Access Alternatives?

Hi Everyone,

I've made a bit of a last minute decision that I would like to do my adult nursing degree potentially Sept 24 - looking at Oxford Brookes - Swindon or perhaps UWE as a back up.

Being a mature student.... of 34 😂 my study is all pretty outdated. I have a previous bachelors degree and BTEC/NVQ in pharmaceutical science/pharmacy services as I was a pharmacy technician prior to having a family but they're all about ten years old now, my only recent study is a diploma in perinatal education which I'm not sure would count in any way towards an application. I can see that most access courses are LONG - even if they're online. Am I likely to be able to finish anything before September?? Is access our only option to top up/refresh education or are there other ways in?

All suggestions welcome! Thank you

"34 😂"...

Have you considered doing a master's in adult nursing? Since nursing is considered an allied health profession, you should be eligible for free funding for either a bachelor's or master's. I am not entirely sure whether they would accept your previous qualifications still though.
Should I presume that you have checked that the degrees you're looking at are also approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council?

Most Access courses last one year, so I am not sure how that is considered long. Having said that, there are online Access courses that are flexible enough for you to finish in 6 months if you work fast enough (not study hard enough as opposed to work, because there are usually numerous assignments and relatively short units as opposed to lengthy material with a handful of assignments).You will need to check that the online college that you want to pick allows you to do this with their Access courses though.
If you need a search engine for approved Access courses, let me know and I would provide the link.

The slight issue that I can see is even if you intend to finish you Access course before September, the application deadline for undergrad degrees is the 15th this month.

Hi Everyone,

I've made a bit of a last minute decision that I would like to do my adult nursing degree potentially Sept 24 - looking at Oxford Brookes - Swindon or perhaps UWE as a back up.

Being a mature student.... of 34 😂 my study is all pretty outdated. I have a previous bachelors degree and BTEC/NVQ in pharmaceutical science/pharmacy services as I was a pharmacy technician prior to having a family but they're all about ten years old now, my only recent study is a diploma in perinatal education which I'm not sure would count in any way towards an application. I can see that most access courses are LONG - even if they're online. Am I likely to be able to finish anything before September?? Is access our only option to top up/refresh education or are there other ways in?

All suggestions welcome! Thank you

"34 😂"...

Have you considered doing a master's in adult nursing? Since nursing is considered an allied health profession, you should be eligible for free funding for either a bachelor's or master's. I am not entirely sure whether they would accept your previous qualifications still though.
Should I presume that you have checked that the degrees you're looking at are also approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council?

Most Access courses last one year, so I am not sure how that is considered long. Having said that, there are online Access courses that are flexible enough for you to finish in 6 months if you work fast enough (not study hard enough as opposed to work, because there are usually numerous assignments and relatively short units as opposed to lengthy material with a handful of assignments).You will need to check that the online college that you want to pick allows you to do this with their Access courses though.
If you need a search engine for approved Access courses, let me know and I would provide the link.

The slight issue that I can see is even if you intend to finish you Access course before September, the application deadline for undergrad degrees is the 15th this month.

All of this is spot on, it may be worthwhile going to an open day and having a chat with the admissions tutors as well.

However, nursing is not an allied health profession. It is its own distinct profession with its own professional regulator separate from the HCPC. (There seems to be a bit of a trend on social media to label everything that isn’t medicine as an allied health profession at the moment).

These are the allied health professions: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/we-are-the-nhs/allied-health-professionals

I was of the understanding the application deadline was the end of January though...maybe I'm wrong!

Thank you for this! Nursing is eligible for second lot of funding even without it being allied health though isn't it?