How do foundation and matriculation courses differ from STPM in terms of access and duration?

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Foundation and matriculation are restricted by access rules and are shorter than STPM
Foundation courses (other than Islamic studies) are limited to Bumiputera students, while matriculation has a quota for non-Bumiputera students. STPM, by contrast, is open for anyone to apply. Both foundation and matriculation are shorter, taking one year, whereas STPM is described as a longer pre-university pathway.
Foundation access is limited to Bumiputera students outside Islamic studies
Foundation programmes other than Islamic studies are for Bumiputera students only. This means that access to these foundation routes is restricted from the start, even though they are one-year pathways.
Matriculation has a non-Bumiputera quota
Matriculation courses include a quota for non-Bumiputera students. Like foundation, they are shorter and typically allow students to enter university in the same year after completing the programme.
STPM allows any applicant and is the longer option
STPM is open for anyone to apply, unlike the access restrictions described for foundation and matriculation. It is also characterised as a longer course, with the past format described as a single exam at the end of a gruelling year and a half of classes.
Foundation and matriculation typically feed into university within the same year
After finishing foundation or matriculation, students enter university in the same year. The contrast is that STPM students have to wait nine months after the exam for placement news, making the overall timeline feel like an added gap year when combined with the five months waiting time after SPM.

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How do foundation and matriculation courses differ from STPM in terms of access and duration?

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