ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on research with 357 mature, part-time and working health-care students over a period of six years, who entered Higher Education (HE) through a Foundation degree. Many continued their education beyond the Foundation degree, subsequently doing well in competitive professional programmes. The students who participated in the research were generally new to academia, entering HE for the first time in significant numbers as a result of New Labour's 'Foundation degree' initiative. The Secretary of State for Education, David Blunkett, introduced this new, diploma-equivalent qualification to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2000, to bridge a workforce skills gap and widen participation to HE. The chapter focuses to improve the education and work progression opportunities of new entrants to one Higher Education Institution by understanding the nature of opportunities for, and barriers to, progress from the student's perspectives and, where possible, developing strategies to overcome them.
