Pharmacy Foundation Year

I'm currently on year zero for pharmacy at University of Lincoln. The answer to your first question is yes you do need to take and exam at the end in order to progress into year 1, the thing is that the course is split into different aspects where 60% of your final grade is coursework and 40% is exams in each module, at Lincoln you study the fundementals of biology, chemistry, and maths throughtout the year along with a study skills module and a pharmacy module that i will be doing after Christmas, you need to get 60% in all of these individual modules in order to progress into year 1. As for your 2nd question I'm not entirely sure yet but you do get a chance to resit your exams at the end of year 0 if you don't meet the pass score and also you have a lot of ur coursework you do throughout the year to make up for any low scores as long as you do well in them, as far as I know we do have some people that are retaking their year 0 on my course. As for your 3rd question yes you do study full-time. As for the timetable I'll give you mine as an example, on Mondays I usually have a maths seminar and labs when appropriate, Tuesdays I have study skills workshop and lecture along with a biology seminar, my Wednesdays I'm off timetable for independent study and occasional tutorials, while Thursdays I have a chemistry seminar and a maths seminar, Fridays are usually off unless I have a pharmacy seminar. As for your 4th question as for now I can't tell you much as I'm still at the start of the course so I feel it's not as heavy as direct entry pharmacy would be, but as soon as you enter the course you need to be prepared for assessments (end of topics) that would contribute to your final grade.
I hope I answered your questions.

Or you could just try a bit harder at your A levels, start in Year 1 and not waste a year.

sorry for the late reply. From my experience, I had to interview with people who applied for first so I would say the interview like it's the same whether you apply for the foundation year or straight into first year. But as a piece of advice, I would say study harder and try to get into first year right away.