Is it hard to get Distinctions in an access course?
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Pretty sure access courses differ quite a lot from college to college (judging by a few people I've spoken to). I only needed distinctions in maths for my uni offers, which I thought were easy. I also had to do psychology and business which were tougher as I had no interest in them and didn't try very hard. I finished with 39 creds at distinction and 6 at merit. A bit of work and you'll be fine.
I completed 54 credits all at distinction. On the TA2 you are given guidance as to what is expected of you to gain, first a pass, and then further information on what will boost your grade to merit and then distinction. It's important to follow said guidance but don't forget that critical thinking and analysis is also extremely important.
Good luck!
Good luck!
As others have said - it seems to vary a bit by college. I gather from my experience of just completing an access course that a low distinction would be equivalent to a b grade and a high distinction would be like an a grade. This is just a guess based on comparing the standard of my work to the standard of the a levels which i did a couple of years earlier.
Sorry to take the thread off topic, but could anyone explain the grading system? In particular when you know your results, do you know them as you go along?
For example, if I needed 30 distinctions to get on to a particular course, would I know that I had acheived that before the course had ended (half way through perhaps)?
Thanks in advance, again sorry to interrupt, but I thought you guys might know.
For example, if I needed 30 distinctions to get on to a particular course, would I know that I had acheived that before the course had ended (half way through perhaps)?
Thanks in advance, again sorry to interrupt, but I thought you guys might know.
i got 60 credits at distinction and already had 2 a-levels. I swanned off to uni and yes, it was an extreme shock to the system.
I don't whether this applies to all subjects but for sciences, the access course i did really didn't provide enough in-depth coverage in the subjects. Our lecturers at college were, on the whole, too worried about being nice to the access students and didn't want to put us off further education by actually challenging us and being honest in their marking.
I am sure it does depend on the university you are going to but I moved to a top 20 uni and have regretted it since. I know that I would have been far better at a teaching uni than a research uni, where i would have had access to better support and properly- trained lecturers. A lot of the lecturers that I had at uni were untrained and reluctant teachers. They saw students as a painful interruption to their research work and were unable to gauge the range of intellects and teaching styles needed to deliver a successful lecture to up to 200+ students. Whilst there were some incredibly supportive and talented lecturers, the majority just did not really care and certainly were not able to offer guidance or additional support out side the lectures. Some of them could not even be bothered to write sample questions for exam revision, not even for new modules.
I know this probably sounds like I am really moany. I'm not moany by nature but I went in to the whole access and uni course selection blinkered, initially by excitement then overly-impressed by the glamour of big name universities and the flattery of getting offers from such places. This really influenced my choices and made me ignore some important elements of choosing a college course and a university.
My uni tutor subsequently said that everyone should choose a course and a university where they are most likely to get a first, not where the university has high rankings (unless these happen to co-incide). So, i know this isn't exactly positive as posts go (and goes very off-topic) but I hope it helps someone - perhaps next years UCAS applicants if not this years.
I don't whether this applies to all subjects but for sciences, the access course i did really didn't provide enough in-depth coverage in the subjects. Our lecturers at college were, on the whole, too worried about being nice to the access students and didn't want to put us off further education by actually challenging us and being honest in their marking.
I am sure it does depend on the university you are going to but I moved to a top 20 uni and have regretted it since. I know that I would have been far better at a teaching uni than a research uni, where i would have had access to better support and properly- trained lecturers. A lot of the lecturers that I had at uni were untrained and reluctant teachers. They saw students as a painful interruption to their research work and were unable to gauge the range of intellects and teaching styles needed to deliver a successful lecture to up to 200+ students. Whilst there were some incredibly supportive and talented lecturers, the majority just did not really care and certainly were not able to offer guidance or additional support out side the lectures. Some of them could not even be bothered to write sample questions for exam revision, not even for new modules.
I know this probably sounds like I am really moany. I'm not moany by nature but I went in to the whole access and uni course selection blinkered, initially by excitement then overly-impressed by the glamour of big name universities and the flattery of getting offers from such places. This really influenced my choices and made me ignore some important elements of choosing a college course and a university.
My uni tutor subsequently said that everyone should choose a course and a university where they are most likely to get a first, not where the university has high rankings (unless these happen to co-incide). So, i know this isn't exactly positive as posts go (and goes very off-topic) but I hope it helps someone - perhaps next years UCAS applicants if not this years.
Original post by 123ash
I couldn't agree with you more, I feel the same uni may end up to be a huge shock to the brain.
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Original post by k8k
i got 60 credits at distinction and already had 2 a-levels. I swanned off to uni and yes, it was an extreme shock to the system.
I don't whether this applies to all subjects but for sciences, the access course i did really didn't provide enough in-depth coverage in the subjects. Our lecturers at college were, on the whole, too worried about being nice to the access students and didn't want to put us off further education by actually challenging us and being honest in their marking.
I am sure it does depend on the university you are going to but I moved to a top 20 uni and have regretted it since. I know that I would have been far better at a teaching uni than a research uni, where i would have had access to better support and properly- trained lecturers. A lot of the lecturers that I had at uni were untrained and reluctant teachers. They saw students as a painful interruption to their research work and were unable to gauge the range of intellects and teaching styles needed to deliver a successful lecture to up to 200+ students. Whilst there were some incredibly supportive and talented lecturers, the majority just did not really care and certainly were not able to offer guidance or additional support out side the lectures. Some of them could not even be bothered to write sample questions for exam revision, not even for new modules.
I know this probably sounds like I am really moany. I'm not moany by nature but I went in to the whole access and uni course selection blinkered, initially by excitement then overly-impressed by the glamour of big name universities and the flattery of getting offers from such places. This really influenced my choices and made me ignore some important elements of choosing a college course and a university.
My uni tutor subsequently said that everyone should choose a course and a university where they are most likely to get a first, not where the university has high rankings (unless these happen to co-incide). So, i know this isn't exactly positive as posts go (and goes very off-topic) but I hope it helps someone - perhaps next years UCAS applicants if not this years.
I don't whether this applies to all subjects but for sciences, the access course i did really didn't provide enough in-depth coverage in the subjects. Our lecturers at college were, on the whole, too worried about being nice to the access students and didn't want to put us off further education by actually challenging us and being honest in their marking.
I am sure it does depend on the university you are going to but I moved to a top 20 uni and have regretted it since. I know that I would have been far better at a teaching uni than a research uni, where i would have had access to better support and properly- trained lecturers. A lot of the lecturers that I had at uni were untrained and reluctant teachers. They saw students as a painful interruption to their research work and were unable to gauge the range of intellects and teaching styles needed to deliver a successful lecture to up to 200+ students. Whilst there were some incredibly supportive and talented lecturers, the majority just did not really care and certainly were not able to offer guidance or additional support out side the lectures. Some of them could not even be bothered to write sample questions for exam revision, not even for new modules.
I know this probably sounds like I am really moany. I'm not moany by nature but I went in to the whole access and uni course selection blinkered, initially by excitement then overly-impressed by the glamour of big name universities and the flattery of getting offers from such places. This really influenced my choices and made me ignore some important elements of choosing a college course and a university.
My uni tutor subsequently said that everyone should choose a course and a university where they are most likely to get a first, not where the university has high rankings (unless these happen to co-incide). So, i know this isn't exactly positive as posts go (and goes very off-topic) but I hope it helps someone - perhaps next years UCAS applicants if not this years.
I think that is excellent input. Many Access students get carried away as the distinctions start to arrive. That said my experience at my uni is not the same. The lecturers are very supportive and the lectures are crafted. The academic advisor we are assigned is very helpful, positive and yet realistic. On top of that we get a college pastoral tutor who, if you need it, are very helpful.
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In my experience the grading system is quite arbitrary. Each unit is usually assessed by a variety of methods. Each method will relate to several of the standards required to be met and therefore one test or particular piece of work may represent grades in several different areas. If you consistently get 80%+ for all your assessments then you can be fairly certain that you will get distinctions overall but fluctuations in your grades can have some wide repercussions overall. When people on this forum talk about the need for consistency, it is really valid. One bad piece of work can have implications on several different final grades.
If I am not making sense, i will try to clarify. The ONCSER course that I was doing, consisted of 50% subject area specialisms and 50% study skills.
The 18 hours contact time was broken down into 9 hrs subject specific teaching and 9 hours creative writing, presentation skills, research skills plus far too much (imho) self reflection.
The study skills elements demanded consistent attendance with related assignments being set most weeks for inclusion in our portfolios (therefore counting towards our final grades). Missing one lesson, perhaps for attendance at a uni interview, could geniunely impact on your grade. For a couple of guys on my course, who had all their uni interviews inside 2 weeks, this caused real diffculties in passing the course. It was actually easier to miss the subject specific teaching as it was text book lead and the work could be covered independently.
We did get subject specific grades as we went along but we were pretty much in the dark as to our learning skills grades until at least the middle of the final term. That meant no-one could be certain of their final grade or entry to uni until that point.
If I am not making sense, i will try to clarify. The ONCSER course that I was doing, consisted of 50% subject area specialisms and 50% study skills.
The 18 hours contact time was broken down into 9 hrs subject specific teaching and 9 hours creative writing, presentation skills, research skills plus far too much (imho) self reflection.
The study skills elements demanded consistent attendance with related assignments being set most weeks for inclusion in our portfolios (therefore counting towards our final grades). Missing one lesson, perhaps for attendance at a uni interview, could geniunely impact on your grade. For a couple of guys on my course, who had all their uni interviews inside 2 weeks, this caused real diffculties in passing the course. It was actually easier to miss the subject specific teaching as it was text book lead and the work could be covered independently.
We did get subject specific grades as we went along but we were pretty much in the dark as to our learning skills grades until at least the middle of the final term. That meant no-one could be certain of their final grade or entry to uni until that point.
Original post by joncox
Sorry to take the thread off topic, but could anyone explain the grading system? In particular when you know your results, do you know them as you go along?
For example, if I needed 30 distinctions to get on to a particular course, would I know that I had acheived that before the course had ended (half way through perhaps)?
Thanks in advance, again sorry to interrupt, but I thought you guys might know.
For example, if I needed 30 distinctions to get on to a particular course, would I know that I had acheived that before the course had ended (half way through perhaps)?
Thanks in advance, again sorry to interrupt, but I thought you guys might know.
How easy is it to get a D? Well it really does depend partly on the student, partly on the course and partly on the teacher!
On my access to science course it really varied according to subject and assessment method. The easiest units to get D's on were the three study skills ones. Approximately 50% of students got a D on these, so 9 easy credits. The hardest units were without doubt biochemistry and physics. Only about 15% of students got a D in biochem, and in physics there was one subject where no-one in the group managed it, and others where about 10% managed. It's probably no coincidence that these subjects were solely assessed by examination. If one assessment criterion was missed in the exams, then according to access rules not only is a D out of the question, but so's an M.
Chemistry was also exam based, and about 30% reached a D in most modules, although one of the easier ones saw 50% getting a D. Biology was mainly coursework based, and typically 40% got a D, with exam only modules dropping to 30%. The essay based humanities subjects such as psychology saw about 35% getting D's.
Some students on the access course got mostly D's, and others really struggled to get any. So as a rule of thumb, 30-40% of assignments will marked as a D. The colleges are under pressure from the awarding bodies not to hand out too many D's because they are frightened of grade inflation diluting the reputation of access courses. If uni's find access students are not as good as their grades indicate, then top universities will simply not want to gamble on these candidates in the future.
On my access to science course it really varied according to subject and assessment method. The easiest units to get D's on were the three study skills ones. Approximately 50% of students got a D on these, so 9 easy credits. The hardest units were without doubt biochemistry and physics. Only about 15% of students got a D in biochem, and in physics there was one subject where no-one in the group managed it, and others where about 10% managed. It's probably no coincidence that these subjects were solely assessed by examination. If one assessment criterion was missed in the exams, then according to access rules not only is a D out of the question, but so's an M.
Chemistry was also exam based, and about 30% reached a D in most modules, although one of the easier ones saw 50% getting a D. Biology was mainly coursework based, and typically 40% got a D, with exam only modules dropping to 30%. The essay based humanities subjects such as psychology saw about 35% getting D's.
Some students on the access course got mostly D's, and others really struggled to get any. So as a rule of thumb, 30-40% of assignments will marked as a D. The colleges are under pressure from the awarding bodies not to hand out too many D's because they are frightened of grade inflation diluting the reputation of access courses. If uni's find access students are not as good as their grades indicate, then top universities will simply not want to gamble on these candidates in the future.
Don't over stress yourself! Just try your best, study, stay focused, and research more than required. That's the only way you'll prepare for uni, as if you jut work by aiming to achieve college requirements you'll find it easy, but daunting when you step into uni. I will be starting uni this September, but that was my attitude at college, and can happily say I had received great feedback, not only in results but also as comments.
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An don't throw away notes, I never do! You never know when you'll need them again. Sometimes you have to go back to basic to move on further.
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We just done our first assessment and I'm a little bit shocked.
Our tutor told us that he had checked half of works, nobody gained a distinction and only few people got merits, all the rest got pass. In this topic it was said said it's not hard to get a distinction but it seemed that even getting a merit will be a very tough work. I don't know how could I deal with it, because I need at least 23 distinctions for my first choice. Sounds not very promising.
Our tutor told us that he had checked half of works, nobody gained a distinction and only few people got merits, all the rest got pass. In this topic it was said said it's not hard to get a distinction but it seemed that even getting a merit will be a very tough work. I don't know how could I deal with it, because I need at least 23 distinctions for my first choice. Sounds not very promising.
Original post by joncox
Sorry to take the thread off topic, but could anyone explain the grading system? In particular when you know your results, do you know them as you go along?
For example, if I needed 30 distinctions to get on to a particular course, would I know that I had acheived that before the course had ended (half way through perhaps)?
Thanks in advance, again sorry to interrupt, but I thought you guys might know.
For example, if I needed 30 distinctions to get on to a particular course, would I know that I had acheived that before the course had ended (half way through perhaps)?
Thanks in advance, again sorry to interrupt, but I thought you guys might know.
I'm doing the social sciences diploma which is, naturally, essay based. THe course only started 4 weeks ago but we've already been assigned 4 2000 word essays which is something of a shock! Because of the essay centric nature of the course, I won't be in a position where I will know I'd achieved distinctions early. Essays don't get marked early because of plagiarism concerns, so you can only do them when they're briefed. That said, 45 of my units are at level 3 and I need either 30/24 for my uni choices, so as an estimate, I should have done about 20 by Xmas which is the half way point of the course...
in terms of the grading, again, I can only speak about my essay based social sciences course. Each essay is graded on individual criteria such as:
- Understanding of the subject. (Pretty self explanatory)
- Application of Knowledge (Being able to use technical terms with confidence, applying the subject to specific scenarios etc)
- Use of Information. (Good sourcing, additional reading, etc etc)
- Communication and Presentation (General standard of grammar and spelling, and whether the essay flows or not)
- Quality (How good is the essay overall?)
There are other grading criteria, but these are the main ones. Most of them are tied together; the overall essay quality won't be great if it's riddled with spelling errors for example. However, each individual criteria is scored P, M, or D and the unit grade is then taken as a median (meaning the 'middle' grade is taken), so if you had 'PMMMD' You'd earn a merit for that unit.
That said, they really do spoonfeed you. For things like 'Knowledge of subject' we literally a specific list of terms we'll have to define in our essays for a distinction; or for application of knowledge they will say 'Give 3 different types of discrimination and provide examples for a merit, give 4 for a distinction'.
Granted that doesn't help if you understand the subject, but at not point should you be looking at an assignment brief and thinking 'I dont know what I need to do to get a D'.
My approach is actually to colour code my grading criteria and colour code various paragraphs in my essays; if I'm missing a colour, it's not a D.
Also remember that TSR provides a very biased sample. Last year the only individuals posting regularly during their Access courses were those 'collecting' all or a vast majority of distinctions. Folks getting merits and passes in ratios like 1:3. tend not to post very often, if at all, even if the odd D is obtained.
It is a pity the two Access diary threads dried up so quickly as they seemed to contain a good mix of students and pathways.
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It is a pity the two Access diary threads dried up so quickly as they seemed to contain a good mix of students and pathways.
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I've just read all the thread and I thought I really really had to give my insight.
I'm currently doing an access course Health and Human Science at Morley College in London.
I need about 33 credits at distinction to be eligible for a place at uni (physiotherapy)
I think there's a huge disparity in the difficulty among colleges and courses.
Last year they got told by OCN to make the course harder as the pupils got too many distinctions.
Some got only distinctions last year .. When we heard that everyone in the class was in disbelief.
They also said that they manage to put ALL their students in their choosen path.
Let me tell you things have changed dramatically. At least here at Morley.
You won't find anyone to tell you it's easy and only one person (who doesn't have to work) got 4 distinctions so far.
I can already see 5 people in the class who won't make it to uni.
Getting distinctions is hard. I feel really ripped off and fed up.
I'm the best student in nutrition and in the top in anatomy and so far I have only 1 distinction (3 credits). Everything else at merit.
I wish I was in last year class.
I passed a baccalaureat in Science in France 10 years ago and I LOVE science but this is much harder.
To give an example my last anatomy exam I put everything and more but it was apparently not enough to get a distinction.
The teacher felt really sorry to give me a merit. He said he had to conform to the tutor's instructions.
It's really hard work.
I hope things will get easier as I don't see many students getting 30+ credits at distinction this year.
Enough with the moaning.
I'm currently doing an access course Health and Human Science at Morley College in London.
I need about 33 credits at distinction to be eligible for a place at uni (physiotherapy)
I think there's a huge disparity in the difficulty among colleges and courses.
Last year they got told by OCN to make the course harder as the pupils got too many distinctions.
Some got only distinctions last year .. When we heard that everyone in the class was in disbelief.
They also said that they manage to put ALL their students in their choosen path.
Let me tell you things have changed dramatically. At least here at Morley.
You won't find anyone to tell you it's easy and only one person (who doesn't have to work) got 4 distinctions so far.
I can already see 5 people in the class who won't make it to uni.
Getting distinctions is hard. I feel really ripped off and fed up.
I'm the best student in nutrition and in the top in anatomy and so far I have only 1 distinction (3 credits). Everything else at merit.
I wish I was in last year class.
I passed a baccalaureat in Science in France 10 years ago and I LOVE science but this is much harder.
To give an example my last anatomy exam I put everything and more but it was apparently not enough to get a distinction.
The teacher felt really sorry to give me a merit. He said he had to conform to the tutor's instructions.
It's really hard work.
I hope things will get easier as I don't see many students getting 30+ credits at distinction this year.
Enough with the moaning.
Might be different for different kinds of access course. I'm doing access to science. Not one module has been easy so far, everyone on the course had to put in the work to get the grades they wanted. About 5-6 people have dropped out of physics and 3-4 people dropped out of earth science.
Original post by willmac72
I completed 54 credits all at distinction. On the TA2 you are given guidance as to what is expected of you to gain, first a pass, and then further information on what will boost your grade to merit and then distinction. It's important to follow said guidance but don't forget that critical thinking and analysis is also extremely important.
Good luck!
Good luck!
OMG! Pls I need your help, currently doing an access course and this **** ain't easy at all.😕
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Original post by Corentin
I've just read all the thread and I thought I really really had to give my insight.
I'm currently doing an access course Health and Human Science at Morley College in London.
I need about 33 credits at distinction to be eligible for a place at uni (physiotherapy)
I think there's a huge disparity in the difficulty among colleges and courses.
Last year they got told by OCN to make the course harder as the pupils got too many distinctions.
Some got only distinctions last year .. When we heard that everyone in the class was in disbelief.
They also said that they manage to put ALL their students in their choosen path.
Let me tell you things have changed dramatically. At least here at Morley.
You won't find anyone to tell you it's easy and only one person (who doesn't have to work) got 4 distinctions so far.
I can already see 5 people in the class who won't make it to uni.
Getting distinctions is hard. I feel really ripped off and fed up.
I'm the best student in nutrition and in the top in anatomy and so far I have only 1 distinction (3 credits). Everything else at merit.
I wish I was in last year class.
I passed a baccalaureat in Science in France 10 years ago and I LOVE science but this is much harder.
To give an example my last anatomy exam I put everything and more but it was apparently not enough to get a distinction.
The teacher felt really sorry to give me a merit. He said he had to conform to the tutor's instructions.
It's really hard work.
I hope things will get easier as I don't see many students getting 30+ credits at distinction this year.
Enough with the moaning.
I'm currently doing an access course Health and Human Science at Morley College in London.
I need about 33 credits at distinction to be eligible for a place at uni (physiotherapy)
I think there's a huge disparity in the difficulty among colleges and courses.
Last year they got told by OCN to make the course harder as the pupils got too many distinctions.
Some got only distinctions last year .. When we heard that everyone in the class was in disbelief.
They also said that they manage to put ALL their students in their choosen path.
Let me tell you things have changed dramatically. At least here at Morley.
You won't find anyone to tell you it's easy and only one person (who doesn't have to work) got 4 distinctions so far.
I can already see 5 people in the class who won't make it to uni.
Getting distinctions is hard. I feel really ripped off and fed up.
I'm the best student in nutrition and in the top in anatomy and so far I have only 1 distinction (3 credits). Everything else at merit.
I wish I was in last year class.
I passed a baccalaureat in Science in France 10 years ago and I LOVE science but this is much harder.
To give an example my last anatomy exam I put everything and more but it was apparently not enough to get a distinction.
The teacher felt really sorry to give me a merit. He said he had to conform to the tutor's instructions.
It's really hard work.
I hope things will get easier as I don't see many students getting 30+ credits at distinction this year.
Enough with the moaning.
Yea, exactly. Am currently doing an access course and trust me this ain't easy at all.. Jeez!!
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My access course is all at level 3 and it definitely aint easy... 
Original post by clairepemberton
My access course is all at level 3 and it definitely aint easy...
I agree with this and everyone else who has said its actually not all that easy.
Getting a distinction in one piece of work is a completely different thing to getting an overall distinction in a module, as the overall grade is an average, so one bad piece of work can quickly ruin your overall grade.
I have just about gained a majority of distinctions this semester, but a couple of merit level pieces of work are possibly about to ruin my chances of reaching my uni conditions..
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