The Student Room Group
Students outside halls at University of East Anglia (UEA)
University of East Anglia
Norwich
Visit website

Foundation Science at UEA - Your experience and feedback please

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Sam_Prudence
I'm doing the foundation year at the moment and was planning on going into halls next year, i wasn't aware of that? I met someone whose finished their foundation year and is staying in halls for a second year this year?


It used to say on the website somewhere, now it just says they don't guarentee accomodation to those who have previously studied at UEA before https://www.uea.ac.uk/accommodation/undergraduate-accommodation/guarantee

And I know last year they couldn't give rooms to a lot of people who didn't meet the guarentee so your best off finding somewhere else (unless you have a disability)
Students outside halls at University of East Anglia (UEA)
University of East Anglia
Norwich
Visit website
Original post by jelly1000
It used to say on the website somewhere, now it just says they don't guarentee accomodation to those who have previously studied at UEA before https://www.uea.ac.uk/accommodation/undergraduate-accommodation/guarantee

And I know last year they couldn't give rooms to a lot of people who didn't meet the guarentee so your best off finding somewhere else (unless you have a disability)

ok thanks
I applied for this degree and I got B's in my A Levels with Geography so i'm not really sure why I am getting an interview??

Starting to stress out now
Original post by Frostyjoe
I applied for this degree and I got B's in my A Levels with Geography so i'm not really sure why I am getting an interview??

Starting to stress out now


Stress less.

Just because you get the grades doesn't automatically mean you can get an offer. And just because they offer an interview doesn't mean there is anything they aren't sure about you. Sometimes unis just have a procedure which interviews are part of.

Just make sure you have solid answers to questions such as 'why do you want to study science', 'why this course and not a different science course', 'why uea' etc and you'll be fine.

Apart from those you can wing it pretty easily. I got asked a question related to my PS I wrote like 2 years before. It was about a book I read a bit of, when I got asked the question I had no idea and just sort of waffled. Got the offer in the end so yeah, stress less bro.
Original post by Et Tu, Brute?
Stress less.

Just because you get the grades doesn't automatically mean you can get an offer. And just because they offer an interview doesn't mean there is anything they aren't sure about you. Sometimes unis just have a procedure which interviews are part of.

Just make sure you have solid answers to questions such as 'why do you want to study science', 'why this course and not a different science course', 'why uea' etc and you'll be fine.

Apart from those you can wing it pretty easily. I got asked a question related to my PS I wrote like 2 years before. It was about a book I read a bit of, when I got asked the question I had no idea and just sort of waffled. Got the offer in the end so yeah, stress less bro.


I read online and discovered everyone has an interview. For preparation I just got a set of questions for environmental science and I am learning those.

What kind of questions are asked and how long is the interview? If you get in how long is the course?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Frostyjoe
I read online and discovered everyone has an interview. For preparation I just got a set of questions for environmental science and I am learning those.

What kind of questions are asked and how long is the interview?


Well they asked me for an interview for Nat.Sci. but when I told them I'd have to book a flight just to get there they did a phone interview instead. That only lasted about 5-10mins and was pretty chilled (but still serious questions etc).

As for the questions, it was like things I mentioned above. And maybe something about what sort of career I wanted (or maybe I mentioned the career thing as a reason to study the course...can't remember). If you plan on mentioning a career make sure you know enough about it. Eg. If it is fracking related make sure you know some pros and cons etc that shows you have at least a vague idea about it.

For the foundation year they will probably want to see some sort of motivation to do well, which would be worth thinking about.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by JayAce
Student fees do not go up until the 2012/13 academic year so you are safe :cool:


I did the science foundation year last year and loved it, Jenny Bochmann (Chemistry) is just great! My brother is now doing science foundation year this year and one of my best friends has applied for next year..... Can't recommend it enough!

Plus the good this is, you can enjoy the uni life without an awful lot of pressure on you, and getting real good grades is relatively easy!

If you achieve 80% overall for the year you get an extra £500 bursary for each remaining year of your degree course, and if you transfer to a chemistry course (I'm on MChem) achieving 75% overall and 75% in each chemistry module you get £2000 on top for each remaining year!! (or £1000 per year of you get 70%)

Could it get any better people?!?!?!?! :biggrin:


Do they still do this? Is it only for Chemistry? They never mentioned this.
Original post by Jakelee
As im over halfway through my foundation year and got an interview with the Pharmacy department on Wednesday I can field that one.

Even if you make the grades (70% without a science a-level, 75% with) then you are not guaranteed a place.

I got 78% first semester and if I don't do well at the interview, or mess up my second semester then that's it.

So it's a good idea to find out what other uni's accept UEA's foundation year and apply for them later this year (when you first start the UEA course). Some of them ask for lower admission percentages then UEA. :smile:


Hi, this is worrying me. I got 67% so far which is alright i suppose, but the degree course that I want to get into requires a 75% entry requirement.

My coursework and doing Chemistry pulled me down. I got 70% in Physics and Maths.

I hope that I can bring it up to 75% this term. But this is very worrying, I wouldn't want to waste a full year and then be put on the ordinary degree course that I could've done anyway. I came here specifically for this degree.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by mrdoovde1
It's difficult if you haven't studied any science A levels before.

Semester 1 starts out fairly easy and is taught at GCSE level then gradually gets more difficult. Semester 2 is where it starts to get really difficult especially for people with no science A level.

Maths is heavily involved with calculus i.e. intergration, differentiation, logs etc with other topics including trigonometry and vectors . Maths is where you really picks up the marks as it's 50% coursework in semester 1 and 20% in semester 2 and almost everyone gets between 90%-100% in the coursework.

Chemistry includes bonding, alkanes, hydrocarbons in semster 1 and goes into organic chemistry in semester 2 such enthalpies, spectroscopy and functional group.

Biology modules include cell structures, physiology, food chains, gametes and more but can't remember them on the top of my head.

Physics includes dynamics, acceleration, forces, and circuits for semester 1. Don't know what other topics there are as I didn't take it in semester 2.

As long as you put in the workload, you should get into Pharmacy but bairing in mind 70%/75% is still quite hard to acheive so you need to put in the extra hours.


I find this odd. I haven't studied science A Levels but I came out with 70% in Physics, i'm not finding it THAT hard.I need to work on it to sustain that though.

I did study AS Maths last year though. I found it ALOT harder than the work we're doing right now!
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Frostyjoe
Hi, this is worrying me. I got 67% so far which is alright i suppose, but the degree course that I want to get into requires a 75% entry requirement.

My coursework and doing Chemistry pulled me down. I got 70% in Physics and Maths.

I hope that I can bring it up to 75% this term. But this is very worrying, I wouldn't want to waste a full year and then be put on the ordinary degree course that I could've done anyway. I came here specifically for this degree.


What course are you applying for?
Meteorology and Oceanography with a year abroad.
Original post by Frostyjoe
Meteorology and Oceanography with a year abroad.


chances are they will let you in with a slightly less than what they ask, though depends on how many spaces they have etc so best to try get the grade they want but at the same time don't stress too much about it. Even if you miss out then you stay on the Science Foundation degree, which lets you pick any of the science modules you want, so you can just pick the same modules as on the Met/Oceanography course and then transfer onto that course if you do well in year 1.
I've applied for the year abroad, i'm not sure if I'll get it though.

My average so far is 72%. The entry requirement is 75% so i'm close to it. I had a discussion with a professor who said that I would probably not get in if I got below 74%.

Anyone have any experience with this? How lenient are they? 75% is a very high mark to achieve, i've been averaging 60,70 and 80's throughout and I still haven't achieved it. I have one more exam left, hopefully I do great in that to enhance the mark.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Matureb
I don`t think that the foundation year is as hard as A levels. But my A levels were a long time ago. You are taught well, but only those concepts that you will need to start your chosen degree after the foundation year.
Some courses require you to be in the top group for maths. Brush up on your maths before the maths test.


I did AS Maths last year, from the Maths at least it seems like they do A level standard work, however, they tailor it to their needs, for example, I noticed that they do Complex numbers which is not in the Core A2 specification.
Original post by Jakelee
Whats Physics on Foundation like? I've never done it before heard its extremely hard (and very related to maths).

Also will it look wierd that I am applying with a Biology personal statement (as that is what I want to go into).


It's relatively easy.
Original post by Frostyjoe
I've applied for the year abroad, i'm not sure if I'll get it though.

My average so far is 72%. The entry requirement is 75% so i'm close to it. I had a discussion with a professor who said that I would probably not get in if I got below 74%.

Anyone have any experience with this? How lenient are they? 75% is a very high mark to achieve, i've been averaging 60,70 and 80's throughout and I still haven't achieved it. I have one more exam left, hopefully I do great in that to enhance the mark.


Depends on the course and how many free places they have on it,l so it would be different year by year really. I know someone who applied for NatSci and missed the 75% by a few % also, maybe 3-4%, and they never got onto the course. Bare in mind that NatSci is with a different school, ENV is different. I know people who applied to others schools (BIO) and missed out by similar marks but still got on.

More specific to ENV, I know someone who missed out on the 65% needed for one of the ENV courses, and they were able to transfer onto it by getting like 60% or something in their first year (just to clarify, first year as in year 1, not foundation year). So even if you miss out but get onto course without year aboard, there is a good chance you can still transfer next year if you get their grades. You apply for a transfer sometime in second semester next year I believe, and they'll give you a target to meet. So if you don't get it this year, then don't worry too much as there is still a chance of getting onto it. There's not too much you can do about it now really other than try and ace your final exam. Based on my experience with foundation year, getting over 75% in the exam is definitely doable. What is the exam you have left to do?

Also, didn't realise you are from NI, me too!!!
Original post by Et Tu, Brute?
Depends on the course and how many free places they have on it,l so it would be different year by year really. I know someone who applied for NatSci and missed the 75% by a few % also, maybe 3-4%, and they never got onto the course. Bare in mind that NatSci is with a different school, ENV is different. I know people who applied to others schools (BIO) and missed out by similar marks but still got on.

More specific to ENV, I know someone who missed out on the 65% needed for one of the ENV courses, and they were able to transfer onto it by getting like 60% or something in their first year (just to clarify, first year as in year 1, not foundation year). So even if you miss out but get onto course without year aboard, there is a good chance you can still transfer next year if you get their grades. You apply for a transfer sometime in second semester next year I believe, and they'll give you a target to meet. So if you don't get it this year, then don't worry too much as there is still a chance of getting onto it. There's not too much you can do about it now really other than try and ace your final exam. Based on my experience with foundation year, getting over 75% in the exam is definitely doable. What is the exam you have left to do?

Also, didn't realise you are from NI, me too!!!


Lol I am from NI, not too many people at UEA from here.

My last exam is Maths, it will be challenging but I don't see why I couldn't do it and get a decent mark.
I guess i'll have to wait and see.

I'm not going to lie, I'd probably be annoyed if I didn't get in as my mark is already quite high and a 3% difference is minimal in my opinion. I don't see how someone with 75% is going to produce as a good a work as someone with 73%.
(edited 7 years ago)
I got my results. I achieved 72.5% overall; in Maths (two higher modules - 79% in semester two) I achieved an average of 73% and in Physics (two modules) I achieved an average of 76% which to me while not 'genius',is still pretty good results.

I haven't been told whether or not I got onto the year abroad course yet but I suspect not. On my profile it still says 'Environmental science with a foundation year' but provides a list of my modules and only shows a 3 year course.

If true I will be disappointed. One of the reasons why I applied to this university instead of others was due to the option of a year abroad. I don't see any justification for declining/rejecting someone onto a course that has a 75% entry requirement when they are barely 2.5% out and have decent Maths results.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Frostyjoe
I got my results. I achieved 72.5% overall; in Maths (two higher modules - 79% in semester two) I achieved an average of 73% and in Physics (two modules) I achieved an average of 76% which to me while not 'genius',is still pretty good results.

I haven't been told whether or not I got onto the year abroad course yet but I suspect not. On my profile it still says 'Environmental science with a foundation year' but provides a list of my modules and only shows a 3 year course.

If true I will be disappointed. One of the reasons why I applied to this university instead of others was due to the option of a year abroad. I don't see any justification for declining/rejecting someone onto a course that has a 75% entry requirement when they are barely 2.5% out and have decent Maths results.


Hi, did you get into meteorology and oceanography in the end? I'm going to UEA in September to do a foundation year in environmental science then hopefully move onto the same course as you? Will I need an average of 75% over my modules? Thanks
Yeah. The entry requirements for Meteorology & Oceanography are as required:

*- Basic Maths I 65% +
* *Basic Maths II 65% +
*- overall 65%.

You can apply for the Meterology and Oceanography course with a year abroad; 75% overall is required*
(edited 7 years ago)

Quick Reply

Latest