Occupational Therapy - Access course or self taught A Levels?
Hello there. I'm hoping to eventually apply for Occupational Therapy at uni, but before I do that I need the entry requirements of course. I'm a little torn right now between waiting until September 2015 to begin an Access course, or begin self studying A Levels right now and register to take the exams in June this year and next.
The allure of the self study route is that I really need to work while studying and an Access course would hinder me. That said, I know there are some negatives to be considered with self teaching too.
I did study an Access course before and got into uni to do something else, but alas, dropped out in my first year after my health got in the way at the time. In a way I guess it was meant to be because I wouldn't have been happy with my choices had I stayed on that path.
I just wondered people's thoughts and opinions on this? As well as possible experiences.
The allure of the self study route is that I really need to work while studying and an Access course would hinder me. That said, I know there are some negatives to be considered with self teaching too.
I did study an Access course before and got into uni to do something else, but alas, dropped out in my first year after my health got in the way at the time. In a way I guess it was meant to be because I wouldn't have been happy with my choices had I stayed on that path.
I just wondered people's thoughts and opinions on this? As well as possible experiences.
Hey, sorry to see you haven't had any replies to your thread yet. 
Are you sure you’ve posted in the right place? Posting in the specific university or course forum should help get more responses. 
If you haven’t already found it, then university connect is a really useful way for finding people at your course/university! You can also find a list of applicant threads and courses here.
It's worth checking out if you have questions.
If you need advice on your academic work, then the Study Help section will be able to help you. Hope this helps!
Are you sure you’ve posted in the right place? Posting in the specific university or course forum should help get more responses. If you haven’t already found it, then university connect is a really useful way for finding people at your course/university! You can also find a list of applicant threads and courses here.
It's worth checking out if you have questions.If you need advice on your academic work, then the Study Help section will be able to help you.
Hope this helps! Original post by chuchip
Hello there. I'm hoping to eventually apply for Occupational Therapy at uni, but before I do that I need the entry requirements of course. I'm a little torn right now between waiting until September 2015 to begin an Access course, or begin self studying A Levels right now and register to take the exams in June this year and next.
The allure of the self study route is that I really need to work while studying and an Access course would hinder me. That said, I know there are some negatives to be considered with self teaching too.
I did study an Access course before and got into uni to do something else, but alas, dropped out in my first year after my health got in the way at the time. In a way I guess it was meant to be because I wouldn't have been happy with my choices had I stayed on that path.
I just wondered people's thoughts and opinions on this? As well as possible experiences.
The allure of the self study route is that I really need to work while studying and an Access course would hinder me. That said, I know there are some negatives to be considered with self teaching too.
I did study an Access course before and got into uni to do something else, but alas, dropped out in my first year after my health got in the way at the time. In a way I guess it was meant to be because I wouldn't have been happy with my choices had I stayed on that path.
I just wondered people's thoughts and opinions on this? As well as possible experiences.
Your target uni(s) will have a preference. You should ask them what they want mature applicants to do. No point studying A Levels for months only to find that your target uni(s) want an Access qualification instead.
Are there no part-time Access courses in your area? Self-studying A levels is hard work, much harder than an Access course. It is becoming increasingly difficult these days to find schools/colleges that are willing to accept external candidates. You should also consider that many exam centres will not take external students if the A level involves coursework or experiments.
I think it would be a mistake to sit the exams this coming June. You simply don't have time to study three subjects in a few short months. The A level system is changing, I believe they are scrapping AS levels completely from next year, so you would have to sit all the exams in one go after two years of study. If you can handle that then do A levels, but if you work better under continuous assessment, do an Access course.
That is unlikely. The only degree I can think of where an Access course would be an advantage over A levels is Nursing. I don't think any university is going to discriminate against the OP just because they did A levels or vice versa.
I think it would be a mistake to sit the exams this coming June. You simply don't have time to study three subjects in a few short months. The A level system is changing, I believe they are scrapping AS levels completely from next year, so you would have to sit all the exams in one go after two years of study. If you can handle that then do A levels, but if you work better under continuous assessment, do an Access course.
Original post by Klix88
Your target uni(s) will have a preference. You should ask them what they want mature applicants to do. No point studying A Levels for months only to find that your target uni(s) want an Access qualification instead.
That is unlikely. The only degree I can think of where an Access course would be an advantage over A levels is Nursing. I don't think any university is going to discriminate against the OP just because they did A levels or vice versa.
Original post by Snufkin
That is unlikely. The only degree I can think of where an Access course would be an advantage over A levels is Nursing. I don't think any university is going to discriminate against the OP just because they did A levels or vice versa.
It genuinely does happen and it's well worth checking with the uni before committing.
Unis want to know that someone who's been out of education for a while, will be able to cope in a uni learning environment. A Levels won't necessarily tell them this - especially self-taught A Levels, which won't be undertaken in an outside learning environment of any kind. Mature student entry requirements and attributes, aren't necessarily going to match the published requirements for school leavers.
In addition, different individual mature students can be given different entry requirements for the same course. I didn't have to do an Access course, but the other mature student on my course did have to. And they specifically had to do an Access course and not A Levels.
It takes five minutes to email an Admissions Office and double check, so there's no real argument against doing that.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Klix88
It genuinely does happen and it's well worth checking with the uni before committing.
Unis want to know that someone who's been out of education for a while, will be able to cope in a uni learning environment. A Levels won't necessarily tell them this - especially self-taught A Levels, which won't be undertaken in an outside learning environment of any kind. Mature student entry requirements and attributes, aren't necessarily going to match the published requirements for school leavers.
In addition, different individual mature students can be given different entry requirements for the same course. I didn't have to do an Access course, but the other mature student on my course did have to. And they specifically had to do an Access course and not A Levels.
It takes five minutes to email an Admissions Office and double check, so there's no real argument against doing that.
Unis want to know that someone who's been out of education for a while, will be able to cope in a uni learning environment. A Levels won't necessarily tell them this - especially self-taught A Levels, which won't be undertaken in an outside learning environment of any kind. Mature student entry requirements and attributes, aren't necessarily going to match the published requirements for school leavers.
In addition, different individual mature students can be given different entry requirements for the same course. I didn't have to do an Access course, but the other mature student on my course did have to. And they specifically had to do an Access course and not A Levels.
It takes five minutes to email an Admissions Office and double check, so there's no real argument against doing that.
I agree that it is always best to check, however I still think it is wrong to suggest that universities prefer mature applicants to do Access courses.
I would argue that someone who has self-taught A levels is going to be just as prepared (if not more so) for university because they will have shown they are capable of learning independently without teacher guidance. Both A levels and Access courses are legitimate routes into university and I doubt very much any occupational therapy admissions tutor would prefer one qualification over the other. Perhaps if the OP wanted to do a degree which involved lab work you would have a point, but as far as I know, there are no experiments in occupational therapy.
Original post by chuchip
Hello there. I'm hoping to eventually apply for Occupational Therapy at uni, but before I do that I need the entry requirements of course. I'm a little torn right now between waiting until September 2015 to begin an Access course, or begin self studying A Levels right now and register to take the exams in June this year and next.
The allure of the self study route is that I really need to work while studying and an Access course would hinder me. That said, I know there are some negatives to be considered with self teaching too.
I did study an Access course before and got into uni to do something else, but alas, dropped out in my first year after my health got in the way at the time. In a way I guess it was meant to be because I wouldn't have been happy with my choices had I stayed on that path.
I just wondered people's thoughts and opinions on this? As well as possible experiences.
The allure of the self study route is that I really need to work while studying and an Access course would hinder me. That said, I know there are some negatives to be considered with self teaching too.
I did study an Access course before and got into uni to do something else, but alas, dropped out in my first year after my health got in the way at the time. In a way I guess it was meant to be because I wouldn't have been happy with my choices had I stayed on that path.
I just wondered people's thoughts and opinions on this? As well as possible experiences.
I was faced with a similiar choice and decided to do an access course module (human biology). It was signigicantly cheaper than the alternative and there was more support. I think that is particularly important when it comes to assessment.
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