Merit? Distinction? Credits? Access course help!
Hey everybody!
So the rundown is, basically, after completing a year at one university, I have decided to completely change course and city. I have wanted to do Egyptology for years but thought that I'd never of got in. After completing my first year in Chinese and French (and achieving a 2:1), I was told I'd still have to undertake an Access Course or re-do A-Levels to be considered on the course... so here I am!
I have signed up for an "Access to Humanities" course: Sociology, History and Literature at my local college and my entry requirements are "30 Level 3 credits at Distinction, 15 at Merit.".
I have 0 idea what any of this actually means and was wondering if someone could please give me a very broken down, dummy explanation of what these credits are and how to obtain them. Is it a high offer? I am really worried because this is what I want to do more than anything & I just need to know what my chances are of passing the course.
Thank you all so much for any advice or help you can give me!
So the rundown is, basically, after completing a year at one university, I have decided to completely change course and city. I have wanted to do Egyptology for years but thought that I'd never of got in. After completing my first year in Chinese and French (and achieving a 2:1), I was told I'd still have to undertake an Access Course or re-do A-Levels to be considered on the course... so here I am!
I have signed up for an "Access to Humanities" course: Sociology, History and Literature at my local college and my entry requirements are "30 Level 3 credits at Distinction, 15 at Merit.".
I have 0 idea what any of this actually means and was wondering if someone could please give me a very broken down, dummy explanation of what these credits are and how to obtain them. Is it a high offer? I am really worried because this is what I want to do more than anything & I just need to know what my chances are of passing the course.
Thank you all so much for any advice or help you can give me!
Original post by Melzipopzipoo
Hey everybody!
So the rundown is, basically, after completing a year at one university, I have decided to completely change course and city. I have wanted to do Egyptology for years but thought that I'd never of got in. After completing my first year in Chinese and French (and achieving a 2:1), I was told I'd still have to undertake an Access Course or re-do A-Levels to be considered on the course... so here I am!
I have signed up for an "Access to Humanities" course: Sociology, History and Literature at my local college and my entry requirements are "30 Level 3 credits at Distinction, 15 at Merit.".
I have 0 idea what any of this actually means and was wondering if someone could please give me a very broken down, dummy explanation of what these credits are and how to obtain them. Is it a high offer? I am really worried because this is what I want to do more than anything & I just need to know what my chances are of passing the course.
Thank you all so much for any advice or help you can give me!
So the rundown is, basically, after completing a year at one university, I have decided to completely change course and city. I have wanted to do Egyptology for years but thought that I'd never of got in. After completing my first year in Chinese and French (and achieving a 2:1), I was told I'd still have to undertake an Access Course or re-do A-Levels to be considered on the course... so here I am!
I have signed up for an "Access to Humanities" course: Sociology, History and Literature at my local college and my entry requirements are "30 Level 3 credits at Distinction, 15 at Merit.".
I have 0 idea what any of this actually means and was wondering if someone could please give me a very broken down, dummy explanation of what these credits are and how to obtain them. Is it a high offer? I am really worried because this is what I want to do more than anything & I just need to know what my chances are of passing the course.
Thank you all so much for any advice or help you can give me!
What qualifications do you already have to have earned you a place at your current university?
And did they award you a Certificate of Higher Education for your 2:1 after 1st year?
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(edited 5 years ago)
I did access to business a few years ago to go to uni for an economics degree. This is how it worked for me but check with your course provider to make sure it's the same.
The course is made up of 60 credits, 15 at level 2 and 45 at level 3. Level 2 is normally considered GCSE level and level 3 a level.
The level 2 units are pass or fail and so therefore are not graded. Level 3 units are graded fail, pass, merit and distinction.
Each unit will make up a number of credits, for me it was either 3 or 6 credits per unit. So for entry to the degree course you will need to pass all level 2 units and get level 3 units totalling 30 credits at distinction and the rest of your level 3 units at merit.
In my course the level 2 units were very basic and included units on study skills (planning study time and self reflection).
The level 3 units could be essay or exam based. I only did 2 exams, each worth 6 credits. The essays I did were a mix of producing leaflets that could be used to explain something to someone with no prior knowledge, full projects (mini dissertation of around 5,000 words but split over 2 6 credit units) and straight essays.
The offer you have is normal for a good quality course/uni. If the offer was lower then some would see it as a signal of the standard of that uni/course. A bit like one uni asking for AAB and another asking for BBC. If you look at the standard uni offers for your course for A levels you will probably find it's around AAB/ABB which is the equivalent of the offer of your access course.
I hope this was too basic as you did ask for a dummy explanation.
Overall do not be too worried your offer is completely doable. I managed to get 45 credits at distinction and I hadn't studied for over 15 years.
If you need anything else feel free to pm me.
Good luck
The course is made up of 60 credits, 15 at level 2 and 45 at level 3. Level 2 is normally considered GCSE level and level 3 a level.
The level 2 units are pass or fail and so therefore are not graded. Level 3 units are graded fail, pass, merit and distinction.
Each unit will make up a number of credits, for me it was either 3 or 6 credits per unit. So for entry to the degree course you will need to pass all level 2 units and get level 3 units totalling 30 credits at distinction and the rest of your level 3 units at merit.
In my course the level 2 units were very basic and included units on study skills (planning study time and self reflection).
The level 3 units could be essay or exam based. I only did 2 exams, each worth 6 credits. The essays I did were a mix of producing leaflets that could be used to explain something to someone with no prior knowledge, full projects (mini dissertation of around 5,000 words but split over 2 6 credit units) and straight essays.
The offer you have is normal for a good quality course/uni. If the offer was lower then some would see it as a signal of the standard of that uni/course. A bit like one uni asking for AAB and another asking for BBC. If you look at the standard uni offers for your course for A levels you will probably find it's around AAB/ABB which is the equivalent of the offer of your access course.
I hope this was too basic as you did ask for a dummy explanation.
Overall do not be too worried your offer is completely doable. I managed to get 45 credits at distinction and I hadn't studied for over 15 years.
If you need anything else feel free to pm me.
Good luck
Really sorry about this but I've checked my certificate and I was wrong about one area of this in my above post.
The level 2 units I spoke about are actually level 3 units. They are still upgraded, so just pass or fail. They were all 3 credit units and included study skills and further study skill. The others were very simple introduction units and only included something along the line of 1,000 word essays each and were set after about 4-6 weeks.
Sorry once again for the wrong info.
The level 2 units I spoke about are actually level 3 units. They are still upgraded, so just pass or fail. They were all 3 credit units and included study skills and further study skill. The others were very simple introduction units and only included something along the line of 1,000 word essays each and were set after about 4-6 weeks.
Sorry once again for the wrong info.
Original post by Mature79
Really sorry about this but I've checked my certificate and I was wrong about one area of this in my above post.
The level 2 units I spoke about are actually level 3 units. They are still upgraded, so just pass or fail. They were all 3 credit units and included study skills and further study skill. The others were very simple introduction units and only included something along the line of 1,000 word essays each and were set after about 4-6 weeks.
Sorry once again for the wrong info.
The level 2 units I spoke about are actually level 3 units. They are still upgraded, so just pass or fail. They were all 3 credit units and included study skills and further study skill. The others were very simple introduction units and only included something along the line of 1,000 word essays each and were set after about 4-6 weeks.
Sorry once again for the wrong info.
No problem! Thank you so much for your information ☺️
Original post by Melzipopzipoo
No problem! Thank you so much for your information ☺️
Did you see my earlier couple of questions?
Original post by Doonesbury
What qualifications do you already have to have earned you a place at your current university?
And did they award you a Certificate of Higher Education for your 2:1 after 1st year?
And did they award you a Certificate of Higher Education for your 2:1 after 1st year?
Access Courses are 60 credits, of which 45 are graded. Grades are given in order of quality of work submitted:
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Modules are assigned credits, often 3 or 6 at a time. If you achieve a Distinction in a 3 credit unit, you will achieve 3 Distinctions.
30D/15M is more than achievable. I would head over to the Mature Students forum for some additional advice. Many of us achieved 45 Distinctions last year, including those in social sciences.
Best of luck, drop me a PM if you want any specific info.
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Modules are assigned credits, often 3 or 6 at a time. If you achieve a Distinction in a 3 credit unit, you will achieve 3 Distinctions.
30D/15M is more than achievable. I would head over to the Mature Students forum for some additional advice. Many of us achieved 45 Distinctions last year, including those in social sciences.
Best of luck, drop me a PM if you want any specific info.
Original post by Doonesbury
Oh no sorry, I missed it!
I got C,C,D.
And yeah they did.
I’m hoping you still use your account, my uni entry requirments were 18 distinctions and the rest merits, i’ve got 18 distinctions, 21 merits and 6 passes, do you reckon i’ll still get in?
Original post by Iamfrissko
I’m hoping you still use your account, my uni entry requirments were 18 distinctions and the rest merits, i’ve got 18 distinctions, 21 merits and 6 passes, do you reckon i’ll still get in?
It depends entirely on the uni and course you want to study. Is it a competitive degree, with not many places?
Original post by Iamfrissko
I’m hoping you still use your account, my uni entry requirments were 18 distinctions and the rest merits, i’ve got 18 distinctions, 21 merits and 6 passes, do you reckon i’ll still get in?
Probably not tbh unless the course is under-subscribed.
Best to call them, I don't think that there's anything we can tell you that you won't already know.
Original post by YahyaQz
I wanted to ask whether you get pass, merit or distinction. Do you always get 60credit?
As long as you pass all of the units (so either pass, merit or distinction), you should get 60 credits overall.
Original post by DCDCo
Access Courses are 60 credits, of which 45 are graded. Grades are given in order of quality of work submitted:
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Modules are assigned credits, often 3 or 6 at a time. If you achieve a Distinction in a 3 credit unit, you will achieve 3 Distinctions.
30D/15M is more than achievable. I would head over to the Mature Students forum for some additional advice. Many of us achieved 45 Distinctions last year, including those in social sciences.
Best of luck, drop me a PM if you want any specific info.
Distinction
Merit
Pass
Modules are assigned credits, often 3 or 6 at a time. If you achieve a Distinction in a 3 credit unit, you will achieve 3 Distinctions.
30D/15M is more than achievable. I would head over to the Mature Students forum for some additional advice. Many of us achieved 45 Distinctions last year, including those in social sciences.
Best of luck, drop me a PM if you want any specific info.
Hi to get into my dream university I need to Pass Access to HE Diploma with 60 credits overall, to include 45 credits at Level 3, with 30 at Distinction and 15 at Merit. How hard is this?
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