City and Islington College

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Guide to foundation degrees

What is a Foundation Degree?

Foundation Degrees are work-related, flexible and vocational learning degrees that entail extensive hands-on work experience and develop practical skills for a fast-track to a great career.

City and Islington College offer an excellent range of Foundation Degrees with a unique blend of skills and knowledge that are highly valued by employers and Universities. Our new courses have been developed with employers to match the labour market requirements, making the qualifications greatly valued in industry. On both our part-time and full-time courses you can qualify while you work and go straight on to complete a full honours degree when you finish – offering a practical solution to the ‘work or study’ dilemma by combining the two!

Formal qualifications are not always necessary for entry onto a Foundation Degree. However, your existing experience, achievements and your desire to learn are taken into account. Flexible study methods means they’re suitable to you whether you’re already in work, wishing to embark on a career change or whether you have completed level 3 qualifications. We also have a range of access and pre-access courses that prepare you for higher education. You can find these in the adult courses section – see the Adult link in the sidebar.

Student profile

picture of Tina Mulowa

Tina Mulowa

One of the things that I most enjoy about my course is the way that we are able to link what we are taught with our practical work. I'm learning a lot that I didn't know about biology and I find the course content very interesting. I've been to Barts Simulation Centre and I got to observe, and take part in, the scenarios with the junior doctors. It was a real privilege to actually see the doctors train. My teachers are really helpful and encouraging and I would recommend the College because, ever since starting here, I've gained so much confidence and I feel much freer to express myself. I will never regret enrolling on this course because it has made me think of everything that I want to achieve and it will help me to do that!

Tina is a student on the Medical Science BTEC National Diploma.