Access course to science
Hi I’m in year 13 I picked the wrong a levels and I wanna do pharmacy so I was thinking of doing access course to science because I heard that I can get into pharmacy after I do it so if anyone has done it can you please tell me how difficult it is to get a distinction and if I can do pharmacy after or what other uni courses can I do with it and do unis accept it?
Original post by Vibe2226
Hi I’m in year 13 I picked the wrong a levels and I wanna do pharmacy so I was thinking of doing access course to science because I heard that I can get into pharmacy after I do it so if anyone has done it can you please tell me how difficult it is to get a distinction and if I can do pharmacy after or what other uni courses can I do with it and do unis accept it?
I got straight distinctions in Access to HE in Science, and whilst it was a bit challenging it was achievable.
Yes you can go into pharmacy with an Access course, but only some unis accept it and only for particular courses. I am not going through all of the approved pharmacy courses, so you would need to check the entry requirements for all of the pharmacy courses yourself: https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/approved-providers-education-and-training/accredited-mpharm-degrees
A standard Access in Science would have an even 15 credit split for each of the sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics. The good news is that you have covered most of the sciences at the basic level. The bad news is you are very likely going to need a top up if you intend to apply for specific courses outside of life sciences at top end uni.
For life sciences and healthcare, generally the Access course alone should be adequate for your needs. For subjects like physical sciences and engineering, you would definitely need Maths A Level on top and possibly Physics A Level (depending on the individual uni). That's assuming the uni accepts Access courses.
For specific degrees that are very quantitative or involes a lot of physics, they would likely straight up reject the Access course.
You can alternatively use the Access course as a substitute for 3 A Levels and apply for degree courses that accept A Levels in any subject e.g. law, business (other than finance), property, architecture, etc.
Original post by MindMax2000
I got straight distinctions in Access to HE in Science, and whilst it was a bit challenging it was achievable.
Yes you can go into pharmacy with an Access course, but only some unis accept it and only for particular courses. I am not going through all of the approved pharmacy courses, so you would need to check the entry requirements for all of the pharmacy courses yourself: https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/approved-providers-education-and-training/accredited-mpharm-degrees
A standard Access in Science would have an even 15 credit split for each of the sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics. The good news is that you have covered most of the sciences at the basic level. The bad news is you are very likely going to need a top up if you intend to apply for specific courses outside of life sciences at top end uni.
For life sciences and healthcare, generally the Access course alone should be adequate for your needs. For subjects like physical sciences and engineering, you would definitely need Maths A Level on top and possibly Physics A Level (depending on the individual uni). That's assuming the uni accepts Access courses.
For specific degrees that are very quantitative or involes a lot of physics, they would likely straight up reject the Access course.
You can alternatively use the Access course as a substitute for 3 A Levels and apply for degree courses that accept A Levels in any subject e.g. law, business (other than finance), property, architecture, etc.
Yes you can go into pharmacy with an Access course, but only some unis accept it and only for particular courses. I am not going through all of the approved pharmacy courses, so you would need to check the entry requirements for all of the pharmacy courses yourself: https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/approved-providers-education-and-training/accredited-mpharm-degrees
A standard Access in Science would have an even 15 credit split for each of the sciences: biology, chemistry, and physics. The good news is that you have covered most of the sciences at the basic level. The bad news is you are very likely going to need a top up if you intend to apply for specific courses outside of life sciences at top end uni.
For life sciences and healthcare, generally the Access course alone should be adequate for your needs. For subjects like physical sciences and engineering, you would definitely need Maths A Level on top and possibly Physics A Level (depending on the individual uni). That's assuming the uni accepts Access courses.
For specific degrees that are very quantitative or involes a lot of physics, they would likely straight up reject the Access course.
You can alternatively use the Access course as a substitute for 3 A Levels and apply for degree courses that accept A Levels in any subject e.g. law, business (other than finance), property, architecture, etc.
Was there exams ? Because I got told that it’s just coursework and is the maths/ physics in it hard ?
Do you think I should do a foundation year for pharmacy or do the access course instead
Original post by Vibe2226
Was there exams ? Because I got told that it’s just coursework and is the maths/ physics in it hard ?
Do you think I should do a foundation year for pharmacy or do the access course instead
Do you think I should do a foundation year for pharmacy or do the access course instead
Yes there were certainly exams to complete on my access course. You revise for them whilst completing assignments, presentations, posters and essays.
Access courses, particularly in science, are not for the faint hearted- it is akin to completing 3 A levels in 9 months.
You will need to check the University accepts Access courses (not all do) and then which grades they require.
If you already have the grades for a foundation year into pharmacy I would advise you to do that.
Original post by ErasistratusV
Yes there were certainly exams to complete on my access course. You revise for them whilst completing assignments, presentations, posters and essays.
Access courses, particularly in science, are not for the faint hearted- it is akin to completing 3 A levels in 9 months.
You will need to check the University accepts Access courses (not all do) and then which grades they require.
If you already have the grades for a foundation year into pharmacy I would advise you to do that.
Access courses, particularly in science, are not for the faint hearted- it is akin to completing 3 A levels in 9 months.
You will need to check the University accepts Access courses (not all do) and then which grades they require.
If you already have the grades for a foundation year into pharmacy I would advise you to do that.
I can do the foundation year because I’m in college now doing a levels I just don’t do chemistry which I need for pharmacy, I checked the uni I wanna go to they accept it but they require a Distinction in chemistry and another science I tried searching the access course up on YouTube and Google but barely anything comes up on how the course is acc like, would I be able to find past papers online that are used for this course?
Original post by Vibe2226
I can do the foundation year because I’m in college now doing a levels I just don’t do chemistry which I need for pharmacy, I checked the uni I wanna go to they accept it but they require a Distinction in chemistry and another science I tried searching the access course up on YouTube and Google but barely anything comes up on how the course is acc like, would I be able to find past papers online that are used for this course?
If you can go to Uni then do the foundation year.
Local colleges offer the Access to HE diploma- they generally create their own exams and assignments to meet the curriculum. They will teach you a fair bit of A level type content but they also expect people completing the course to work to a University level so every piece of work has to be referenced correctly and completed properly. You will need to complete more than 1 exam or assignment to be awarded a distinction in a particular unit.
If you go to a college open day they may show you some examples of the work that has been completed by previous students.
Original post by Vibe2226
Was there exams ? Because I got told that it’s just coursework and is the maths/ physics in it hard ?
Do you think I should do a foundation year for pharmacy or do the access course instead
Do you think I should do a foundation year for pharmacy or do the access course instead
My course involved exams for a number of the modules. More than likely, there would be exams involved given a number of the modules require them.
Having said that, I don't know the precise contents of the course that you want to do, so there might be just coursework.
The course that I did didn't involve credits that focused on maths per se, just an even split between biology, chemistry, and physics, so there wasn't difficult maths involved i.e. the maths necessary was Higher GCSE level. Having said, that I also did A Level Maths so I am a special case.
The physics involved wasn't particularly difficult in my case, but then again I am more of a physics person so it comes naturally to me. I haven't compared it to A Level physics, but compared to GCSE physics, it's not that much more challenging.
There are also science based Access courses that focuses solely on Biology and Chemistry if physics is of particular concern.
Do I think you should do a foundation year vs Access? That depends on where you specifically want to do your MPharm. If there is a foundation year available for your accredited MPharm (from the last time I have checked there should be about 5-10 in the UK that do) and you're confident that you won't change unis, then the foundation year is an OK choice (even if you have to fork over another £9k in the long term). If you want to keep your options open and don't want to do another set of A Levels + practicals on top, then the Access course might give you more options than a foundation year.
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