Foundation Degrees - what am I missing?

[ooohlalah]

I can't see a downside to Foundation Degrees, and so I think I must be missing something?

You do the course for 2 years, if you then want to top up to a BSc, you do the final year of the degree and you've got two qualifications, a FdSc and a BSc, possibly with slightly different specialisms? For example, you can do a FdSc in Bakery and Patisserie Technology followed by a year top up of Food Science and Innovation, which gives you a full BSc as that as well?

I can't see the catch but I'm sure there must be one! Surely a broader experience is better?

Help me see what I'm missing!

Once you've got the BSc you wouldn't list the FD as a qualification, it's just a stepping stone if you've carried on and done the linked degree or honours degree.

You need to do either a specific top up degree or find somewhere willing to accept you onto year 3, which is near on impossible because the modules need to match up with what has previously been studied. Its not as simple as it sounds. You can't suddenly switch to a different subject & join in the third year of a BSc degree course because you wouldn't have the required credits to enable you to do so. It needs to be a very close match to what has been previously studied, otherwise you may need to join in the second year.

For us it's like pulling teeth to find a course to top it up. Many colleges doing FDSc will offer a top-up or the accrediting uni will allow students to join in year 3, so theoretically it sounds easy. In DD's case, they don't have a course for her to join in year 3 until the following year, so she either has a gap year, does a year in industry, (near on impossible task) or starts elsewhere on a top-up or year 2/3 of a Bs. DD has ASD, which means good SN provision is paramount, so this is a real needle in a haystack situation for me, her, but given the current COVID situation I'm so glad shes not at uni now. I wouldn't say to rule out the idea completely, but just be aware its not as simple as you think & do your homework.

The unis around here do a foundation degree as an extra year onto a three year degree. Student Finance pay for four years so if you pass the foundation element you can go straight on to the degree (4 years study rather than 3).

@motherofdxughters, that' sounds like a normal 'Degree with Foundation Year' set-up, where the first year is a 'year zero' preparation year. A Foundation Degree is normally a Year 1 entry degree course, with a qualification awarded - identified as a Foundation Degree, e.g. the FdSc - after the second year level of study, with the ability to top up to a full Batchelors degree by (normally) enrolling on a specific 'top up degree' course later. The arrangement is not offered by many universities, let alone all (unlike the degree with Foundation Year).

A friend’s DD did the foundation veterinary science year at Nottingham due to having the “wrong” A levels. She then had to do the full vet degree. So it was an extra year. It’s the same for arts students who do the Foundation year then 3 years for the BA. I’m not sure any academic degree lets foundation holders into the 3rd year as the foundation is considered prep for the first year.

Two different things are being talked about here - foundation year vs. foundation degree. Foundation year is a one year prep for a degree, offered if you have the wrong A levels or sometimes not the right grades to go straight onto degree. Foundation degree is a two year course which gives a qualification at the end, I.e. a foundation degree which is obviously not as high as a three year full degree but you can top up to a full degree if you pass (at a suitable grade probably). As pp said you have to find a top up third year that fits.musually the institutions that provide the two year foundation degree, will provide a fitting top up or have a partner institution that will. Foundation degrees have lower entry requirements than full degrees.

Ah! I stand corrected. Are there foundation degrees in academic subjects? Or just more practical ones? I’m not sure they are offered by many universities.

@Guymere

Ah! I stand corrected. Are there foundation degrees in academic subjects? Or just more practical ones? I’m not sure they are offered by many universities.

Foundation degrees are in vocational subjects. The equivalent for non-vocational subjects is a Diploma in Higher Education.

DD;s boyfriend signed up for a Foundation Year (was a 3 year degree with a foundation year set up) this year. He only did 2 A levels this summer and was supposed to finish a year 14 to get his third - he made a change at the end of year 12. It meant he could go straight to university this year, rather than stay at school.

As it happens they 'upgraded' him to the normal degree course a week or two before he started. I assume they didn't have enough students for the foundation year.

www.blackburn.ac.uk/course/degree/computing-foundation-degree-fdsc/ST2570A15

An example of a foundation degree is above. Often colleges have them and they have a partnership witht a university for a top up year to a full degree. Or maybe they run their own top up. They are a bit like the old HND.