What should I do?

Hi guys!

I’m new here! I’m 37 and I’ve been out of education for a long long time! I am thinking about redoing my maths GCSE so I can go on to do an Access to HE (which requires a C in maths I got a D 😞) I believe I will have to do the maths GCSE, then the Access to HE, then uni, then the pre reg and then qualify. Which seems really really overwhelming. I don’t want to cut corners ofcourse, but is there any way of doing some of these together so I’m not studying until in nearly 50 😆


I wasn’t a great student, although I loved studying. I was bullied a lot and had counselling twice a week in the last 2 years of high school which took me out of most of my maths classes. So I’m finding it hard to detach my negative emotions from maths. Basically I’d like to get it done asap, but it’s also not my strongest point.

I know what I need to do to get to where I want, I just don’t know if it’s the best way, and if I’ll be able to stick it out for so long.

Is it even possible to study for the GCSE privately between now and august then do the exams privately and get results by September to start the access? Or is that wishful thinking?

My ADHD brain is in overdrive-apologies for the long post

It's too late to do your exams this year. You will have to apply before February for the 2024 sitting.

What you can do is to ask the college you are attending to do the GCSE alongside of the Access course (it's common practice for them to offer this side by side). You can sit the GCSE for free at your local college. Even if you don't do the Access course, you can still sit the GCSE for free.

My question is what degree you intend to do and what Access course you are thinking of doing.

I need to sit my maths gcse. The access I need to do is the Combined & Medical Science at UCEN, and then hopefully do Optometry at Bradford. I called up UCEN and they advised that I would have to have completed the GCSE before enrolling onto the access which puts me off abit

You can't do GCSE exams in September but there are exams in November. You could check whether level 2 functional maths might be an acceptable alternative, there's a chance (if you can brush up your skills quickly) to complete that much sooner.

They definitely need a GCSE. I was under the impression that if you do them privately they can be done anytime but there goes that option out of the window too. I guess there’s no other option then 😞

You can't do GCSEs "anytime" - the exam sittings are controlled by the exam boards. Typically there are main summer exams in May/June, and a resit opportunity in the autumn (November). So if you absolutely need GCSEs, then you are restricted as to when you can take them