A conference paper presented at the Widening Participation Conference 2012 'Discourse of Inclusion in Higher Education' 24-25 April 2012, UK

1. Stories from the Sidelines: Transition from
Foundation degree to Honours Year
Discourses of Inclusion in Higher Education
Open University Widening Participation Conference 2012
24-25 April 2012
Kate Thomas
University of the West of England

2. this session will:
• outline the aims, methodology of a longitudinal research
project investigating the process of transition from
Foundation degree to Honours year
• draw on individual narratives of transition to highlight key
findings and themes
• show how research findings are being
utilised to support the transition process

3. Working on Transition
• longitudinal research project (March 2010-May 2011)
• tracked student narratives of transition from a Foundation
degree (Fd) at a Further Education College to an Honours year
at a Higher Education Institution
• investigated how the process of transition impacts upon
students’ experience of HE and their identities as ‘work-
connected’ learners?
• investigated the role of institutional mechanisms and
interventions in supporting/hindering transition?

4. context: Foundation degrees
• introduced in 2001
• two-year, higher education qualifications aiming to ‘give people the
intermediate technical and professional skills...in demand from
employers’ (HEFCE 2010)
• some Fds highly sector- or employer-specific; others more generic
(work-connected)
• Fd students more likely to be:
– older
– from lower socio-economic backgrounds
– have vocational, lower-achieving or interrupted histories of participation
in education
in comparison with students on ‘traditional’ Honours degrees.

5. the research context
• ‘validating’ post-1992 university with multiple
FE College partners
• 25 Foundation degrees
• 850 students, 600 FTE
• project built on previous research into the ‘first year
Fd experience’ (Part of the Bigger Picture, 2008)

6. transition
• inherent differences between the foundation degree and the
honours degree...mean the transition for many students will
inevitably be difficult’ (Greenbank, 2010:100).
• more than ‘discernible events, experienced in a linear
sequence of progression’ (Ecclestone, 2009: p27)
• ‘transitions become problematic when a viable identity in one
context does not transfer to another’ (Ecclestone, 2010:12)
• role of the environment in shaping
the impact of transition?

7. data collection
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
March-July 2010 Sept-December 2010 January-May 2011
6 Fd cohorts 113 students contacted 113 students contacted
30 participants 11 Fd programmes 11 Fd programmes
4 Fd programmes
•paper questionnaire (100%) •individual interviews (x4) •individual interviews (x5)
•group interviews (x6) •online questionnaire (32%) •online questionnaire (33%)
•visits to university campus •students’ online diaries •students’ online diaries
•online feedback after visits

8. story/narrative
• four ‘stories from the sidelines’
• trajectories of transition, threads of work-connectedness,
agency and belonging across diverse experiences and
different disciplines
• ‘the rich accounts of the complexities of real life and and
emphasis on the particular’ (Bathmaker, 2010:3)
• ‘foreground the relationship between the individual and
wider structures’ (ibid 4).

9. key themes
• information
• interaction
• induction
• intervention

10. information
pre-transition Some of us who are considering
going don’t really know what is
• programme content actually going to happen next year
• learning environment about what modules we’re going to
take.
• logistics
(I need to know)..where you’re going
post-transition to park and if you can get something
to eat because I tend to be at work in
• academic procedures a morning any time from 7.30am
• how to use equipment onwards and if I’ve got to keep going
until 8.30pm...it’s good to know all
• jargon that in advance.

11. interaction
tutor/student It’s been quite cool having J (HE
tutor) because she obviously knows
• context more about the academic side...she
• perceptions bridged the gap very well.
• ‘not being known’
my main concern is that we are
going to go into a third year and the
student/student tutors won’t know us and know our
work
• social integration
• role modelling You’re put in your place, definitely.
They don’t really know anything
about us but they make these
assumptions...

12. induction
induction included:
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

13. induction
You see all these possibilities, all the equipment and
facilities and you think ‘Wow, this is amazing!’ but then at
this stage in your degree you can’t just go and mess
about...so I haven’t used anything really.

14. intervention – campus visits
we went for a day in Freshers’ Week…we sat
through the lectures and everything was gone
by the time we got out
we haven’t been to see where we’re going in
the third year, so it’s all our imagination...it’s
like this mystery, behind locked doors...you
visualise all sorts of madness really
overall it was good to be able to visit as it has
made me feel more confident about going. I
now know there is someone I can contact

15. intervention
The different groups have been
mixed up…for me, it’s completely
out of my comfort zone…but
actually it’s broadened our horizons
What would really work is there was
one person all the FdA people could
go to if we had questions

16. stories from the sidelines
• Pauline
• Phoebe
• Tom
• Maria

17. Pauline’s story
It was an easy transition really...I don’t
feel I’ve finished one course and
started another one, it’s just been a
completely natural, smooth transition
from my second to third year. I think
that people who have come from
colleges will see it very differently.

18. Phoebe’s story
It’s almost like (the college) was playing at
being a university and this is actually the
university and this is how it happens
I do feel more confident in the workplace
and I’m quite happy now to go and speak
to parents in the playground
(the tutor) still struggles with my name…it
seems’ like there are obvious favourites
because they’ve been here for the last two
years. I don’t feel positive anymore

19. Tom’s story
College was just like doing two more years
of A level studies…then the 3rd year was a
big step up really.
It would be nice to come here and live on
campus but my girlfriend lives in Swindon.
I felt new at the beginning…now I just feel
like one of the crowd.

20. Maria’s story
You’re put in your place, definitely. They
don’t really know anything about us but
they make these assumptions.
I think I had to come here to understand
where I fit into the creative world.
The Fd was a gentler way of coming into it
which is the one advantage of doing it the
way we did.

21. utilising findings to support transition
interactive Transition Workshop for second year Fd students
• consider transitions already made
• resources and coping mechanisms
• use individual ‘stories’ to elicit students’ own concerns re:
transition to Honours year
• create a preparation checklist for further research/discussion

22. your transition to a Foundation degree
• when did you start thinking about Fd study?
• when did you make the decision to study the Fd?
• how did you prepare?
• who or what supported you?
• how did you feel
– on the first day?
– at the end of the first term?
– at the end of the first year?

23. your transition to an Honours year
• up to 3 things you are looking forward to?
• up to 3 things you have concerns/anxieties about?
• up to 3 things you need to find out/by when/from whom?

24. for discussion
• nature of transition – continuing/new
• belonging/integration – special/normal
• ‘work-connectedness’ – valued/related
• identity - learner/professional
• institutional mechanisms – support/challenge

25. Thank you
Kate Thomas
Senior Programme Manager
Schools and Colleges Partnership Service
UWE
kate2.thomas@uwe.ac.uk
0117 38 1436