The Student Room Group

Urgent advice needed...

Hi guys,

I am in a very complicated situation and require some urgent advice. I had applied for two Access courses at the beginning of this year, and received offers for both of them. These were Access to H.E. Art and Design and Access to HE Computing.

I have found the staff on the Computing very uncooperative and difficult to work with, and I fear that if I were to enrol on it at this stage, I would struggle. I also understand there are numerous Mathematics units on the course, and I struggle with Maths greatly.

The Art and Design however is something that I would find easier to do, however I have done Art in the past and have not always been successful. I am currently not on an Access course and need to enrol ASAP.

Obviously we are a few weeks in now so I would appreciate any advice.
Original post by Bocicowo
.................


It's not really complicated - just confusing. If you can't do maths and aren't good at Art why on earth are you doing an Access course, which is designed to give you access to a very expensive degree course?

So why are you doing either Access course in the first place, because do you realistically stand a chance of being successful on a degree course?
Reply 2
Original post by threeportdrift
It's not really complicated - just confusing. If you can't do maths and aren't good at Art why on earth are you doing an Access course, which is designed to give you access to a very expensive degree course?

So why are you doing either Access course in the first place, because do you realistically stand a chance of being successful on a degree course?


Obviously I want to improve and do the best I can. I have always been interested in both Art and Computing, just not the Maths. I also would hope to improve my Art skills, were I to enrol onto an Access Art and Design.
Original post by Bocicowo
Obviously I want to improve and do the best I can. I have always been interested in both Art and Computing, just not the Maths. I also would hope to improve my Art skills, were I to enrol onto an Access Art and Design.


OK, but be clear what you are committing yourself to in terms of financial cost, time and loss of other opportunity. Art is something you can perfectly well self-study to a professional level, or you can do evening classes etc. It takes very little except personal dedication to become as good as you can be in the arts.

On the computing side, without maths, there are limits to the type of computing career you can enter. There are still very many options, but they will be more practical and more likely about specific practical qualifications.

Then think about why you are doing an Access course rather than A levels or more career specific qualifications. An Access course has little or no standalone value, its sole purpose is to get you access to an HE course. Before you commit that time and debt, be very clear what your post-graduation goal is and be certain this route will be the best to get you there.
Reply 4
I agree with threeportdrift. If you want to improve your art skills, take a class! practice!
Reply 5
I appreciate your comments, however I have spent 2+ years attending various evening classes with little success. I believe that a 3 hour art class is no substitute for a full time course.

I do realise the connection between Maths and Computing, however I am just concerned considering my 'patchy' background in the subject which stems back to Primary School. I do not feel that the college are willing to provide adequate support in this either.
Hello, hopefully I can share some information about my experiences which will help you in some form, shape or fashion.

Before I continue, I would just like to point out that the advice given by threeportdrift is superb - it is clear, succinct and accurate.

A couple of years back I was deciding on whether or not to enrol on an Access to Higher Education Diploma in Art & Design, or an Access to Higher Education Diploma in Computing. I chose Art & Design, with the intention of focusing my studies on the use of design software. I completed the course, gaining a number of credits at merit level, and subsequently went on to study Digital Art at the University of Kent. I felt pretty miserable and isolated during my time at Kent, and found it hard being around younger people who possessed a distinctly different outlook on life. To me their optimism and positivity sometimes translated as naiveté and idealism, but perhaps I was just looking at things from a slightly more cynical and jaded perspective. Anyway, I also felt that the level of teaching and support was severely lacking, and I could not justify the level of debt I was getting myself into, so I left after about six months on the course. I would like to point out at this point in time that these are extremely personal experiences and observations, and just because this happened to me, that does not mean it will happen to you should you decide to enrol on an Art & Design course and continue on to a related degree course.

Obtaining a creative job is as much about your ability to be persistent and strong in the face of adversity. Experience is also a valuable asset when looking to gain employment within the creative sector, and it goes without saying that a certain level of business acumen is vital if you want to work within the constraints of professional creative services which cater to the business needs of clients, organisations and companies. A degree is only one part of the puzzle, and of course, there are bound to be some people working within the creative sector who have built highly successful careers without degrees.

A career in computing does not necessarily translate as a job role which requires extremely high levels of numeracy (computing roles can be very practical and hands-on), but should you decide to study computing at degree level, you will inevitably encounter various mathematical concepts which relate to the operation and science of computers. Computers are fundamentally machines which rely entirely on processes linked to mathematics, and although programming languages introduce various levels of abstraction which remove the need to understand assembly language, you may still find yourself occasionally referring to and utilising some form of math.

I have decided to go back to basics and try to improve my GCSE grades, and will then consider doing another Access course which will hopefully lead to enrolment on a vocational degree course. I am quite risk adverse, and so I will now only try for a degree if it is directly linked to a job which requires a degree.

I don't want this post to be construed as a cautionary tale. Hopefully it will just provide some food for thought. Ultimately what Access course you choose to do will be your decision to make and yours alone. Weigh up the pros and cons, and try to be as clued up as possible throughout every stage of the educational journey. Good luck!
(edited 8 years ago)
Seems to me if you're going to find either path (computing or Art) equally difficult, you should study the one you're most interested in. Struggling with something you like is far better than struggling with something you don't like, particularly if you're paying ££££s for the privilege.

Happy to offer more advice if I can, but I'd need to know more details about what it is you want to do (plus I admit I don't know much about Art with a capital 'A').
Reply 8
Original post by Cartagena
Hello, hopefully I can share some information about my experiences which will help you in some form, shape or fashion.

Before I continue, I would just like to point out that the advice given by threeportdrift is superb - it is clear, succinct and accurate.

A couple of years back I was deciding on whether or not to enrol on an Access to Higher Education Diploma in Art & Design, or an Access to Higher Education Diploma in Computing. I chose Art & Design, with the intention of focusing my studies on the use of design software. I completed the course, gaining a number of credits at merit level, and subsequently went on to study Digital Art at the University of Kent. I felt pretty miserable and isolated during my time at Kent, and found it hard being around younger people who possessed a distinctly different outlook on life. To me their optimism and positivity sometimes translated as naiveté and idealism, but perhaps I was just looking at things from a slightly more cynical and jaded perspective. Anyway, I also felt that the level of teaching and support was severely lacking, and I could not justify the level of debt I was getting myself into, so I left after about six months on the course. I would like to point out at this point in time that these are extremely personal experiences and observations, and just because this happened to me, that does not mean it will happen to you should you decide to enrol on an Art & Design course and continue on to a related degree course.

Obtaining a creative job is as much about your ability to be persistent and strong in the face of adversity. Experience is also a valuable asset when looking to gain employment within the creative sector, and it goes without saying that a certain level of business acumen is vital if you want to work within the constraints of professional creative services which cater to the business needs of clients, organisations and companies. A degree is only one part of the puzzle, and of course, there are bound to be some people working within the creative sector who have built highly successful careers without degrees.

A career in computing does not necessarily translate as a job role which requires extremely high levels of numeracy (computing roles can be very practical and hands-on), but should you decide to study computing at degree level, you will inevitably encounter various mathematical concepts which relate to the operation and science of computers. Computers are fundamentally machines which rely entirely on processes linked to mathematics, and although programming languages introduce various levels of abstraction which remove the need to understand assembly language, you may still find yourself occasionally referring to and utilising some form of math.

I have decided to go back to basics and try to improve my GCSE grades, and will then consider doing another Access course which will hopefully lead to enrolment on a vocational degree course. I am quite risk adverse, and so I will now only try for a degree if it is directly linked to a job which requires a degree.

I don't want this post to be construed as a cautionary tale. Hopefully it will just provide some food for thought. Ultimately what Access course you choose to do will be your decision to make and yours alone. Weigh up the pros and cons, and try to be as clued up as possible throughout every stage of the educational journey. Good luck!


Thank you so much for your message, it has been really assuring knowing I'm not the only one in this predicament.

Out of interest, did you feel you got a lot out of the Access Diploma you did? I fear that I won't get a lot out of the Art and Design Access. For example, I have already completed an Art Foundation Diploma in 2012 which, in my opinion, has been of little use to me.

On the other hand, perhaps studying on the Access Computing would give me skills and allow me to progress in a way I had not thought possible.

Whichever, my fear of Maths and the lack of support on the course I feel will be of a disadvantage to me. I am not sure if these sentiments are entirely justified.

Thanks for replying to my thread, either way!
Reply 9
Original post by jimmy_looks_2ice
Seems to me if you're going to find either path (computing or Art) equally difficult, you should study the one you're most interested in. Struggling with something you like is far better than struggling with something you don't like, particularly if you're paying ££££s for the privilege.

Happy to offer more advice if I can, but I'd need to know more details about what it is you want to do (plus I admit I don't know much about Art with a capital 'A').


Hi, thanks for your reply.

I was initially keen on improving my drawing and painting skills, as I had previously been rejected from two universities to study animation after being told my skills were not up to scratch.

Around the same time, I was investigating computer science at university but could not apply for any courses having only Humanities based qualifications. Inevitably, the difference is that on the Computing side of things, I would need a lot more support which I do not think the college could provide me at this time.
Original post by Bocicowo
Hi, thanks for your reply.

I was initially keen on improving my drawing and painting skills, as I had previously been rejected from two universities to study animation after being told my skills were not up to scratch.

Around the same time, I was investigating computer science at university but could not apply for any courses having only Humanities based qualifications. Inevitably, the difference is that on the Computing side of things, I would need a lot more support which I do not think the college could provide me at this time.

Ok, but you need to think about what you want to do in the long term. Access + degree (+ maybe even further study beyond that) is a long and expensive path, so you want to be as sure as you can be before you set off that you're going in a direction you're comfortable with.

You may be able to find a niche for yourself having studied computer science, but corporate IT would be the easiest route after that (well paid but not necessarily that interesting). If you want to do that, find another college who can support you with a relevant access course.

Art, on the other hand, would be far more difficult to make a living from, but if you really are passionate about it, there's a risk you won't be happy with yourself in years to come if you drop it now to do computing instead with the vague notion of doing art "on the side".
I personally find that if I do something over a longer period such as 15-20 hour plus a week I'm a lot motivated, where if I do something for two hours in the evening or daytime I can't motivate myself to go or I'm like is that it for the week, where if I'm doing my access course I'm doing longer hours I feel more of a community


Posted from TSR Mobile
I met some interesting people, and was exposed to some new artistic concepts, movements and figures, but I don't really feel I gained a great deal academically. I had studied with the Open University prior to gaining a place on the Access Course, so I knew how to structure an essay and use correct referencing, and I had also been using some of the software tools that I used on the course for around 12 months before as well. It gave me the time to further explore some of the programs and artistic influences I had been using/absorbing up to that point, and of course, it helped me gain a place at Kent (I was also successful in my application to the other four unis I put down on my UCAS application), but it has served very little purpose beyond that.

I took out the 24+ Loan to fund it, so will now have to pay out of my own pocket if I want to enrol on an Access course again.
(edited 8 years ago)

Quick Reply