Physics with Nuclear Astrophysics with Foundation Year

Foundation courses
A foundation year can develop your skills and make it easier to get started at university. It is an extra year of study at the start of your course that leads in to a full degree programme. It’s a great option if:

You don’t have the grades for a full degree course
You have non-traditional qualifications or experience
You’re starting university after some time away from education
You’re looking for more support during the transition into university study.

Life as a foundation year student
During a foundation year you’ll learn about your chosen subject, develop your study skills and get used to university life. On successful completion of your foundation year, you’ll be ready to progress to the first year of your degree course.

As a foundation year student, you’ll be a full student of the University and part of our community. You’ll have access to all our campus facilities and support.

Why choose this course
Students benefit from our excellent facilities and the University’s partnership with the National Physical Laboratory.

There are two unique aspects of both levels of our physics with nuclear astrophysics degrees:

Take the opportunity to get industry-ready with our award-winning Professional Training placements:

-Within the BSc, the option to take a paid Professional Training placement in industry gives you invaluable hands-on experience to enhance your employability.

-On our MPhys, you’ll take a year-long, masters-level integrated research placement. This can be in one of our world-leading research groups or at one of our international partner institutions.

Our focus on undergraduate research and innovation:

-All undergraduates have the opportunity to apply for paid 8-10 week summer research placements in our research groups and those of our South East Physics Network partners.

-We offer in-house ‘research and innovation’ and ‘enterprise’ grants that students can apply for to fund a research placement, attend a conference or develop a new business idea.

What you will study
You’ll explore core elements of traditional physics and astrophysics (e.g. particle physics, atoms and molecules) and topics within astronomy and nuclear physics, reflecting the outstanding research we conduct at Surrey.

Students have the option to take a Professional Training placement on the BSc or an integrated research year on the MPhys. The latter is a direct route to a masters qualification. The MPhys integrated research year allows you to develop your skills in an academic or industrial arena, before returning for your final masters-level modules.

Formal lectures are complemented with work in our specialist radiation laboratories, which have recently been refurbished and enlarged at a cost of £2.7m. As an undergraduate student, you’ll use these labs to undertake experiments related to the Nuclear and Particle Physics module.

To see the full range of modules for this course please visit our website. The link is under course ‘contact details’. You will also find full details of the programme, including assessment methods, programme structure, contact hours and Graduate prospects.