Can I go to college?

I have been home schooled since the end of primary school,I plan on studying at home still until next September and then going to a FE college to do GCSEs,most ask for a grade D in the subject already though,I'm already above a grade D now so I know I would be fine by then,so could they waive the requirement? I was thinking of Liverpool community college if it makes any difference. Also I had a few general college questions if anyone knows?

1.Do they start at the beginning,I'm fine with the theory but won't have used basic things like a microscope,will they go over that for people who don't know how?

2.Is the standard of teaching as good(or better)as a school,so that you could achieve high grades with hard work the same as you could in school?

And lastly is Liverpool community college good? I liked the way you can pick 5 GCSEs as a program,but I would be very grateful for suggestions of other colleges providing they offered Biology,Chemistry,Physics,Maths and English language as GCSEs. Thanks for reading all that :colondollar:

Reply 1

dragonkeeper999

FE colleges are aimed at students who have completed their GCSEs and want to do A levels - if you won't have completed GCSEs before next September then you wouldn't have the necessary knowledge to progress with the A level course. If they specifically require a D in a certain subject then you will need to have achieved that by the end of this academic year. You don't need to have already achieved it before applying - you are given a conditional offer which requires you to gain certain GCSE grades before you start at college.
However, it sounds like you haven't yet started the core GCSE subjects - bear in mind that you are often required to have certain grades in GCSE English and Maths for most courses at most colleges. Some may waive this requirement if you retake them while at college - however I doubt that they would offer you the course 'from scratch' since you have not studied them at all at GCSE level. The GCSE course you mentioned seems to be aimed at students who have already taken their GCSEs but failed to get good enough grades for further study/ work. If you are looking to start GCSEs from scratch, go to a secondary school - here you will be with people your own age, taught more subjects (5 GCSEs is really the bare minimum - many students do twice that), and have more structured lessons and homework.

1. Colleges usually start with a revision of basic GCSE topics, and you will always be shown how to use any lab equipment, for health and safety reasons as well as because students come from a variety of different educational backgrounds and so may not have used such equipment before.
2. It really depends upon the college

I don't know anything about Liverpool Community College, sorry :frown:

Reply 2

Pedropony

Sorry,maybe I didn't explain very well I have been studying GCSE Biology,Chemistry,Physics,Maths and English at home for the past year,after completing the KS3 work,I haven't only just left primary school I'm 16 and wanted to do a one year college course because then I would have done the two years most spend on them and get to take the exams at the end of the college year. Thank you for your reply though,I'll ring the college maybe they will offer some kind of access course to cover things like practicals before they let me enroll.