Program Overview

An International Foundation Year at our International Study Centre prepares you for your degree at Lancaster University. You will focus on English language, university-level study skills, and academic modules that relate to your degree subject.

Supporting your progression to the University
At the International Study Centre, we take every measure to ensure you are supported in your academic journey. Our programmes allow for increased time spent learning, researching and developing your skills. By studying with us, you will benefit from:

• Formal assessments at the end of each term.
• An improved English language module, Academic English Skills, providing greater opportunity for informal assessments and feedback.
• Combining and reducing the number of module assessments allowing more time to prepare.
• A personal tutorial system with a focus on your academic progress at key points of the academic year, creating action plans based on your performance and progession options.

Business and Management Studies
An International Foundation Year in Business and Management Studies leads to a choice of degrees at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) – one of the top 100 business schools in the world. To prepare for your degree, you will study subject modules and core English language modules. Degree options include Accounting, Business Studies, and International Business Management.
You will learn how businesses operate, and how to prepare and interpret financial accounts. Other areas of study include economic policies, and international trade. Throughout the course, you will develop analysis and evaluation skills, and apply your knowledge to real-world situations.

Marketing and Design
Are you highly creative? Do you want to understand business and marketing as well as the design process? This joint honours degree in both Marketing and Design offers the chance to study a degree in business with a creative focus.

Delivered by our Design department and Marketing departments, this isn’t about graphic design but rather the theory and development of the design process. You’ll develop a solid grounding in design principles and applications. You will learn how to produce design briefs, commission design work and manage marketing for any area, from packaging to online advertising. The lively discussion between marketers and contemporary designers forms an important part of your course. Interactive lectures, tutorials and seminars help bring academic principles to life.

In your first year, you will learn about business models, science and new technology, product development, sustainability, and how design interacts with social media. We’ll also explore areas ranging from consumer behaviour to marketing research, customer relationship management to marketing communications. Throughout the year, you’ll be encouraged to think about how any theory works in practice.

The second year covers subjects such as routes to market – in particular retail, the application of design thinking and marketing research methods.

Every final year student carries out a design research consultancy project with a real-life client. 

The relationship between design and marketing is becoming increasingly more strategic and business-driven. This degree gives you the skills to succeed, whichever career path you choose.