Foundation Year in Business
Subject and course type
- Foundation
- Undergraduate
Set yourself up for success. This Foundation Year in Business at Kingston College will give you the knowledge and skills you need to progress your studies to degree-level.
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Lay strong foundations for a fast-paced future
You’ll get a taste of academic life in a supportive environment, with access to a range of facilities at Kingston College – not far from Kingston University’s Penrhyn Road campus.
Studying a Foundation Year in Business, validated by Kingston University, is your first step towards a full Business bachelor’s degree. You’ll complete the programme ready to progress to Year 1 of a honours course.
Through a blend of practical and theoretical learning, you’ll develop your professional skills and get to grips with numerical concepts, business IT, marketing, customer care and business law.
Teaching will come from well-qualified Kingston College staff, with a wealth of cutting-edge commercial experience. You’ll learn about current business developments, hear from industry guest speakers and tap into a range of practice-related opportunities.
Why choose this course
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University, which is ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework. Kingston Business School is also in the 6% of business schools in the world to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.
Maybe you don’t have the right qualifications to join the first year of a Business degree. Perhaps your previous studies have been in an unrelated field, or you’re returning to education after time in employment. Whatever your reason, this Foundation Year will help you realise your potential.
Select your chosen degree programme and apply for the ‘including foundation year’ course. The corresponding UCAS codes are listed below.
- Accounting and Finance BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N421 - Business and Accounting BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N142 - Business Management BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N222 - Business Management and Digital Innovation BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N296 - Business Management and Entrepreneurship BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N213 - Business Management and Marketing BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N299 - International Business BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N121 - Marketing and Advertising BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N591 - Real Estate Management BSc (Hons)
UCAS code N292
Ready for business
At Kingston Business School, we believe that professional success is shaped by honing your personal capacity and skillset, supported by the academic framework of knowledge. Through vocationally rich, employer-engaged and research-informed courses, we work alongside our students to help them meet personal goals and career ambitions.
Course content
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
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.
30.00 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.
30.00 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.
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 and career opportunities
This course will give you all of the benefits of being a Kingston University student before you start your degree. You’ll complete this year with the foundational knowledge and key academic skills you need to progress to Year 1 of your chosen Business honours programme at Kingston University.
Every course at Kingston University teaches a range of Future Skills. From problem-solving and adaptability to digital competency, these are the attributes you’ll need to get the edge in the job market and a head start on your career.
At Kingston University, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it
For more information on how Kingston prepares you for the future job market, visit our Future Skills page.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- Coursework: 35%
- Practical: 28%
- Exam: 37%
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.
Fees and funding
Please refer to the relevant course page for further information about fees:
- Accounting and Finance BSc (Hons) including foundation year
- Business Management BSc (Hons) including foundation year
- Business Management and Digital Innovation BSc (Hons)
- Business Management and Entrepreneurship BSc (Hons)
- Business Management and Marketing BSc (Hons)
- International Business BSc (Hons) including foundation year
- Marketing and Advertising BSc (Hons) including foundation year
- Real Estate Management BSc (Hons) including foundation year
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our free intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
You’ll need to buy a specific type of calculator, which should cost between £10 and £20.
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. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
