Foundation Year in Law and Social Sciences

Why choose Foundation Year in Law and Social Sciences at Middlesex?

This foundation year course will prepare you for entering an undergraduate degree on one of our law, criminology or sociology degrees.

This one-year course is perfect for you if you don't have to the right qualifications or you feel you need stronger grounding in your specialist area. Or maybe you are returning to study and want to get up to speed before starting a degree.

The number of students who progress to degree study is very high and in fact, many have gone on to become some of our most successful graduates.

You will need to enrol on a four-year course, which includes the one-year foundation course. When you complete this year successfully you will progress directly onto one of our three-year degree courses.

• BSc Criminology
• BSc Criminology with Psychology  
• BSc Criminology with Policing and Investigations
• Sociology with Criminology BA
• LLB Law

What you will gain

You will be starting your journey to a full law, criminology or sociology degree. Once you complete your first year you will move on to one of our three-year degree courses. You will also:

• Be supported by personal tutors, student learning and academic assistants who have first-hand experience of the subject
• Develop transferable skills in business, communication and problem-solving.

Below is the Professor Brenda Barret Law Scholarship and Bursary that is avaliable to second year students on this course.

To find out more about this course, please download the Law and Social Sciences with Foundation Year specification (PDF).

Student support

We offer lots of support to help you while you're studying including financial advice, wellbeing, mental health, and disability support.

Additional needs

We'll support you if you have additional needs such as sensory impairment or dyslexia. And if you want to find out whether Middlesex is the right place for you before you apply, get in touch with our Disability and Dyslexia team.

Wellness

Our specialist teams will support your mental health. We have free individual counselling sessions, workshops, support groups and useful guides.

Work while you study

Our Middlesex Unitemps branch will help you find work that fits around uni and your other commitments. We have hundreds of student jobs on campus that pay the London Living Wage and above. Visit the Middlesex Unitemps page.

Financial support

You can apply for scholarships and bursaries and our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.

We have also reduced the costs of studying with free laptop loans, free learning resources and discounts to save money on everyday things. Check out our guide to student life on a budget.

Careers

MDXworks

Our employability service, MDXworks will launch you into the world of work from the beginning of your course, with placements, projects and networking opportunities through our 1000+ links with industry and big-name employers in London and globally.

Global network

You’ll study with students from 122 countries who’ll hopefully become part of your global network. And after you graduate, we'll still support you through our alumni network to help you progress in your chosen career.

Fees and funding

The fees below are for the 2025/26 academic year:

UK students¹

Foundation Year (FY): £5,760

Full-time: £9,535*

Part-time: £79 per taught credit

*Subject to the government’s proposed increase in the tuition fee cap receiving Parliamentary approval³

As a part of our commitment to an excellent student offer at Middlesex University, we pledge to invest the additional money from tuition fee increases into the student experience, and we are consulting at present on what these improvements will be and will follow up with further details

International students²

Full-time students: £16,600

Part-time students: £138 per taught credit

Additional costs

The following study tools are included in your fees:

• Free access to resources, learning materials and software you need to succeed on your course
• Free laptop loans for up to 24 hours
• Free specialist software for your course
• Free printing for academic paperwork
• Free online training with LinkedIn Learning.

The following course-related costs are not included in the fees, and you will need to budget for these:

the cost of getting to London for field visits – around £10

Scholarships and bursaries

To help make uni affordable, we do everything we can to support you including our:

• MDX Excellence Scholarship offers grants of up to £2,000 per year for UK students
  Regional or International Merit Awards which reward International students with up to £2,000 towards course fees
  Our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.

Find out more about undergraduate funding and all of our scholarships and bursaries.

Guaranteed internship programme

Enhance your legal education with our exclusive guaranteed internship programme for a select number of second and third-year Law students. Gain invaluable work experience in prestigious law firms, local authorities, government and legal departments, developing the necessary practical skills for your future career. Please note this opportunity is only relevant to students progressing to year 2. 

Programme Highlights

• Paid internships
• Duration: 6-8 weeks during the summer (May – September), with potential for longer internships.
• Working Hours: Part-time (16hours/week) or full time (up to 35 hours/week) options.
• Mentorship: Each intern is paired with a dedicated mentor for personalised guidance.
• Hands-on Experience: Engage in legal research, document drafting, case preparation, client’s meetings and more.

Eligibility and Application

• Qualifying students will be identified by their Programme team, based on academic performance
• Application includes a CV, Cover Letter and an initial digital interview

Compensation

• Internships are paid at the London Living Wage (£13.15/hour).

Fees disclaimers

1. UK fees: The university reserves the right to increase undergraduate tuition fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions. The tuition fees for part-time UK study are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.

Based on the current fee, for a typical three-year degree, the total costs for your studies will be £28,605.

2. International fees: Tuition fees are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.

3. Depending on the duration of your study, your tuition fees for subsequent academic years may be subject to further inflationary increases (most recently, the UK government has suggested that increases may be linked to the All-Items Retail Prices Index – RPIX) in line with any additional rise in the tuition fee cap set by the UK government. Any annual increase in tuition fees will be notified to students at the earliest opportunity in advance of the academic year to which any applicable inflationary rise may apply.

Any annual increase in tuition fees as provided for above will be notified to students at the earliest opportunity in advance of the academic year to which any applicable inflationary rise may apply.

We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.

Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.

Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.

At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.