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Britain's top universities are being prodded into setting up foundation years to prepare more young people for university. Warwick is interested, but other universities think the demand doesn't exist and that it will cost too much. Lucy Hodges reports

Warwick is Tony Blair's favourite university. He has visited it three times and in the last election campaign said famously: "Warwick is at the cutting edge of what has to happen for the future." So it is no surprise to learn that Warwick is actively considering laying on a foundation year to give disadvantaged students without stellar A-level grades, or even without A-levels at all, the chance of a university education. "It's a good idea and we would be willing to participate in principle," says David Vandelinde, Warwick's vice-chancellor. "We talked about it last week and we are now evaluating it."

If a powerhouse like Warwick were to introduce a foundation year in certain subjects to give students without A-levels a leg-up, it would give the idea a big boost. It could even begin to change the shape of higher education. Increasingly students in the United Kingdom are taking four-year degrees: one year to get up to scratch for higher education, followed by three years on a traditional degree course. But the idea is controversial because it entails universities putting on school-level courses. Academics may not like that. Most are passionate about their research and might not favour taking time off from their beloved research to teach A-level standard courses.

Until now, four-year degrees have been confined either to Scottish undergrad- uates or to those in the new universities who have lacked the qualifications for entry. They are also taken by undergraduates in maths, science and engineering who do four years and end up with a Masters degree. Old universities have organised them in conjunction with further education or sixth form colleges. Students do their foundation year at a college and move on the university for a three-year degree when they are properly prepared.

But the new idea is that old universities would run the four-year degree on their premises from beginning to end. Behind the new initiative from the Higher Education Funding Council is the Government's desire to persuade more disadvantaged young people – those whose parents didn't go to university – to sign up for higher education. In a new circular it says it wants the foundation years to help these students to enter competitive degree programmes. In particular, it wants to attract more students into maths, science and engineering.

"We are highlighting the issue this year in the light of the report from Sir Gareth Roberts, which talks about the shortage of students in science, engineering and maths," says Rama Thirunamachandran, Hefce's director for research and knowledge transfer. "It is difficult for students from non-traditional backgrounds to get to university from some schools, and it's particularly difficult for them to come through to study the sciences, maths and engineering. If we are serious as a nation about these subjects then universities and colleges have a part to play."

Warwick is keen on the idea because it wants to improve the student mix on moral grounds. It is one of only two research-led universities to have established two-year foundation degrees to open the door to non-traditional students. But it is in favour of the foundation year for reasons other than widening access. According to Professor Vandelinde, it sees it as a way of broadening the university curriculum, which in England is very narrow, certainly compared to that in the US where the vice-chancellor comes from, and Scotland where students cover a range of subjects in the first year.

Tim O'Shea, who left the top job at Birkbeck College London last week to take over the running of Edinburgh University, is also in favour of universities laying on a foundation year. But he has yet to discuss the idea with his colleagues at Scotland's most prestigious university. Birkbeck does its bit for access in all kinds of ways. A part-time institution, it has been the place to go if you missed out on university education at 18. Like Warwick, it set up foundation degrees. At Birkbeck there are four of them – management, IT, media and science – and, unlike some universities, it has recruited students successfully, according to Philip Dewe, the pro vice-master in charge of them. In January 2002, 180 enrolled. For January 2003, it has received 500 requests for application packs and on Monday last week he found another 71 applications had arrived.

The first two terms of the foundation degrees at Birkbeck serve as a kind of preparation year for these students. To bring them up to the level required, they are given special help in writing, IT and maths, depending on their strengths and weaknesses. By the end of it they are considered to be ready for degree-level work.

Although other universities are, like Warwick and Birkbeck, keen to improve access, they have grave doubts about the foundation year. Bob Burgess, vice-chancellor of Leicester University, believes there may simply not be enough demand. Leicester has had an arrangement with a local sixth form college, Queen Elizabeth and Wyggeston, whereby students were given the necessary skills in a foundation year to move on to a three-year degree at Leicester, but this year numbers have plummeted. "At a time of mounting student debt the issue is whether we can make these courses attractive enough for UK students to want to do them," says Professor Burgess. "There is a heavy demand for them from overseas students, but not from home students."

Another university that has seen a drop in access students is Sussex (see box, right), which has arrangements with local further education colleges. Students who fail to get the required A-level grades for direct entry to the university are recruited to study foundation years at a local college and move on to Sussex at the end of it. In the past few years, Chichester College has fed around 30 students a year through to the university's school of biological sciences and the school of chemistry, physics and environmental sciences. But this autumn numbers entering have dropped to 17, according to the course tutor, Dr Susan Danks. Could it be that the Government's lifting of the cap on student numbers has enabled more people to get straight in to university this autumn and that this has meant a drop in the number of access students?

Britain's premier science and engineering establishment, Imperial College London, might have been expected to set up a foundation year. But Rodney Eastwood, director of planning, says: "We are not uninterested in principle, but there are so many practical difficulties that at the moment we don't find it very attractive."

The solution to the dearth of students coming through in science, maths and engineering lies in the schools, he believes, and the Government should be putting the money into the schools to solve the problem. At the moment Imperial is still able to attract students with very good A-level results, but if that changes, as it may do on current trends, it will have to think again about a foundation year. If it did have to introduce one, it would cost Imperial a lot of money, says Eastwood, and undoubtedly more than Hefce would give it. It would have to set up a new course, design a new curriculum and hire new staff – not the kind of thing you do lightly.

Moreover, the degree would be expensive for the students involved. Being scientists, most students at Imperial do four-year degrees anyway. Adding a fifth year would mean adding further to student debt. Finally, how would the foundation year students be selected? "We would have to have a test," says Eastwood. And devising a test costs more money.

l.hodges@independent.co.uk

How Sussex is giving students a second shot at science

For Rachel Keith, going to Sussex University is a dream come true. Having spent the last year at Chichester College boning up on sciences to compensate for her poor A-level results, she enters Sussex (right) well prepared for her degree in biology. Doing a foundation year was preferable to resitting A-levels, she says. "It was new and different. We had lecturers and tutors instead of teachers. They treated us as adults but were very strict about deadlines."

This is the 11th year of the access course which Chichester College runs for the University of Sussex. Students who don't get high enough grades at A-level and therefore fail to get in to Sussex are offered the chance of a foundation year at Chichester. If they pass that, they are able to gain entry to the university.

Last year around 30 students were admitted to the foundation year, which helps to feed undergraduates into science degrees, according to the tutor, Dr Susan Danks. The course is A-level standard and made up of 40 per cent chemistry, 40 per cent biology, 10 per cent maths and 10 per cent study skills and IT.

The college tutors have a close working relationship with the university. They consult Sussex academics regularly about course requirements and have a good idea of what the university wants.

"It's a similar syllabus to that covered at AS and A2 level, but we do a huge amount of practical work," she says. "We try to make it more interesting for them. We have a large number of small assignments rather than a few large ones and we keep an eye on what grades they are getting."

The pass rate is very high. Each year one or two fail to make the grade, usually because they drop out or because they fail to turn up for the exam. Sussex is pleased with the way its access scheme has been working. "Very often if they get through the access course they prove to be very good students and do very well," says Neil Gershon, the registrar.