Could foundation year destroy my chances?

How would having done a foundation year (at Queen Mary or UCL) before the LLB affect my chanes at gaining a pupillage/TC? I have a non-UK GCE-equivalent qualification with very good grades but most UK universities also require additional A-levels hence the foundation year.

However I imagine it wouldn't look good at all in my CV, am I right?

How would having done a foundation year (at Queen Mary or UCL) before the LLB affect my chanes at gaining a pupillage/TC? I have a non-UK GCE-equivalent qualification with very good grades but most UK universities also require additional A-levels hence the foundation year.

However I imagine it wouldn't look good at all in my CV, am I right?

It will not hinder your application because most applications ask if you have international qualifications and there will be a system of equivalency, if you have good grades in these international qualifications that are equivalent to ABB/AAB/AAA or whatever it is TC and pupillage forms request nowadays you will not be hindered. Further your foundation year will be a minor introduction to law so firms will not look too much into it. Finally UCL is probably one of the top 5 law schools in the country and any law degree from there will be adored by employers regardless of whether there is a foundation course attached to it, as long as you get a 2:1 or above you'll be fine

I can't speak from personal experience, but I'd say that it won't. Almost every top uni has a foundation year with direct progression onto Law, so if your foundation marks were enough to give you entry to a place like QMUL, UCL, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and many others I suppose in theory you'll be on par with students who entered via A-Levels, thus being at their AAA/AAB level. Manchester's foundation programme, for instance, uses a mark system where a progression to Law requires a AAA mark (and 360 points by their own standards), which is very similar to a standard entry, thus I'm sure it has somewhat of a high academic level. Furthermore, I've read that firms use A Levels as a mere filter. It's hard to imagine someone with a first from a top 20 university having a career ruined because of a foundation year.

Be aware, though, that UCL's foundation programme has suffered several criticism from prospective law and economics students. I'd avise you to look further into that.

As others have explained, the CV is not your problem.

Please check with QMUL and UCL and ask what are their progression rates for foundation year students onto their own LLBs. In addition, ask them where did last year's foundation year students who did not progress on to their own degrees end up.

You may be in for quite a shock.

Email sent with a bunch of specific questions, though you sound like you have the general picture. Is it that bad?

Yeah, I've come across the critism you're referring to about the UCL FP and -frankly, due to its absolutely undeservered astronomical fees (£14k)- if I am to do that, I will be going to QMUL. Do you maybe happen to know/have heard anything about it?

I do like that both you and woody-wood implied that getting a very, very good grade is needed as a kind of compensation for the foundation year (ofc, I know it's needed anyway but the wording gave that impression to me).

Hm, I don't know if it has to be compensated. I'm on the same boat as you (a prospective foundation student), so it's hard to give a fair account. However, 2:1 seems the bare minimum these days, so a first class degree is just a way to be "safe" (if there is one!).

It could be argued that an access course (that is very similar to a foundation year) is an "easier" way to enter prestigious universities, which then could raise some doubts in the minds of employers. However, your taking the foundation year is apparently solely due the fact that you, as an international student (I'm assuming), do not qualify for direct entry onto an undegraduate degree through no fault of your own.

Law firms do use A Levels filters, but (just a guess) I believe this is just a way to select students in an automatic computered way. It's not likely they will want to analyse it further. Someone from QMUL or UCL is not the kind of person they want to filter out, anyway. Those are highly regarded institutions that select themselves the kind of student they want there.

Through a quick search on TSR you'll find some threads about QMUL's foundation programme, but I can't say anything about it. I would suggest you look into other prestigious universities that offer a foundation year with direct progression onto Law:

Bristol
Nottingham
KCL
Manchester
Exeter
Newcastle
East Anglia
Leeds
Surrey
Sussex
Leicester
Lancaster
Liverpool
Sheffield
Durham
Warwick
Southampton
York
Edinburgh
St. Andrews
Glasgow

As you can see, the options are plenty. Additionally, universities might accept other programmes as a suitable qualification. For example, Manchester even provides a list: http://www.law.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/international/foundation/index.html

Good luck with your choice and your subsequent law course.