Help! Wanting to Study A-Levels...

Hi Everyone,

I'm fairly new to this so if I've posted this in the wrong place then please point me in the right direction.

This is not so much for myself as for my boyfriend - I work full time and he has just left his job to go back into education, but the situation has become somewhat complicated:

He wants to go to our local college to do his AS/A levels, prefrubly:
- Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Economics

And then go to university after (sorry if this isn't specific, I'm still trying to get the main parts of this out of him). This all seemed fairly simple to me, he's only 20 so we thought he would be accepted to college no problem - especially as he has good GCSE's.

However after speaking to their sixth form today he has been told he will have to do an access course to be able to go to university, however the only courses they offer are teaching or nursing. The other colleges in the area are also the same.

Is it possible he could still do his A Levels? And are the college being a little funny? I've searched all over the internet and as far as I can see anyone can do A Levels at any time. I realise this may not be funded but he is happy to pay to do the course so I do not see the problem?

He is looking to go into a career in Investment Banking, although is open to other options within banking itself and wants to go to somewhere like, Oxford, Cambridge or London Imperial to study. I'm not really sure how the UCAS points system works so even if we did find an access course to suit I'm not sure how this works?

Can any body help at all? beginning to feel trapped by the system!

Reply 1

LadyJoka

11

Original post by HollyB33

Hi Everyone,

I'm fairly new to this so if I've posted this in the wrong place then please point me in the right direction.

This is not so much for myself as for my boyfriend - I work full time and he has just left his job to go back into education, but the situation has become somewhat complicated:

He wants to go to our local college to do his AS/A levels, prefrubly:
- Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Economics

And then go to university after (sorry if this isn't specific, I'm still trying to get the main parts of this out of him). This all seemed fairly simple to me, he's only 20 so we thought he would be accepted to college no problem - especially as he has good GCSE's.

However after speaking to their sixth form today he has been told he will have to do an access course to be able to go to university, however the only courses they offer are teaching or nursing. The other colleges in the area are also the same.

Is it possible he could still do his A Levels? And are the college being a little funny? I've searched all over the internet and as far as I can see anyone can do A Levels at any time. I realise this may not be funded but he is happy to pay to do the course so I do not see the problem?

He is looking to go into a career in Investment Banking, although is open to other options within banking itself and wants to go to somewhere like, Oxford, Cambridge or London Imperial to study. I'm not really sure how the UCAS points system works so even if we did find an access course to suit I'm not sure how this works?

Can any body help at all? beginning to feel trapped by the system!

My friends mother has just gone back to college to study A-Levels so there definitely isn't an age limit :tongue:

She was also advised to do an access course, but decided she wanted to do A-Levels instead.

Maybe it is a college specific thing and they prefer older students to do an access course. If your boyfriend would prefer to study A-Levels then perhaps he should try looking at other colleges that would allow him to study the subjects he wants. Or he could try speaking to someone from the college that told him to do an access course and he could tell them why A-Levels would suit him more :smile:

Hope this helps, if you want to know anything else just quote or PM me :biggrin:

Reply 2

GeneralOJB

It's not really about paying for the exams, obviously he would be expected to pay for those. Exam fees make up less than 1% of the budget, and tax payers aren't paying for adults who just feel like doing A levels again. Your boyfriend will need to enter as a private candidate and seek private tuition if he needs it, though if he thinks he is smart enough to go to Oxford or Cambridge, he could probably just buy a few textbooks and self teach, but he's asking a bit much if he thinks he can just walk into a sixth form college(meant for 16-18 year olds) and get a free education at the tax payers expense.

(edited 10 years ago)

Help! Wanting to Study A-Levels...

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