foundation years explained

Foundation Years are an alternative route to studying a full degree, involving an initial year of study that will enable you to progress on to the first year of one of our eligible undergraduate degrees. A Foundation Year is not the same as a Foundation Degree. A Foundation Year gives you access onto a degree course, whereas a Foundation Degree is a standalone qualification equivalent to the first two years of a degree. If you are looking for information about the Foundation Degrees we offer, see page 182.

Who is a Foundation Year for?

A Foundation Year could be right for you if:

• You don’t have the right qualifications for a full degree in your chosen subject

• You have the qualifications but don’t feel ready for degree-level study yet

• You are returning to study and feel you need some help to get up to speed with the demands of learning before starting an undergraduate degree.

What are the entry requirements?

For entry onto one of our Foundation Year courses, you will need 48-72 UCAS tariff points. There are no Level 2 requirements.

Making sure you are ready

Our Foundation Years are not an extra year studying your chosen degree subject; rather a study option for you to gain a strong foundation of knowledge in certain disciplines. We are already running Foundation Years that will give you a grounding in Science, Business & Management and Media & Communication. However, at the time of going to press, we have others in development too. See www.bournemouth.ac.uk/foundation-years for the latest information.

Next steps

Successful completion of your Foundation Year will give you a guaranteed place on the degree for which you originally applied. However, each of our Foundation Years prepares you for a wide range of our full degrees, so you’ll have flexibility when you have successfully completed your Foundation Year of study if you want to look at other degrees at BU.

What can I study? We offer Foundation Years on the following degrees: