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.

Social Studies
The International Foundation Year in Social Studies leads to a choice of undergraduate degrees in the Faculty of Arts and Social Studies and the Faculty of Science and Technology. To prepare for your degree, you will study core English language modules and subject modules. Degree options include Philosophy, Sociology, and Film.

You will learn about global issues and contemporary events, including business, culture, politics and environment. Other areas of study include advertising, social media, psychology, and theories that relate to media and modern society.

Drama, Theatre and Performance
Studying Drama, Theatre and Performance at Lancaster gives you the opportunity to learn about innovative twentieth and twenty-first century theatre and performance through an exciting and varied mix of practical and academic approaches. You will gain critical and creative skills that open up possibilities for working in theatre, while making you highly attractive to a wide range of other employers.

You will be taught by theatre practitioners and scholars and will benefit from performance facilities and the access to professional practice provided by our close relationship with Lancaster Arts and with other leading organisations in the creative and cultural industries.

Throughout your degree you will be given the opportunity to gain knowledge of different modes of acting and theatre production from Shakespeare to cutting edge contemporary theatre. You will be given the option to choose modules on British Theatre (1945-20), Post-war European Playwrights, Modern Dance, New Writing in British Theatre, The Popular, The Political and the Avant-Garde, Writing for Performance, Contemporary European Postdramatic Theatre, Media and Performance, New Scenographies in Performance, Theatre for Social Change and Contemporary Dance and the Visual Arts. You will have a number of opportunities to complete solo and group performance projects including the final degree show.

The interdisciplinary environment supported by the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts gives you the opportunity to either focus solely on Theatre or choose to take some modules in Art, Design, Film, or Sound. You will have the opportunity to gain real world experience in the creative arts with our Creative Enterprise module, working on a live project to deliver a creative arts initiative in the community.