Electronic foundation year at York uni

hey mate, i didnt get interview but ive got an unconditional offer for the same course, best of luck!

not sure if you are ever on this site anymore, but I thought I'd may as well quote you and ask about the foundation year at York.

I'd like to know what you thought of the teaching during the year? And how hard you found it? Also, what was your background in maths/physics before the course for example GCSE grade B etc?

My boyfriend is doing this course now so I could answer a few of your questions
Apparently the teaching wasn't that great on the maths modules and things aren't explained very clearly sometimes. The course requires a lot of self-study. You will be in 9-5 most weekdays and have a large workload. It is a very hard course if you haven't done maths/physics for a while so I would advise getting up to scratch on them before the course starts to give yourself the edge. Students on the degree course commented that the foundation year students were doing harder stuff than what they did in their first year (to put it in perspective).
His background was GCSE grade B in Maths & Science. PEO Engineering certificate, one English A level grade C and two AS levels grade C.

ha, well I'll happily settle for that. I only found this thread via a google search and with only two posts (both over a year old) I really wasn't expecting to hear a single thing. So at least now I've come into contact with someone who knows someone on the course Believe it or not but you are the closest to first hand student experience on the course I've encountered.

Anyway...is your boyfriend on the foundation year this year or did he finish it already and is starting year 1 this year?

Was the physics teaching much better?

Yeah I plan on AS-level maths this summer, or at least one or two of the papers stand alone if I can't fit in the time for the full AS. Where his AS-levels in Maths or Physics?

thanks

The physics teaching was better but in second semester the lecturer didn't turn up for a few lectures and they weren't taught what they missed because of it :/
He did the course last year but took a leave of absence due to personal issues. So hes retaking part of the course in January, hoping the teaching is better.
No, he had no maths/physics apart from GCSE. His A levels/AS levels were all humanities subjects.

Yeah I guess in such an intense course you haven't got time for even one or two set backs in lectures, but then again you'd think because of that they would either offer catch up lectures/tutorials or at the very least try get someone to cover the lecture.

What about the rest of his class? Did they have similar backgrounds in maths/physics? And how did they all do on the course?

You'd think that, but apparently not! Bit silly really.
How it worked is that if you passed the end of term exams after the first term then you could progress onto the spring term. If you didn't then you were thrown off the course and not allowed to resit. I think he said at least 5 people didn't make it to the spring term.
I'm not sure about their backgrounds, but the course is designed for people that have no background in maths/physics. You can't apply if you have maths/physics A level, only if you have qualifications that would not get you on the Beng course (i.e. humanities a levels or only as levels).

Yeah I think it is 50% in the maths and physics modules to progress into the spring term then 60% in the summer exams. Did he think the first term was hard? What grade did he get in the first term and how much effort did he put in? Does he know if the 5 who failed first term did much work or just bluffed about? Sorry for the bombardment of questions, these are the last ones.