The UK government has announced that the maximum tuition fee for foundation years in English universities will be cut from £9,250 to £5,760. The reduction will apply to all classroom-based courses, such as business and social sciences, and will be likely to come into effect for the 2025-26 academic year.
Foundation years are offered by universities as a preparatory year of study for students who may not have the necessary qualifications, skills, and subject-specific knowledge to go straight into an undergraduate degree course.
Enter requirements vary, and previous work experience and academic background will often be considered. After finishing the foundation year, students are expected to progress into the university’s degree course for the same subject.
The government’s decision to cut fees stems from concerns that foundation years are poor value for money for taxpayers and students and may not be necessary for some students.
Reducing the fees will likely lead to universities offering fewer of these courses – a change that will disproportionately affect students from underrepresented backgrounds.
A pathway in
Evidence gathered from ten universities shows that foundation year students are more likely to be both male and from an underrepresented background. They are more likely to be from an ethnic minority, to be from a poorer background or to have a disability than the general student population.
Foundation years also provide an access route to university for many mature students from poorer backgrounds.
Between 2012-13 and 2017-18, foundation year entrants tripled. Meanwhile, the number of students taking alternative, cheaper Access to Higher Education Diplomas declined by 18%. These access diplomas are taught at further education colleges.
Foundation years do not result in a qualification or certificate. However, they allow a student to start at university. The course fees are higher but students also have access to maintenance loans and university bursaries for underrepresented groups, which may not be possible for those taking access diplomas.
I carried out research with colleagues to investigate students’ experience of their foundation year. We asked students to create digital stories – short videos which included text, images and animation – about their experience.
We found that the students saw the foundation year as a key part of their personal journey. “I’ve understood how to be myself,” one narrated.
Some students saw the year as a step backwards, a requirement they had to fulfil after not meeting the entrance requirements for an undergraduate course. Others saw it as a way to test out university life.
Being on campus and accessing the facilities it had to offer was important to the students, as was the style of teaching. “It’s a lot different to college, in a good way,” one student said.
I have been exploring the value students place on their foundation year study further in ongoing research. In interviews with undergraduates who took a foundation year, I have seen that students find it valuable to be able to go straight from a foundation year to a degree course at the same university. And again, experiencing university life – rather than delaying it by going to college – was also important to them.
What’s more, the cost of the foundation year did not discourage the students I spoke to. One said that the fee should be lower than the yearly cost of a degree course, not because the experience was poor value but because it did not contribute to their degree qualification.
The debt premium
Students from poorer backgrounds face a “debt premium” – they borrow more money to afford to study.
The foundation year adds to this premium, even though this route allows students to overcome structural barriers or poor educational experiences. But government actions that may limit the availability of these courses do not reflect the value of foundation year students and their unique contribution to the higher education sector.
In order to be able to to charge the maximum fee for courses, universities have to demonstrate how they increase access opportunities for underrepresented groups. Foundation years are crucial to many university’s plans for doing this.
But given the financial challenges facing higher education, universities will have difficult decisions about the financial viability of delivering foundation years.
It is worth bearing in mind that while delivering a foundation year costs a university around the same as the first year of an undergraduate course, a foundation year requires more pastoral support and contact time with staff, because of the tailored approach needed for a more diverse student body.
Many universities will continue to provide classroom-based foundation years. But some will not, cutting off opportunities for many.