Data Science with Foundation Year BSc

Program Overview

BSc Data Science with Foundation Year - 2026 entry

Overview

We believe that fair access to higher education is a fundamental enabler for social mobility and are committed to delivering this through our education. We aim to widen participation and raise attainment - bridging gaps in retention, progression and success - to ensure our students enjoy the best possible outcome.

In support of the University’s Access and Participation Plan this course is only open to UK domiciled students who meet our contextual offer eligibility criteria, or are classed as Mature Students, and who may not have met the entry requirements for first-year entry or have not been able to take A-level Mathematics alongside a BTEC L3 Extended Diploma. Check if you are eligible to join this programme on our Contextual offers webpages.

Eligibility criteria

• A-Level: BCC
  • GCE A-Level Maths grade C. We will also accept AS Maths at A or Core Maths at A in lieu of A-Level Maths. Candidates may offer GCE A-Level Maths, Pure Maths or Further Maths.
• IB: 26/544
  • Maths HL 4
• BTEC: DMM
  • Applicants studying a BTEC Extended Diploma will also require at least grade C in GCE A-Level Maths
• GCSE: 4/C
  • Grade C or 4 in GCSE English language
• Access to HE: 18 L3 credits at Distinction grade and 27 L3 credits at Merit grade
  • 12 L3 credits at Pass Grade in an appropriate Mathematics subject
• T-Levels: T-Levels not accepted
  • N/A
• NB: General Studies is not included in any offer.

Course content

The Foundation Year is part of an integrated 4 year undergraduate degree programme. The information below relates to the Foundation Year only. Please see BSc Data Science for further information and details of the modules available on the degree programme you can progress to from the Foundation Year.

The course comprises of 90 credits of core maths, to elevate students’ knowledge to A-level grade A standard, plus some aspects of the further maths curriculum, but concentrating on developing core mathematical skills.

The other 30 credits comprise a project that includes key skills for university study.

Foundation year

• Compulsory modules
  • MTH0001: Principles of Pure Mathematics (30 credits)
  • MTH0003: Exploring Mathematics (15 credits)
  • MTH0004: Foundation Statistics (15 credits)
  • MTH0005: Science: Skills and Culture (30 credits)
  • MTH0006: Applied Mathematics (15 credits)
  • MTH0007: Programming Skills (15 credits)

Fees

• Tuition fees for 2025 entry
  • UK students: £9,535 per year
• Scholarships
  • The University of Exeter has many different scholarships available to support your education, including £5 million in scholarships for international students applying to study with us in the 2025/26 academic year, such as our Exeter Excellence Scholarships.
  • Financial support is also available for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, lower income households and other under-represented groups to help them access, succeed and progress through higher education.

Learning and teaching

The way you learn at university may be different from what you have experienced before. Depending on your course, you may encounter a variety of teaching methods.

In the Foundation year of this programme, you will experience a range of teaching and learning activities including lectures, workshops, tutorials, group projects/presentations and/or seminars. The mathematics modules at this stage comprise of 90 credits in total, while 'Science: Skills and Culture' module is 30 credits. You should expect your total workload to average about 40 hours per week during term time including guided independent study hours.

Assessment

Modules are assessed by a combination of summative assessments. You must pass your foundation year and meet the progression criteria to progress to Year 1 of the BSc Data Science programme, but the results do not count towards your degree classification.

Your future

There is an established strong market demand for suitably skilled data scientists and data science skills are increasingly being sought across the sectors, particularly by the finance and accounting industries, supermarkets, online retailers such as Amazon, and the NHS.

The BSc Data Science course has been developed with partner employers, including IBM, the Met Office, South West Water, Black Swan and Oxygen House and has been designed to deliver skills that are most valued by employers. Modules will use the employers’ methods, platforms, software and data, to ensure that they are fully reflective of workplace practice. Throughout your studies you will conduct individual and group projects using real world data sets.

This course will prepare you to be an outstanding dynamic problem solver with an excellent technical skillset. In addition to learning the core principles of Mathematics and Computer Science, you will learn soft skills that employers have told us they are looking for, such as communication and presentation skills, and the ability to work effectively in a team.

The inclusion of individual- and group-based project work in every academic year will offer you an opportunity to apply your skills to solve real world problems and prepare you for future employment.

Career paths

The broad-based skills acquired during your degree will give you an excellent grounding for a wide variety of careers, not only those related to Data Science but also in wider fields. Examples of roles recent graduates are now working as include:

• Analytics Manager
• Business Intelligence
• Analyst
• Business Statistician
• Data Analyst
• Data Architect
• Data Scientist
• Machine Learning
• Engineer
• Quantitative Researcher
• Research Analyst
• Research Scientist