Engineering Foundation Year: Frequently Asked Questions

Applicants to the Engineering Foundation Year must be eligible to pay UK/home fees as determined by UCL Admissions. This particular programme is part of UCL’s commitment to increase diversity in the student cohort, aiming to address discrepancies in the take-up of higher education opportunities between different underrepresented groups of UK students. If you are not eligible for UK fees you may wish to consider UCL's International Foundation Year.

UCL reserves the right to determine this at any point in the application process, and if determined to be overseas, the application will no longer be considered.

If you are a mature applicant or forced migrant and do not have the qualifications listed in our entry requirements, we assess your application and qualifications on a case-by-case basis. We may be able to provide some indication before you submit your application if you contact us providing the full title of your qualifications, the country in which you studied, and the grade(s) you achieved, but ultimately, we need to receive an application in order to make a decision.

For other applicants: in general, other Level 3 qualifications that confer UCAS points may still be considered but could be less competitive. 

• Contact us at efy@ucl.ac.uk

Yes. Applicants must meet these criteria in order to be eligible for the UCL Engineering Foundation Year. This is because the Engineering Foundation Year is specifically for students whose personal and socioeconomic circumstances have affected their educational attainment to date.

• Criteria for 2025 entry

The UCAS application form will ask you to declare whether you experienced particular circumstances at various points in the application. Your answers to these questions will be used by UCL Admissions as the first stage of assessing your eligibility. You may also wish to ask your referee to mention any other circumstances that affected your education in their reference letter.

This information is also used by UCL, and other universities you apply to, to connect you with support specific to you and your circumstances. It's never used against you and is only shared with staff involved with coordinating your support. 

Once your application has been submitted, and depending on what you indicated on your application, UCL Admissions may be in touch to seek evidence from you, which usually entails a letter or email from a relevant professional.

Please see the evidence section of our Eligibility and How to Apply page for full guidance.

If you haven't already, it may be worth considering whether you are eligible for a contextual (reduced) offer via Access UCL for the direct entry programme.

You can find the contextual offer grades for a specific programme on its prospectus. You may wish to check with that programme's admissions team how they may view your application. The contact information for the relevant programme's admissions team will be available on that programme's prospectus.

Electronic and Electrical Engineering B/MEng currently does not accept grades achieved through resits. If you meet its entry requirements but achieved this via resits, you may wish to apply to it with Integrated Foundation Year (the Engineering Foundation Year) instead.

• Access UCL contextual offers 
• UCL undergraduate prospectuses

Our Eligibility Checker widget includes a postcode checker which can check this for you.

While the Engineering Foundation Year Eligibility Checker is under maintenance, to check whether your postcode qualifies under this criterion, you may wish to use the Access UCL Eligibility Checker instead. This uses the same datasets (TUNDRA and IMD) and metrics as the Engineering Foundation Year Eligibility Checker.

Access UCL, UCL's contextual offer scheme, applies to UCL's direct entry undergraduate degree programmes. Because of Access UCL, applicants who meet certain non-academic eligibility criteria are asked to meet grades lower than the 'regular' offer. Only certain qualifications are eligible for this contextual lower offer.

The contextual offer grades for a given direct entry programme can be found in the entry requirements box of its prospectus.

There is overlap between the Engineering Foundation Year's non-academic eligibility criteria and Access UCL's; however, they are not a direct match.

The Engineering Foundation Year is designed for those who do not meet the direct entry programme's entry requirements, including with a contextual offer (if they are eligible for Access UCL). 

• Access UCL contextual offers
• UCL undergraduate prospectuses

You need to apply in time for the January UCAS deadline. We don’t accept late applications and unfortunately, do not accept applications through clearing.

You need to apply for one of the participating programmes (shown ‘with Integrated Foundation Year’) on UCAS. This integrated foundation year is the Engineering Foundation Year.

If you don’t apply for a programme ‘with Integrated Foundation Year’ (i.e., you apply for the direct entry programme), we will not receive your application.

The programme you pick ‘with Integrated Foundation Year’ will be the programme you automatically continue onto after successful completion of the Engineering Foundation Year, so please give this decision some thought.

The following degree programmes participate in the Engineering Foundation Year; you need to apply for one of these.

• BEng Biochemical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY01)
• MEng Biochemical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY03)
• BEng Biomedical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY24)
• MEng Biomedical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY23)
• BEng Chemical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY04)
• MEng Chemical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY06)
• BEng Civil Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY09)
• MEng Civil Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY10)
• BSc Computer Science with Integrated Foundation Year (FY12)
• MEng Computer Science with Integrated Foundation Year (FY13)
• BEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY17)
• MEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY18)
• BEng Mechanical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY21)
• MEng Mechanical Engineering with Integrated Foundation Year (FY22)
• MEng Mechanical Engineering with Business Finance with Integrated Foundation Year (FY25)
• MEng Robotics and Artificial Intelligence with Integrated Foundation Year (FY26)
• BSc Science & Engineering for Social Change with Integrated Foundation Year (FY27)

Any engineering undergraduate programmes that are not listed do not participate in the EFY scheme; it is not possible to apply to them through the foundation year route. 

No; we strongly advise you not to do this. If you apply to two different UCL programmes with Integrated Foundation Year, you will be using up a UCAS choice unnecessarily. 

You can apply to a direct entry programme of study and to the same programme with Integrated Foundation Year, but this will use up two selections in your UCAS application, and you will not be accepted for both the foundation year route and the direct entry route.

Because you will only be accepted for a maximum of one of these two programmes, it may be better to decide which one to apply to. Remember: to be eligible for the Engineering Foundation Year, you can't meet the direct entry programme's entry requirements – including with an Access UCL contextual offer, if you are eligible for one.

Read the direct entry programme's and the Engineering Foundation Year's entry requirements on their prospectuses carefully to see which route you should apply for.

When looking at a direct entry degree programme's entry requirements, please note any subject-based entry requirements along with grades. Some programmes ask that you achieve a specific grade in a specific subject. You may also want to check which Level 3 qualifications it accepts as this varies programme-to-programme at UCL, particularly with regard to Access to Higher Education Diplomas and BTEC Level 3 Extended Diplomas.

• Access UCL contextual offers
• UCL undergraduate prospectuses

As you become familiar with the different types of engineering, you might decide that you would rather study a different specialisation. You may be able to change your route to a different participating programme during the Engineering Foundation Year. However, this is not a guarantee, particularly if you wish to transfer to a highly subscribed programme such as Computer Science. Therefore, please consider which degree programme you will continue onto before application.

On our prospectus under ‘Next steps', we provide some guidance. It may also be beneficial to mention the foundation year itself, but we understand that you may not want to mention it if this is the only foundation year you are applying to.

• UCL Engineering Foundation Year prospectus
• UCL guidance on writing a personal statement
• UCAS guidance on writing a personal statement 
• UCAS guidance on writing a personal statement for forced migrants, carers, and estranged students
• If you are advising someone making a UCAS application, review UCAS' webpages for advisers

Unfortunately, an alternative personal statement won't be accepted.

No. The Engineering Foundation Year is shared between UCL Engineering degree programmes ‘with Integrated Foundation Year’. Regardless of which programme they picked ‘with Integrated Foundation Year’, successful applicants will take the same foundation year. Once they pass the foundation year, they are then admitted onto their programme of choice.

Progression to the first year is guaranteed to those who pass all three modules in the Engineering Foundation Year. You will not need to reapply; you will be automatically admitted into the first year of your degree.

It may be helpful to think of the foundation year itself as the Year Zero of your degree.

If you do not pass the foundation year, we will help you examine your options. We are in discussions with other universities in London and the South East to accept your foundation year certificate. 

If you decide not to continue with university, our careers service will be able to advise you on how to use your new skills to find a job. 

Teaching takes place alongside other undergraduate programmes at UCL East, our new state of the art campus at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London.

After the Engineering Foundation Year you will be taught wherever your programme of study is based. Most engineering programmes are taught in our Bloomsbury campus, with the exception of MEng Robotics and AI and BSc Science and Engineering for Social Change. The location of each programme is available on its prospectus.

• UCL East 

We understand your concerns about student debt and we would like to help you leave university with no greater debt than you would have, had you not studied the foundation year.  Generally, we are able to offer some means-tested bursaries; see our bursary webpage for information about the bursaries we can offer to students beginning the Engineering Foundation Year in autumn 2025. Please note that availability and amounts can vary year-to-year. For further enquiries please contact us.

Your UCL degree with the integrated (engineering) foundation year is eligible for student finance, including the foundation year itself. The foundation year is not considered a "gift year"; rather, it is a normal part of your degree.

UCL offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to students in general. Some you may need to apply for separately; others you will be awarded automatically if you meet their criteria (for instance, the Undergraduate Bursary and the Accommodation Bursary). Where your eligibility is assessed automatically, this usually relies on the information you input in your university application and in your Student Finance application (providing you consented to sharing this with UCL).

You may find the following resources helpful:

• A list of external organisations that have funding opportunities
• Scholarships and grants - scroll to the 'other sources of funding' section
• Financial support from UCL
• Contact us at efy@ucl.ac.uk

We especially welcome mature students and returners to education, and currently, a number of mature students are studying on the Engineering Foundation Year.

Our staff have experience working with mature students, understand your needs and would support you in this new and exciting journey into engineering education. You will also be able to discuss your concerns with your tutors. UCL also has a support network for mature students.

• UCL support for mature students

Yes –  on top of the support provided in the Engineering Foundation Year, large amounts of support exist across UCL. You may wish to browse the Student Support and Wellbeing pages and the Access and Widening Participation website and contact the relevant teams if anything interests you.

For example, UCL coordinates mentoring specifically for care-experienced students with Family Action (Friendship Works mentoring scheme) and has a team offering psychological first-aid to students who have been affected by war, conflict & disasters. We also provide support on things like academic writing.

UCL's Student Success teams may be able to put you in touch with peers at UCL who have shared similar life experiences to you, for instance through events and meet-ups. Whether or not you participate in these activities is completely your choice. UCL also hosts many events, activities and student societies based on interests, hobbies, culture, and career aspirations.

• UCL support for specific groups
• UCL Support and Wellbeing Services home page
• UCL Access and Widening Participation - information for specific groups
• UCL student societies
• UCL academic skills webpages
• Student Success email address

There are several resources available online.

• If you are a Year 13 student, try the free online course UCL study prep.
• For all ages, try Preparing for University on Future Learn.
• To see what university is like, you may want to see if there are any Widening Participation taster days and summer schools scheduled. The Engineering Foundation Year usually offers a taster day through this scheme.
• If you are in Year 12 or 13, you may also want to apply to join Experience UCL, run by the UCL Access and Widening Participation Office. At Experience UCL days, you can learn about life and support at UCL, student finance, application guidance, and speak to current UCL students.
• If you are in Year 12, you may be interested in UCL Expand, a subject-focused 8-week academic learning programme run by UCL postgraduate students.
• UCL Engineering departments often also participate in In2STEM, a short work experience programme for 16-19 year olds. Other universities participate too. Apply for In2STEM on the In2Science website.

While the foundation year can be thought of as a Year 0, during your foundation year, you would be considered a Year 1 student in terms of student accommodation. Year 1 students are generally prioritised for UCL student accommodation, although there are eligibility criteria.

Please note that students with additional needs are also prioritised for student accommodation. Examples of additional needs include but are not limited to physical disabilities, injuries, mental health conditions, being care-experienced or estranged.

If you decide to live off-campus, bear in mind that having a long commute can be challenging for some. UCL's Student Support and Wellbeing Service has compiled advice for commuter students. You may also find this blog article from a UCL student who commutes to university helpful.

Regardless of where you choose to live, remember that work you undertake on the Engineering Foundation Year during in-person activities (for instance, labs) is central to both your learning and attainment — often, it forms the foundation of your coursework — so it's very important that you attend the activities prescribed as part of the course. You can view an estimation of contact hours on our prospectus. This is something you'll need to consider for the degree you progress to afterwards, too.