This course will help you realise you ambition of working for the ambulance, fire, police, rescue or prison services, in the Army, Navy or RAF, or in related roles such as in local government or education. It has been developed with input from employers in the sector and provides all of the key skills and knowledge required to begin your career or gain promotion from an existing role. You’ll also gain the enhanced planning and research skills required for further study.
The FdA in Uniformed and Public Services at UCW has a unique work-based focus and we’ll support you in gaining important experience through a relevant work placement. In the past, students on this course have spent time working with organisations including Her Majesty’s Prisons, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the British Red Cross. As Sharon Bennett, an Inspector with Avon and Somerset Police’s Weston Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “I have been hugely impressed with the calibre of students on this course – they have demonstrated the skills and behaviours I would expect from a police officer and put into practice skills learnt on the course in a real working environment.”
This Foundation Degree is taught at our Knightstone Campus in the centre of Weston. By enrolling on this course, you’ll also be among the first students to benefit from the state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities and extended opening hours at our multimillion pound redevelopment of the iconic Winter Gardens building, also in the centre of Weston. You’ll also be invited to undertake overseas residential trips at an additional cost which in recent years have included visits to Iceland and Gambia.
Foundation Degrees are Level 5 qualifications equivalent to the first two years of a full Honours Degree. They are designed with employer input and combine academic study with work-based learning, so students on this course gain the knowledge and experiences that businesses are looking for from the candidates they hire. UCW’s commitment to great graduate outcomes is also underpinned by our students having access to a Careers Coaching service for the whole time they are enrolled with us.
Please click on the next tab to find out more about what you’ll learn on this programme and how it is taught and assessed. The dropdowns below deal with our partnership with UWE Bristol and what is and isn’t included in the cost of tuition. Please contact UCW’s HEART team if you have any questions. We would also love to see you at our next Open Day, where you can see our facilities and meet our academic and support teams.
Students who pass this course will be awarded a Foundation Degree from the University of the West of England, Bristol. The agreement between UWE Bristol and UCW is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure academic standards are maintained.
Full-time tuition fees: £8,250 per year.
This covers all of the teaching and assessment elements that are required for students to complete the course.
It also includes:
- The use of UCW facilities and equipment.
- Attendance at guest lectures and conferences at UCW.
- Annual £10 printing and photocopying allowance for full-time students.
- The use of UCW computer equipment at any of our campuses and access to Microsoft Office 365 while you are enrolled with UCW.
- The loans of books from our libraries.
- Access to all of the UCW student support and careers services.
It does not include:
- Optional residential visits at an approximate cost of £50 (UK) and £100 (overseas) per night.
- Extra printing and photocopying above the £10 limit.
- The cost of books that you may wish to purchase.
- Transport between our campuses, and to/from your partner university and any work placements. We encourage students to take advantage of termly bus passes to reduce transport costs.
- Accommodation and other living expenses.
UCW publishes its Tuition Fees Policy on the Wider Information Set page of this website.
You may also be eligible for additional financial support, depending on your circumstances.
All of the modules on this course are compulsory and worth either 15 or 30 credits each. Successful completion of all of the modules in the first year is worth 120 credits at Level 4 and equivalent to a Certificate of Higher Education. Successful completion of the second year is also worth 120 credits, and will lead to the award of the Level 5 Foundation Degree.
Year 1:
- Fitness and lifestyle management – 30 credits
- Studies in the uniformed public services – 30 credits
- Uniformed service organisation, culture and society – 30 credits
- Uniformed services work-based experience – 30 credits
Year 2:
- Incident and emergency management – 15 credits
- Planning and organising outdoor recreational activities – 15 credits
- Public and uniformed services analysis – 15 credits
- Research methods and techniques in public and uniformed services – 15 credits
- Stress management in the uniformed services – 30 credits
- Uniformed services work-based experience 2 – 30 credits
This course is taught via a combination of lectures, seminars, case studies, presentations, skills practice and project work. UCW’s Higher Education Library Plus (HE.LP) team also deliver a series of sessions on degree-level research and academic writing to all first-year students. When not in scheduled lecturers and seminars, students are expected to continue learning through independent self-study. This involves reading relevant literature, working on individual and group projects, and undertaking research in preparation for exams and coursework.
This course has an average of 12 hours of scheduled teaching per week and students also spend 180 hours undertaking a work placement over the duration of the course.
At UCW we understand that some students benefit from more contact time with lecturers than is the norm at a traditional university, so we do all we can to make sure academic staff are available for their students when they are needed.
Assessment is via a combination of written exams, practical exams and coursework. The assessment breakdown is 10% written exams, 20% practical exams and 70% coursework.
Please click on the Course Handbook button to find out more.
- Many of the students who pass this course progress to the 1 year Level 6 Honours Top-up Degree in Uniformed and Public Services at UCW.
- Graduates of this course are also qualified to work in various roles within the ambulance, fire, police, rescue or prison services, in the Army, Navy or RAF, or in related roles such as in local government or education.
A minimum of CC at Level, a BTEC Extended Diploma at MPP, or equivalent.
