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.

German Studies
German Studies is taught by the Department of Languages and Cultures.  Through our approach we can enable you to acquire high-level language skills and a thorough understanding of German cultures and societies within a global context. This programme includes an international placement year where you will study abroad. 

Your first year comprises an exploration of the German language and its cultural context.  Alongside this, you will study two minor subjects that complements your degree, one of which may be another language.

Building on your language skills in Year 2, you will also study Germany’s culture, politics and history in more depth, as well as selecting modules which are international in scope and promote a comparative understanding of Europe and beyond.

Spending your third year abroad in a German-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 German language skills, and study specialist culture and comparative courses, such as ‘Images of Austria: National Identity and Cultural Representation’, and ‘Autocrats, Caudillos and Big Men: Understanding Dictatorship and its Cultural Representation in the 20th Century’. You will also develop a particular topic from your second year studies into your specialist dissertation.