[Thatstudentdude]

Hi there,

I'm nearing the end of my AS year and I would like to go on to uni to do a BA in Primary Education and obviously you need experience to get on to the course...

Just wondering about something though. I've been doing a placement through the college for near enough the whole of this academic year (October - May), one afternoon a week in a primary school helping out.

However, I won't be applying for unis until this September, and then of course won't be starting uni for a whole year after that (Sep 2013.) My question is, will the placement programme I've undertaken be valid enough for a position on the course, seeing as it will have been taken a year ago by the time I start?

[myrtille]

I'm sure they'll be happy with you having some long-term experience, but that doesn't mean getting a bit more experience (maybe one whole week as opposed to an afternoon here and there) wouldn't also be valuable.

If you have a couple of weeks between finishing your AS exams and going back to college to start work on A2s, maybe you could arrange to do a full week of observation/helping in a school at that point? Or could you do the same placement scheme one afternoon per week again in your A2 year?

As you'll be applying later this year, you can't really mention any experience after that point on your application anyway, other than stating your intent to gain further experience. But any experience you get after submitting your application will give you more to talk about at interviews. Also, you could arrange a placement for after your A2 exams next summer, and tell universities you have that planned.

My cousin was rejected by universities last year because she didn't have a lot of experience on her application form. But she phoned them up and explained that when she submitted the form she had only been doing work experience in primary school for a couple of weeks (she also had a couple of years' experience of helping at our dancing school), but she had carried on with it since then, and would be doing so until the end of the year. As a result, they changed their minds and invited her to interview, and she got on the course. So having more experience (and being prepared to argue your case!) really does make a massive difference.

[affinity89]

The previous poster is definitely right.

Don't worry about timings. Normally, they state recent as within the last 3 years, so your experience so far is great.

[Thatstudentdude]

Thanks for the helpful responses guys! Made me feel a lot better about it!

The college only does the placement scheme for first years, but I was thinking about independantly arranging to go back to the school for a bit more experience! I think I may do, every bit helps!