Contents
Dr Helen Spicer-Cain (Senior Lecturer) School of Health & Psychological Sciences, City, University of London
[Paper 2]
Foundation programmes, such as the Introduction to Health Sciences (ItHS) programme run within the School of Health and Psychological Sciences (SHPS), are designed with the aim of widening participation in Higher Education in line with the Augur Report (DfE, 2019), and enabling access to undergraduate study for students who have not attained the grades at Level 3 that would allow them to access an undergraduate course directly. Foundation year programmes aim to help students develop both academic skills and cultural capital (Clifford, 2022), with the eventual hope that their students become successful in undergraduate study.
The present study (in preparation for publication) aimed to consider success at undergraduate level for former foundation year students within SHPS, via analysis of a large dataset of module marks across three former foundation cohorts, comparing their results with those of students who entered the undergraduate programmes in the same year via UCAS or Clearing. Equivalence testing was used to compare groups.
Results demonstrate that in the majority of undergraduate programmes, former foundation students are attaining at an equivalent level to their peers across all years of their degree. Some exceptions to this were found, including particular modules within the Diagnostic Radiography and Radiotherapy courses, which appear harder for former foundation year students.
These results indicate that the ItHS foundation course is overall successful in achieving its aims of preparing its students for undergraduate study. This is discussed in the context of student feedback on the programme, which may help us discern the reasons for this success, and also considering possible amendments which may support foundation year students further once they reach undergraduate level study.
References
Clifford, M. (2022). “Money, money, money”. Uncovering what “value” means to a group of foundation year learners in Higher Education using focus groups. Journal of the Foundation Year Network, 5, 61-78.
Department for Education (2019). Post-18 review of education and funding: independent panel report. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-18-review-of-education-and-funding-independent-panel-report. (Accessed on 4th April 2024).
