Foundation degrees

'Made in the workplace for the workplace', foundation degrees are designed and delivered in partnership with employers, which means you will learn relevant knowledge and skills for work.

A foundation degree is a modern, vocational higher education qualification which combines study with hands-on work experience.

A foundation degree is a level 5 qualification which is equivalent to the second year of a degree but it is a qualification in its own right.

Once you’ve got your foundation degree, you can use the letters FdA or FdSc after your name. You can also progress to do a third year at university and get an honours degree if you want to.

You could study your foundation degree full time for two years, which will provide you with an excellent kick start to launch your career in financial services. Alternatively, if you're already in work and want to improve your knowledge and skills, a part-time foundation degree could be the way forward. You could also study through distance learning and via the internet. And you don’t have to give up your job so you can earn while you learn.

'We do two days placement at the Skills Academy and two days placement at work. We are learning straight away the theory behind the financial services industry at the Skills Academy. And then it feels like you are putting it in place when you go to work. It’s like a tennis rally really – you learn the theory at the Skills Academy and take it to work and there’s a constant reinforcement of knowledge. Whereas if you were to, say, go away and do a degree somewhere else in a different part of the country, you would be learning an awful lot of knowledge and just the theory and then you have to wait three years before you can go and get a job within the organisation or the business you want to go into, so there is no way you could have the same experience.'
Jake Thorogood, student - Marsh/City College Norwich

What will you learn?

The key thing about foundation degrees is that they are designed in partnership with employers, so what you learn will vary depending on where you learn.

The Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) has developed a foundation degree framework for the financial services sector, which sets out the main themes and skills that employers would expect to see in any foundation degree, whatever the options available within the programme so there are key points which all foundation degrees should have.

The main themes you will definitely study will be the five that employers across financial services felt were necessary in all roles, at all levels. They are: risk, regulation, customer focus and service, ethics and the financial services environment.

As well as those concepts, you are likely to be able to choose from a wide range of optional modules, covering topics such as financial analysis, investment, insurance, economics, law, sales and marketing and financial planning.

Essential skills that form part of the FSSC’s framework are those which employers value highly and include communication skills, analytical skills, team working, presentation skills, management skills, research skills, literacy, numeracy and financial interpretation.

Employers value the skills that you will gain as highly as they value the modules studied so skills are likely to be given a high profile within your foundation degree.

To find out more about foundation degrees go to www.fssc.org.uk/foundationdegrees or contact the education team at the FSSC at info@fssc.org.uk