Foundation Year - Clearing 2023 transcript

00:00

Janet Bonar, Course Leader for Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering appears on the screen.

00:01

So a foundation year is a year that you do ahead of your degree program. You usually get accepted onto your degree but you need to do this year ahead of time and pass those modules.

Janet Bonar, Course Leader for Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is talking to camera.

0:07

It's an opportunity for individuals that may, for whatever reason, are coming back to education, or perhaps didn't quite get the grades in the subject area. And it's an opportunity for those people to not miss out on the subjects they love and want to pursue.

Jenna Barker, senior lecturer in popular music is talking to camera.

00:24

I decided to study foundation-level year because I wasn't given the opportunity to do A-level math, so I couldn't do the course I actually wanted to do until I looked into Foundation level year

Rhianne Rose, an engineering foundation year student is talking to camera.

00:24

The transition from sixth form to University can be quite difficult so, just having this transitional year it helps. The foundation allows them to become associated with the university way of life, get bedded into the way in which university works and, allows them to develop the essential skills they're going to be needing to undertake their parent degree programme.

Rob Benham, Course Leader HNC Engineering is talking to camera.

0:34

Doing the foundation year coming up from sort of sixth form learning gave me a good idea of how University learning works, and the sort of difference in the coursework and the structure of the day, and getting to know this at the campus and the lecturers as well. Some of them were then my University course lecturers and just sort of helped me set up well and transition

Lucy Dolky, an interior designer and Solent graduate is talking to camera.

01:21

So the main benefits of a foundation year, I think for anyone who's studying it is that it gives you a year to build up your background skills and to understand the skills and behaviours and knowledge you need to be a successful University student. And it gives you a year to do that you learn all the things you need to learn about being a university student and then when you get to the first year of your degree you hit the ground running

Janet Bonar, Course Leader for Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is talking to camera.

01:43

My foundation year really helped me prepare for my full degree it got me used to the university style of studying. I learned how to write essays to a university standard I learned how to reference and which I hadn't done before so once I was in my first year of my undergraduate I felt quite settled and ready to start the first year of my undergraduate degree

Paige Symms, Solicitor and Solent graduate is talking to camera.

02:04

so the benefits of doing a foundation level is that you can build up on your confidence in your writing skills, your communication skills, your presentation skills. There's so much behind it you get taught how to reference properly as well which is really central for when you go on to the degree and how to manage day-to-day life around your studies as well.

Victoria Wallace, Sport foundation year student is talking to camera.

02:31

not only will the transition level year help you get used to what university life is like also if you're not from Southampton, like me, you know it's a whole big area you know whole new people. You're far away from your family so it's just this extra year to just get used to the city and the community and everything like that is really helpful.

Rhianne Rose, an engineering foundation year student is talking to camera.

02:45

I'd say if anybody's contemplating doing a foundation year but feels perhaps intimidated they've been out of education for a while or they're unsure of their ability certainly here at solent, we make sure that our students all feel comfortable and are all, you know, on the same level by the time that they finish the foundation year so I highly encourage it.

Jenna Barker, senior lecturer in popular music is talking to camera.

03:07

They will be doing subjects which will be very tailored for the parent degree programs and that's a really big advantage and many of our Foundation students do actually do very well at the end of their degree because they've had that Foundation year to start with.

Rob Benham, Course Leader HNC Engineering is talking to camera.

03:22

I would definitely recommend doing a foundation year because a foundation year is essentially the reason why I'm here today. Without my Foundation year I couldn't have got onto my LLB undergraduate so it was a perfect stepping stone to get me to the place where I wanted to be.

Paige Symms, Solicitor and Solent graduate is talking to camera.

03:39

don't let the fact that it's like a foundation year on your CV make you feel like you're then not going to be employable, or to employers you're not going to be seen as good enough. I think that they'd respect that you know you know what you wanted to do and you've used it as a means to an end to get where you want to go and only ever see it as a positive that you've got another year experience under your belt. Instead of doing a three-year course you've done a four-year course at University and you've shown your commitment to what you want to do for a whole another year so it can only be a plus.

Lucy Dolky, an interior designer and Solent graduate is talking to camera.

04:12

Waves appear across the screen and Solent University logo appears