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.

English Language and Linguistics
How does language work? Why do we develop accents? What makes human language such a unique way of communicating? Linguistics offers a fresh insight into the human mind, combining arts and sciences into one captivating subject.

We currently stand as one of the country’s largest Linguistics and English Language departments, meaning that we have a wide range of optional modules available to you throughout your degree programme. Our world-leading academics cover a very wide range of language study specialisms, and our students benefit from their expertise in lectures, seminars, tutorials, and supervisions. They will teach you from day one in small classes designed to challenge you as a linguist.

Whether you want to analyse vocal anatomy or how a native Russian speaker thinks compared to a Thai speaker, we are likely to have a member of staff who specialises in your particular area of interest. Our impressive facilities include both a Phonetics Lab and Psycholinguistics Lab which students are encouraged to use throughout their degrees.

You’ll begin your degree with modules including Linguistics and English Language. In your second year, you’ll study subjects such as English Phonetics, English Grammar, Sounds of the World’s Languages and Structures of the World’s Languages. In the final year, you’ll pick two modules from Corpus approaches to English Language, Advanced English Phonetics, Cognitive Linguistics and topics in phonetic and phonological theory. You’ll complete your degree with a dissertation in which you carry out in-depth research into a topic which interests you.

Your degree could open doors to jobs in speech therapy and language technology. You will have the opportunity to develop analytical and investigative skills, which are valued by employers such as law firms, management consultancies and the media. Linguistic awareness is a real boost when working for international and multicultural companies and organisations.

Your placement year
You will have the opportunity to spend Year 3 on a placement with a public, private or voluntary organisation in the UK or overseas.  This experience should boost your employment prospects and help you to decide on your career direction and the kind of organisation in which you want to work once you graduate. You will be doing a real, responsible job – with all the satisfaction that brings.

Applying for a placement is a competitive process and our Placements Team will support you in finding and applying for a suitable placement. The preparatory modules you will complete in years one and two are designed to give you the best chance of success in both your placement applications and the placement itself.

One of the aims of the placement year is to enhance your understanding of the connections between theory and practice which could benefit your final year of study. Placements provide an exciting opportunity to build up experience and transferable skills, as well as to make contacts with potential employers, which can place you a step ahead in the graduate recruitment market.

The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies or career aspirations, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills.

If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.