Can I do a foundation year and resit A levels at the same time ?

Hi, so I didn’t get the best A levels. I’m completely split 50/50 between a foundation year for mech engineering and resitting maths+physics.
However, would it be possible to do both? People say FY’s are fairly easy and a lot of what I’m going to learn in the FY will probably relate to my maths and physics A levels. So would it be possible? 3/3 of the people I’ve asked so far said they wouldn’t think it’s a good idea because it’d be added stress. But I don’t know I’m just very unfamiliar to making such a big decision

I really don't think it's worth the hassle since they both lead to the same outcome. Bear in mind that once you have your full degree, nobody is really going to care about your A-Levels, if that's what you're worried about.
Foundation years are typically integrated into a full degree, so if you can find one with a university you like, then you should just be able to go straight onto the full degree. The downfall of Foundation years is that they usually cost the same amount of tuition as a normal year, so are much more expensive than retaking A-Levels.
Retaking your A-Levels might give you more options for universities if you can't find one you like that offers a foundation year. Additionally, if you change your mind and don't want to do a MEng degree anymore, you will likely have more leeway to pivot with A-Levels as opposed to an integrated Foundation year. I would check this with your chosen universities though as each have different policies on this.
TLDR: It's best to just pick one, stick to it and get good grades, rather than stressing yourself out and risk messing up both and losing out on a lot of money in the process. They are both going to lead to the same outcome, either way you choose.

That’s what I’m doing, I’m doing a foundation year and redoing one of my alevels and then applying for 2026

Hi!
From my experience, doing a FY was very similar to my A-Levels. I do agree that doing both at the same time may be a struggle, but something you may be able to manage.
After completing my FY, I was accepted onto the course I wanted, despite my A-Level grades. This is not the same for every university or course, and I would recommend speaking to the admissions team of your desired university to find their policies. But this may mean that you might not need to re-sit your A-Levels at all, as your FY might count as an equivalent. This is just my experience though!
Wishing you all the best of luck!
Katie
Lancaster Student Ambassador

hooray nice to see someone else in a similar situation. What do u plan on retaking and what’s ur FY in ?

my main reason is to keep my options as open as possible. I don’t know if I plan on staying at the Uni I’m doing the FY for. And if I want to transfer, most Uni’s would look at my A level grades too.
I’m not too worried about debt since it really just acts as an extra tax from ur paycheck and ur never expected to pay it back with a normal salary
The grade requirements for this course is 60-90 UCAS points and their website states 96% of people doing the FY progress onto higher education.
And most people I’ve spoken to said their foundation year was relatively easy and/or was mostly a recap of A levels. It might be extra hassle and stress of organising to retake but if the FY overlaps a lot with maths and physics A levels, which I’m retaking, then perhaps it won’t be too difficult.
But I’m not super persistent on this idea. Of course if I do the FY and reconsider later that this is enough and I don’t need to retake then I most likely won’t

hooray nice to see someone else in a similar situation. What do u plan on retaking and what’s ur FY in ?

Retaking A level maths! And might do a extra language which I speak, so I think doing both at the same time is achievable since data science have lots of maths

Aw best of luck to us we’re in very similar positions haha

While I can't speak for everyone, doing a FY was the best thing I could have done in that moment. While I stayed at the same university, I was able to transfer to a completely different subject area upon completion. I found the FY to be a really good stepping stone into university, giving me the first taste of freedom while technically recapping A-Levels.
In terms of money, you have the right mindset! You're entitled to 4 years student loan, which would cover a foundation year + degree.
A-Levels and FY are typically at similar levels so you may not be required to take both. I would strongly recommend contacting the course/university you eventually want to end up at as they can give you more insight on whether a FY would suffice.
I'd be happy to help with any other queries!
Katie
Lancaster Student Ambassador

Hi!
From my experience, doing a FY was very similar to my A-Levels. I do agree that doing both at the same time may be a struggle, but something you may be able to manage.
After completing my FY, I was accepted onto the course I wanted, despite my A-Level grades. This is not the same for every university or course, and I would recommend speaking to the admissions team of your desired university to find their policies. But this may mean that you might not need to re-sit your A-Levels at all, as your FY might count as an equivalent. This is just my experience though!
Wishing you all the best of luck!
Katie
Lancaster Student Ambassador

Ur right, I’ll email/call some of the uni’s I’m interested in!
On the finance aspect, I thought SFE would cover your degree years no matter the length and covering an FY and 1 resit was separate. But there was a lot of differing opinions I’ve seen so I think I’ll also just email about that 😊

Just an extra question, could you elaborate on what made the FY similar to your A levels ? Was it the content, workload, etc ?

my main reason is to keep my options as open as possible. I don’t know if I plan on staying at the Uni I’m doing the FY for. And if I want to transfer, most Uni’s would look at my A level grades too.
I’m not too worried about debt since it really just acts as an extra tax from ur paycheck and ur never expected to pay it back with a normal salary
The grade requirements for this course is 60-90 UCAS points and their website states 96% of people doing the FY progress onto higher education.
And most people I’ve spoken to said their foundation year was relatively easy and/or was mostly a recap of A levels. It might be extra hassle and stress of organising to retake but if the FY overlaps a lot with maths and physics A levels, which I’m retaking, then perhaps it won’t be too difficult.
But I’m not super persistent on this idea. Of course if I do the FY and reconsider later that this is enough and I don’t need to retake then I most likely won’t