Foundation Year in Business

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold award

Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold award

Our commitment to high quality teaching has been recognised with a TEF Gold rating. The University has received an overall rating of Gold, as well as securing a Gold award in the framework's two new student experience and student outcomes categories.

Why choose this course?

The foundation year in business is part of a four-year degree and is taught at Kingston College, close to Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus. You'll be introduced to professional skills, numerical concepts, business IT, marketing, customer care and business law.

This foundation year is available with the following courses:

Choose your pathway

Attendance UCAS code Year of entry
1 year full time UCAS codes are included on the relevant webpage for the course you would like to study 2025
Main Location Kingston College
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Reasons to choose Kingston University

  • A stepping-stone onto your chosen BSc degree course
  • Prepares you with a foundation business knowledge whilst developing key academic skills
  • You'll gain all of the benefits of being a Kingston University student

What you will study

The year-long foundation year is made up of four modules.

Foundation year

You will cover the professional and personal skills required for business; numerical concepts and IT skills of use in business; an introduction to marketing and customer care; and an introduction to the principal areas of English law that may be encountered in business

Core modules

Professional and Personal Skills for Business

30 credits

This module focuses on giving you a strong foundation of academic and transferable skills alongside your business modules. It also provides you with an opportunity to develop life-long learning and personal development skills. The module provides a bridge between the wide range of study experiences of students at Level 3 and the demands of successful study at Level 4. The early part of the module will develop the essential study skills needed to be successful on all the modules of the Foundation year.

As the module develops, you will start to evidence those skills also in the context of your future career and learn how to build your employability, both for your own self-awareness and for recruitment and selection activities you may face for placements and graduate employment. You will have the opportunity to apply your learning in a practical way, working as part of a group on a business projects and problems.

A wide range of both formative and summative assessment methods are used in the module. These include a portfolio of skills and a short capstone project culminating in a poster presentation which will use the skills developed in this module, alongside the subject material in other modules, to consider a topical issue related to your chosen degree pathway. 

The personal tutorial system for the foundation year is incorporated within this module.

Applying Business Numerical Concepts

30 credits

This module provides the basics of mathematics, statistics and finance relating to business. This requires revisiting basic mathematics, basic statistics, basic use of spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel) and developing an understanding of some basic accounting concepts.

The module will be delivered using a problem-centric approach, emphasising the basic application of mathematical techniques and accounting concepts with a strong emphasis placed on the use of information technology to handle and process numerical data within a business context.

Introduction to Business Law

30 credits

This module will give you a general understanding of the principal areas of English law that may be encountered in business. There is an introduction to how business law is made. You will also be introduced to possible business liabilities under criminal and civil law, the main methods of resolving business disputes including the court system of England and Wales and alternative methods of dispute resolution. You will learn what constitutes an enforceable contract and what happens if one party fails to perform their part of the contract. You will learn some of the basic principles of employment law and the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees in the workplace. 

Marketing & Customer Care

30 credits

This module provides you with an introduction to marketing and customer care. You will gain an appreciation of the core concepts in the field of marketing and customer care, and the module will enable you to apply this knowledge in your assignments. You will consider the role of marketing and customer service within different types of organisations (both non-profit and profit-making).

Future Skills

Knowledge to give you the edge

Embedded within every course curriculum and throughout the whole Kingston experience, Future Skills will play a role in shaping you to become a future-proof graduate, providing you with the skills most valued by employers such as problem-solving, digital competency, and adaptability.

As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills, learning to demonstrate and articulate to employers how future skills give you the edge.

At Kingston University, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it.

Learn employability-enhancing Future Skills
A female engineering student, in the engineering lab.

Entry requirements

Typical offer 2025

  • 64 UCAS tariff points from level 3 qualifications (CC or equivalent from two A2 subjects).
  • BTEC Lvl3 National: Pass, Pass, Merit (PPM). 
  • Candidates are normally required to hold five GCSE subjects at grade C/4 or above, including Mathematics and English Language.

Typical offer 2024

  • 64 UCAS tariff points from level 3 qualifications (CC or equivalent from two A2 subjects).
  • BTEC Lvl3 National: Pass, Pass, Merit (PPM). 
  • Candidates are normally required to hold five GCSE subjects at grade C/4 or above, including Mathematics and English Language.

Additional requirements

  • Entry on to this course does not require an interview, entrance test, audition or portfolio.

Alternative Routes

  • QAA-approved Access to Higher Education Diploma in a relevant subject with 60 credits, minimum 45 credits at Level 3 pass.
  • Candidates are normally required to hold five GCSE subjects grades A*-C including Mathematics and English Language (or comparable numeric score under the newly reformed GCSE grading).

International

  • We welcome applications from International Applicants. Please view our standard entry requirements from your country
  • All non-UK applicants must meet our English Language requirements. For this course it is Academic IELTS of 6.0 overall, with no element below 5.5

Country-specific information

You will find more information on country specific entry requirements in the International section of our website.

Find your country:

Typical offer and UCAS points explained

Like most universities, we use the UCAS Tariff point system for our course entry requirements.

Find out more about UCAS Tariff points and see how A-level, AS level, BTEC Diploma and T-level qualifications translate to the points system.

Teaching and assessment

Collaborative and group work activities are key components of the learning and teaching strategy in most modules of the programme; in some cases these provide opportunities for summative assessment. Effective group work is considered a vital skill for success, both within your intended degree routes and in the wider context of employability.

Guided independent study (self-managed time)

Additional learning is available through a variety of online resources, which allows formative assessment of understanding and the application of knowledge outside formal class time. These include the use of web-based activities, online testing and accessibility to material the college's VLE Moodle. Students are directed towards independent study where appropriate, both as enhancement to topics studied or for stand-alone topics.

Academic support

Lectures use active learning techniques through the use of question and answer sessions, using teaching aids such as mini white boards and small group presentations. Active learning techniques promote effective engagement by students and provide many opportunities for formative assessment activities that result in near immediate feedback to the students.

Your workload

Type of teaching and learning

Type of teaching and learning
  • Scheduled learning and teaching: 384 hours
  • Guided independent study (self-managed time): 516 hours

 

  • Year 1 - 43% of your time is spent in timetabled learning and teaching activity

How you will be assessed

Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam), practical (e.g. presentations, performance) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation). The approximate percentage for how you will be assessed on this course is as follows.

Year 1

Type of assessment

Type of assessment
  • Coursework: 35%
  • Practical: 28%
  • Exam: 37%

Class sizes

The relatively small class sizes, which are a key feature of the learning environment at Kingston College, allow significant interaction and individual monitoring of students by lecturing staff.

Who teaches this course?

You will be taught by staff at Kingston College. Their lecturing staff are well qualified and bring a wealth of current commercial experience to the programme, Lecturing staff with significant work experience will expose students to current business developments, whilst industry guest speakers provide additional opportunities to relate these to practice.

Why take a foundation year?

If you would like to study a business degree at Kingston University but are not yet ready to join the first year of a BSc (Hons) course then you may want to consider studying with a foundation year.

There are many routes onto the foundation year. It may be that you:

  • are expecting to meet the entry requirements needed for the foundation year
  • or may not have received the grades required for direct entry onto the first year of your chosen BA/BSc programme
  • or you have been away from education for a period of time and would like an introduction back into study prior to taking your degree.

Whatever the reason, this option will prepare you for the transition onto your chosen degree programme.

How to apply for a foundation year

This foundation year is available for all of our business degrees. Please select your chosen degree programme and apply for the course that is ‘including foundation year'

Course fees and funding

Fees for this course

Please refer to the relevant course page for further information about fees:

Note for EU students: UK withdrawal from the European Union

The Government has announced that new students from the European Union and Swiss Nationals starting their course after August 2021 will no longer be eligible for a student loan in England for Undergraduate or Postgraduate studies from the 2021/22 academic year. This decision only applies to new EU students starting after 2021/22. If you are an existing/continuing EU student, you will continue to be funded until you graduate or withdraw from your course.

Additional costs

Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, access to shared IT equipment and other support services. Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships.

Textbooks

Most of your readings will be available through the library at no extra cost to you. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. You may prefer to buy your own copy of key textbooks – these can cost between £50 and £250 per year.

Computer equipment

There are open-access networked computers available across the University, plus laptops available to loan. You may find it useful to have your own PC, laptop or tablet which you can use around campus and in halls of residence. Free WiFi is available on each campus. You may wish to purchase your own computer, which can cost from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.

Photocopying and printing

In the majority of cases written coursework can be submitted online. There may be instances when you will be required to submit work in a printed format. Printing, binding and photocopying costs are not included in your tuition fees, this may cost up to £100 per year.

Travel

Travel costs are not included in your tuition fees but we do have a free intersite bus service which links the campuses, Surbiton train station, Kingston-upon-Thames train station, Norbiton train station and halls of residence.

Materials

You will be advised to purchase a specific calculator at a cost of approximately £10 to £20.

After this course

Upon successful completion of this foundation year you will progress to Year 1 of your chosen degree programme.  

Course changes and regulations

The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.

Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.

Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.