Success and attrition of students on a science Foundation Year: an exploratory study of their experiences in a mixed-methods framework

Attrition is a complex but persistent issue across tertiary education world-wide, impacting on institutional reputation, financial stability, and students’ future life trajectories. Foundation Year programmes in the UK provide a pre-university year of study and increasingly serve as the primary route into Higher Education for students lacking appropriate academic entry qualifications. Prevailing research to address high attrition rates has centred on first-year students, with less attention given to students on Foundation Year programmes. This mixed methods explanatory sequential project, constructed within a pragmatic paradigm, was set in a widening participation London university concerned about high rates of attrition of Foundation Year biological sciences students. Focussing on the 2018 cohort, n=84, the research aimed to explore experiences of students to develop targeted strategies to reduce attrition and improve student outcomes. Data collected included a cohort survey, semi-structured interviews and an emotional journey map together with analysis of university engagement and outcome metrics. Quantitative data were analysed statistically, while qualitative data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework. The main findings were integrated using a narrative synthesis and critically explored within a qualitative dominant framework. Interpretation of the findings primarily drew on Tinto’s longitudinal model for student departure and highlighted the challenges students faced in transition and academically integrating into the programme. These challenges stemmed from significant barriers they had to overcome to access Higher Education, including academic failure, negative life experiences and poor wellbeing. Students were poorly equipped to overcome the emotional impact of their prior experiences, which adversely affected their academic engagement and programme outcomes. Factors linked to attrition included low attendance, low engagement, ineffective study skills and poor self-regulation, particularly among students with BTEC qualifications. Highly motivated students and those changing academic direction were more academically integrated. However, this is a simplistic view as many risk factors for attrition intersected. Recommendations focus on transforming practice by provision of an extended bridging programme that supports the development of student skills in building academic resilience and enhancing coping strategies. Further interventions require revising the programme’s pedagogical approach, particularly through an embedded model of delivering study skills, and increasing interactive learning to enhance academic and social integration in a community classroom space. Research is needed to develop tailored interventions that support the success of BTEC students.