Foundation degrees: providing higher education qualifications to improve employees' skills
Helping Northern Ireland employers provide higher education qualifications to improve their employees' skills.
Helping Northern Ireland employers provide higher education qualifications to improve employees' skills
Foundation degrees explained for employers |
Foundation degrees - benefits for your business |
| Read on to find out more about what a Foundation degree is, how it works, and who can apply. More... |
Read on to find out how you can get involved and the potential benefits your business may be missing out on. More... |
Find out more about Foundation degrees |
Employers' experiences of Foundation degrees |
| There are a number of options available if you would like to find out more information about Foundation degrees. More... |
Read testimonials from local employers about their involvement with Foundation degrees and the benefit to their business. More... |
Foundation degrees explained for employers
A Foundation degree is a higher education qualification mainly delivered in local colleges which combines academic and work-related learning.
A Foundation degree is a higher education qualification mainly delivered in local colleges, which combines academic and work-related learning. Read on to find out more about what a Foundation degree is, how it works, and who can apply.
What is a Foundation degree?
Foundation degrees are designed to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and attributes required in the workplace by combining academic and work-related learning. They are designed and delivered through partnerships between employers/employer organisations, universities, and local colleges.
Employers are fully involved in the design, development, and delivery of these degrees so that graduates gain industry-specific skills and knowledge that they can then apply to benefit their workplace.
Foundation degrees are available in a wide range of subject areas and are delivered through local colleges. They can be flexible in their delivery so they can fit around an employee's work pattern.
The University is the body with degree-awarding powers and has the responsibility for ensuring standards.
How does a Foundation degree work?
Foundation degrees are offered in all six further education regional colleges and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE). Foundation degrees can also be studied through the Open University.
A Foundation degree can be studied full-time over two years, but many can be studied on a part-time basis. The part-time courses are flexible and can fit in with existing work patterns, meaning your employees will be able to study towards the qualification with minimal disruption to their work commitments.
Work-based learning is an important part of the Foundation degree programme, so students gain work skills, for example, communication and teamwork, as well as professional ethics and technical skills. Students who successfully complete a Foundation degree also have the option of progressing to university to "top-up" their qualification to an Honours Degree.
What does it cost?
Tuition fees are payable for all Foundation degrees. Your local college, CAFRE, or Open University NI can advise what tuition fees they charge for a Foundation degree course.
Those studying Foundation degrees are entitled to the same financial student 91香蕉黄色视频 as other higher education students. This 91香蕉黄色视频 may include student loans, assistance with tuition fees, maintenance grants, and bursaries. More information on the financial 91香蕉黄色视频 available can be found at:
Who can apply?
Foundation degrees may be suitable for a variety of people, including employees wishing to improve their skills and prospects in their current job through part-time higher level study, or people who want to reskill in a new area.
Entry requirements for a Foundation degree will depend on the course and the college. They will normally be stated in terms of A Levels or vocational equivalents such as BTEC National Diplomas.
Applicants who lack formal qualifications but who can demonstrate they have relevant experience, skills, and aptitudes may also be considered through a process known as Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL). Your employees can contact their local college to get further details about entry to the Foundation degree of their choice through APEL.
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Foundation degrees - benefits for your business
Foundation degrees can help to improve your employees' skills and their contribution to your business.
Foundation degrees can help to improve your employees' skills and their contribution to your business. Read on to find out how you can get involved and the other potential benefits your business may be missing out on.
How can I get involved, and how can my business benefit?
Employers are fully involved in the design, development, and delivery of Foundation degrees. This means that each degree provides students with a specialised set of skills, designed to meet the specific needs of employers in a particular sector.
There are four main ways that you, as an employer, can get involved with Foundation degrees, all of which can benefit your business:
Support your employees to complete a Foundation degree
Foundation degrees are open to people at any level within an organisation, particularly those who may not have considered higher education previously, as applicants need not necessarily have any formal qualifications.
Many courses are available on a part-time basis over a period of three or four years, allowing employees to study whilst continuing to work. You can help 91香蕉黄色视频 an employee to complete a Foundation degree, through time off work to study or financial 91香蕉黄色视频.
The benefits to your business include:
- improving the knowledge and skills of your workforce in line with business needs
- demonstrating your organisation's commitment to staff development, thereby increasing employee motivation and improving staff retention
- spreading good practice throughout your business, by encouraging trained employees to pass on their new skills to others
- generating business solutions and developing new ideas, by assigning employees key project work as part of their course-based assignments
- Foundation degree graduates will have very specific skills and the ability to develop and apply those skills in your workplace
Provide Student Work Placements
Work-based learning is a fundamental part of Foundation degrees, so colleges are keen to find new employers who can offer work placements to students. This can help them gain practical experience and apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired.
The benefits to your business include:
- new skills, fresh ideas, and up-to-date technologies from motivated and enthusiastic individuals
- an extra resource who can develop specialist projects that your business needs but hasn't got the time to progress
- a cost-effective way of recruiting new members of staff who have already started to gain the skills and experience relevant to your business and who you know and have confidence in
- a way to provide permanent staff with supervisory experience and to improve their skills in this area
- an active role in helping to train and shape the workforce of the future
Help design and develop Foundation degrees
Foundation degrees are developed by universities, local colleges, and employers, all working in partnership.
As an employer, you can get involved in the design and development of the content of Foundation degrees relevant to your sector and therefore influence what students are taught and how they are trained. This helps ensure that graduates have the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace.
The benefits to your business include:
- ensuring students are trained in the skills your industry or business needs, thereby reducing skills shortages and boosting the supply of future recruits
- developing and improving the skills of your existing employees, by ensuring the course meets their needs
- strengthening links between business and Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Regional Colleges
- raising the profile of your organisation and encouraging new people into your industry
- influencing how Higher Education teaches graduates in your profession and helping to ensure the quality of the workforce of the future
Employ Foundation degree graduates
A Foundation degree graduate comes equipped with a strong mix of academic knowledge, sector-specific technical skills, and relevant work-related experience.
They also acquire a range of general work skills, such as communication skills, teamwork, organisation, and time management.
Contact
If you are an employer who would like more information on Foundation Degrees, please .
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Employers' experiences of Foundation degrees
Find out how Foundation degrees have benefited employers in Northern Ireland.
Read some real-life testimonials from local employers about their experience with Foundation degrees and how they have helped their businesses.
Mark Weir - Mango Direct Marketing Ltd
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd has testified to the high quality of the Foundation degree computing course. Mark Weir from Mango Direct Marketing states, "The modules within the Foundation degree in computing are perfectly suited to today's tech environment, so much so that students can be given tasks in application and MSSQL development, as well as infrastructure amendments and server updates shortly after placement begins."
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd case study.
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Mango Direct Marketing Ltd | Foundation degrees
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd has witnessed very tangible benefits from employing Foundation degree work placement students.
Building skills and expertise
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd has witnessed very tangible benefits from employing Foundation degree work placement students. It takes work placement students from the Foundation degree in computing which is delivered by South Eastern Regional College (SERC) and Ulster University.
The Foundation degree in computing aims to develop industry current skills to ensure that the future needs of the IT sector are fully met. This qualification provides students with the knowledge and practical experience in programming, networking, database design and development as well as other core skills required for employment within the computing industry.
Benefits of Foundation degree courses
Students are assessed using a range of different methods. These include examinations, coursework, project-based learning, presentations, practical assessments, posters, leaflets, role-play, and case studies. This is dependent on the requirements of each unit of study. Oral, written, and online feedback will be provided during the course to help improve and monitor performance.
The course also provides the opportunity to undertake a 12-week placement within the computing industry to assist in developing real-life experience and practical skills that employers want. Students learn transferable skills such as communication, organisational skills, problem-solving, and critical thinking which will help them to apply for relevant jobs within the computing industry. The programme is designed to facilitate a student's development of graduate qualities that are highly valued in the workplace.
As well as helping the students gain practical experience and apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired, there are many potential benefits for the businesses that host the students on their extended work placements.
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd has found that the partnership between the company and SERC has maximised the benefits of the placements. As Mark Weir of the company explains, "For several years Mango Direct Marketing Ltd has provided SERC students with the opportunity to gain experience in the IT industry to 91香蕉黄色视频 their 12-week placements. The staff within the School of Computing and Engineering have been instrumental in the coordination of these placements, as well as 91香蕉黄色视频ing and forging the relationship between Mango and SERC in other areas such as training, career development, and recruitment."
Quality of Foundation degree course and students
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd has testified to the high quality of the Foundation degree computing course. As Mark explains, "The modules within the Foundation degree in computing are perfectly suited to today鈥檚 tech environment, so much so that students can be given tasks in application and MSSQL development, as well as infrastructure amends and server updates shortly after placement begins."
Whilst the students gain practical work experience from the placements, the company also benefits.
Mark continues, "Both the systems and development strand students have been excellent in the knowledge they have brought with them from their studies, coupled with an eagerness to learn, that has benefited Mango and the students themselves."
Progression
Successful completion of the Foundation degree course can lead to either a career in the computing industry or to related degree programmes.
Mango Direct Marketing Ltd testifies to how the Foundation degree placements have helped them with future recruitment.
Mark explains: "With recruitment in the past for IT positions proving erroneous Mango has always availed of a constant flow of excellent students on placement, as well as a longer-term view to a permanent opportunity if roles become available."
Find out more about Foundation degrees
If you think that Foundation degrees are for you or for your employees, then there are a number of options available to find out more.
Contact your local further education regional college
Foundation degrees are offered in all six further education regional colleges and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE). You should contact the relevant college for more information about the application process for your chosen Foundation degree course:
To find out more about what subjects are available for Foundation degrees, go to: