYP. Applicant officially enrolled to the Foundation Year Program of the University by the Provost's decision. This status is given after registration of the Provost’s decision. This is a final status as an applicant before transition to a student status.

Disqualified. Disqualified due to violations of regulations and conditions in the exam or in the competition. For example, he/she cheated on an exam or provided deliberately false information.

Enrollment of the applicants to NU is implemented in the following sequence:
Recommendation for admission. Status of recommended applicants will be changed to “Recommended for admission to NUFYP”. In the “Admission results” section of Personal account applicants will see the Admission offer and Instructions for documents submission to University with deadlines and requirements.
Admission confirmation. Applicants recommended for admission by the Admission Committee shall sign Enrollment Confirmation Form and Form of Consent on Guarantee Fee Payment and pay the Guarantee Fee in the amount of 100 000 tenge in Personal account.

The Guarantee Fee will be returned to the admitted student after the following conditions are met:

1) Bilateral signing of the Agreement on Provision of Education Services at NU;

2) Participation in the Orientation week;

3) Student's completion of the first semester of classes with good academic standing.

Submission of documents and signing an agreement. The applicants shall submit required documents to NU departments within the dates indicated in the Admission offer. Therefore, please, make sure to read the Admission offer very carefully in order to meet the requirements and deadlines. All the hard and soft copies of documents should be submitted to the University within the deadlines. The applicants also sign an agreement with the Center for Preparatory studies.
Participation in an orientation week. Before the start of the classes, all invited applicants take part in an orientation week.
Enrollment. After fulfilling the above mentioned requirements, applicants are enrolled in the University. Enrollment of Applicants is legalized by the decision of the University Provost.

A package of documents for enrollment to the University to be submitted by the applicant to the Admissions Department will be indicated in the Instructions for documents submission.
If the original of the secondary school education diploma with transcript is not in Kazakh, Russian or English, it is required to provide a scanned version of a notarized translation of this document into English in addition. Failure to provide the required documents in time will result in the applicant's disqualification from further participation in the competition.
University has the right to request additional documents from foreign citizens or stateless individuals.
All documents submitted to NU are not subject to return. An exception is an official original of the secondary school (аттестат с приложением), technical, vocational, or post-secondary diploma (диплом с приложением) with transcript, which is returned after completion of studies or withdrawal from the University by the Office of the Registrar.

Main points	Detailed information
NU Entrance Test	NUET materials for 2024 are available here Rules of conduct for the NUFYP Entrance Test will be available later.
Useful links	To help to prepare for admission to NU, this website contains many useful links to courses, webinars, interviews, books and lectures. You can also find information on standardized tests with links to preparation materials, schedule, registration, and standardized test results.
Video instructions	Please find the video instruction for submitting an online application for the Foundation program here. Please find the video instruction for downloading IELTS/TOEFL results here.
Regulations	Find Admission Policy and Procedures for 2024-2025 academic year here.
Differences between Foundation and Undergraduate program	For more information on the difference between Foundation and Undergraduate programs, follow the link.
Terms for provision of education services	To learn more about the Terms for provision of education services at NU, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions	You can find answers to frequently asked questions here.

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