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.

Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Philosophy, Politics and Economics, known as PPE, is a joint degree delivered by the department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion and the department of Economics.

You will explore philosophical, economic and political ideas in relation to one another. For example, the study of Philosophy provides a historical background and gives you the opportunity to develop your critical reasoning skills and understanding, which are directly relevant to Politics and Economics.

In Politics, you will examine the history and basis of political ideas and critically reflect upon the nature and activities of political institutions. You will have the chance to learn how political decisions concern, and are influenced by, economic matters. You will also critically engage with a range of economic models and theories.

The first year of your degree is designed to enable you to develop a firm grounding in each of the three disciplines through the core modules: Introduction to Philosophy; Politics in the Modern World, and Principles of Economics.

In your second and third years, you’ll develop your skills and knowledge, choosing from a range of optional modules in the three subject areas. For example: Modern Political Thought: Liberty, Theory and Practice; The Ethics of Belief and Ignorance; Managerial Economics, International Economics and Issues in Contemporary Politics and Philosophy.