Foundation years are a contentious issue in current higher education debates. The sector is still reeling from the Sunday Times article which accused some Russell Group institutions of using international foundation years to bring in higher fee-paying international students at lower grades than home students have to achieve.
Foundation year courses have grown explosively: eight times as many students took foundation year courses in 2021–22 as took them a decade earlier. Some 70,000 students study on these courses each academic year, more students than are enrolled at University College London, the UK’s largest conventional university.
A foundation year is an extra year of study tacked onto the beginning of a full degree course to prepare students for study. Advocates argue they are a powerful tool for access, giving new students – who are often mature and lack qualifications at a high level – a chance to catch up to their peers who followed a more conventional route.
