Physics with a Foundation Year

Physics is an exciting subject which seeks answers to the biggest questions, covering everything in our universe, from the building blocks of matter to the vastness of the cosmos.

Employers seeking physics graduates include academic institutions, government research organisations and industry, including aerospace and defence, education, energy, engineering, instrumentation, manufacturing, oil and gas, science, communication, space exploration and telecommunications. Many physics graduates pursue a career outside physics, for instance in consultancy, IT, the environmental industry, financial services, the legal sector, transport and utilities.

Based at our superb seafront campus close to the magnificent Gower Peninsula, you will have the opportunity to study an exciting and flexible range of modules which could include astronomy and cosmology, electromagnetism, atomic physics, the frontiers of nuclear physics, the quantum world and climate physics.

In your Foundation year, examples of introductory modules include Mechanics; Electricity and Magnetism; Mathematics for Physicists; Waves, Options and Thermal Physics; and Atoms, Nuclei and Particles. Students are assigned a personal tutor within the physics department and will participate in small-group tutorial sessions throughout the programme. Following their successful completion of the foundation year, students may then follow any pathway through the BSc or MPhys courses, with all options available to them. Across all teaching, after this point there is no differentiation between an F301 student and any other. This degree is also offered as a four-year course, with a year in industry (F478) or with a year abroad (F302).

Your Physics Experience

A flexibly structured degree path means you have the opportunity to study abroad for a year or work in industry for a year, either locally, nationally or overseas.

Our common student & staff space (the Event Horizon) overlooking spectacular views of Swansea Bay, provides an ideal location for quiet study, informal discussions and lunches.

The Physics department and the Swansea University Physics Society sponsor frequent social, and academic events such as departmental colloquia and distinguished lectures to bring students and staff together.

Elected student reps for each year and for the Swansea University Physics Society (PhySoc) ensure that every student voice is heard through regular meetings with HoDs.

Our world leading research groups in Particle Physics and Cosmology Theory, Applied Materials, and the ALPHA anti-matter collaboration with close ties to CERN, ensure that our teaching is informed by the latest research. Students have the opportunity to do a summer internship at CERN and undertake final year projects with any of our major research groups.

Why Physics at Swansea?

11th in the UK (Guardian University Guide 2025)

3rd in the UK for Teaching Quality (Guardian University Guide 2025)

5th in the UK for Teaching on my Course* (NSS 2024) * Based on the average positivity score across questions 1 to 4 in the NSS 2024 when ranked against universities featured in the Times Good University Guide.

Top 201-250 in the world (QS World University Rankings 2025)

Our notable Physics alumni include Professor Lyn Evans, leader of the Large Hadron Collider project at CERN, while Professor Peter Higgs, Swansea University Honorary Fellow and Physics Nobel Prize winner, proposed the Boson particle, and has strong links with the department.

“The Physics staff were always very supportive; the lecturers enthusiastic and are good at explaining difficult concepts eloquently. There was a real sense that they thoroughly enjoyed teaching us. Through my degree, I was able to successfully apply to the NHS Scientist Training Programme, a highly competitive graduate scheme through which I will eventually become a fully qualified Medical Physicist.” - Guy Drabble, Physics graduate