Higher Education Foundation Programme
Notes for Admissions Tutors and Education Advisors
General Information
This academic course provides a route into British higher education for overseas
students who have completed secondary school in their own countries
with school certificates that leave them one year short of the A-level standard
required by British universities. Its aim is to ensure these young people have
the factual knowledge, intellectual maturity, study habits, language skills and
self-confidence that will make them successful students at a British university.
The course provides a general preparation for undergraduate studies either in Humanities, Social Sciences and Business-related disciplines or in Science & Technology-related disciplines.
Delivery of the course follows the college's well-established practice in teaching
A-levels: small tutorial groups and close individual attention within a
highly supportive, close-knit, international community.
Students must be 17 years of age when the course starts and must have a level
of English equivalent to at least IELTS 5.5 or Cambridge FCE (Grade C) for
admission to the course. The course runs from September to June or from
January to August.
There are on average 21 hours of classes each week. Main units are taught in
small tutorial groups (maximum 8 students). Subsidiary units are taught by
lecture. Students are required to complete all main units and at least one
subsidiary unit with 90% attendance. They are expected to sit the IELTS test
before the end of the course.
The syllabus is non-elective and designed to provide a culturally-adapted
knowledge- and skills base appropriate to undergraduate work in the humanities,
social sciences and business-related disciplines. There are two semesters
with ten main units - five in each semester - and two subsidiary units to be
taken during the year
Humanities, Social Sciences & Business
- Economics 2 main units
- Human Geography 2 main units
- Government & Law 2 main units
- Data Handling & Information Technology 2 main units
- Communications & Study Skills 2 main units
- European Thought 1 subsidiary unit
- Science in Society 1 subsidiary unit
Science & Technology
- Mathematics 2 main units
- Physics 2 main units
- Data Handling & Information Technology 2 main units
- Human Geography 2 main units
- Communications & Study Skills 2 main units
- European Thought 1 subsidiary unit
- Science in Society 1 subsidiary unit
Assessment
Assessment is formative and continues throughout the course. The final award
is based equally on marks gained for coursework assignments and examinations
in each subject over both semesters. A weighting system ensures that
later work receives proportionally more credit and that a student is not unduly
penalised if he or she makes a slow start to the course.
Marking is primarily against GCE A-level benchmarks - hence the 40% pass mark.
Averaging over the
year gives the following broad equivalences:
-
40% (Pass) 160 points at A-level (DDD)
- 50% 240 points at A-level (CCC)
- 60% (Merit Pass) 300 points at A-level (BBB)
A Starred Merit may be awarded to candidates who are of grade A ability.
In their offers therefore admissions tutors may choose to specify:
-
an overall grade (Pass/Merit) or percentage mark for the whole course
- grades or percentages in individual subjects for the whole course
- grades or percentages for the final semester
Information about a candidate's performance is given in a full transcript of
marks earned. Detailed personal reports are available on request.
Quality Control
The Foundation Course is overseen by an independent Advisory Board drawn
from the higher education sector. The Board meets each semester to scrutinise
candidates’ work and to moderate marking. Current Board members are:
- Anthea Rogers, formerly Deputy Head of the School of Business at Oxford
Brookes University
- Henry Towers, Tutor in Social Sciences at the Open University
and formerly Head of Sixth Form at Wheatley Park School, Oxford
- Professor Jack Lonergan, Department of Diplomacy and Applied Languages at
the University of Westminster.
The college is accredited by the British Council and British Accreditation Council.
Course Objectives
Humanities, Social Sciences & Business
The course aims to ensure that students acquire the following knowledge and
skills:
- be able to read critically about the real world and apply theoretical
knowledge and constructs to dynamic real-world situations
- be able to espouse a particular view while analysing alternatives objectively
and acknowledging all sides of an argument
- be able to focus on the main features in a lecture or seminar and take concise
and relevant notes
- be able to gather information for an assignment from a range of written and
verbal sources, making full use of library and ICT resources
- be able to extract and interpret information from graphical sources
- be able to construct coherent written arguments and oral presentations using
language appropriate to the subject and to the style of presentation
- be able to support these by appropriate use of tables, maps, charts and
diagrams, making good use of the possibilities offered by word processing
and spreadsheet software.
- be aware of the main elements in the global distribution of people,
industries and wealth and understand how social, economic, historical and
environmental factors interact to influence these
- be able to explain the processes involved in the development of a country’s
industry, transport, population structure and economy
- have in-depth knowledge of the local effects of global processes, the impacts
of government policy and the extent to which nations are interdependent
- appreciate the role of models in the study of human geography and be able
to apply abstract theories to real life case studies
- have factual knowledge of economics at micro-, macro-, international levels
- understand the tools of economic analysis and the problems to which these
tools may be applied
- understand economics as a discipline in its own right and be aware of its
links to related subjects
- be familiar with common sources of economics data and accustomed to
using the principal reference sources
- understand the relationships between ideas, institutions and issues in
political systems
- have a knowledge of different systems of governance around the world
- be familiar with the framework of the British political system and its
institutions and be able to empathise with the main political viewpoints
- have a sound understanding of the nature of law and its role in society
- have a sound understanding of the sources of national and international law
- be able to structure, store and analyse numerical and non-numerical data
making sophisticated use of generic computer packages such as MS Excel
and Access
- be able to make sophisticated use of document-handling software such as
Word to present text and data together with clarity
- be able to represent data using a variety of graphical forms
- be able to analyse numerical data using standard statistical methods
- appreciate the application of statistics to modelling real-world situations
- understand notions of statistical testing
Science & Technology
The course aims to ensure that students acquire the following knowledge and
skills:
- understand the principles on which scientific method is based
- be able to read critically about the real world and apply theoretical
knowledge and constructs to dynamic real-world situations
- be able to focus on the main features in a lecture or seminar and take
relevant notes
- be able to gather information from a range of sources, making full use of
library and ICT resources
- be able to extract and interpret information from graphical sources
- be able to present information and argument orally and in writing using
language appropriate to the subject and to the style of presentation
- be able to support this by appropriate use of tables and diagrams, using ICT
where applicable.
- appreciate the attitudes to health and safety which inform good laboratory
and workshop practice
- be confident and proficient in all standard algebraic, numerical and
mathematical techniques
- have covered a full range of topics in pure mathematics and be able to build
on the methods and techniques treated
- have covered a full range of topics in applied mathematics which will
support the study of Physics at this level
- be able to express verbally ideas which are represented symbolically
- be familiar with the principles of mechanics, electrical theory, thermal
physics and wave motion
- be able to devise experiments to test physical laws derived from these
principles
- have a sound grasp of algebra and basic calculus as used in the development
of physical theories
- understand the relationship between theory and experiment and the role of
mathematics in this relationship
- understand the effects of experimental errors on the outcome of an experiment
- be able to structure, store and analyse numerical and non-numerical data
making sophisticated use of generic computer packages such as Excel and
Access
- be able to make sophisticated use of document-handling software such as
Word to present text and data together with clarity
- be able to represent data using a variety of graphical forms
- be able to analyse numerical data using standard statistical methods
- appreciate the application of statistics to modelling real-world situations
- understand notions of statistical testing
- be aware of the main elements in the global distribution of people,
industries and wealth and understand how social, economic, historical and
environmental factors interact to influence these
- be able to explain the processes involved in the development of a country’s
industry, transport, population structure and economy
- have in-depth knowledge of the local effects of global processes, the impacts
of government policy and the extent to which nations are interdependent
- appreciate the role of models in the study of human geography and be able
to apply abstract theories to real life case studies