Radiography (Diagnostic Imaging) with Foundation Year

Radiography for diagnostic imaging is the clinical profession concerned with creating medical images, using technologies including X-ray, CT scanning, MRI and ultrasound to produce the visual information that clinicians need to diagnose disease and injury and plan treatment. It requires both a confident understanding of the physics and technology involved and the clinical competence and patient communication skills needed to work effectively with people who are often anxious, in pain or facing serious illness. At the University of Keele this four-year programme, which includes a foundation year, prepares you to register as a diagnostic radiographer with the Health and Care Professions Council.

The foundation year provides a structured and supportive entry into degree-level study, building the scientific and academic foundations needed before the main clinical programme begins. Across the degree you will develop knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology alongside the technical understanding of imaging physics and the range of modalities used in diagnostic imaging. Clinical placements are central to the programme, giving you hands-on experience in real NHS settings under the supervision of registered radiographers.

You will develop the clinical reasoning, image analysis skills and patient care capabilities that diagnostic radiography demands, using cutting-edge medical technology in practice. Keele's healthcare partnerships provide access to a range of clinical environments across the region.

Graduates register as diagnostic radiographers and work primarily in NHS hospitals, undertaking imaging examinations and contributing to clinical diagnosis across all areas of medicine. With experience, radiographers develop into roles in advanced clinical practice, CT and MRI specialism, image interpretation, service management and education. The profession is also represented in private healthcare, independent sector treatment centres and increasingly in roles with expanding scope of practice, including reporting radiographer posts where radiographers provide diagnostic reports.

Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in specialist imaging modalities, radiographic reporting or healthcare management.