This course focuses on the language, culture and history of the Netherlands and Flanders, two regions neighbouring the UK that are among its largest trading partners. Students start learning Dutch from scratch and graduate as fluent and interculturally competent speakers of this global language. The Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (UPCs) are intensive one-year foundation courses for international students of high academic potential who are aiming to gain access to undergraduate degree programmes at UCL and other top UK universities. No previous knowledge of Dutch is required to study this course.  You will study in a small, friendly department that has a high staff to student ratio, which is unusual in higher education. You will have access to the most comprehensive Dutch Library in the English-speaking world, including our collection of Dutch and Belgian films and documentaries on DVD and multimedia learning resources. Our graduates use their language skills in a variety of contexts, such as public relations (often for multinational companies, many of which have Dutch origins), insurance, banking, political and cultural institutions, or in teaching and translating. Some graduates go on to Master's or PhD programmes. Belgium and the Netherlands belong to the world's most advanced manufacturing and trading areas and are among Britain's largest trading partners, housing the headquarters of numerous multinational companies and the political heart of the European Union and NATO. Dutch has 23 million speakers worldwide and Afrikaans, closely related to Dutch, has some 17 million. There is significant and growing demand for Dutch-speaking graduates, despite the recession, as evidenced by regular requests from employers to the department. In the English-speaking context, a university graduate with a good command of Dutch is rare indeed, giving the graduate in Dutch a major asset.