A warm welcome to the start of your degree and your Foundation Year. It will prepare you and introduce you to your chosen academic pathway as you begin your journey to complete an undergraduate bachelor's degree.

Wendy Iredale
Course Director

Your Teaching Timetable

Teaching for your course will begin w.c 21 September 2026.

To help you plan your first few weeks, you can view an overview of the teaching activities for your course.

View your first semester teaching timetable.

On a mobile device, click the arrow next to “Search” at the top right of the page to view your timetable.

If your course is taught in groups, the overview will show activities for all groups. You will only need to attend sessions for your allocated group.

Once teaching begins, your individual timetable and group allocation will be available in MyTimetable provided you have completed online registration and created your computing account.

Your Semester 1 Modules

The Big Picture*

Behaviour, Body and Biology

*All Foundation Year students take The Big Picture during Semester 1. The module includes shared lectures and smaller seminar and pastoral groups.

Seminar groups are arranged broadly by subject area so that discussions, examples, and activities can connect to your intended degree course.

The Unitimetables page shows an overview of all scheduled teaching for the module. You will not be expected to attend every seminar shown there.

Your confirmed lecture, seminar, and pastoral group will be available in MyTimetable once course registration and group allocations have been completed.

Key dates

Academic Calendar: Semesters

View key dates for this Academic Calendar for 2026-27 including when teaching starts and finishes and when you break for holidays

Welcome

​​Week commencing 14 September 2026 is a welcome and induction week.

During this week you will attend a number of activities where you will be inducted into your course and the university. You can view your course welcome timetable in the Welcome & Induction box at the top of this page.

You will also be assigned (and speak with) your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT), who will provide you with academic and personal support and signpost you to other relevant departments for any additional help you may need. Week commencing Monday 21 September 2026, the real work begins, as you start your first modules.!

​If you have any concerns about starting university, please do not fret, as this is perfectly normal.

You will find the staff friendly, experienced and readily available to support you with your studies.

We know that choosing to embark on a degree course is a big commitment in time, energy and money and we assure you that we are fully committed to helping you to reach your goal.

Getting started

Your Course

The academic year is split into two semesters. In each semester you will study:

​​Semester 1 (Sept-mid Jan) you will study:

  • ​The Big Picture - will introduce you the questions, problems and challenges that drive current societies and scientific research and innovation.

  • ​Behaviour, Body, and Biology - will bring students from Science, Psychology and Sports together to explore how behaviour and biology shapes us as humans (as an example of an animal) and our interactions with the world.

On both of these modules you will get the opportunity to experience interdisciplinary learning as you will meet with new students from other courses as well as your course.

​In semester 2 (mid Jan-mid May) you will study:

  • ​Student Success Modules

  • ​Interdisciplinary Communication Skills

  • ​Psychology in the Present

​You will be assessed in a variety of ways including; portfolios, academic posters, reflective writing, case studies, annotated bibliographies, blog posts and audio-narrated PowerPoints.

Blackboard

​Handbooks for each of the semester 1 modules will be available via Blackboard (the university’s virtual learning environment where staff post information relating to your course of study) when you start in September. These outline the content of each teaching session and the assessment requirements/deadlines.

To help you prepare

​Over the summer, please keep an eye on your personal email, and once pre-registered your student portal, for any further information that we may send to you. You can also keep up to date via our school social media channels:

​Additional Resources:

Your Must Do Tasks

Once you have been invited to register for your course, there are some key tasks you'll need to complete to make sure you are ready to become a CCCU student. 

Registration invitations are sent towards the end of August. We'll send yours to the email address you used when you applied, so please check this inbox regularly to make sure you don't miss any important information.

Pre-course reading

  • ​​Cottrell, S. (2024). The study skills handbook. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • ​Martin, G. N., Carlson, N. R., & Buskist, W. (2019). Psychology (6th Edition). Harlow. England: Pearson
  • ​Penn, P. (2026). The psychology of effective studying: How to succeed in your degree. Routledge.​

International student success programme

International students: don't miss out! Make sure you register for our international student success programme which provides practical advice on preparing to live and study in the UK.

Contact details

Have a question?

Speak to our friendly team for support.