What is a foundation year?
A degree with an integrated foundation year is designed for students who do not have the entry requirements needed to start a degree with us. This could be because you don’t have the grades or subjects that we need, you are changing career or returning to study. Upon successful completion of the foundation year, you can progress to one of our BSc(Hons) courses, depending on which foundation year pathway you choose.
This means that your course will take four years instead of three (or five with a placement year). Our foundation year is a great introduction to your chosen subject area and is an opportunity to develop valuable study and self-management skills, communication, teamwork and problem-solving techniques which help build your confidence and prepare you for the rest of your course.
At the School of Business and Law we offer three integrated foundation year courses. If you successfully pass the foundation year, you can progress directly onto your choice of degree from those listed without having to reapply through UCAS. UK students will also be able to apply for student funding for their whole course – foundation year plus either a three-year degree or a four-year degree with placement year.
Our integrated foundation courses
Foundation year syllabus
You’ll complete four modules in the foundation year which will allow you to explore accounting, finance and economics concepts and theories in a business context and develop a strong understanding of the principles. You’ll gain the transferable skills that are essential for study at degree level, and explore the relationship between theory and practice and how this relates to debates and issues in business.
Learning will be through a mixture of lectures, small group teaching in workshops and seminars, private study and course work. You’ll be supported throughout by your personal tutor.
Modules
- Applied Numeracy and Data Handling Skills
This module will help you to make practical decisions in the business world and come up with solutions to business problems. You’ll work on your core arithmetic, algebra, statistics, mathematical modelling and probability skills, building your capability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts.
- Introduction to Wellbeing and Study Success
This module introduces you to study skills and concepts of wellbeing. Using what you learnt in the Applied Numeracy and Data Handling Skills module, you’ll take part in a practical group project on the broad theme of wellbeing and personal/academic development.
- Academic Knowledge for Accounting, Finance and Economics
This module equips prospective accounting, finance and economics students with the foundation skills for academic study. You’ll be introduced to the core principles of these areas and have the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts in practice. You will also explore the meaning and application of financial and economic terminology, academic writing and research skills that are essential to your academic development.
- Developing Practical Professional Knowledge
You'll develop law, business, accounting, finance or economics knowledge through by working on an individual project themed around responsible enterprise. You'll develop confidence in your ability to use the study skills you have learned during your foundation year, and reflect on the experience and on how it has contributed to your preparation for degree studies.
Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. If you apply to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through .
Progress to a degree
Successful completion of the foundation year means that you’ll be able to progress to one of our finance, accounting or economics-related honours degrees.
Meet the team
Dr Md Riofad Chowd, course leader
Dr Md Rifad Chowdhury is a lecturer in human resource management and course leader for the integrated foundation year overseeing three pathways: Accounting, Finance and Economics; Business Management; and Law. He holds a PhD from the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, an MSc in International Business Management from Northumbria University, and a BSc in Human Resource Management from Anglia Ruskin University.
Md Rifad’s teaching expertise spans leadership and people management, talent and performance management, reflective practice, professional development and cross-cultural aspects of work and organisations. His research focuses on employee motivation, workplace wellbeing, leadership, and cross-cultural management, with particular interest in public-sector contexts in the UK and Bangladesh.
He is a Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA) and is committed to inclusive, compassionate and research-informed teaching that empowers students to link theory with professional practice and develop as ethical, globally minded professionals.
Rageshree Sinha (Shree)
Shree is a lecturer in entrepreneurship in the School of Business and Law.
Her research studies the role of absorptive capacity to enable labour efficiency as new and emerging technologies are being implemented in the market.
Apart from being an active researcher, she also worked with the project which was a £1.3m research project funded by the European Structural Investment Fund and Arts Council England. It aimed to provide technology SMEs, creative arts practitioners and cultural organisations with supported and authorised access to Gatwick Airport’s big data. For both the DRIVA and Nuffield Project she has worked as a Research Fellow for Data Science and Visualisation.
Shree has significantly contributed to the university’s RISE project, our Help to Grow course and the Inclusivity and Partnership Project.
She brings rich and valuable experience in data analytics and business intelligence skills. Shree enjoys teaching on various modules in the School of Business and Law, alongside her active research work. She’s eager to supervise students working on management perspectives of new technologies and implementation challenges.
