The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Taking a Foundation Year

Hi. I've just finished AS and am worried i might have to resit the year (still awaiting results). I don't get A's but rather B's + C's. I'd like to take English literature in university.

I would really appreciate if someone could explain what a foundation year involves and whether employers like them or not.

I also would like to know if you have to sit an exam to either get into the foundation year or continue into the next 3 year course.

As well as this, would it be easier to get into certain universities by taking a foundation year if you have had to take a resit of either AS or A2

thank you for your help
Original post by The Peoples
Hi. I've just finished AS and am worried i might have to resit the year (still awaiting results). I don't get A's but rather B's + C's. I'd like to take English literature in university.

I would really appreciate if someone could explain what a foundation year involves and whether employers like them or not.

I also would like to know if you have to sit an exam to either get into the foundation year or continue into the next 3 year course.

As well as this, would it be easier to get into certain universities by taking a foundation year if you have had to take a resit of either AS or A2

thank you for your help


I decided to take a foundation course last year after I got my A2 results.
Well, foundation courses are designed for international students and usually, they just ask for your IELTS score and your previous academic records. I'm not so sure whether many universities offer a foundation course for english lit. I personally think that it's easier to get into universities with A levels, because you can apply to any school you want, but with foundation you can only apply to ones that would accept the foundation from your institutions, ones that don't are likely to reject the application in. However with foundation, you can progress to their undergraduate degree if you get their requirements and some just give a guaranteed place in undergraduate.
Original post by The Peoples
Hi. I've just finished AS and am worried i might have to resit the year (still awaiting results). I don't get A's but rather B's + C's. I'd like to take English literature in university.

I would really appreciate if someone could explain what a foundation year involves and whether employers like them or not.

I also would like to know if you have to sit an exam to either get into the foundation year or continue into the next 3 year course.

As well as this, would it be easier to get into certain universities by taking a foundation year if you have had to take a resit of either AS or A2

thank you for your help


You will struggle to find a university that offer humanities foundation years, I have only seen two. This is because they tend to be aimed towards students who studied the wrong subjects at A-level and want a change of career/degree. So they tend to be mostly science and engineering.

Employers don't care that you have studied a FY, however if you studied on a FY because you had bad grades, you probably won't get past their application stage, as most ask for 300Ucas points, some a bit more and some less. Though some employers are removing this for certain roles.

The foundation year is usually just year 0 of a 3 year course, so 4 years total. You will likely be asked to achieve higher grades in year 0 to progress to year 1, maybe 65% or there about, but it is the same as the other years in regards to exams etc.

You have another year of school for free if you want to take it, so your best option is to resit and work harder to get good grades. Taking a year 0 because you have bad grades, as opposed to just repeating the year/resitting A-levels is a massive waste of money. It also looks worse you your CV than an extra year at school. If you get to the interview stage, employers will ask you why you needed a foundation year, if you have no reason other than you had bad grades it won't look so good.

Take my advice and resit.


Original post by yjeslee
I decided to take a foundation course last year after I got my A2 results.
Well, foundation courses are designed for international students and usually, they just ask for your IELTS score and your previous academic records. I'm not so sure whether many universities offer a foundation course for english lit. I personally think that it's easier to get into universities with A levels, because you can apply to any school you want, but with foundation you can only apply to ones that would accept the foundation from your institutions, ones that don't are likely to reject the application in. However with foundation, you can progress to their undergraduate degree if you get their requirements and some just give a guaranteed place in undergraduate.


International foundations are not the same as foundation years for home/eu students.
Reply 3
Avatar for The Peoples
The Peoples
OP
Thank you so much

I'll take what you've said on board

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you