foundation year

At the same uni? Or foundation at one uni and main degree at another?

In the latter case certainly. In the former case probably although it'd be a little redundant I would imagine, as if you met the entry criteria for the main course you might not be considered for the foundation course anyway.

what do you mean? sorry i don't understand i just found out about foundation years recently. im retaking because i went from A*AA to BDD so i dont even meet the requirements for foundation. im guessing from what youre saying they decline individuals who get higher than their foundation requirements? thats odd... i dont get the difference though. i wanna consider a foundation level UCL or Cambridge but want to apply to degree as well, so the foundation is kind of like a back up incase i get rejected

Foundation years are normally designed for people who don't meet the requirements for the main degree, and so several state clearly that if you meet the requirements for the main degree you shouldn't apply to the foundation year. They aren't normally designed as "backup" choices for people who missed their grades, they are normally for:

a) students with good results but not taking certain required subjects for the main degree
b) students who meet specified widening participation/contextual criteria.
c) for international student's whose education systems don't go up to year 13 equivalent
d) some combination of the above

Particularly, as far as I am aware the Cambridge foundation year falls under category b) above and the UCL certificate falls under category c).

I don't think you're choosing a foundation year for the right reason, and I don't think the foundation years you have selected make sense for the reason you are choosing them anyway. That said some universities with foundation years won't restrict things as above and would be options, but neither of those listed would be suitable choices I think.

I'm not really sure how this works but
I am viable for contextual and access schemes hence and I am eligible for the disadvantaged part. I think it links to my bad A2 grades and the disadvantage I get from resitting to getting into a good uni. E.g. I resit, get 3A* and apply to UCL for English Literature and I also apply to Cambridge for a foundation year in Humanities incase I don't get into UCL, guaranteeing (?) me into a degree incase I get rejected for resitting from UCL.

I'm also heavily considering to apply to change to to a different subject - although that's the part I'm hesitant on as I usually require maths or chemistry which I don't have. I'm a bit conflicted as I don't think I can take the required A-Level in a single year along with three other retakes

If you're eligible for the contextual reasons then worth a try for those ones.

Generally English lit is somewhat undersubscribed at most unis so I think it's fairly unlikely you'd end up with no offers even if you are retaking. Obviously if you don't actually want to do an English lit degree then don't apply to one, but if you like the subject there's no reason to change subjects...

Also I'm not really sure what your situation is as you're saying you are resitting and have your A-level grades but then your post above makes it sound like you aren't yet resitting? Do you have your A-level results yet or is this based on an assumption you aren't going to get the grades this year?

The thing is I'm stern on going to UCL or a top 10 top for English and if not I would rather do a different course (which I'm into) than do English at a non prestigious uni. UCL is extremely competitive and quite popular for English too. I'm sure resitting will disadvantage me and so will my A2 grades hence I need to rely on that foundation year (either to UCL or Cambridge) getting me through incase the likely chance I'll get rejected.

I'm also curious, sorry, is there a limit to how many foundation years you can apply to eg does it count as your five options in UCAS? I don't know how this works, can I apply to foundation after I get rejected? Am I less likely to get into the Foundation course if we have grades applicable for the actual degree but am still eligible and if so will me being rejected by the degree effect it. Sorry for all the questions, you don't have to answer them all.

Yes, a foundation year course will be one of your 5 UCAS options.

Also again, the UCL foundation is for international fee status students.

Depends on the foundation year but I suspect for the Cambridge foundation year may not consider applicants who meet the entry criteria for the main course.

Note that foundation years for STEM courses are normally designed for those who have not done science A-levels.

I think you need to actually read the requirements and structures of the foundation years you are considering so you understand who they are for and whether it's something you should (or need to) apply to.

Thank you. Will they not consider me even if I'm eligible to contextual/access offers? So right now I don't have the tariff points for the foundation course, I don't think I'll be accepted (idk if contextual offers can change that) so my only choice is to retake and thus obviously try my best for better grades. Will that disadvantage me? I hope that maybe with my contextual background they might accept me? or I'll just apply to a different degree which I don't have to the subjects to study. I'm not sure but I think only Cambridge does foundations for the subjects I'm currently studying towards and UCL only does subjects that I don't have, so I think I should be accepted into UCL regardless if I get rejected from their English degree because the foundation I'm applying for is a different subject I can't access with my current subjects normally. Sorry for spamming you, you're the only knowledgable person I've conversed with.