Foundation Degrees and Changing Tuition Fees

tomtom99

Good Morning,

This post relates to how foundation degree students are affected by the new 2012 tuition fees regime.

I'm a mature student currently studying in the 2nd year of a foundation degree at an FE College. I started the course in September 2011, under the pre-2012 fees structure. The course is validated by a University and has a recognized progression route to the third year of the Universities BA(Hons) course in the same subject.

The university and the college have a contract that basically says that provided we pass the foundation degree they cannot deny us A place in the third year of their degree. I imagine this is the same as a student needing to pass the 2nd year of the full BA to progress to the third.

When the course began, we were told that the when we joined the university in the third year, the fees would remain on the old, pre-2012 structure (ie. £3300), however we were told last week that they are planning to charge us £8500.

This would mean that we would have paid £2000 more than a student who started the full BA in 2011 or the time of the course and that we would be sat next to people receiving the same content who paid £5000 less for that year.

I would like to establish what the facts/law is around this matter. The main MSE website article says (in the drop-down menu in section 2) that if the foundation degree is an integral part of the course that the old fee structure would apply, however I cannot find any sources to confirm/deny this statement.

This is in the STUDENT LOANS MYTHBUSTING article, my apologies but I cannot post a link as a new user.

For me the fact that we cannot be denied entry would suggest that it is an integrated course, however somewhat cynically, we must re-apply through UCAS for third year entry (not for a top-up course).

Any help, suggestions or previous experiences would be valuable to me here in order to establish if there is a precedent or not, and to help move forward with challenging the university.

Thank you in advance for your help.

dizzyrascal

I'm not an expert on the new fee structure but my gut instinct tells me that as you started the course in 2011 and are continuing on to a recognised path with no break in your education then logically you should be on the old fee structure.

Taiko

The MSE article is about foundation courses, not foundation degrees. They are two completely different things, with the foundation course being Year 0 of a degree, and a foundation degree being a qualification itself.

That said, because this would be classed as an end on course, Paragraph 2 of The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 cap the fees at the lower rates. The university are unable to charge you higher.