Foundation in Science packs biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics into one year. Here is what that year looks like, in the words of the students and lecturers who have just finished it.
The first month: labs and lab reports
Practical work starts in week one. Students learn to keep a lab notebook, write a method others can repeat and present results with error bars. "The first report came back covered in comments," one student told us. "By the fourth I knew what they wanted."
Mid-year: the mangrove field trip
In the second semester students sample water and sediment along a mangrove boardwalk on the island, then analyse it back in the lab. It is the module most students mention first when they look back.
Thinking about pharmacy or biomedical science?
Several students spend a day shadowing at a community pharmacy or a hospital lab. It helps them decide between courses before applications open.
What carries into a degree
The habits matter as much as the content: reading ahead, asking questions in tutorials and starting lab reports the day of the practical. Our lecturers build those into the timetable from the start.
