FndCert(CPD) Fast-track to Higher Education
Course Overview
The University of Bolton’s experienced and supportive team can help you build on your existing communication and work-related skills and experience, preparing you for undergraduate study. Throughout this 18-week intensive course, we’ll support you to develop essential academic and professional skills that are vital for success at university.We’ll focus on helping you learn how to communicate in the academic environment, both in writing and verbally. You’ll also explore how to develop original work and learn about the importance of referencing to ensure you avoid academic misconduct. Our dedicated team will guide you as you learn the skills necessary to become a professional student, such as how to work with others, manage your time effectively, solve problems and develop strategies of resilience. Gaining all these skills will prepare you for undergraduate study and offer a great platform for developing your employability skills.
Once you’ve successfully completed this programme, you’ll be eligible to apply for an approved range of degree programmes at the University of Bolton. Depending on your prior qualifications and experience, you may also be accepted on alternative programmes offered by the university.
Entry Requirements
- Normally, you should have five GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 to 9 (or equivalent), including English and Mathematics.
- You'll need to complete a literacy test.
- You’ll be required to attend an interview and/or provide a portfolio of work.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
Career Opportunities
On successful completion of this 18-week programme, it’s expected that you’ll progress on to a degree programme offered by the University of Bolton at the next available intake (subject to meeting all other entry criteria).
Fees & Funding
Home/EU Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
International Fees
No fee information is currently available, please contact the University of Bolton’s Academic Fees team by emailing AcademicFees@bolton.ac.uk for more information.
Bursaries
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2025-26 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
How to apply
Home Applicants
You may apply directly to the University using the University's online application form. Please select your chosen start date from the list below:
You should have to hand:
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Details of the educational establishments you attended and dates
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Your certificates for the qualifications you are using to gain entry to the course – you will need to enter the completion date and upload copies
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Details of any employment history including name, address, dates and role
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Personal statement – this can be either input into the relevant field or uploaded separately
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Details including e-mail addresses of two referees, at least one of which should be someone who can provide an academic reference
Please make sure any documents you wish to upload in support of your application are in pdf or jpeg format. Personal statements may be word documents.
Please ensure your data is correct at each stage of the application before you proceed to the next page. If you use the back button at any time during the application, you should check the validity of the data you have already input.
If you experience difficulties during the application process, contact the Admissions Team on 01204 903394 or admissions-team@bolton.ac.uk
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Apply online: University of Bolton Fast-Track to Higher Education - 27 January 2025
International Applicants
International applications are not possible for this course
As an international student you are not allowed to study this course because of the restrictions on your visa.
We offer a wide range of full-time courses in lots of different subjects, many of our courses start in September and January. If you would like to see what courses are available please visit our Course Search.
Teaching & Assessment
We use a variety of teaching and learning methods to help you acquire and develop the appropriate skills, knowledge and concepts needed to successfully complete the course.
Activities such as practical sessions/scenes, seminars, tutorials, self-directed study, lectures, video viewing and analysis, tutorials, IT sessions, library and guided study promote active learning. We adopt a variety of practical approaches using a blended learning environment. We also use a virtual learning environment website to share additional learning materials, course content and support resources.
Summative assessments are designed to determine whether you have met the learning outcomes for each module. You can expect to undertake both written and verbal summative assessments. We also use formative assessments to help you and your tutors check your progress, including in-class activities and group work. These do not, however, count towards your final module marks.
Modules
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
- Introducing Academic Excellence
- Journey to Professionalism
Assessment methods
| Level | Assessment method |
|---|---|
| Level 0 | Coursework 100% |
Learning Activities
| Level | Activity |
|---|---|
| Level 0 | Guided independent study 77% Scheduled learning and teaching activities 23% |
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
