Bedfordshire International Foundation Year (Life S

About the course

The Bedfordshire Foundation Year is designed to help you improve your English language level and increase your subject knowledge. The course combines English language, study skills for university, and IT skills, which will help you progress on to your main degree programme.

The course aims to take students up to IELTS 6.0 overall, or above, which is the minimum requirement for undergraduate courses at the University of Bedfordshire.

Why choose Beds Foundation Year?

CEFL has a proven track record of International Foundation Course delivery since 1980, with consistently high student satisfaction results.

Our teaching staff has a varied and wide experience of teaching in the U.K and overseas, and we understand our international students and how you feel.

You are starting on a new educational adventure, far from home. We use the foundation year as a year-long induction programme, and we keep revisiting key themes during the year, for example effective use of our online learning platform, accessing the library resources, as well as developing important study skills in the U.K. We also understand the many differences in studying at a British Higher Education Institution, and guide you through our regulations, which may be very different to your home countries.

Our course enables foundation learners to progress to an undergraduate degree, fully prepared and confident to face the challenges of a level 4 programme of study.

You will master a range of key academic and language skills during a fun and engaging programme. Subject units in your second semester, offer you a programme specific to your subject area, as well as meeting your linguistic needs. This will help you choose the most relevant degree as you start your undergraduate studies.

Learn more about the International Foundation Year (all pathways)

Completing this pathway allows you to progress to one of the following courses:

Visit the School of Life Sciences

Visit the School of Psychology

with Professional Practice Year

This course has the option to be taken over four years which includes a year placement in industry. Undertaking a year in industry has many benefits. You gain practical experience and build your CV, as well as being a great opportunity to sample a profession and network with potential future employers.

There is no tuition fee for the placement year enabling you to gain an extra year of experience for free.

*Only available to UK/EU students.

with Foundation Year

A Degree with a Foundation Year gives you guaranteed entry to an Undergraduate course.

Whether you’re returning to learning and require additional help and support to up-skill, or if you didn’t quite meet the grades to pursue an Undergraduate course, our Degrees with Foundation Year provide a fantastic entry route for you to work towards a degree level qualification.

With our guidance and support you’ll get up to speed within one year, and will be ready to seamlessly progress on to undergraduate study at Bedfordshire.

The Foundation Year provides an opportunity to build up your academic writing skills and numeracy, and will also cover a range of subject specific content to fully prepare you for entry to an Undergraduate degree.

This is an integrated four-year degree, with the foundation year as a key part of the course. You will need to successfully complete the Foundation Year to progress on to the first year of your bachelor’s degree.

Why study a degree with a Foundation Year?

Broad-based yet enough depth to give you credible vocational skills
Coverage of a variety of areas typically delivered by an expert in this area
Gain an understanding of a subject before choosing which route you wish to specialise in
Great introduction to further study, and guaranteed progression on to one of our Undergraduate degrees

The degrees offering a Foundation Year provide excellent preparation for your future studies.

During your Foundation Year you will get the opportunity to talk to tutors about your degree study and future career aspirations, and receive guidance on the most appropriate Undergraduate course to help you achieve this; providing you meet the entry requirements and pass the Foundation Year.

Examining Research In Life Sciences And Psychology

This unit applies subject knowledge and critical thinking that you have developed during the course and gives you the experience opportunity to think about what research is and how different people in your subject area go about the research process. You will examine some research that has been done in relation to a subject that you will be studying on your degree. This is your chance to unpick what the researchers have done and assess its strengths and weaknesses
You will learn about the process of developing a small-scale research project from the point of view of students and staff who have experience of doing it and you will get the opportunity to think about the advantages and disadvantages of some of the most commonly used research tools by looking at how others have used them.
As this is an introduction before you get the opportunity to study research design and methods in more depth, the aim is to give you the opportunity to look at a variety of examples and to develop an informed understanding of different approaches to research.

English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving.

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study.

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1.

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy.

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Transition To Level 4

During the two semesters of the foundation year, you will have been introduced to all of the language, academic skills and subject area skills you will need in order to operate successfully as a student embarking on an undergraduate degree programme. This unit has two key purposes:

Firstly, you will now move on to use the skills you have acquired at the various stages of the academic process, by attending lectures and seminars and using the information and idea you have gained from them to write essays, reports and prepare and delivery persuasive presentations in English. For the first time, you will operate independently as a student who is undertaking level 4 study.

Secondly, by attending and participating in transition sessions with the teachers and tutors you will be studying with next year, you will become familiar with the approaches to teaching and learning and the expectations that your level 4 teachers will have when you begin your level 4 study.

Through a series of plenary lectures, seminars and essay and report writing workshops, as well as transition events held by your level 4 academic department, you will be able to demonstrate that you are ready to accept the challenges of level 4 study and feel confident that you will prosper on your chosen course of UG level study

In-class assessments
Online submissions via our online platform Breo
In-class presentations
Conducting research project

Careers

Having undertaken a year of foundation level study, your English Language and academic skills will enable you to begin degree level study at the University of Bedfordshire feeling confident and eager for the challenges you will face. You will also feel 'at home' within the culture of higher education in the UK.