Course description

Foundation Year - helping you to achieve more

Including a foundation year as part of your four-year study programme will give you a head start in your academic and professional life. The foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.

Our degrees with a foundation year are continuous, meaning that you won’t need to apply again once you have successfully completed the first year.

A degree that opens doors

With its focus on the real-world applications of mathematics, this degree is challenging, rewarding and opens doors to a wide range of career choices, from business and finance to engineering and teaching.

While mathematics is one of the oldest subjects to study, it underpins so many of the world's new and emerging fields — from big data and artificial intelligence, to clean energy or personalised medicine. If you are excited by the idea of using mathematics to make a positive impact on the world, this BSc (Hons) degree could be for you. It will develop your knowledge and understanding of key concepts in mathematics, statistics and operational research, and encourage you to explore how mathematics can be applied to solve modern problems, particularly in business. Practical projects, including those set by external organisations, are a key feature of this course. You will also build vital transferable skills such as problem-solving, communication, digital skills, teamwork and networking.

Flexibility

You’ll study alongside students on our BSc (Hons) Data Science and Artificial Intelligence degree in year one. This will give you the option of transferring to this degree at the end of the year if you find it suits you better. In year two you’ll go on to study more specialist modules with further options to tailor your studies to an area of your interest in your final year.

Benefit from our links with industry

Our course has been designed in close collaboration with industrial practitioners, technologists, specialists and professional bodies. We collaborate with local and international industries on a wide range of challenging projects including Rolls-Royce, Toyota, CERN, Bloc Digital, Alstom, Bentley Motors and JCB.

We offer you the chance to take a year's work placement between years two and three of your course. Our students often say this is the most rewarding part of their course and it will certainly boost your employment prospects after graduation — increasingly,?employers are looking for graduates with work experience. Previous students have secured placements with prestigious companies such as IBM, Network Rail, Experian, Bosch, Pattonair, IQ Plus and Cable Detection.? There are also other opportunities to take up shorter internships and placements, and we'll encourage and support you to do this.
 
If you’re interested in studying abroad, there’s the option of taking a work placement overseas or studying in another country for a semester

How you will learn

You’ll learn through a variety of ways including:

• Interactive lectures
• Seminars and tutorials
• Practical sessions
• Team working

You’ll be encouraged to use and apply research and innovation tools in an Individual Project module in your third year.

How you are assessed

Instead of exams, a variety of assessment methods are used. Some modules are assessed through coursework only, others by a combination of:

• Coursework
• Assignments
• Oral and graphic presentations
• Case studies
• Teamwork projects
• Computer testing and examinations