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 course 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 (the Undergraduate Preparatory Certificate) instead.

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.

• Our non-academic entry requirements can be found on the Engineering Foundation Year prospectus

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 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.

Our Eligibility Checker widget includes a postcode checker which can check this for you. This can be found on the Engineering Foundation Year prospectus.

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 course. You can find the contextual offer grades for a specific course on its prospectus. 

Speak to that course's admissions team if you want further information about how they'll view your application, and decide from there whether to apply to that course with Integrated Foundation Year. The contact information for the relevant course's admissions team will be available on that course'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

Access UCL, UCL's contextual offer scheme, applies to UCL's direct entry undergraduate degree courses. 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 (such as A levels) are eligible for this contextual lower offer.

The contextual offer grades for a given direct entry course 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 course's entry requirements, including with a contextual offer (if they are eligible for Access UCL). 

• Access UCL contextual offers
• UCL undergraduate prospectuses

Please contact the schools you've attended in the UK and ask them whether you were registered as eligible for free school meals in the timeframes specified on our prospectus. Schools normally hold records on pupils' current and previous free school meal eligibility.

If you apply, we use data shared by UCAS from the National Pupil Database (England), the Welsh PLASC, or the Northern Ireland School Census to verify whether or not you have been eligible for free school meals. 

Universal Free School Meals policies, wherein all pupils are offered free school meals (this is currently the case for pupils at state-funded primary schools in London and maintained primary schools in Wales) do not count. However, pupils can still be registered as eligible for free school meals while receiving universal free school meals. Pupils can also still be registered for free school meals while taking in a packed lunch. 

For more information about how we verify eligibility per criterion, visit our Eligibility and How to Apply page.

We deliberately don't have any subject-based entry requirements at Level 3; it enables us to view each application more holistically, and allows people from a wide range of academic backgrounds to join us. For instance, about 45% of our students in the 2025-2026 academic year did not study Mathematics at A level.

However, it's certainly easier to create a compelling case for your commitment to STEM, and engineering in particular, if you have some evidence of serious pursuit of one, or more, of its disciplines.

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 UCL courses ‘with Integrated Foundation Year’ on UCAS. This integrated foundation year is the Engineering Foundation Year.

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

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

The following degree courses participate in the Engineering Foundation Year scheme.

• 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 courses 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 course and to the same course 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 options, we recommend you decide which one to apply to. Remember: to be eligible for the Engineering Foundation Year, you can't meet the direct entry course's entry requirements – including with an Access UCL contextual offer, if you are eligible for one.

Read the direct entry course'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 course's entry requirements, please note any subject-based entry requirements along with grades. Some courses 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 course-to-course 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 course during the Engineering Foundation Year. However, this is not a guarantee, particularly if you wish to transfer to a highly subscribed course such as Computer Science. Therefore, please consider which course 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.

If we wish to take your application forward, you will be invited to an assessment day, which itself will take place in March in 2026 (for applications for 2026 entry). Please monitor your email inbox for communications from us.

We usually run more than one assessment day, but you'll only need to attend one.

• Read more about the assessment day under 'Selection' on the Engineering Foundation Year prospectus

No. The Engineering Foundation Year is shared between UCL Engineering courses ‘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 automatically admitted onto their course of choice.

Those who pass the Engineering Foundation Year are automatically granted a place in Year One of the course they applied to with Integrated Foundation Year. No further application is needed.

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 courses 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 courses 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 course 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.

Student finance

Your UCL degree with the integrated (engineering) foundation year is eligible for financial support from 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. However, if you're returning to higher education, please note that previous study may impact the amount of financial support from Student Finance you are entitled to.

Other UCL awards

UCL offers a number of scholarships and bursaries to students in general. We advise you to check deadlines as soon as possible; even if a bursary isn't open yet, you can usually still see when the last year's deadline was and use that to make an educated guess about when the current year's will be or request you be notified when the bursary opens.

Some UCL bursaries 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 for an award at UCL is assessed automatically, this is based on the information you input in your university application and information from your Student Finance application (providing you consented to Student Finance sharing data from your application with us).

You may find the following resources helpful:

• Pages put together by the Access and Widening Participation Office and Student Support and Wellbeing Office for particular groups of students contain some information about funding.
• A list of external organisations that have funding opportunities.
• Scholarships and grants - scroll to the 'other sources of funding' section.
• UCL Student Funding Office homepage.
• Financial support from UCL.
• The Blackbullion scholarship finder tool (account creation required; not a UCL resource).
• 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. You'll enjoy access to enhanced careers support through UCL Careers Extra. 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. These take place across the East and Bloomsbury campuses, and beyond.

• UCL Careers Extra
• 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

In 2025, we issued offer-holders pre-sessional online learning activities to help prepare them for study on the Engineering Foundation Year. We are likely to do this again in 2026.

Beyond that, 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.
• UCL Engineering's STEM Education Engagement team have compiled their favourite STEM teaching and learning resources online. These include examples of real-world engineering projects, mentoring opportunities, revision materials and much more.

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's student accommodation, although there are eligibility criteria. In the 2026-2027 academic year, all Year 1 students who meet the eligibility criteria are guaranteed a place in UCL's student accommodation.

After Year 1, continuing students are generally not prioritised for spaces within UCL's student accommodation, with the exception of some students with additional needs (care-experienced and estranged students can be allocated a space 365 days a year, throughout the duration of their degree if necessary). This information may be subject to change; for further guidance, please refer to the UCL Accommodation website and team.

If you decide to live off-campus, bear in mind that having a long commute can present some additional challenges. 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.