What is a Foundation Degree?

Interested in studying for a foundation degree?

Foundation Degrees have been developed directly with employers to encourage talented people of all ages into higher education.

They are practical in nature and are an excellent way to combine critical thinking and academic skills with practical hands on experience. Studying for a Foundation Degree will give you the work skills relevant to a particular sector of industry or public service, as well as providing the academic background. Developing the all-important attributes valued by today's employers - such as communication, problem solving and team building skills. 

Foundation Degrees provide an experience equivalent to the first two years at university - but a Foundation Degree also stands alone as a qualification in its own right.
You can also use this qualification as a base to progress even further as most have a recognised route through to honours degree level.  In some cases an additional short course will be required to bridge the gap between Foundation Degree and full honours degree programmes but this will depend on the type of honours degree top-up you choose.

Study options

You can study full-time but more often students opt for a part-time basis. A full-time Foundation Degree takes two years to complete, and the part-time route usually takes three years, but it depends on the design and delivery of the course. When you successfully complete your Foundation Degree you can use the letters FdA if the qualification is in an arts related course, FdSc for science based courses and FdEng for engineering courses.