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Foundation years / access question

I want to study pharmacy but I have no A-levels. I'm looking at either doing an access course or a foundation year. I am wondering whether it would be a bad idea to enrol on a one year foundation course that says it is possible to get onto pharmacy if you achieve certain grades and pass an interview, but the usual route is onto other science degrees. It seems like a bit of a risk, however if I do an access course I would need distinctions anyway so would it really make much difference?
Has anyone been in this same situation or got any advice?

Reply 1

rachey13

I am a mature student with no A-Levels (well 3 E grade A levels) and I have submitted an application to study Pharmacy with Preliminary year at Nottingham. It was a late application also so still waiting to hear back. I know Manchester also offer a foundation year with pharmacy course. It also helps a great deal if youn have had any work experience in the Pharmacy industry. I have been working in Pharmacy from age 13, am now 27, and I am a registered Pharmacy Technician. The more experience you have the better position you are in if you have no formal qualifications. My advice to you is to get work experience if you have not got any and consider re-applying next year. With an access course dont you still need some kind of formal qualification in addition to the access course? Hope this helps. :smile:

Reply 2

jami74

I suppose it depends on the university. I'm hoping to do an access course this September and start Pharmacy next September. I don't know much about foundation years but I understand that the access course is designed to get people who have been out of education for a while to university level in just one year. Maybe you could try contacting the universities you are hoping to study Pharmacy at and ask them which they'd prefer.

Reply 3

anon2010

I applied to Huddersfield for their foundation course last year and got a place and told I would have to get 70% or above in the foundation year to get onto pharmacy.

I didnt go because of personal reasons. But I am currently doing a foundation year at my local uni.
Foundation years are not hard if you do the work.
I am currently predicted 78% for my foundation year. It was not hard but it was a lot of work (if that makes sense).
However because I going on to biomed now and not pharmacy I only need 40% pass.

I think your best bet would be to go on a foundation year because the work load and content on access and foundation are going to be the same/similar but on a foundation year if you do not manage to get 70% you have the choice of another degree, which means you will get to do a degree what even happens. However if you did an access course even if you got the grade you still might not get onto pharmacy because of other applicants looking better on paper.

Plus once you get into a uni you can prove yourself. for example if you went to Huddersfield foundation year and only got 68% for the year but the lecturers knew you as a hard worker you may be able to convince them you can be on the pharmacy course. You wouldn't have that chance if you were an outside applicant applying with a access course.

Dont know if this makes sense, sorry.

Reply 4

awright21

i was just flicking through posts about Huddersfield. I have applied for the foundation course at Huddersfield and hope to go on to podiatry in my 2nd year, this has really helped me thanks :smile:

Reply 5

OhNuts

I had forgotten about posting this :colondollar:

I do have some pharmacy experience although not that much, I also have recent study but that is mainly maths.

Rachey did you hear anything back from Nottingham yet? Good luck

Reply 6

rachey13

Hi Ohnuts!

Unfortunately I was unsuccessful at Nottingham :frown:

which really put a spanner in the works!! I am now considering doing an access course or maybe afoundation year first! Have you decided what you are going to do yet? :smile:

Reply 7

Maturestudent1

Hello OhNuts,

I felt similar to you this time last year. Though my initial dilemma was whether to look into taking Medicine or Pharmacy.
Because I wasn't sure of which to do at the time, I went for an access course, in order to keep my options open, but just before the start of the access course, I decided to focus on Pharmacy.

Like you I have no A-Levels and was hoping to just use the access course as a route onto the MPharm degree at university.

One year on, I've nearly finished the access course, I supplemented it with a few additional qualifications (Maths GCSE and IELTS exam), and now I have 3 offers, 1 rejection and 1 university application still pending. At this point in time I'd say I know for sure that the majority of those still on my access course (a couple of people dropped out) have an offer from a university. The rest, I'm not sure if they have offers yet or not.

So based on my experience doing an Access course, I can confidently say you have a chance of getting onto the MPharm degree at University. Though be warned, not all access courses are the same, and not all the Universities offering MPharm accept access courses. And like you mentioned, all of us that have offers all went to interviews and aimed for minimum distinctions throughout the course. Though of course, this year (2011) is apparently a highly competitive year due to supposed funding cuts, reduction of places and tuition fees rising next year. Though apparently what we've gone through is not that different to the previous students on our access course. However, I don't know how similar or different things will be for 2012 entry.

If you have any questions,feel free to ask.