Importance of the Foundation Year in UK Higher Education

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IMPORTANCE OF THE FOUNDATION YEAR IN UK HIGHER EDUCATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 2
FOUNDATION YEAR AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN UK’S EDUCATION SYSTEM....................................3
CHALLENGES FACED BY STUDENTS IN FOUNDATION YEAR...........................................................5
HOW TO OVERCOME THIS CHALLENGES.......................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. 9
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
A foundation year in the UK is an additional year of schooling which is done by students if they
fail to score sufficient marks to get into their preferred college. This offers them the additional
chance of learning key skills about the course they want to pursue and apply for a test, passing
to which secures them a seat in their preferred college (Lyons et al., 2010). A foundation
programme is offered by many institutes which have ties with colleges to provide support. A
foundation year can help students to focus on a chosen area of expertise before joining the
institute. Every international student who had studied a non-British curriculum has to do
foundation year where he is taught about various subjects like social science, medicine, science,
art, computing etc. which helps to fill the knowledge gap and improves English along with
familiarising with UK’s culture (Tallentire et al., 2011).
A foundation year for an international student is a great tool but when local citizens apply for it,
then the gap in the education system is observed. Students experience difficulties in the
transition to higher education due to lacking knowledge in some of the areas where they are
uninterested. Though many supporters say that many students understand their interest at
different times and universities need to be there to provide them with some opportunities
(Bursztyn and Jensen 2015). But many researchers suggest that students who succeed to get a
seat in the college with unconventional methods also presented similar success levels
compared to students who scored and got admission (Perez, 2010).
The debate of improving the education system is never-ending and this assignment will help to
understand the importance of foundation year along with observing the challenges faced by
students in the foundation year. It will also help to understand how the study skills in higher
education can help students of foundation year to overcome these challenges.
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FOUNDATION YEAR AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN UK’S EDUCATION SYSTEM
Foundation year in the UK has many benefits in strengthening its education system. It ensures
maximum chances of only well learned and knowledgeable students getting admission in the
colleges which ensure the quality of graduates (Lyons et al., 2010). A foundation year has many
importance and benefits for students as well as the country like:
Developing key skills:
The foundation course helps in developing key skills in the students which are the basic
requirement for a student if he wants to successfully manage himself and his career
(Calderwood et al., 2014).
Gain basic knowledge for a chosen field:
Good basic knowledge is very necessary for a student if he wants to be a part of a field or
profession (Hunley, 2010). Students receive basic education in school to ensure the availability
of varied knowledge but many students do not pay much attention to them and perform
poorly. These poor grades present the poor subject knowledge of the students and thus
colleges decide not to take students lacking such knowledge. A foundation course is also an
opportunity for a student if he get late in understanding the importance of a subject in his
career and thus help him to get additional chances to get into the desired college.
Ensures worthy graduate:
This system ensures that only worthy people who take their profession and education seriously
are allowed to use the country's resources. The unworthy and ineffective professional can be
very lethal for a country and its citizens. An ineffective doctor might lead people to death, an
unskilled engineer might construct something which can cause casualties or and ineffective,
unskilled Manager might attract losses to the business. Wrong people at important positions
might lead a country's performance to lower levels. Thus UK's education system ensures that
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only eligible candidates secure seats in the colleges and ineligible students can work hard and
try next time (Perez, 2010).
Improve Language proficiency
A foundation program also helps to understand and use language which is a great opportunity
for international students as they get a chance of removing any language barrier before
entering college. Language in many courses could be complex and thus a foundation course
helps the student to understand the complex jargons pre-hand. A foundation course also helps
students to clearly communicate with people who develop their interpersonal skill and also
help them in their career and life (Lyons et al., 2010).
Advance experience:
Many times student who chooses a field out of their range and interest don't get admission in
the college and then a foundation course help them. Foundation course help to get a taste of
the higher education in advance so the students who don’t have ability or interest in a
particular field have chances to drop the idea of pursuing a degree out of their interest. This
pre-hand experience sometimes also generates a new spark in students when they start
studying for their subject of interest. This new exploration sometimes also helps them to
understand their purpose of life and dreams (Bursztyn and Jensen 2015).
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CHALLENGES FACED BY STUDENTS IN FOUNDATION YEAR
Along with the benefits and importance of the foundation year, it also possesses many
challenges for the students. This challenges range from financial to psychological challenges
and students struggle really hard to deal with these challenges (Tallentire et al., 2011). Some of
the challenges faced by students are:
Financial Debt:
Many students face debt issues due to expenses incurred during a foundation year. This debt
often leads students to borrow money from unconventional sources and students gets further
down in depth. The depths incurred by students become hard to pay and increase tension for
students (Gutter, 2010).
Psychological challenges:
Students face many psychological challenges during the foundation year. These challenges
include mental stress, anxiety, depression, sleep issues etc. Many students face such
psychological issues due to societal forces and they often find it hard to deal with such issues
(Hunley, 2010). Such Psychological issues when developed in the students affect their
performance and lead them further into such issues (Rudd et al., 2011).
Pressure from peers:
Students sometimes also feel distant from their peers at this age and when they fail to
successfully get a seat in a college, the problem gets more intense. Students start having a
feeling of unworthiness and a sense of failing the parents also start developing in them
(Bursztyn and Jensen 2015). In such circumstance, if the parents are highly successful and
friends or other relatives start getting admission in good colleges then the problems increases.
This affects the confidence and social pride of students which further decrease the chances of
students securing seats in good colleges (Deb et al., 2015).
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Distractions:
Teenagers face much distraction and when they were in the foundation year and recently
passed from school then the distractions increases. A sense of being a grownup and freedom
leads teens to try different endeavours which results in distracting them from their studies and
they lose focus on their career. Teens indulged in such distractions often find it very hard to
focus on their studies which decrease their chances of getting into a good college (Calderwood
et al., 2014).
Loss of scholarship:
Students who do not get admission into the colleges directly from the school with good grade
often lose their chance at a scholarship and this result in increasing the expenses of college on
the students (Perez, 2010).
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HOW TO OVERCOME THIS CHALLENGES
It is very easy to state solutions for these challenges but the struggle is real and it is never easy
to overcome all these challenges together. Students may not be able to overcome all the
challenges but facing and overcoming some of these challenges can result in a successful career
and great opportunities. Solutions specific to the problems are as follows:
Financial Debt:
To deal with financial issues and debts, students have to closely manage their finances. It is not
advised to borrow money from any unauthorised source or any source since without any
income source students won’t be able to bear the burden of interest and repayment. Students
should start working at part-time jobs which reduces the burden of expenses on the parents
and provide an additional source of income to the students (Gutter, 2010). There are many
other ways to deal with financial issues like not spending more than earnings, saving for the bad
times, investing etc.
Psychological challenges:
Dealing with psychological challenges is not an easy task but the thing students should
understand is that only they are responsible for their state of mind and they should start
looking at the bright side. Students can also try counselling and discussion on their fears and
problems with their closed ones (Hunley, 2010). The students should try to divert their mind
from the problems and start working at the solution. They should develop a new viewpoint and
realize the fact that failure is a part of life and start considering themselves lucky to receive
failure in such early stages of life which might save them from future troubles. Student can also
consult senior students to guide in the matter of studies and pressure (Rudd et al., 2011).
Pressure from peers:
The students can seek guidance about the experience of students who have secured a seat in
the college after the foundation year. This can help students to understand that there are
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nothing to feel unworthy about and parents just what their children to be happy (Bursztyn and
Jensen 2015). Parents should also have proper communication with children so that these
pressure students feel can be addressed (Deb et al., 2015).
Distractions:
Everyone has distractions in life but not losing the focus due to distractions is what makes
people successful. Higher education students can help students with studies and can also give
tips to avoid a distraction which might reduce the chances of getting into college. Students
should also introspect about the distractions they are facing and possible solution to avoid
them (Calderwood et al., 2014).
Loss of scholarship:
This is one of the challenges in which no one can help the students but students should
understand that getting a seat in a good college can increase the chances of success in life and
students will be able to get returns on their investment. Banks also provide loans so students
can also seek their help in bearing the expenses. Though there is still hope for students to get a
scholarship from many other sources thus the students should never lose hope and keep up
their hard-work (Perez, 2010).
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CONCLUSION
There are surely many gaps in the education system and the government should address the
issues faced by students in the foundation year (Lyons et al., 2010). Students in the foundation
year face many problems like financial constraints which can be dealt with by proper financial
management and controlling the unnecessary expenses or indulging in any extravaganzas.
Students also feel many psychological issues like fear of not getting anywhere in life, anxiety
issues and often depression due to their failure in securing a seat in any good college (Tallentire
et al., 2011). These psychological issues can have an adverse effect on the wellbeing and
performance of students which further decrease their chances of success. Such issues need
proper attention and often counselling which can help the students to get over these issues and
focus on their career and even higher education students can also help foundation year
students in understanding the intensity of problem and gifts that life can still bring to them
(Perez, 2010).
Students also feel pressure from peers and get distracted to many other activities. These issues
can also be controlled by focusing the mind and giving the best performance after the year
(Bursztyn and Jensen 2015). Higher education student can also help in consulting and guiding
students with studies to face such issues and parents should also have close communication
with their children.
Apart from the challenges presented above, there could be other unidentified challenges or
issues faced by students in the foundation year and such issues might affect their future. The
government should start feeling the gaps in the school education system so that no student has
to invest another year in the name of foundation year to get a seat in the college of their field
of interest.
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REFERENCES
Bursztyn, L. and Jensen, R., 2015. How does peer pressure affect educational investments?. The
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(3), pp.1329-1367.
Calderwood, C., Ackerman, P.L. and Conklin, E.M., 2014. What else do college students “do”
while studying? An investigation of multitasking. Computers & Education, 75, pp.19-29.
Deb, S., Strodl, E. and Sun, J., 2015. Academic stress, parental pressure, anxiety and mental
health among Indian high school students. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences, 5(1), pp.26-34.
Gutter, M.S., Garrison, S. and Copur, Z., 2010. Social learning opportunities and the financial
behaviors of college students. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 38(4), pp.387-
404.
Hunley, H.A., 2010. Students’ functioning while studying abroad: The impact of psychological
distress and loneliness. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34(4), pp.386-392.
Lyons, O.T., Smith, C., Winston, J.S., Geranmayeh, F., Behjati, S., Kingston, O. and Pollara, G.,
2010. Impact of UK academic foundation programmes on aspirations to pursue a career in
academia. Medical education, 44(10), pp.996-1005.
Perez, W., 2010. Higher education access for undocumented students: Recommendations for
counseling professionals.
Rudd, M.D., Goulding, J. and Bryan, C.J., 2011. Student veterans: A national survey exploring
psychological symptoms and suicide risk. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42(5),
p.354.
Tallentire, V.R., Smith, S.E., Wylde, K. and Cameron, H.S., 2011. Are medical graduates ready to
face the challenges of Foundation training?. Postgraduate medical journal, 87(1031), pp.590-
595.
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