Foundation Year
Our degrees with foundation years are available in a wide range of subject areas allowing you to fast track your journey into higher education, whilst developing your confidence in degree-level learning. Whether you are looking to develop or change your career path, or you took a break from education after leaving school, or coming straight out of education and want to widen your career opportunities, a degree with a foundation year could be the opportunity waiting for you. This page will help with getting ready to begin your Foundation Year in January 2024.
Important reminder:
What to bring on 4 January 2024
The course will begin on 4 January 2024. Further information will be sent out from 2 January. Please bring your photo ID (driving license or passport) to the session to complete enrolment, receive your ID, and have your attendance confirmed.
What if I have not yet enrolled or cannot see my timetable?
If you have not enrolled or cannot see your timetable, please do not worry. You will be contacted before 4 January to confirm the times you need to be on campus for the course.
In the meantime, there will be two groups for the January start Foundation Year:
Group A: 9 am-3 pm
Group B: 11 am-5 pm
We will confirm your group upon enrolment and will be contacted in the first week of January.
In January, you will be on campus on the following days: 4, 11, and 18 January.
Then from 22 January, you will join your FOY014 degree tutor group (see timetable explainer below) and will continue attending your personal tutor group every Thursday.
Preparing for your Foundation Year
First, managing your time.
University will take up a lot of your time. The teaching weeks during your foundation year are:
Long semester
4 January - 28 April (with an Easter break 1-12 April)
Summer term
15 May - 12 July
During most weeks of the semester, you'll have the following hours of scheduled hours:
- 1 hours per week online work, to be completed before sessions
- 8 hours per week on campus sessions*
In addition, there will be work to complete for your assignments, some of which will be due during the semesters and some of which will be due outside the semester time (in early January and in mid-May). Your timetable should be available in from your enrolment beginning in mid-December, which will let you know the days and time on which these sessions fall.
You can find information in the meantime here: https://www.newman.ac.uk/welcome/courses/foundation/.
Please note that your timetable MAY be different in semester one than semester two, so read it carefully when it arrives. Succeeding at university means making time: time to attend your campus sessions, complete the online work each week and time to work on your assignments.
Most of our students work part-time while studying, and may also have caring responsibilities. Your tutors are aware of the challenges of balancing all of these, and we're here to help you make the balance work. But it's important to go into the start of your foundation year recognising that there will be demands on your time and only by making time for your sessions and your studies will you succeed.
Online Learning
Your online learning will take place on Moodle. Moodle is like Facebook for university. It's where you'll find content, links to submit your assignment, messages from your tutors and lots more. You'll have separate pages on Moodle for the different parts of your Foundation Year.
You'll be able to access Moodle once you've enrolled (in mid-December). Once enrolled, you'll get access to these two Moodle pages:
FOY015 (your foundation module, Foundations of Higher Education )
and later, FOY014 (your degree subject module).
You'll find these pages are laid out very differently, as they serve different purposes.
FOY015 (core foundation module) contains one hours of online activities you'll work through each week, set out in lessons like this one. You'll also find info from your personal tutor and links to your online sessions.
FOY014 (your degree subject) may contain recordings of your degree sessions, PowerPoints or information about how to prepare for your sessions each week.
Knowing how to find your way around Moodle is an important part of your Foundation Year and your degree studies. But Moodle is only part of what you'll need. There are a range of other digital skills you will develop in your Foundation Year.
When will I receive my ID card?
When you attend your first on-campus sessions at Birmingham Newman University, you will receive your university ID card. The university will then confirm your attendance.
Timetable explainer
Once you've enrolled you'll get access to your own individual timetable via myNewman.
This page WILL NOT show you your individual timetable. It is a guide to understanding what you can see on your timetable.
The timetables you can see in this video are examples: your own timetable will list different sessions.
Remember: your timetable will begin on Thursday 4 January and runs for 15 weeks (semester one). The explainer below provides an overview and will be discussed in more detail during your induction.
Your timetable
Timetable
Your timetable is listed below, and very soon you’ll find a more formal version via myNewman.
Thursdays 9am-11am & 1pm-3pm OR 11am-1pm &3-5pm for your personal tutor sessions.
Thursdays for your workshop
From 22 January
Your timetable will see an addition, as you'll be joining your degree tutor group in week 4.
Semester
The first semester will begin on Thursday 3 January and will end on 26 April.
You will then move to the second semester beginning on 15 May. Your final session will take place on Thursday 11 July.
What you'll see on your timetable:
a BLUE box on Monday evenings 6pm-7pm.
This indicates there are ONLINE activities for you to complete at some point this week. There is NOTHING that you need to do at this exact time. These online activities will be available for you to complete ANYTIME, as and when suits you.
several GREEN boxes across the week, totalling eight hours.
These will include:
two 2-hour sessions with your personal tutor (this will be labelled FOY015)*
a 1-hour session (a how-to workshop labelled FOY012/5)*
a 3-hour session (your degree group, this will be labelled FOY014 on your timetable.
How can you access your timetable:
When you enrol you will be able to access MyNewman. Here you can access your email and timetable. For a short tutorial, please see the video explainer below:
If you have any questions, please get in touch (J.Brennan@newman.ac.uk)
"I decided to embark on a foundation year programme after being out of education for several decades. The reason behind this choice was twofold. Firstly, I recognized the importance of brushing up on my existing skills, as the world has evolved significantly since I last engaged in formal education. Secondly, I felt the need to acquire new skills to remain competitive in today's dynamic job market. This foundation year provides me with the opportunity to bridge the gap in my knowledge, ensuring that I'm well-prepared for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."
(quote from 22/23 student)