Swinburne Foundation Year (Arts / Social Sciences) (8 months) is a pre-university program for international students. It is designed to help students meet the entry requirements for first-year university. Students will develop fundamental communication, information technology (IT) and mathematics skills. They will also get an introduction to a range of areas from the fields of business, design, science and engineering through the selection of electives.

Swinburne Arts graduates are well equipped to find work in areas where employers put a high premium on well-developed conceptual understanding and other critical and creative reasoning skills needed to come to terms with and respond effectively to the complex and changing demands of the contemporary workplace. These areas may include: policy analysis and development, research, community development, administration, public relations, publishing, media and professional psychology. Depending on their areas of specialisation, Arts graduates may find employment as journalists, psychologists, librarians, teachers, interpreters, sociologists, publishers, internet providers, marketers, writers and in the games industry, particularly in areas focusing on interactive content creation, game design, interface design and rapid prototyping. Graduates may also be equipped to pursue a career in the broader media, digital media/ multimedia and communications sectors.