Natural Sciences with Foundation Year

This is a 4 year undergraduate degree programme with a fully embedded Foundation year. During the Foundation year, students will develop their academic skills and subject knowledge at Exeter. In the following year, students will join the first year of a BSc in Natural Sciences degree programme, subject to successful completion of the Foundation year.

Natural Sciences provides the intellectual foundations for the interdisciplinary scientists of the future. It is a degree designed for highly motivated students combining flexibility, choice and intellectual rigour. It will place you at the heart of the learning process and give you the opportunity to work alongside world-leading researchers who are exploring some of the most important scientific developments of the 21st century. It will enable you to develop the essential skills and knowledge that will allow you to make a real contribution to these challenges.

The degree ensures that you build solid foundations in the fundamentals of physical, biological and mathematical sciences, with a bespoke first year, and provides you with the flexibility to specialise in areas of specific interest as the programme progresses. As well as having the opportunity to specialise in the more traditional subject areas, you will engage with the inspirational new areas of modern scientific innovation and research such as mathematical and computational biology; biophysical, biochemical and biomedical science; materials science and materials chemistry; the science of oceans, atmospheres and climate; astrophysics; and energy research. This aspect of the programme is uniquely inspired and underpinned by some of the exciting and world-leading interdisciplinary research being carried out within the University of Exeter’s Science Strategy themes, such as climate change and sustainable futures, systems biology, functional materials and extrasolar planets.

Our Natural Sciences programme will allow you to take full advantage of the growing demand in research organisations, industry and business for graduates who are able to work in the multidisciplinary scientific environments of the future.

The general aims of this programme are:

• To provide education intended to give you competence in the Natural Sciences, and to encourage you to develop your intellectual capabilities within an institution that is committed to advancing world-leading, interdisciplinary research, scholarship and learning, and to disseminating knowledge.
• More specifically, this programme aims
• To lay the foundation of mathematical skills for more advanced studies by bringing students to a level of knowledge and competence equivalent to the pre-requisite for a first year degree in mathematics.
• To provide you with knowledge and understanding of the natural sciences from the fundamentals to the frontiers of the subject.
• To provide you with the basic scientific, intellectual, and practical training that will prepare you for lifelong learning, and, if you wish, for a career in scientific research.
• To develop your analytical and problem-solving skills.
• To enable you to experience a supportive learning environment that fosters your academic and personal development.

The BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences with Foundation Year programme is a four year full-time programme of study at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 6 (as confirmed against the FHEQ). This programme is divided into four Stages. Each Stage is normally equivalent to an academic year.

At stage zero of the programme, If you have achieved 120 credits with an overall of at least 40% and less than 65% at Level 3, you may be awarded a Foundation year Certificate as an exit award, and if you achieve 120 credits with an overall of 65% or above, you will progress to stage 1 of the BSc in Mathematics programme.

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme.

In Stage 2, you may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module. Descriptions of the individual modules are given in full on the University websites:

You may take elective modules up to 30 credits outside of the programme's core and optional modules in Stage 2 and 45 credits in Stage 3, as long as you have obtained the explicit permission of the Programme Director, any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.   

Full details of assessment regulations for all taught programmes can be found in the TQA Manual, specifically in the Credit and Qualifications Framework, and the Assessment, Progression and Awarding: Taught Programmes Handbook.

Additional information, including Generic Marking Criteria, can be found in the Learning and Teaching Support Handbook. 

Progression

At stage zero of the programme, you can progress to stage 1 of the BSc in Natural Sciences programme once the 120 credits have been passed, and provided that an average of at least 65% has been achieved over the 120 credits of assessments for this stage. Where students do not achieve the overall average of 65%  their progression to Stage 1 will be reviewed on a case by case basis. At subsequent stages, you can progress to the next stage (or in the final year, to proceed to the award of an honours degree) once at least 90 credits have been passed in a stage, and provided that an average of at least 40% has been achieved over the 120 credits of assessment for that stage.

Condonement is the process that allows you to pass a ‘stage’ should you fail to achieve the required number of credits in any stage. You are required to achieve 120 credits in each stage of the programme. At stage zero, you must have achieved an average mark of at least 65% across the 120 credits of assessment including the marks for any failed and condoned modules. At subsequent stages, you must have achieved an average mark of at least 40% across the 120 credits of assessment including the marks for any failed and condoned modules. You will not be allowed reassessment in the condoned credit.  Up to 30 credits of failure can be condoned in a stage. However, you must pass the modules marked with a ‘Yes’ in the ‘non-condonable’ column in the tables above. The pass mark for these modules is 40%.

The Natural Sciences Programme provides every student meetings each term with a personal tutor. The role of tutors is both to instil in you a sense of academic rigour and thinking and to provide you with advice and support for the duration of the programme. This includes working with you to decide the appropriate elective module choices, and research project areas, and extends to providing you with details of how to obtain support and guidance on personal difficulties such as accommodation, financial difficulties and sickness. In year 1, and some modules in subsequent years, you will also be provided with additional academic support through small group tutorials and you can also make an appointment to see individual teaching staff. The Natural Sciences website includes the student handbook. You have access to computers and printers within the University. You can expect reasonable access to all teaching staff through appointments. The Natural Sciences Student/Staff Liaison Committee enables students and staff to jointly participate in the management and review of the teaching and learning provision.

Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.

The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice. See the University's TQA Manual for details.

(http://as.exeter.ac.uk/support/admin/staff/qualityassuranceandmonitoring/tqamanual/fullcontents/)

This programme is accredited as meeting the requirements of the Society of Natural Sciences.