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Can I get into the top universities with an Access to HE qualification?

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It's definitely possible to get offers from good unis with an Access course! :smile:

I got offers from Manchester, Nottingham, Exeter and Sheffield for BSc Psychology and an offer from Lancaster for BA Psychology and Linguistics with my social science Access course. The offers were 30 credits at distinction and 15 at merit for Manc/Sheff/Lancs, 30 credits at distinction and 9 at merit for Notts, and 12 credits at distinction and 21 at merit for Exeter. Exeter told me that they have a higher offer of 21 credits at distinction and 12 at merit for some applicants.

It's pretty clear from my offers for courses that are all AAA-AAB at A-Level that things vary quite a bit at each university. Liverpool, despite only being an ABB uni, ask for all 45 credits to be at distinction.
(edited 8 years ago)
different unis have different attitudes to mature/access students, and offers can differ depending on the candidate. on my access course one guy was asked for 30 distinctions to do history at UCL, while an older ESL guy only had to get 22.

it's also worth bearing in mind that different departments have different attitudes to access. for example sociology at durham are happy to accept it, but english and history are (or have been) less than keen on alternative qualifications (including their own foundation, bizarrely enough)

best thing is to go to the open days and talk to them

fwiw i know a couple of people who've gone to cambridge from access, so it's totally doable
Original post by andiewithanie
i know a couple of people who've gone to cambridge from access, so it's totally doable


A couple? How on earth? Our college only had one person go to Oxbridge across all of its courses, never mind Access to Cambridge.
i said i know a couple of *people*, not a couple of preople from my course/college.

also - do you even stats bro?
Original post by andiewithanie
i said i know a couple of *people*, not a couple of preople from my course/college.

also - do you even stats bro?


Well, I would assume that if you know people who have studied Access, they are most likely people who have studied Access with you at your college. Unless you run Mumsnet or something and have an intricate network of mature students all across the country. And you can tell me what statistical profundity you're going to tear violently from the magician's hat, or you can just ask rhetorical questions.
can you think of somewhere other than college (or mumsnet) where you might meet students who've done access courses? think *really* hard! :wink:

as for stats, well sometimes what's most surprising is the surprising thing not happening
Original post by andiewithanie
can you think of somewhere other than college (or mumsnet) where you might meet students who've done access courses? think *really* hard! :wink:


The gay club?
From what I've read about the Oxbridge selection process, I can't see in theory why an Access candidate shouldn't stand just as good a chance of getting in as anyone who's done A-Levels, assuming:

a) The qualification is listed as acceptable preparation. I understand some science-based courses don't accept it unless at least bolstered with a relevant A-Level, but that's certainly not the case with English Literature/History, which the OP is interested in.
b) The candidate is applying to a mature college. (I assume that it's natural for mature candidates to prefer them to standard age ones, but I suppose some may differ in their preferences.) I'd imagine that you're significantly less likely to be competing against A-Level candidates if applying to a mature college as you would be if applying to the others.
c) Their personal statement is suitably polished and their tutor reference is persuasive. I've heard that admissions don't put too much weight on the PS, since it's often 'co-written' (with tutors etc.), but I suppose an actively bad one might not help your cause much. I think it helps if your tutor knows what they're looking for and can drop in the right buzz phrases into their reference, without making it too obvious that they've simply dropped in buzz phrases!

I don't pretend to have intimate knowledge of the selection procedures, so I might be wrong, but if you think about it, it make sense. With English Lit in particular, you need to have read more widely than the curriculum mandates, demonstrate that you can form independent judgements about texts, and in a general sense, show that you think deeply about topics. Greater maturity is a huge advantage with all that, imo.
it's difficult to quantify. a level students from certain schools will probably be better prepared and informed, esp wrt to the idiosyncracies of oxbridge applications, but mature students typically have their applications given more attention.

without wishing to sound snarky one thing mature candidates for the top unis do tend to be able to do is to find things out for themselves rather than make threads like this. this isn't intended as a dig, more a 'you're gonna have to be proactive if you want this to happen', cos you're an adult now and you don't have a school to hold your hand
Original post by andiewithanie
without wishing to sound snarky one thing mature candidates for the top unis do tend to be able to do is to find things out for themselves rather than make threads like this. this isn't intended as a dig, more a 'you're gonna have to be proactive if you want this to happen', cos you're an adult now and you don't have a school to hold your hand

Access definitely prepares you for more independent study. I'm not sure the same can be said about A-Levels, so in that sense, Access is the better preparation. We had some interesting debates in our Access group during English Lit and also some of the study skills classes, which is a hugely important skill for prospective English Lit undergrads, and even more so for prospective Oxbridge English Lit undergrads, since they put a high premium on verbal debates (I believe). Clearly there are some bright teenage students who are capable of doing that, but one shouldn't underestimate life experience as a fantastic tool to use during the study of Literature.

I don't think it's unreasonable for the OP to ask a question like this at the outset, since she can at least direct her research more specifically now, given the useful information on here. I completely agree with you, though, that the OP will need to be proactive and there's a lot more to this than simply "do I have the grades?" Inevitably, when the OP(oster) doesn't return to post again after their OP(ost), the direction of the thread starts to reflect the interests (and prejudices!) of the respondents, and that's what's happened here. I have no idea if what I've put on this thread is of any use to the OP. For all we know, she might've not got much past seeing that all distinctions are required because after reading that she thought "sod that!"
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 30
Avatar for Kezkel
Kezkel
My dream has always been to go to Cambridge but i did not end up doing my A-levels. Does any one know if they accept access course for their psychology degree
I did Access Humanities 2014/15 and had a classmate who got a place in LSE, many others went to Exeter and I'm going to York.
Reply 32
Avatar for bubaloo
bubaloo
Original post by Kezkel
My dream has always been to go to Cambridge but i did not end up doing my A-levels. Does any one know if they accept access course for their psychology degree


I'm fairly sure that they do, but there is a great thread done by an Admissions officer at Cambridge where I'm sure she'll be happy to advise! She was incredibly helpful when I did my Cambridge application.

The link is here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2878031&page=35&p=58989613#post58989613

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