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Access to HE: Science... Is this doable?

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Reply 20
Each access course is slightly different and mine contained intro bio, intro chem and intro physics and these ran till Christmas and they were lab books exams and assignments however they were only pass or fail not graded. But we got set work quite quickly. After Christmas was when we started to get graded on our work.

My access was CAVA if your on the same can give u loads of info bout what to expect.

All my offers from uni were 15 distinctions in chem and 15 distinctions in bio and the rest to be merit. I managed to get 42 distinctions and 3 merit.

The course was great and the best thing ive done

I did one day shadowing a nhs dietitian, however I have worked in the care sector for over 5 years. Do u have and experience? If not try one of the dietetics open days as I hear they will count that as experience as some times it difficult to shadow dietitians in some areas.

I will say it's a busy course and you will be constantly working on something could be lab books, assignments, exam revision, ur personal statement, presentations etc. It was loads of work but worth it.
Original post by Abzlou
Each access course is slightly different and mine contained intro bio, intro chem and intro physics and these ran till Christmas and they were lab books exams and assignments however they were only pass or fail not graded. But we got set work quite quickly. After Christmas was when we started to get graded on our work.

My access was CAVA if your on the same can give u loads of info bout what to expect.

All my offers from uni were 15 distinctions in chem and 15 distinctions in bio and the rest to be merit. I managed to get 42 distinctions and 3 merit.

The course was great and the best thing ive done

I did one day shadowing a nhs dietitian, however I have worked in the care sector for over 5 years. Do u have and experience? If not try one of the dietetics open days as I hear they will count that as experience as some times it difficult to shadow dietitians in some areas.

I will say it's a busy course and you will be constantly working on something could be lab books, assignments, exam revision, ur personal statement, presentations etc. It was loads of work but worth it.


Really appreciate your reply!

I don't currently have any experience although I have a day booked for next month at a dietetics awareness day.

Wish me luck 😊


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Reply 22
That's great as that's all some unis require, also ur doing it in time to mention it in ur personal statement so that's even better.

Good luck 🍀
Original post by Abzlou
That's great as that's all some unis require, also ur doing it in time to mention it in ur personal statement so that's even better.

Good luck 🍀


Yeah I think my uni only requires a days worth of hours (not quite sure on exact no.)

And yeah, that's why I wanted to do it this early, to be able to throw it in the personal statement. Also checking out some dietetics-based talks on eventbrite. We'll see though :smile:

Thanks!


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ImageUploadedByStudent Room1473692621.344797.jpgDo these look familiar to anyone?


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Reply 25
Yeah some are the same as my course however there are a few that look alittle different.

They are all good fun and the project can be easy grades if u do something ur interested in.
Original post by Abzlou
Yeah some are the same as my course however there are a few that look alittle different.

They are all good fun and the project can be easy grades if u do something ur interested in.


Thanks for the reply Abzlou!

Quick question... With your assignments, how did you structure them? I'm yet to speak to a tutor about it as I'm back in tomorrow. Did you write out the questions and answer underneath or was it another way?

Thanks!


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Reply 27
The ones for study skills (ungraded) were set out in that way. But still applied intro, main part of text and conclusion.

However the scientific ones were more like intro, hypothesis, method, evaluation etc.

I think best chat with tutor. They should make it very clear what they expect from u.

Good luck
Original post by Abzlou
The ones for study skills (ungraded) were set out in that way. But still applied intro, main part of text and conclusion.

However the scientific ones were more like intro, hypothesis, method, evaluation etc.

I think best chat with tutor. They should make it very clear what they expect from u.

Good luck


Will do tomorrow, really appreciate your replies thank you!


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Original post by givemeknowledge
Thanks for the reply!


Looks like I'm a years behind both of you! I am in my last year of sixth form but realised too late I want to do dietetics! Now slightly heartbroken i cant just do it next September I am exploring my options, foundation year or access etc. Leaning to the access and seeing people in my position really helps!
I did an access course in science last year. I think the stats give them a bad name, although this could be down to individual colleges. Out of my class I think only half completed the course with 3 of us getting all distinctions (with the exception of the ungraded stuff). They told us that the pass rate the previous year was even worse and the course was at risk of being cut.

I don't think this is because the course is too hard, I just think a lot of people were on it because it was something to do and they didn't really have any real aims. I had quit my job to go back in education so failure was not really an option so I worked hard. If you are determined and work hard then you can do well. The tutors will help those who show commitment.

I couldn't agree more with the person who said to stay on top of the work. This is so true! I can't emphasise it enough, start work as soon as you can and if you are on top of everything then start reading into other subjects that are coming next. This is an intense course so if you start to get complacent and fall behind then it can get stressful. We had people starting their first assignments in the last month of the course and those of us who had kept up knew they had no chance.

I would recommend using A-level text books to help you, there are no specific text books for access but most in in A-level books. You will find books in the library when the a-level books don't cover it.

All of our tutors allowed us to submit a draft assignment and it would be them having a quick look through (maybe 10 mins) and they would say what level we were working at and what we had to do to get to the next level.

Good luck!! Have fun and keep all your notes organised! ☺️
Original post by ktsrahan
Looks like I'm a years behind both of you! I am in my last year of sixth form but realised too late I want to do dietetics! Now slightly heartbroken i cant just do it next September I am exploring my options, foundation year or access etc. Leaning to the access and seeing people in my position really helps!


Hey! Looks like we realised at similar times - I was midway through my first year of my course so I finished the year as strong as I could and thought I was going to do the whole biology A-Level in 1 year but turns out I can't so an access course was my only option unless I wanted to spend an additional year doing biology (no thanks!)

All the best
Original post by danielcb12
I did an access course in science last year. I think the stats give them a bad name, although this could be down to individual colleges. Out of my class I think only half completed the course with 3 of us getting all distinctions (with the exception of the ungraded stuff). They told us that the pass rate the previous year was even worse and the course was at risk of being cut.

I don't think this is because the course is too hard, I just think a lot of people were on it because it was something to do and they didn't really have any real aims. I had quit my job to go back in education so failure was not really an option so I worked hard. If you are determined and work hard then you can do well. The tutors will help those who show commitment.

I couldn't agree more with the person who said to stay on top of the work. This is so true! I can't emphasise it enough, start work as soon as you can and if you are on top of everything then start reading into other subjects that are coming next. This is an intense course so if you start to get complacent and fall behind then it can get stressful. We had people starting their first assignments in the last month of the course and those of us who had kept up knew they had no chance.

I would recommend using A-level text books to help you, there are no specific text books for access but most in in A-level books. You will find books in the library when the a-level books don't cover it.

All of our tutors allowed us to submit a draft assignment and it would be them having a quick look through (maybe 10 mins) and they would say what level we were working at and what we had to do to get to the next level.

Good luck!! Have fun and keep all your notes organised! ☺️


Hey!

That's interesting - I haven't heard of any previous stats nor do I want to, it won't help me I just need to bust my ass and do my best this year. Work for me has also taken a back seat (although I haven't quit work, just cut hours drastically) so like you, failure isn't an option.

I feel you on the stay on top of the work, soon as the course started we were given assignments that we could start on and I've been SUPER stressed and still am but it's getting slightly better.

I'm going to grab some books soon, think I'll go for the CGP A-Level ones they seem decent.

Thanks!!
A neat trick to make sure you get distinctions each time is to look at the criteria, do everything the criteria asks for but leave one out.
Submit it and you will have it marked and given back to you because you left something out.
This way you get feedback on every assignment to ensure you always hit distinctions.
If you put in your best effort and its marked at 3 merits you cant give it a second attempt
Original post by AccessToUni25
A neat trick to make sure you get distinctions each time is to look at the criteria, do everything the criteria asks for but leave one out.
Submit it and you will have it marked and given back to you because you left something out.
This way you get feedback on every assignment to ensure you always hit distinctions.
If you put in your best effort and its marked at 3 merits you cant give it a second attempt


Not on my course unfortunately, we get one submission and that's it.
Reply 35
Yeah same last year for me one submission for merit, distinction and two submissions but was capped at a pass so in reality it's one submission if u need full distinctions.

Anyway how's ur course going hope u enjoying it and getting on OK?
Original post by Abzlou
Yeah same last year for me one submission for merit, distinction and two submissions but was capped at a pass so in reality it's one submission if u need full distinctions.

Anyway how's ur course going hope u enjoying it and getting on OK?


Yeah it just adds to the stress really, having to go over and over assignments panicking that you've missed one tiny detail out!

It's going OK thanks! Getting up to speed with things at the moment, been a good 7-8 years since I was last in a science class so things are taking some getting used to, just wish some things were more clear. For example when handing in the first assignment, a few of us asked if we don't get distinction on this assignment is that it for getting a full D in chemistry and he said no, you still can. Think we're all a bit confused at the moment and things will hopefully be explained soon!




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Pretty sure you cant, 5 assignments per subject with 3 marks each. Get a merit on one and its game over on getting 45 at distinction
Reply 38
Hi givemetheknowledge I always told my tutors (constantly :smile:) that I need distinctions when I asked for any advice so they would always advise me on the highest grade of information required to get those distinctions.

Also as and entire class we were all very confused bout marking for first few months but it does become clearer.

My course worked on each assignment had at least 4 grades so each one could be a different grade and they take the overall (for example: p, m,m,d would equal a merit overall and m,d,d,d would be a distinction) therefore if there was three assignment for chemistry u could get M, M,M,D (MERIT) for the 1st assignment then get D,D,D,D (distinction) for the 2nd assignment and finally get M, D, D, D (distinction) for the last assignment and then overall u would still get a distinction for the chemistry units even though there was a merit. Not sure if that makes sense to u but each course will differ alittle in grading.

Also I was 10years out of education and couple were 20years and we did OK so u should be fine.

Hope I haven't confused u even more though

Good luck
Reply 39
Original post by AccessToUni25
A neat trick to make sure you get distinctions each time is to look at the criteria, do everything the criteria asks for but leave one out.
Submit it and you will have it marked and given back to you because you left something out.
This way you get feedback on every assignment to ensure you always hit distinctions.
If you put in your best effort and its marked at 3 merits you cant give it a second attempt


As if your tutors aren't going to catch onto this....

I'd suggest submitting a draft assignment to your tutor before the due date. By doing so, you should be able to figure out what needs more depth and so on in order to get a good grade. My tutors wouldn't tell me if my draft was at D/M/P level, but they would definitely drop some hints on what needed to be there and what wasn't relevant to the assignment. You really can't go wrong with this method, especially as it shows your tutor that you're tackling the assignments early on and not leaving them until the night before.

This was what I did, from the start of my course until the finish, and I completed my course with 45 Distinctions earlier this year. Best of luck!

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