The General Foundation Programme at AOU Oman under the Foundation Studies Unit serves as a bridge between secondary and tertiary education, preparing new cohorts to start their academic programmes with ease. GFP of AOU Oman is intensive to ensure that students are academically prepared to tackle their rigour of the academic programmes. It also aims to instill the foundation for the development of AOU Oman's Graduate Attributes so that the acquired skills can be built upon during their duration of their study. Though AOU has nine campuses in other countries of the Arab region and all campuses offer the same academic programmes of its affiliate partner- The Open University-UK , the GFP offered at AOU Oman is not unified across its campuses.   The AOU allows for such flexibility so that programmes other than the programmes validated by its academic affiliate can be tailored to students' needs. At AOU Oman, the GFP follows the standards set by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.

The programme curriculum consists of:

• three levels of English courses
• two levels of Mathematics courses (Basic Math; and Applied Math or Pure Math for students registered in Business studies and ICT student, respectively.)
• one Information Technology (IT) course and
• Study Skills (integrated across all the three subject areas)

None of the courses are credit-bearing, but students must pass all of the required courses in order to progress to undergraduate/post-Foundation study. Therefore, a failure in securing the mandatory score  requires a student to repeat a  level/course.

Entry to the GFP at AOU Oman requires a student to take placement tests for English, IT and Mathematics. These tests are administered electronically and depending on the scores, a student is placed at the appropriate levels. It is also possible for a student to clear all three levels of English. In this case, the student enters post foundation English Courses directly but still have to take IT and Math foundation courses if the score secured is not acceptable.

All students completing the English Foundation Programme (Level 3; EF003) at AOU Oman are required to attempt an exit test.

GFP Exemption Policies:

• A certificate of completion of the foundation programme successfully in any higher education institution
• A diploma/ bachelor's degree from any higher education institution.
• For English course: An International English Language Testing System- IELTS (academic version) certificate of band 5 or equivalent of 500 and above in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The validity of these certificates should not be more than two years. 
• For Information Technology: a verified IC3 or ICDL certificate

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact us at FSU-oman@aou.edu.om

Wish you all success in your academic journey!

Abdullah Al Riyami 

Head of Foundation Studies Unit ​

Thanks ​