Program Overview

International Foundation Programme

The Kent International Foundation Programme (IFP) is primarily designed for international students, allowing them to develop their academic knowledge and skills, and if required their English language ability, for entry to undergraduate study at university.

Overview

The programme, on offer at the University of Kent for over 40 years, takes place on the Canterbury campus and students are full members of the University with access to University accommodation and all academic, welfare, social and sport facilities on campus.
With academic subject modules and academic skills modules taught by highly qualified University of Kent tutors, the IFP is your first step to a wide range of degree programmes at the University. Progression on to your degree programme is automatic at the end of the IFP, if you achieve the required grades.

The Course

The International Foundation Programme is a modular course taught over three terms.

What You'll Study

The Academic Skills Development classes help you work to develop all the necessary skills to fully enjoy your academic experience in the UK, for example, seminar and group work communication skills, developing as an independent student, improving skills in analysis, critique, time management, and project management. You will then take modules which are relevant to your chosen undergraduate degree programme. This course structure is indicative of the modules available for this programme. Modules are based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

How You'll Study

Teaching is organised in small groups and includes lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and independent learning. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to apply the skills learnt in one module to all other modules and find relations between modules in order to broaden their education.

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Tutorials
• Independent Study
• Group Work

Teaching and Assessment

Our IFP is entirely managed and delivered by the University of Kent, allowing us to offer teaching of exceptional quality. Teaching is organised in small groups and includes lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops and independent learning. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to apply the skills learnt in one module to all other modules and find relations between modules in order to broaden their education. Assessment on the majority of modules will be through a combination of final examinations and coursework, including assignments from 1,000 to 2,000 words, online quizzes and tests from 45 minutes to two hours in length.

Programme Aims

For course aims and learning outcomes please see the course specification.

Entry Requirements

The entry requirements below demonstrate the type of qualifications you will need to apply for the International Foundation Programme (IFP). Some of our courses have subject specific requirements.

• A good academic school-leaving certificate with particular strengths in subjects that are relevant to your intended area of study approved by the University of Kent
• A secondary school-leaving certificate approved by the University of Kent
• Appropriate national or international qualifications
• Satisfy specific departmental entry requirements
• For progression to some degree programmes, GCSE grades A-C/9-4 maths or equivalent. If you do not have this level of qualification, you will need to do the IFP Maths module.

Fees and Funding

• TBC

General Information

For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.

Additional Costs

Find out more about accommodation and living costs, plus general additional costs that you may pay when studying at Kent.

Funding

View scholarship opportunities for this programme on the International Programmes website. Please note that Student Loans Company (SLC) funding is not available for UK students intending to study on the IFP (autumn or spring start), as this is a one year stand-alone programme. Undergraduate degree programmes following on from the IFP will be eligible for SLC funding, as are undergraduate degree programmes 'with an integrated foundation year'.

Your Future

Our foundation programme prepares international students for degree-level study in the UK. We support our students with courses in English language and academic skills, and also offer a range of short courses for visiting overseas students and teaching staff. Our students progress to studying at degree level on a range of courses. For further information on careers and alumni stories, please see the relevant undergraduate degree courses. All of our degree programmes at Kent embed employability at every turn. So whatever degree you choose to progress on to following your IFP, you can be sure that you will be supported in getting both the skills and the confidence you need to kick start your career in your chosen field. The sky is truly the limit for our international students, with Kent boasting two Nobel Laureates amongst our international alumni. A degree can boost average lifetime earnings by over £300,000 (Graduate employment outcomes - Universities UK) Discover how we support student success.

Everything Else

• Student life
• Accommodation
• Mature students

The University of Kent makes every effort to ensure that the information contained in its publicity materials is fair and accurate and to provide educational services as described. However, the courses, services and other matters may be subject to change. For more information please read our terms and conditions. *Where fees are regulated (such as by the Department for Education or Research Council UK) permitted increases are normally inflationary and the University therefore reserves the right to increase tuition fees by inflation (RPI excluding mortgage interest payments) as permitted by law or Government policy in the second and subsequent years of your course. If we intend to exercise this right to increase tuition fees, we will let you know by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which we intend to exercise that right. If, in the future, the increases to regulated fees permitted by law or government policy exceed the rate of inflation, we reserve the right to increase fees to the maximum permitted level. If we intend to exercise this extended right to increase tuition fees, we will let you know by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which we intend to exercise that right.