Graduation 2013

On 21st June 2013 we held a graduation ceremony for our September students who have now completed their Programmes.


Students from the Undergraduate Foundation Programme, Master's Foundation Programme and English Language Module who have now successfully completed their courses will go on to study their chosen degrees at UCLan. 


A representative from the International Office joined us at graduation with offer letters for students.  Those that had passed and already paid their deposits for UCLan also received a CAS number which is necessary for students wishing to apply for a Student Visa, ensuring a very early and therefore, hopefully, a quick and stress-free visa application.

Following a speech by James Martin, Centre Head, that focussed on achievements and highlighted the successes that students have enjoyed over the last 9 months we presented certificates to our graduating students who were visibly proud to receive them.

We were also joined by students' friends and family, a number of members of the UCLan International Office Team, catering staff and our colleagues at UCLan who are all actively involved in working with FoundationCampus UCLan throughout the year and a special thanks was extended to them.

After the ceremony students, staff and guests were invited to join us for a complimentary buffet and an opportunity to have photographs taken by a professional photographer. 

A huge congratulations to all of students.  Well done on working hard to receive the much needed results and best of luck in your upcoming degrees.  Come back and visit us.

Although a number of students have now left we are back in business this week now that our January students have returned to complete their courses which will end in August.  We are very much looking forward to celebrating their success with them and, of course, enjoying another complimentary buffet.

While the students are away!

Today staff at FoundationCampus UCLan were able to take advantage of the 'quiet' period while students are away having two weeks break from lessons. 

Katie, Ruth, Aimee and Sam spent their lunch hour today outside enjoying the nice weather and green parks of Preston by trying out cycling.  They spent an hour at Moor Park, only minutes walk from the FoundationCampus centre, giving it a go at UCLan's Bike Week.

Preston is a great place to cycle with numerous parks, bicycle lanes and the newly opened Guild Wheel, a 21 mile 'Greenway' which links the city of Preston to local countryside, which is perfect for cycling and walking enthusiasts.



There are lots of activities throughout the year in partnership with the local council so if you are interested in cycling in Preston feel free to get in touch or contact www.cycling.org.uk for more details.

Thumbs Up for Architecture at UCLan

Great news for our aspiring architects; UCLan's BSc (Hons) Architecture course has been awarded official accreditation from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) after the Institute inspected the course, staffing, research and facilities.

Congratualtions to UCLan on this fantastic achievement. 

You can read more about this here; http://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/thumbs_up_for_architecture.php.

Goodbye September MFP!

Party time

Today is the last day of lessons for our September start MFP students.  They have sat through their last lessons, delivered their final presentations and uploaded the last of their coursework to Turnitin for assessment.

It's been a challenging but enjoyable year for all concerned but our students have been looking very pleased with themselves all week.

Today students had a mini presentation with their English teachers, Sam and Nicola, who presented them with certificates relating to their experiences at UCLan.  It was all good fun and students received awards for their individual contribution to their group.  Awards that were given out included 'Class Clown,' 'Most Competitive,' 'Best Shoes' and 'Worst Tuesday Morning Attendance.'

Students pose with their teacher, Nicola, and their certificates

Many of our students will also be out tonight celebrating their achievements with some of their teachers.

Now they are eagerly awaiting their scores and crossing their fingers that every one of them progresses to UCLan in September to undertake their chosen Master's degree, but they will have to wait until our graduation ceremony on 21st June to find out just how well they have done. 

Congratulations on a great year; it has been a pleasure to have you all around the centre.  Good luck and do come back and visit us next year!

Going to the Zoo

Last week our English Language Module (ELM) Higher Group students visited Blackpool and went on a class trip to the zoo.  They enjoyed great weather, a trip down the Blackpool strip to the famous Blackpool Tower and had some free time to go shopping.

To ensure their fun day out incorporated a great deal of language learning, students were put into mixed nationality groups so they had to speak English to each other and were given worksheets to complete on their trip round the zoo which was followed by a quiz.  Students also had to buy their own lunch and souvenirs, take the bus and ask questions in English.




What is Blackpool rock?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_(confectionery)

This was a great opportunity for students learning English to put some of their classroom learning into a real life setting and gave them a great deal of confidence in interacting with different people to meet necessary aims; eating, getting from one place to another etc.



Students reported that they had a really good day out.  Blackpool is a traditional British seaside resort which they had the pleasure of visiting and as a bonus, students were treated to a stick of Blackpool rock by their teacher Victoria.

Previous students return to FoC

Betty Yang (far left) with MFP Management class

Yesterday we were visited by some previous MFP students who are currently studying on Masters programmes at UCLan.  They came in to talk to our current students about their experiences and to give some advice about how to make the most out of the MFP, how best to prepare for a UCLan Masters and to talk about the benefits of being a foundation student.

Current students had an opportunity to ask questions about their future at UCLan and to talk about their time with us on the foundation course to students who had been in the same position as them only a year ago.  They asked questions such as 'How many hours do you study per week at UCLan?' 'What was the most difficult thing about the MFP and what is the most difficult thing about doing a Master's?' and 'How did you improve your speaking and listening skills?' 

The students who returned spoke very positively of the friendships they made here and the benefit they received to their essay writing practice and use of the library.   They felt studying on the foundation course gave them an upper hand on students who had no experience of UCLan when they started their Masters degree and that the subjects they studied here gave them a good foundation to build on in further study.

Last week Anton Mishechkin, a former UFP student who is now in his first year of BA (Hons) Business and Management at UCLan, also came to speak to our current UFP Business students about his experiences and we are expecting some more visitors throughout the week. 

These sessions provide a great opportunity for current students to get some perspective and to realise why they are studying the Foundation course and the benefits it will bring next year.  This provides a good boost to students' morale and motivation just a few weeks before many of them take their final exams.

Department visits at UCLan

When students study an Undergraduate Foundation Programme or Master's Foundation Programme at FoundationCampus UCLan they have guaranteed progression to their choice of UCLan's Bachelor's or Master's degree upon successful completion of the course.

There are a wide range of degrees available as automatic progression routes and if any potential student wants to go onto a course which doesn't have prior agreement we are able to approach the University to arrange this in agreement with the course leader of the degree.

As we have such strong links with the University our students also have the benefit of meeting their course leader and visiting the department that they will join before they begin the course the following year.

This gives the student a great insight into what is involved in the course and what their environment will be when they go onto their University programme taking the nerves out of the next step.

Students have had visits to the Business School, Art Department, Law School and School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences (FIS).

Last week a group of future Fire Engineering students met with Shephard Ndlovu, a senior lecturer in the School of FIS, to talk about their degree.  They were given a presentation on the course content and the use of fire engineering in the real world. 

Following that they had a tour of one of the fire labs and were shown a great deal of equipment which they will use in practical lessons as part of the course.  Shephard demonstrated one of the pieces of machinery which they will use to study the behaviour of fire in order to learn how to manage and control fire in different settings.

It was a very interesting and informative trip and students felt it was great benefit to them, motivating them to work even harder in the last leg of their course with us. 

Good luck to all of our students who will be joining UCLan next year, we are sure that they will enjoy it.