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Applying for Access to HE courses to start in 2015 - Help?

Hi everyone. I need help with my applications for Access to HE courses beginning in September 2015. What is the usual time for a college to book you in for an interview or actually give you anything concrete?

I applied for four different Access to HE courses at four different colleges between January 1st and 10th. Only one has responded saying "I have now passed this onto the advisor for access, and she will now book you in for an assessment/interview." (Although that was 2 weeks ago!)

I've had no response from another, and one gave me the response of "Unfortunately tutors don’t do interviews over skype and you would need to be contactable in this country. Don’t worry as soon as you move into the area do just register." I questioned this, saying I would only be back in the UK in July, and isn't that too late? They responded again with, "You would be surprised we quite often still take students right up to Sept`15" I find that really strange!

The last college responded with, "Could you email me your English address", which was really silly because I stated in my application that I was currently living in Spain and would only be moving back to the UK in July. So I restated that (politely, of course) and have since heard no response from them either!

Am I just prone to freaking out or is this not normal? Is this the right way to go about it? Any advice or thoughts will be much appreciated! :dong:

Reply 1

magnitudezero

Colleges can take you right up until the last minute, but it's at the discretion of the course organisers, I applied in June for the course I'm on at the moment, but I did an access almost 10 years ago, and I applied for that the day before it started.

Reply 2

beanie26

I think the only way you're going to get any joy from them is actually calling them on the phone opposed to emailing. People have a tendency to ignore emails unfortunately.

In anycase when I applied for my access course in 2011, I wasn't actually confirmed on the course until August.

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Reply 3

aterax

Thanks for the responses, guys. You've really put my mind to rest, for now!

Also, does anyone know what the usual cost for these courses are? So many sites don't state what the fees are and it's kinda hard to budget for the future. Is anyone here on a 24+ advanced learning student loan?

Reply 4

Ema_lou8

Hi, I'm currently doing an Access course and only applied in the August before it started! And I wasn't the last one to apply by far, some people signed up the day before the course started!
If I remember rightly the cost of the course is usually £3k ish but I am on a 24+ learning loan which i do not repay as long as I go on to higher education.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 5

linnyloo87

I applied early however I know some people who applied in August and some who applied a couple of days before it started so you have definitely applied early enough. My course was £3,500ish and I have the 24+ loan which covered most of it I think I had to pay £140 on top.

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