Analytic Quality Glossary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Home
Citation reference: Harvey, L., 2004-24, Analytic Quality Glossary, Quality Research International, http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/
This is a dynamic glossary and the author would welcome any e-mail suggestions for additions or amendments.
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Foundation programme
A foundation programme provides an introduction to degree-level study.
Foundation programmes are sometimes referred to as ‘year-zero’ programmes implying that they precede the first year of a degree programme.
Foundation programmes are distinct in intention from access courses, which prepare potential students for higher education. Access courses may, incidentally, provide some foundation for study.
Foundation programmes as a concept are sometimes taken to include certificated awards in their own right as well as being a vehicle for progression to a degree programme, for example associate degrees (US) and foundation degrees (UK). However, this is not the usual designation for foundation programmes.
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE ) (undated) defines a foundation courses as:
A recognised HE course designed to prepare students who have qualifications which are acceptable for entry in general, but are not appropriate to a specific course of study. Foundation courses are also used as Year 0 of a degree course to enable students with non-traditional qualifications to participate in HE by using Year 0 as a preparatory year for a full degree programme.
The UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (undated) states:
Foundation course: A higher education programme of study designed to prepare students for a further course for which they do not have the usual entry qualifications. Foundation courses sometimes constitute a preparatory 'Year 0' of a degree course. They are not the same as foundation degrees.
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), undated, Glossary, available at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/glossary?Category=F, accessed 3 January 2017, not available 20 June 2019.