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Getting academic grading without doing another course?

So I got a bad grade for my art degree in 2011 and I want to do a Masters (Art History), at one of the 'good' unis (bear with me). I had a really stressful time in my third year and my grades plummeted. I know I'm more than capable of getting a good Masters and I didn't want my awful third year to permanently stop me from doing what I always wanted.

I did apply to one Redbrick and amazingly they let me in on the strength of an essay they requested. I couldn't go on the MA because of funds in the end. I'm saving up and should be able to afford it in the next two years.

I will apply to that uni again, but there are others I really like too (in the same group), and, if I'm being honest, Oxford, which I have loved for years. I know I can do it if they let me in, but of course one look at my grades and they will think otherwise. I emailed them and was advised to take something like a postgrad certificate to prove my academic ability.

Only problem is I don't have the money. I don't have the money for another course ontop of my MA and I don't have the money to allow me to stop working full-time.

Is there any way I could prove myself without paying for another course in-between? I have relevant experience and will study myself in the time I have before I can apply, but I know I need to reassure them I didn't deserve these low grades. Any way I can pay a tutor to mark a paper I write without it being related to an actual course... anything? I can pay something, just not another few grand.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by namik7

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If they've said they want postgrad certificate, you need to get a postgrad certificate. They want to see some evidence of your claim to have been able to pass the third year so well. That evidence needs to come from a benchmarked, established academic course.