I studied the
Science foundation year course at Kingston College during
2014/2015.
I'll just do this post in a Q & A format, since it will probably be more useful for those who have questions about the course.
Note: This is an unofficial Q & A post based on my personal experience.
Q.1) I applied for the Science Foundation Year, where is it?A.1) You should be told by email and/or through UCAS where it will be taught. Most will get taught it at
Kingston College.
However, it's possible you may be taught it exclusively at Kingston University (
Penrhyn road campus).
My friends who were taught it at the University complained that they weren't as organised as the College and that the teachers followed instructions set by the college teachers, as it was the college teachers who decided what would appear in the exams and whatnot.
Q. 2) As a UK student, how much will it cost me? Will Student Finance cover the cost?A.1) As of 2016, it costs £6,000. When I did it in 2014/2015, it cost £4600.
If you're eligible for student finance, then yes, they should cover the foundation year along with all subsequent years (when you actually enter University with your desired course).
Q. 3) I picked a specific science course (e.g: Chemistry), can I change my mind to another Science course (e.g: Biomedical science) later on?A. 3) Yes you can. You should be able to transfer onto another Kingston University Science course if you pass the Science foundation year course (40%+ in all modules).
However, If you want to get into Pharmacy, you will need 70%+ overall and (possibly) 60%+ in Chemistry & Biology.
If you don't, you can still ask the staff whether you're still eligible or not. If the University is feeling lenient/they have space, they might let you through even if you don't meet the requirements.
Q. 4) Can I apply to other Universities based on the Science foundation year course?A. 4) Yes you can. You should apply to other courses the moment you've enrolled into this Science foundation course. You'll most likely be interviewed. Assuming you pass the interview, the other Universities (like Hertfordshire) may expect a higher passing percentage on average though. So instead of 40% which Kingston requires, they may expect an average of 50%. They may require you to have some A-Level grades too.If you stick with Kingston University, you'll not be interviewed (unless you want to go into Pharmacy) and everything afterwards is done internally. So you don't ever need to use UCAS again, after being enrolled into the Science foundation year course.
Q. 5) Can I retake if I fail the year? A. 5) Depends on how many modules you fail. If you've failed any modules, speak to your course leader and/or your personal tutor immediately after receiving your results.
From what I've seen though, if you fail 1 or 2, shortly after the results are released, you'll be informed (on Moodle) that you can re-take the entire module(s) (new retake exam & new retake courseworks). They have a similar standard at the University, although instead of '
Moodle' everything is done on 'Studyspace'.
Q. 6) Do you believe this course is easier than A-Level science courses?A. 6) Most definitely! Just to put things into perspective, if you can get E at A-levels in Maths/Science subjects, you're most likely going to easily pass this course. Heck, if you can get D at AS Maths/Science subjects, you'll still find this course relatively easy. However that's not to say you should lack off. Make sure to attend as many lectures as possible. There is no point increasing your chances of failing just because you're too
lazy to show up to the lectures (no matter how easy you may think they are). All the students I know that got into Pharmacy, were the people who showed up to as many lectures as possible.
Q. 7) How much did you revise before the exams?A. 7) The night before the exams, for all of them. I didn't revise anything at home, or at University/College outside of lectures/classes.
I put in the same effort for GCSE's too. So I mainly got all A's and B's while only studying the night before an exam.
If I had known the exams were this easy in the Science foundation course & University, I may have put in more effort to get into Pharmacy. I think even revising a little can make a huge difference. As the revision material is actually relevant to what appears in the exams- I never felt this way at all during A-levels. Additionally, I've only recently realised that University isn't much more difficult than Science foundation year.
Q. 8) How many lectures/classes did you attend?A. 8) My attendance was ~95%. Attendance is recorded. If your attendance drops too low (below 50%), you might be kicked from the course and/or not be allowed re-takes, if you end up failing any modules. I was probably one of the very few students who attended nearly every single lecture.
Think of it this way. If you can average 95% attendance, you're guaranteed to pass all the modules (I had 4 modules in total).
Furthermore, make sure you do well in all courseworks. Ask your fellow peers for help. However, don't just email your work to them. Make sure you both do the work yourselves and then in person, show your work to each other (print it out). This should prevent plagiarism from both parties, at the same time you both can learn from each other and improve your own coursework.
Getting good marks in the coursework will significantly reduce your stress, as you won't have to worry as much for the final exams.
Q. 9) Which course was the hardest? Why?A. 9) Without a doubt, it was Biology. The lectures are extremely boring, especially late in the afternoon and they cover so much material. They try to cram AS and A2 Biology into a single year.
What makes this a joke is that the final exam is so simple. So ~90% of the stuff you're taught will not appear in the exam. Do not feel bad if you go into the lecture, and you don't remember a single thing that was said.
Chemistry was the second most difficult. It mostly consists of AS chemistry, with a couple of parts coming from A2 chemistry. Basically, most of the easier parts from A-Level Chemistry, so don't worry if you failed A-Level Chemistry.
Q. 10) Which course was the easiest? Why?A. 10) Maths. I got A in GCSE Maths. The Maths in this course literally starts from primary school level and then works it way up to AS Maths (near the end). If you know the basics, you'll find this course almost a joke. I got my 14 year old cousin (who got level 6 in KS3 Maths) to do the final exam (past paper), and he managed to pass with ~50% (I was supervising over him, to prevent him from cheating). That pretty much says it all. I had already passed the course without needing to do the final exam (I had 45% out of 50% before the final exam).
Q. 11) Could you use University facilities as well as the College facilities? A. 11) Yes I could. There are a 'help' lessons, which specifically help you integrate with the University. You basically have access to the University, just like anyone else who is studying at the University. The staff will constantly mention this, just so you feel like a University student. So don't feel pessimistic if you do end up studying at the college, because you still are a University student. Don't let anybody else tell you otherwise.
Q. 12) What did you generally think of the lectures?A. 12) Most of them are decent. However, I had this one teacher, who was new to the job (teaching biology). She was pretty incompetent. If you want help, make sure to email them. They should reply back to you pretty fast (within 48 hours). Don't expect much from them though, it's not like 6th Form at A-Levels. They don't care too much whether you pass or not. If you don't pay attention, you're losing out, not them.
Q. 13) What is the best way to revise?A. 13) During my time, they used a system called '
Moodle' to keep us updated. The chemistry teacher made sure to keep things up to date. Whereas the other subjects were not very organised. You'll also submit courseworks on 'Moodle'. When I revised one day before an exam, I just read up on the powerpoints posted on Moodle by the lecturers. It was extremely useful to quickly read up on the topics I was unsure about.
I wouldn't recommend buying any books. Just borrow from the library (either the College or University). If you can't get it, don't bother unless you want to get into Pharmacy.
Q. 14) Is the foundation course similar to your University course?A. 14) Based on personal experience, yes it is. I'm currently doing 'Pharmaceutical Science'. The foundation course definitely has a lot of traits which are similar to my course.
The difficulty is similar too. If you do well in the foundation year, you'll probably do just as well (if not better) during University (first year). I can only speak for my course though, I'm not sure about the other courses that have more biology.
Q. 15) What results did you get during the foundation year? A. 15) Maths: ~75%. Skills: ~75%. Chemistry: ~60%. Biology: ~45%.
Q. 16) What results did you get during your first year at University (Pharmaceutical Science)?A. 16) Molecular Skills: ~80%. Spectroscopy: ~80%. Chemistry: ~60%. Biology: ~60%.
Q. 17) Overall experience?A. 17) If you're a mature student and/or somebody who has been out of education for quite some time (3+ years), this course will definitely help you refresh and it's worth doing it.
I wasn't a mature student though. I came directly after not getting the required A-Level grades. I must say, this course is a much easier route into University than A-Levels.
I'd say the foundation year difficulty wise, is the same as doing Science and Math at GCSE
(while achieving B in GCSE at minimum). You can fail the final exams, yet still pass due to good coursework marks, which makes this course an extremely easy route to get into University. Honestly, I don't think a single student who manages to attend 90%+ lectures should fail any modules.
The hardest challenge is attending all the lectures. Commuting took me roughly 2 hours (2 trains and 2 buses).
As my UCAS points were below 160, there was no way I was going to get into any University to do my desired course. So I'm extremely thankful that this course exists for
lazy people like me, who
struggle to revise due to procrastination and/or other
personal reasons.
I've applied to live out for my 2nd year (3rd year, if you count foundation year) at University (1st year doesn't count towards your degree grade, 2nd and 3rd year do). Hopefully by living out, I can actually concentrate on revising for the first time in my life. This way, I should easily manage to get a first degree (70%+).
Q. 18) How do you think the foundation course can be improved?A. 18) - Lower tuition prices. I honestly don't see why they need that much money.
- If somebody fails to get into University straight away, allow them to do 'entry' exams, to see if they really need to attend a foundation course or not.
They can put the study material on their website. They can set a specific date for when the 'entry exams' will take place (probably should be set in late August).
If something like that existed, I'm pretty sure I would have passed without needing to do the foundation course. However I doubt they'll do that, because they're greedy for money, rather than to judge whether somebody is intellectually competent enough to cope with University or not.
- Generally, food prices are too expensive. Example: Sandwich prices shouldn't cost more than £1. The local shops at Kingston literally sell it for £1. So why can't the College & University?
You'd think they'd get better deals than a local shop... Food prices are cheaper at the College though, but not by much.
TL;DR =
If you failed AS/A-Levels, this course is probably the easiest route into a Science course at University. The minute you get your AS results and if you didn't get C or above in most subjects, I'd recommend you apply for this course straight away. Don't bother doing A2/completing A levels- you'll probably end up wasting time & it
(AS/A2) requires far more effort
(plus you'll avoid retakes).
Heck, even if you have only done GCSE with B's and above (in Science and Maths), you should find this course relatively easy as long as you attend nearly all of the lectures (~95%).
I didn't even have enough UCAS points to meet this course's minimum requirement, as I only did AS (I got 3 E's). I only revised the night before an exam for all of the foundation module exams, yet I still passed this course easily.
If you know anybody who has failed A-Levels and failed to get into a Science course via UCAS clearing. Then I'd highly recommend you tell them about this course, which is almost a guaranteed route into a Science course at University.
I wish more schools told students about foundation courses. They make it seem like you can never get into University if you fail A-Levels.
Module Guides - Click here to download! Revision: Kingston Science Foundation Year - Click here to download! (mostly past papers)
You don't just have to take my word for it, that this course is easy.Have a look yourself, by downloading the module guides & revision material.