What’s the Point?
Purpose, Practice and Potential in Foundation Year Education
Welcome to FYNAC 2026
The Foundation Year Annual Conference (FYNAC) 2026 brings together educators, researchers, practitioners, and sector leaders to explore the evolving purpose, practice, and potential of Foundation Year provision.
Hosted by the University of Sunderland, this year’s conference will provide a space for discussion, innovation, collaboration, and celebration of the transformative role Foundation Years play across higher education.
What’s the Point? Purpose, Practice and Potential in Foundation Year Education
About the Conference
The Foundation Year Annual Conference in 2026 will be hosted by the University of Sunderland. The conference is scheduled to be on 8th and 9th July 2026 at Sunderland’s St. Peter’s Campus on the riverside in Sunderland. Please look out for information and a call for papers in the autumn, along the theme of ‘What’s the point?’ that explores various areas of strength and advocacy for Foundation Years, with the overarching theme coming from the student panel at FYNAC24 at the University of Lincoln.
At the heart of this conference lies a student’s honest and disarming question: “What’s the point?” It is at once a challenge, a provocation and an invitation, calling us to reflect critically on the purpose and potential of Foundation Year education.
This question compels us not simply to justify what we do, but to reimagine why and how we do it: to reclaim purpose, re-envision practice and reignite the transformative possibilities of the Foundation Year as a meaningful educational space.
In the spirit of Paulo Freire, who reminds us that education must move beyond the passive transfer of information to awaken critical consciousness, this conference invites participants to consider how Foundation Year practice can transcend its instrumental framing around transition and retention. Instead, we ask how it can become a site of purpose, identity formation, community and radical possibility.
By taking “What’s the point?” seriously, not as a dismissal but as a moment of genuine inquiry, we open space to articulate the value, meaning and impact of Foundation Year education as a catalyst for both personal and collective transformation.
Attendance Bursary
The Foundation Year Network wishes to ensure that members are not excluded from our events on financial grounds. We therefore are able to provide bursaries for support with the costs of attending our events – including transport, conference fees, childcare and other relevant costs. Decisions in relation to all applications and awards are entirely at the discretion of the FYN Executive Committee, with no opportunity for appeal. Any decision to award is a one-time goodwill gesture and creates no expectation as to possible future awards.
Conference Themes
Seeing the Point: Student Voice, Motivation and Meaning
How do students articulate, or struggle to articulate, the point of their studies?
Breaking through moments of disengagement, resistance and scepticism
Co-creation, agency and student-owned narratives of purpose
Making the Point Visible: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
Teaching and assessment that make learning feel purposeful rather than performative
Designing for motivation, relevance and identity-building
AI, digital tools and innovative practice that speak to student realities
Holding the Point: Support, Belonging and Structural Conditions
Systems and support that either clarify or obscure purpose
Peer networks, mentorship and belonging as meaning-making structures
Institutional narratives: are Foundation Year students positioned as “in need” or “full of potential”?
Reclaiming Potential: Critical Reflections and Future Directions
Challenging deficit framings and transactional models of Foundation Years
Reimagining Foundation Years as transformative spaces
What would it look like to design Foundation Year practice from the question itself?
The Venue
University of Sunderland
Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's
St Peter's Campus
St Peter's Way
Sunderland
SR6 0DD
Join us after Day One of the conference for a fantastic evening social event at the iconic Stadium of Light.
We will gather in the lively 76 Yards Bar for a relaxed and memorable evening featuring:
Traditional pie and peas supper
Selection of desserts
Live ceilidh entertainment
Networking with colleagues from across the sector
A unique venue experience in one of the North East’s most recognisable landmarks
The pies will be created by award-winning Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks, offering a delicious twist on a much-loved classic.
This is the perfect opportunity to unwind, make connections, and enjoy great food, music and company.
£40 per person