Why does the foundation course start earlier?

I didn't do very well in my A levels so I took the science foundation course at Manchester. I noticed that the foundation courses start date is 1st of September, unlike all the other courses that start on the 17th. Why is this?

Reply 1

poohe

*bump*

University of Manchester

Manchester

Reply 2

username3527766

Its to do with contact time. You need a certain amount of hours of tuition over the year. To get the right number of contact hours they add on 2 weeks. Its easier to timetable through the year too as lecturers obviously have to teach degree/Masters/Phd students.

For access courses they start in August to get the right number of hours. The alternative is much longer days and teaching time is expensive outside standard hours.

Reply 3

poohe

Original post by MadamePompadour

Ah I see, that makes sense, thank you! Does this mean my days will be generally slightly less busy than those of an undergraduate degree student?
Also from the website, it tells me about the modules for the first and second semester but no third semester. Does that mean the semesters will be longer, or is the information missing or do you not know much about that?
Also thanks again!

Reply 4

username3527766

Sorry I don't really know.

I took an access course and attended 10 hours a week over 2 days. My chosen degree would be 12 hours contact a week. Both expect the same number of hours self study.

Compared to the actual degree course we had less subject specific lectures because we were getting up to scratch so covering things like study skills and English for Academic study despite taking the 3 science subjects. So I would suspect that you will be taught more to bring you up to the right standard.

Reply 5

Aleiya

I'm on the foundation course. It doesn't start on the 1st, that is just what UCAS says. It actually starts on the 17th like all other courses.

Reply 6

Aleiya

You're the first person I've met that's on my course yay

Reply 7

poohe

Original post by Aleiya

I'm on the foundation course. It doesn't start on the 1st, that is just what UCAS says. It actually starts on the 17th like all other courses.

Ah I see, thank you! Also yay! Haven't met anyone who's going to the University of Manchester yet, never mind the same course as me. :O

Reply 8

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

As well as the above regarding the fact that you're covering (in theory) two years of A-level material in a single year, many foundation years are taught nearby 6th form college sites, and the courses follow their term dates (meaning you might get a reading week while they're on half term). Of course some courses even on the main campus have non-standard term dates; this may include your foundation year (medicine is another course which commonly has out of sync term dates with the rest of the uni).

Reply 9

Aleiya

Original post by poohe

Ah I see, thank you! Also yay! Haven't met anyone who's going to the University of Manchester yet, never mind the same course as me. :O

Someone I know is making a whatsapp group for our course, if you'd like I can send you a link to join it?

Reply 10

poohe

Original post by Aleiya

Someone I know is making a whatsapp group for our course, if you'd like I can send you a link to join it?

Sure, that'd be cool. Thanks! Getting to know some people beforehand instead of suddenly meeting everyone on tomorrow's open day or fresher's week would be nice. :u:

Reply 11

Aleiya

Original post by poohe

Sure, that'd be cool. Thanks! Getting to know some people beforehand instead of suddenly meeting everyone on tomorrow's open day or fresher's week would be nice. :u: