Arts and Humanities Foundation Year

Through a range of engaging modules spanning the arts and humanities, the foundation year allows you to develop key skills such as communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and digital capability. Your dedicated foundation year tutors will support you to develop the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence for undergraduate study. 

The course is designed for talented UK students with an interest in arts and humanities subjects, but whose personal circumstances (see below) make achieving our usual entry requirements difficult. This is offered as part of the University of Nottingham’s contextual admissions policy. BCC at A level reflects the reduced entry requirements.  

During the foundation year, you will be a full member of the university, with all the opportunities this offers, including the same accommodation options as direct-entry students. This course prepares you for progression to a range of arts and humanities degrees, without the need to reapply. 

Progression options 

On successful completion of the course, you will progress directly to your undergraduate course, chosen from the full range provided entirely within the Faculty of Arts; this excludes a small number of joint honours courses where the academic partner is in another faculty. Your tutors will guide you through your choices.  

These include: 

• Ancient History
• Archaeology
• Art History and Visual Culture
• Classical Civilisation
• Classics
• Cultural and Creative Industries
• English
• English Language and Literature
• English with Creative Writing
• Film and Screen Studies
• French Studies
• German Studies
• Hispanic Studies
• History
• International Media and Communications Studies
• Liberal Arts
• Modern Languages
• Modern Languages with Translation
• Music
• Music with Creative Music Technology
• Philosophy
• Religion, Philosophy and Ethics
• Russian Studies
• Theology and Religion

You may also progress to joint honours courses in the Faculty of Arts.

Note: Music and some Modern Language courses have additional subject entry requirements.  

Some degrees combine the above subjects with subjects outside of the Faculty of Arts. These joint honour degrees are not currently available for Arts and Humanities Foundation Year progression:

• Politics and American Studies  
• Archaeology and Geography  
• History and Politics 
• Modern Languages with Business  
• Philosophy and Psychology 

Personal circumstances 

As well as having the required grades, your current or most recent school cannot be an independent school, and you must meet at least one of the following personal background criteria: 

• You live in an area where people are less likely to go to university – check your postcode.
• You received free school meals (FSM) on any census day in the six years before the census day of your final KS4 year (that is, the year you were aged 15-16 years old).
  
• You are the first generation in your family to enter higher education.
  
• You will be over 21 years old when you begin your course.
  
• You have spent more than three months in local authority care (for this criterion you do not need to have attended a state school).
  
• You have refugee status from the Home Office.
  
• You need to study in the East Midlands (for example for family, cultural, or financial reasons).
• You provide long-term care for a sick or disabled family member.
  

Where relevant you should include reference to 6, 7 and 8 in your personal statement, or provide this information via artssupport@nottingham.ac.uk when you submit your UCAS application.