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 and Politics
Lancaster’s joint German Studies and Politics degree is taught by the Department of Languages and Cultures in conjunction with the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion.

Your German Studies programme gives you the opportunity to acquire high-level language skills and gain a thorough understanding of the country’s historical, cultural, social and political background in a global context. In Politics, you will explore the themes, concepts and events that have shaped the contemporary world.

Your first year comprises an exploration of the German language and its cultural context as well as the core module ‘Politics and the New World’, which introduces you to key themes such as the theory and practice of liberal democracy, globalisation and threats to international security.  In addition, you will study a minor subject that complements your degree.

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

In the second and fourth year students will be able to choose from a broad range of options, such as Politics and History of the Middle East; International Relations, Security and Sustainability; Politics of Development and Global Changes; Understanding Key Economic Concepts; Issues in Contemporary Politics and Philosophy. For more details and options, please see the PPR department website.

Spending your third year abroad in a German-speaking country gives you the opportunity to develop your language proficiency 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 modules, such as ‘Autocrats, Caudillos and Big Men: Understanding Dictatorship and its Cultural Representation in the 20th Century’.