Will old qualifications hold me back?

I am a mature student who is starting an Access to Science Diploma in september 2009. I am then hoping to apply to UCL, Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham or Royal Holloway to study Environmental GeoScience in 2010. I know that all those uni's accept Access courses and UCL even have students currently who got there that way.

12 years ago at high school i got terrible GCSE results. I only got 3 A-C grades (2 C's and a B) and they were in English Lit/Lan and Business Studies. In the past year I resat Biology (Achieved grade A*) and Chemistry (Grade A). I will be resitting maths this year.

My question is...will Universities hold my old grades against me in my application? Or are they more concerned about your potential now and as long as you achieve the grades to satisfy entry requirements then that is what counts?

Also, when it comes to putting my Employment history down, do they check that in any way? (obviously i'm not going to say I have been a practising Doctor for the past 12 years but im still interested to hear)

Thanks.

Reply 1

silk192

14

most unis ask for at least 5 GCSEs....but i think it would be best to email them and ask them

Reply 2

adilmorrison

12

You're a mature student, so universities tend to pay more attention to what you have done since leaving school...

Reply 3

Minerva

17

Lee1001

I am a mature student who is starting an Access to Science Diploma in september 2009. I am then hoping to apply to UCL, Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham or Royal Holloway to study Environmental GeoScience in 2010. I know that all those uni's accept Access courses and UCL even have students currently who got there that way.

12 years ago at high school i got terrible GCSE results. I only got 3 A-C grades (2 C's and a B) and they were in English Lit/Lan and Business Studies. In the past year I resat Biology (Achieved grade A*) and Chemistry (Grade A). I will be resitting maths this year.

My question is...will Universities hold my old grades against me in my application? Or are they more concerned about your potential now and as long as you achieve the grades to satisfy entry requirements then that is what counts?

Also, when it comes to putting my Employment history down, do they check that in any way? (obviously i'm not going to say I have been a practising Doctor for the past 12 years but im still interested to hear)

Thanks.

You will probably need that C grade or better in Maths as most unis have this as a core entry requirement - check now so that you know for sure one way or the other. Otherwise, your GCSEs won't matter, because what they'll be interested in is your recent study and how you got on with that.

As far as your work history is concerned, just tell the truth, don't embellish or worse make things up. They may check - I don't know - but it's not a good place to be, lying, and if you are caught out your application is likely to be invalidated. Not worth it.

Will old qualifications hold me back?

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