Help regarding a foundation year at Uni...

sophie131

Hiya!
I need some help regarding who is able to take a foundation year a Uni. Here's the story:
I didn't do very well in my As Levels. I got a C in general studies, D in Critical Thinking and E in Bio (but I will get that up to a C at Xmas retakes no problem!). I also failed Spanish - along with the whole of my class (all 4 of us). I had assumed I would have passed Spanish, but I didn't which takes my A2's down to Bio, Gen studies and Critical Thinking. But then, I found out y college (and none others close) offer Critical Thinking at A2 level. So i'm left with Bio and General studies for A2, along with Spanish and English at AS level. Nowhere accepts General studies as one of the A-levels to get in so really I only have Biology. There is absolutely no way I am staying at home for another year (personal circumstances) and I had really set my sights on Uni next year. The only option I can see now is a Foundation Year, but I don't know if I would be allowed onto one?
Would anyone with some understanding of this matter be able to tell me if it's suitable for someone in my situation or not?
This is the course (or similar) that I was hoping to do - http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/ug-prospectus/courses-08-09/sciences-extended-degree-biology-chemistry-health-psychology.cfm


Thanks for any help, I am desperate!

scubaangel

I dont know much about foundation years but I was in a similar position as none of my uni options would consider General Studies alongside my other A2's for entry but alot actually will take it in to consideration if the other grades are slightly lower than expected and it's a decent grade - I didnt meet the conditions for my offer but got a place at my first choice uni through that and a good personal statement on my application.

But from what I vaguely remember of people on my course doing a foundation year before 'officially' starting a degree alot of the modules were the first year ones taught alongside 1st year students, so if they did pass them they were accepted in to the second year of study (I went to a Scottish uni where most if not all the degrees were 4 years of study over the English three year system) and the Foundation year study was considered part of the overall degree at the end. Not sure though if this would be the same if you susequently applied to do a degree at a different uni?

schueys_girl

Hi there.
What did you want to study at uni? Because this foundation degree goes onto biology, chemistry, science subjects and also psychology. Science subjects at degree level are very very challenging. And having done psychology myself it is a very demanding degree, you need to be good at english to degree level, maths to degree level (for the statistics) and also science as it is a scientific subject.
What were you planning on studying in the first place? You should defeintly pick somethng you enjoy, but also something you stand a chance of completing and doing well at.

Foudnation degree are an excellent option, but dont forget it will sometimes make your time at uni a year longer, and therefore equal a lot of debt.

There are plenty of other foundation degrees out there, so make sure you do a lot of research, and also that you have looked at the amount of debt you will be in. Its AT LEAST 3100 a year now on tution fees, altho sometimes the foundation degree is cheaper. And then you have the maintenance loan on top of that. So just on tution fees alone for 3 years your looking at £9,300 of debt...

and then they add the interest on...

So make sure this isnt something you are rushing into because you want to get out of home

Dont want to sound horrible (this is just friendly advice from someone whose been there) but with whats happend with your as and a2 results it looks like your not too organised? or something went wrong with the school telling you that you were doing ok, expecting to pass spanish etc? and then realising you havent...and then the mess up with critical thinking at a2....so....if you want to do well at uni and suceed then you need to make sure your very very organised

I am not sure how it will affect you hving just the one ALevel...have you thought about reistting the whole year again, getting better a levels and then going into uni?

sophie131

I moved schools which has caused a lot of issues. I got an A for maths GCSE and A for additional maths GCSE, so started with Bio, maths, Spanish and gen studies. 2 weeks into maths I was having a nightmare of a time with it. I couldn't do ANY of it. I had only just been entered into the higher paper for maths GCSE, which I suppose should've told me I shouldn't do it for A-Level! I was told by the teachers I HAD to carry on as it would click soon, 2 weeks later I asked to change subjects again and got told I needed to go to after school lessons for 2 weeks to show I was really trying then they would re evaluate. Went to the lessons, I did all the work, all the homework it was literally taking me 5 hours a night to complete. Asked to drop again, got told I had to fail the first module then they'd let me change. I failed and of course by then it was too late to swap subjects. Which then meant me only taking Spanish, Bio, gen stud and critical thinking.
Spanish, there are 4 of us in the class, you would've thought that was a good thing! I got a B at GCSE, was the best in my AS class, everyone else however got D's in Spanish at GCSE, which meant a lot of stuff was GCSE level rather than AS. Very frustrating for me! I did all the work and everything. I nearly passed 2 of the modules (one mark off in each) so i'm getting them remarked and hopefully i'll only need to retake one module to pass it.
Critical thinking, they said they'd consider putting it on as an A2 and nothing materialised. So not really their fault/problem, it would have been nice though!
Biology, I messed up on an easy module because I was working so hard for the one I found harder - silly mistake, easy to fix! Still passed, so that's ok.
Gen studs - obviously, nowhere accepts!

The requirements for the foundation year state you need one A-level pass, which I would get.
There is absolutely no way i'm repeating the year (sorry if I sound stubborn in my ways!). I would rather move out and get a job and go back to uni later in life if that's what it came to!

The issue of the foundation year isn't too much of an issue for me, it's literally just being able to get onto it!
I hope my reply made some sense!!

SuziQ

Some Unis DO accept General studies-one of them is Essex,which is the reason my daughter was forced to do Gen studies although she didn't want to.Lots of kids in her 6th form college rely on a good grade at general studies to get in! She applied to Kent where it'snot accepted (she also did Spanish A level by the way- a hard subject so don't feel too bad.)

Have you gone onto https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk -very good advice there and you may find others in your position.

schueys_girl

Yes some uni's do accept general studies. It is worth getting in touch which as many uni's as possible and making sure you do your research. If you get a good foundation degree then you will be able to get onto a second year of degree if you do well, as in some cases you take a lot of the same classes as normal honors degree students.

But bear in mind this will mean that you are pretty much working to degree standards not foundation on some of the modules.

Again, what do you want to study at uni? This is very important

Are you staying in the same city you live in or are you open to moving to a completely new place?