DLC: Distance Learning Centre - Access

I'm looking into doing the Access to psychology.

What's the story with DLC? Are they any good - Any experiences from anyone appreciated!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

lacewingfly

Hiya

I just finished an Access course with the DLC this past May. I completed the Nursing, Midwifery and Health Professions diploma with 45 level 3 credits at distinction. I'm going to the University of Leeds this September to study midwifery.

I started the course in February 2011, but between a total of 6 months travelling abroad and various other life intrusions, it took a bit longer than I was originally planning to finish. The work is basically made up of essay-type questions, written reports and one short exam right at the end. The work itself is not too difficult. It is on the same level as A levels, however I found it much easier than A levels because everything isn't dependent on how much you can remember for an exam. If you find essay writing really hard, or you find it hard to get motivated, however, you might not like the course very much.

All of my experiences with the college itself has been positive. My tutor was lovely and incredibly supportive. The college itself wants you to do well - they have a good forum where people pose questions about the modules and receive extensive answers from tutors and the head of the college. The materials for each module were extensive and well-presented, plus they tended to give you a bunch of external sources for each topic. My tutor worked hard to make sure all of my work was up to scratch before doing her final marking. She gave me a ton of pointers for my personal statement, wrote a reference for me, and coached me through the interview process.

Basically I can't recommend them enough. I had a pretty ****ty time at traditional sixth form college, and pretty much thought I had screwed up my chances of uni for good. Still can't believe I managed to get through that course and get into a brilliant university all in under 18 months :smile:

If you have any other questions let me know!

Reply 2

vVShabbaVv

Thanks for the reply and congrats!

I want to study psychology so I am torn between the access course or A level psychology. I want to continue doing my maths & Biology A levels so I am weighing it all up. At least if I complete the Access course I will have something to show for it, as I am not too sure about the A levels which seem tricky to get exactly what the examiners are looking for. Plus it's pretty expensive at a £1000 whereas A levels wont be as much and are usually regarded as stronger. Just not sure.

Reply 3

lacewingfly

Access courses are generally considered the equivalent of doing 3 A levels. By that, I mean the workload is the same. I had to complete 6 modules with multiple units. The modules I chose included 3 in biology and 1 in psychology. I used my old A level textbooks to supplement the materials (I did biology and psychology A levels), as the subjects covered were largely the same.

Believe me, it's not a doss. The sheer volume of work is enough to put off some people. It's not like school, where you can just go to classes 10 hours a week, and then buckle down to revise for an exam. You have to put in a lot of continuous effort over the entire length of the course. Each unit would usually result in about 15 pages of work, 90% short essay-type questions. Some of my biology units were 25+ pages long.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 4

vVShabbaVv

Did you do it part-time?

I've got about 6 months off to study so I can crack on at it. If it's as much work as you say it is that's all good. I can do my A levels alongside it if I get organised. Thanks for your help. :smile:

Reply 5

lacewingfly

Yes I did it part-time. I worked and took several months out to travel. It's possible to do it in under a year but it won't be easy. If you try to do this course alongside 2 A levels, it will be like taking 5 A levels... in 6 months. Have you already finished AS in those subjects?

Before you start this I really think you should consult the college and get their opinion on this.

Reply 6

vVShabbaVv

I'm part way through the other subjects so that will be grand.
I should have plenty of time so i'm just gonna see how I get on thanks for your help i appreciate it :-)

Reply 7

lacewingfly

Okay brilliant! That's good to know. I hope you enjoy whatever you end up doing :smile:

Access courses are definitely a good option, and doing them online is SO convenient. If you have any more questions or anything at all, let me know!

Reply 8

Rozzyroz

From my experiences with the DLC I would STRONGLY reccommend anyone to look for an alternative!
After studying with a few further and higher education colleges and finally decided I wanted to do nursing and as I had a lot of commitments I decided to go with these guys - BIG mistake.
The learning materials are terrible ( low standard of English, many parts contradict each other or generally don't make sense) and the assignments are not much better (vague, unclear questions, spelling and grammar mistakes etc.). I had very little help from my tutor - for example, I would ask her to re-phrase a question or clarify something and she would just send a link to a GCSE-standard website with "hope this helps" - well no not really... luckily by partner is a student nurse with 4 A-levels in maths and sciences and he was able to guide me through from what he interpretated the questions were asking.
WORST OF ALL I wrote a (very polite) email to head senoir manager just a couple of asignments in to the course to raise concerns and he responded by telling me it would take two weeks for his "response" which I received after 3 weeks. In his response he was very rude and intimidating and told me out right that if I complain again he will removed me from the course - not a nice guy!

I am not the type of person who complains often but I'm truley disgusted that this "college" is taking so much money from people. There are a lot of colleges are unis that do access courses for a similar price that probably have friendly and supportive staff which I have experienced with every other course I have done ( which is a fair few).

Please feel free to ask any questions :-)

Reply 9

iloveteddy14

I have had very mixed options about distance learning centre at first everything was great but then my mental health went down and lost motivation at the same I was receiving rejection rejection and I knew from February I wouldn't be finishing in June and I was automatically put for moderation, so took time out during the summer bs returned back in the autumn to complete the other half to find out that due to new exam board everything is changing and now I can't be moderated in November. But I am hoping to finish all the work by then. I hate you mental health

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 10

KIKIKIkia

DO NOT TOUCH THE DLC!!!!
Not only will they deduct what ever fees they like from your account with out your authorisation, only due to you using your card once!! They are useless.
They do not do anything to help with your issues. I was uphappy that at no time did I give them any authorisation to use my card details as they pleased and they just take money out as they please. I am still waiting for my funds to be returned when they are making up some cock and bull and saying my course is now being set as finished and I will not get any funds back!!!
The course itself is horrendous. Expect to be emailed some codes for useless print outs. All you get is the login details to the course and your work marked. At no time do they give you any teaching!!! You may as well take Alevels as an external student for an 1/8 of the price.
Worst mistake ever
DONT GET STUNG LIKE ME, STEER CLEAR OF THE DLC!!!

Reply 11

Tinkletea

I am afraid I have to agree with those who have negatively reviewed the DLC. Whilst I do think there are staff there that try their best, the staff that aren't as productive do ruin the experience. I got part way through the access course, but I simply had to give up on it because I just got so fed up with the badly worded questions and the obvious 'cant be bothered' response I would get of my tutor. I was often writing essays on questions I did not understand, with materials that did not even have any relevance to the unit. If I had a better tutor I may of stuck it out.

I did raise a few times with my tutor that the materials did not seem correct and some of them clearly had mistakes, of which I did not receive a response. The problem with the DLC is I believe some of the tutors have other jobs and do this on the side, and therefore their dedication isn't particularly with the DLC

Reply 12

suza

I agree awful experience - history of events of things that happened with DLC which resulted in me losing my place at uni.
Does anyone know - where to complain officially about such a poor service provider.

All DLC causes me was stress - one of tutours was the worst Ihave come across in education.
I wasnt supported and because them lost my uni place.

Please DONT WASTE YOUR TIME ,MONEY and effort with DLC -unproffesioanal on all levels.

Reply 13

Pixsoul

Original post by suza

Usually you have to go through the training provider's complaints procedure first, and if you do not receive a satisfactory response, your next option would be to complain to the awarding organisation. To be honest though, the awarding organisation will likely just contact DLC to inform them that they have received a complaint and request that they are kept updated in regards to what they do about it.

Reply 14

jen1983

I have just finished an access course (biology) with DLC in 8 months and found them absolutely brilliant. I have 3 small children and work part time and the course fitted around my life and got me a place at Plymouth studying optometry. The support offered with your UCAS statement and applecation (your tutor does your reference) was excellent. The only thing I would say with DLC as with any distance learning is that YOU have to motivate yourself and be organised with deadlines etc. When starting access at a college or distance you have to be honest with yourself about your motivation levels and level of support you might need and choose the route that suits your personality.

Reply 15

lledrith

I've had a very mixed experience with the DLC.

Most of my gripes come down to the poor formatting, spelling and generally incorrect or information given for the science subjects. I've flagged several critical errors in assignments during my time on the course - most of which have been acknowledged and allegedly logged for editing. Chemistry was especially bad for this.

Some of the tutors often didn't know much about - or care for the subjects covered, so tutorials felt a bit pointless most of the time. If you ditch their materials and learn on your own with the right books and videos, it's not as big of an issue. I didn't bother with the phone tutorials, it just wasted time.

I completed the course in 32 weeks with a full holster of Distinctions. It can be done, just don't expect the DLC to hold your hand.

Reply 16

Willow Tree

I have just started with the DLC on the new Ascentis diploma and so far I have found the topics they have offered brilliant and have just asked for my first assessment. So far so good, as the information I received on the diploma was really useful, I asked them to phone me to discuss what I wanted to do and they did, they went through all my options and came down to a course for me. I was interested in law and criminology and they have a course which suited what i was looking for. My tutor rings me every week and I have found it useful and in fact quite fun. I work full time so I generally e-mail my tutor in the evening and so far they always send helpful replies. I have taken the course with them because even though there are mixed experiences with them on here they have a good reputation, but I will keep you all posted, that is if I manage to keep up the momentum, I am very motivated at the moment as I really want to change my career but a year of doing a course like this could mean that I fizzle out when things get tough. :wink:

Reply 17

Willow Tree

I have had my first assignment back it is an ungraded unit but they give you indicative grades to help you get better and i got a Merit, I am so chuffed as this is the first thing i have done like this in years, my tutors comments were really positive and gave me ideas on how to improve. So still very happy with them. I have two more ungraded units to go before I start the heavy stuff, the next one is called academic essay writing.

Reply 18

tonycreeney

I am with these studying Law and Criminology, and I am not 100% sure why they receive all these criticism as I think they've been brilliant.

I decided to do it as pissed about in my A-Levels, so I had no chance of going to Uni to do something I cared about. Fast forward a few years and instead of wasting away in a dead end job, I thought I'd give higher education another crack, but needed an access course to make it happened - and the DLC has been perfect for me.

For starters, I work full time so it fits around this perfectly. Being able to do the study and assignments in my spare time is a God-send.

For the lack of support that others have said: its distance learning, so you have to do the majority of it yourself. If being taught is what what you need, then it definatley isnt for you. This is because they just give you the reading materials, you read them and then they give you the assessment when your ready. Thats it really. I, personally, find this great as I can learn in my own time and having someone hover over me while I'm trying to get it into my head just put added pressure onto me and I start to resent it.

The weekly phonecalls are more for just a check up than anything else. If you do need anything, then they are happy to help you. However, I have only had 1 tutor for the entire course so we've built a pretty decent rapport over the last couple of months.

I think the DLC is perfect for some as independant learning is magnificent for some, but other may hate it so they like being taught in a classroom environment; it all depends on how you learn best really.

Reply 19

Willow Tree

Well I think that they just have an axe to grind, If you look at Kikikikia s/he only posted on here twice and said the same thing, for all we know they could have been thrown off the course for some reason and decided to try and damage the DLC's reputation by being nasty. When I contacted the universities I was interested in they actually recommended the DLC so I would personally rather go with what the universities have said rather than some anonymous person who can say anything with no evidence or come back.