Acces to HE waitlist

True, but they also take two years and often cost a lot more.

Sadly I will mention something that our Access leader said to us, 'People who miss out on a week or two of classes have no chance of catching up with the workload'. Personaly I DON'T feel this is applicable to the first few weeks, however that may be why the college is reluctant. Good luck, I will be rooting for you :]

yeah, they lost 2 of my essays and took weeks to respond to anything. Gave up in the end.

My college tried to push me into an access course, but I wanted to spend the 2 years because employers will actually know what an A Level is, and I was being really ambitious in my university choices and I'm not sure what the top tier places think of Access. A few teachers I spoke in lessons said they thought A levels were the right choice for me too, even though many of them also taught Access.

If you are desperate to finish in 1 year it is possible in some humanities subjects to sit AS and A2 at once, but this is a serious amount of work.

I have recently started an Access course, and yes; there have been people dropping out left right and centre. Nobody from my group so far, but several have dropped out from other groups on Access. It is tough in the respect that there is a lot of work to tie in with the other commitments that people have as mature students. I think your chances are not as awful as the 'guy' made out.
Contact the course leader for Access. Speak to THEM directly, also try to research other institutions that offer the course that may be realistic.

Sadly I will mention something that our Access leader said to us, 'People who miss out on a week or two of classes have no chance of catching up with the workload'. Personaly I DON'T feel this is applicable to the first few weeks, however that may be why the college is reluctant. Good luck, I will be rooting for you :]

Can I be nosy and ask how old you are please? Don't feel you have to reply though! I only ask because I really wanted to do A Levels and everyone said it was ridiculous when I could do an Access Course in less than a year. I was also told that, at 22 years old, I'm "too old". I'm happy enough on my course but there's a "what if?" lingering.

I'm 24 almost 25 now. I was almost 23 when I started. On the first few days in class it was a little weird, but actually quite a few A-Levelers resit immediately if they fail, so there were a few 19 and 20 year olds around as well. I got a few odd looks from students in the first few weeks, but after you have met people no-one cares.

I strongly recommend A Levels if that's what you want to do - our admissions tried pushing me into an access course - but I (having now finished) have absolutely no regrets about doing the A Levels instead. You specialise more in A Levels, whereas Access seems to quickly brush over all subjects in a few weeks, A Level really teaches you a lot about a few key subjects. And, as I have said above, people know what A Levels are and it is what universities (if that's what you're aiming for?) use as their primary admissions criteria.

So I decided recently that university is the only option in life that really appeals to me right now, and that Access to HE is the best route for me to get there. I searched for AtoHE courses and found nothing in my local area, until by chance I stumbled upon a humanities course at a college only a short bus ride away. Unfortunately, the course has already started for the year. I went there today to ask whether I could go on a waiting list, but the guy said there was little chance, 'unless 10 people on the course died of food poisoning or something'.

But to be honest, I've heard from several people that many drop out of access courses. Should I go back tomorrow and insist on going on the waiting list, or will I simply have to wait for admissions for next year's opening? I'd rather not have to work my ****** dead-end job for another year.





EDIT: Sorry about the typo in the title - I do know how to spell access!