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.

Mathematics and Statistics
The International Foundation Year in Mathematics and Statistics leads to a choice of bachelors and master degrees in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. To prepare for your degree, you will study core English language modules and subject modules for Mathematics and Statistics. Degree options include Accounting, Finance and Computer Science.

You will study Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics. Areas of study include number theory and graph theory (Pure Mathematics); vectors and variable acceleration (Applied Mathematics); and correlation and hypothesis testing (Statistics).

French Studies and Mathematics
Lancaster’s joint French Studies and Mathematics degree is taught by the Department of Languages and Cultures in conjunction with the Mathematics and Statistics Department.

Your French Studies programme gives you the opportunity to acquire high-level language skills while gaining a thorough understanding of the country’s historical, cultural, social and political background in a global context. In Maths, you’ll study in-depth mathematical theory and practice and have the option to specialise in pure mathematics or statistics.

Your first year comprises an exploration of the French language and its cultural context, core modules in calculus and probability, and selected modules in topics such as ‘Linear Algebra’ and ‘Discrete Mathematics’.  Alongside these, you will study a minor subject of your choice.

Building on your language skills in Year 2, you will study the culture, politics and history of the French-speaking world in more depth, as well as selecting modules which are international in scope and promote a comparative understanding of Europe and beyond.  You will combine these with Mathematics modules such as ‘Groups and Rings’ and ‘Real Analysis’.

Spending your third year abroad in a French-speaking country makes a major contribution to your command of the language, while deepening your intercultural sensitivity. You can study at a partner institution or conduct a work placement.

In your final year, you consolidate your French language skills, and study specialist culture and comparative modules, such as ‘Translation as a Cultural Practice’.  You will also select Mathematics modules such as ‘Differential Equations’, ‘Combinatorics’, or ‘Geometry of Curves and Surfaces’.