Exploring the Importance of Foundation Year in UK Higher Education

This essay delves into the significance of the foundation year within the UK higher education system. It highlights the role of foundation courses in equipping students with essential academic and learning skills, providing a supportive environment for those transitioning to university. The essay explores the key challenges encountered by students, such as financial burdens, social issues like bullying and homesickness, and the need to develop effective study strategies. It also emphasizes how foundation years offer opportunities for students, including school leavers, international students, and mature learners, to adapt to the university environment, improve language skills, and build confidence. The essay analyzes various challenges such as course concerns, language gaps, and the importance of building relationships with tutors and peers to overcome difficulties. The essay concludes by emphasizing the foundation year's role in helping students choose the right subjects and fostering confidence for higher education, ultimately preparing them for successful careers.

Importance of
Foundation Year in UK
Higher Education

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
In a student’s life, education is considered as the most important factor that helps in
growing career more brightly. Foundation course gives opportunity to learners to enhance their
learning and academic skills, as well as hit ground for further studies (Ng'ambi and et. al., 2016).
The present essay is going to make a discussion on importance of foundation year for beginning
the college life of students. Here, an explanation is made on key challenges faced by learners and
how study skills help to overcome from same.
MAIN BODY
After completion of school days, learners mostly get confused whether studying at
universities may aid in developing their career or not. Hereby, foundation year offers such
learners a supportive environment and doors for embarking on a university degree (Kaur, Razee
and Seale, 2017). In UK, foundation course provides initial sessions to students who are
beginning their college life, which concerns more on career aspirations as well as opportunities
to review the existing transferable or study skills to them. Generally, having a fresh start to
school leavers revives aspirations and ambitions who have gained high grades in past studies and
ready for getting degree-level study (Day, Gu and Sammons, 2016). A foundation year also
known as an alternative route into university, that makes ease to school leavers to get familiar
with higher education environment via providing an access to a range of courses at graduation
level. Along with this, respective course also observed as a stepping stone for learners to enter
into the world of degree-level higher education (Hayter, Lubynsky and Maroulis, 2017). It helps
the learners to choose right qualifications in order to go straight and take part in a degree
programme. For this assistance, a variety of subjects have been taught by peers during a
foundation year, such as social studies, information technology, business management, biological
science, mathematics, sports therapy and more (Powers and Schloss, 2017). Concept and
introduction of these courses are broadly described enough to students to generate their right
interest for particular subjects, where they may gain credible vocational skills and academic
knowledge from tutors who are expert in their relatable field. A foundation year is also taken as
ideal for those students who are unsure after school whether they need to do professional course
or go to university for degree study (Zee and Koomen, 2016). Before progressing into a full
degree program, learners can get a clear understanding of field of interest and subject knowledge,

to get higher studies context as well as gain the skills and learning abilities needed for same
(Howard and Navarro, 2016). Therefore, after successfully completion of the foundation year,
first time college going students can get immediate and better progress into undergraduate
period.
Due to some circumstances, people who are often failed to get higher studies in early period,
but now seek to get the same after an edge, feel nervous and embrace (Daniel and Cross, 2018).
In this regard, foundation year provide chance to such people also to get familiar with other
college going students, as they feel shy and worry to take education with teenagers and young
students (Cherng and Halpin, 2016) (Palaiologou, 2016). Hereby, taking foundation year course
presents them a fantastic opportunity to get mix with youngsters and get an engagement with
them to get higher education more easily. If people having the lack of formal qualifications and
still seeking to complete graduation then under this situation, universities look at their work
experience and passion for chosen subject area, for giving them admission, otherwise advice to
take foundation year which is prior to starting the course (Howard and Navarro, 2016). This
would help in improving and enhancing their learning skills, communication and inter-personnel
skills etc. which are essential for engaging with higher educational environment. In UK, many
universities such as University of Surrey, University of Southampton, Middlesex University
London, University of Nottingham and Durham University etc. are now offering the graduation
degrees with a foundation year (Palaiologou, 2016). This would give a plenty of choice to both
domestic and overseas learners to improve their communication skills especially English
language, learning abilities and more, so that they can easily cooperate each other for studying at
same platform more easily (Daniel and Cross, 2018). For attaining the right level of skills and
qualifications, foundation year include three-term courses as introduction of academic subjects,
English language preparation and development of study skills (Daniel and Cross, 2018). This
will provide a number of benefits especially to overseas student like increasing their confidence
level to gain study with learners of UK learners, by reducing skill and language gap ( Cherng and
Halpin, 2016).
As foundation year is taken as a stepping stone for school leavers, overseas students and
more, to get involvement with future course of graduation (Howard and Navarro, 2016). But
through various researches, it has been identified that such learners also face a number of
challenges during completion of foundation course (Zee and Koomen, 2016). It includes high

fees taken by universities due to consistently increase in staff teaching and student learning costs,
bullying and harassment, bereavement, course concerns, lack of confidence due to skill and
language gap, homesickness, personnel issues and more. After schools, when learners are going
to take foundation course especially, when they belong to across nations, then feeling of sadness,
anger, homesickness, loneliness and more, disrupts mind of them (Powers and Schloss, 2017).
This would affect their studying skills and impact on percentage of further studies as well,
because having such type of skills, may arise barriers for learners to get familiar with other
students who are of same age but better in their studies (Cherng and Halpin, 2016). Foundation
students also may face harassment and bullying type problems when they have lack of academic
qualifications, knowledge and linguistic gap etc. Thus, it may damage the confidence to any
learners, especially when they belong to other countries (Hayter, Lubynsky and Maroulis, 2017).
They feel less powerful at university as compared to other students due to different in cultural,
language and nationality background. Bullying or abusing comments is taken as offensive
behaviour that may violate the dignity of learners in an aggressive or subtle manner. This may
affect behaviour of them and arise feeling of threatened, upset, humiliated or vulnerable as well
as undermines their self-confidence (Day, Gu and Sammons, 2016). Similarly, course concerns
also taken as challenge for foundation year students in UK where, students may feel under
pressure most of the time, due to range of course and exam phobia. Along with this, for
completing any assignment, giving desired performance and meet expectation of tutor, sometime
lead to less performed well due to personal failure (Kaur, Razee and Seale, 2017). As studying at
university also demands learners for long-term commitment, where almost 80% courses are run
for more than three years. This may affect confidence and interest level of learners in a particular
subject and they start seek to take subjects that may complete in short-period of time (Ng'ambi
and et. al., 2016). In such condition, if learners have not proper relations with tutors during
foundation course then this may disrupt their mind adversely, which leads to failure in choosing
the right career as well (Howard and Navarro, 2016). In context with mature students, who are
seeking to take professional course or a degree study from affiliated university, face difficulty in
making the work-life balance. This would consider as a major challenge for these learners where
work pressure and completion of education may disrupt their mind (Zee and Koomen, 2016).
They also find themselves in juggling the demands of official work, families, partners and more,
along with struggle to take regular classes, complete assignment writing within set-period, exams

pressure etc. In addition to this, mature students or working-class learners possess a range of
transferable skills like time-management, communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork
abilities and more, which are gained from work-life experience may also create issues (Powers
and Schloss, 2017). It is related with skill gap between mature students and teenage leaners that
lead to create conflicts among them and may affect relationship among them as well.
As being a college student is difficult for school leavers but being an international student is
taken as even bigger challenging role. In this regard, they face a number of challenges like
language and communication gap, cultural and background different etc. (Hayter, Lubynsky and
Maroulis, 2017). To handle such challenges, it is essential for learners to understanding the
difference and taking actions for reducing the same. Hereby, by adopting the culture of new
place may give them opportunity to eliminate such gaps. This would also in overwhelming the
culture of own and reducing the differences as well (Day, Gu and Sammons, 2016). However,
communication gap is considered as most challenging role for learners, therefore, the only
solution to reduce the same is start making conversation with others. By spending some time
with other people, who are different in terms of culture and other aspects, help in reducing the
language barrier and making collaboration (Kaur, Razee and Seale, 2017). Home-sickness is
taken as another big challenge for overseas learners because they have to live far from them in
order to gain higher education. But as such feeling is natural and basic feeling therefore, the only
solution for international students is to build effective relationship with other learners and hang
out with them for a while (Ng'ambi and et. al., 2016). It helps in accepting new environment and
facing other challenges during foundation year more efficiently.
CONCLUSION
It has been ascertained from this assignment that foundation year course which is offered
by almost every university of UK, help learners in choosing right subject, for making their career
more bright. It provides opportunity to students to analyse how chosen field will help in growing
career and taking higher education easily. This course brings attention of students towards range
of course, time-period of completion, increasing study skills and so on, for choosing the right
subjects to face struggle of changing structure of business environment. Hereby, people who get
over-edged or passed out the teenage life, also get opportunity to analyse how to work with
others who are younger than them. Along with this, learners can also gain chance to fill up gap

between school and university knowledge before choosing the right subject. This would arise the
feeling of confidence in students and help them in taking higher education with ease manner.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Cherng, H. Y. S., & Halpin, P. F. (2016). The importance of minority teachers: Student
perceptions of minority versus white teachers. Educational Researcher. 45(7). 407-420.
Palaiologou, I. (Ed.). (2016). The early years foundation stage: Theory and practice. Sage.
Daniel, W. W., & Cross, C. L. (2018). Biostatistics: a foundation for analysis in the health
sciences. Wiley.
Howard, T. C., & Navarro, O. (2016). Critical race theory 20 years later: Where do we go from
here?. Urban Education. 51(3). 253-273.
Zee, M., & Koomen, H. M. (2016). Teacher self-efficacy and its effects on classroom processes,
student academic adjustment, and teacher well-being: A synthesis of 40 years of
research. Review of Educational research. 86(4). 981-1015.
Day, C., Gu, Q., & Sammons, P. (2016). The impact of leadership on student outcomes: How
successful school leaders use transformational and instructional strategies to make a
difference. Educational Administration Quarterly. 52(2). 221-258.
Kaur, R., Razee, H., & Seale, H. (2017). Setting the right foundations: improving the approach
used to teach concepts of hand hygiene to medical students. Journal of Hospital
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Powers, K., & Schloss, P. J. (Eds.). (2017). Organization and administration in higher
education. Taylor & Francis.
Hayter, C. S., Lubynsky, R., & Maroulis, S. (2017). Who is the academic entrepreneur? The role
of graduate students in the development of university spinoffs. The Journal of
Technology Transfer. 42(6). 1237-1254.
Ng'ambi, D., & et. al. (2016). Technology enhanced teaching and learning in South African
higher education–A rearview of a 20-year journey. British Journal of Educational
Technology. 47(5). 843-858.