Do I leave college to focus on distance learning?

I need some advice. I’m 18 years old, and I was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 15. I left secondary school at the beginning of year 11 as my treatment started to take a toll on me during the summer of 2022. I’ve since made a full recovery, and I’ve worked on my mental health which has been strained too.

I retook Maths & English GCSE online in the form of Functional Skills Level 2 because I know that most Universities accept these, and require a GCSE Grade 4 / equivalent. I passed both of these and have been making my way through an Access to Higher Education course at Level 3. It’s online via LearnDirect/Stonebridge which is QAA accredited and I’m having no issues with it so far. I also know that the Universities I want to apply to accept this. I’m just over halfway through it (Unit 11 of 19). I enrolled at a local college in September 2023 because I missed the social aspect of school (the one downside of distance learning) and figured I could just do both. I have obviously been placed in a Level 1 course, because I only have two GCSE’s. It’s now January and I’m not finding the course enjoyable at all, I haven’t made many friends and the college is so terribly unorganised it’s concerning. I want to leave the college to focus on my Level 3 qualification but it almost feels like a failure to leave with only 5 months left. The level 1 course is in Art & Design, which I thought sounded like fun, but we aren’t being taught much theory at all.

I’m at a loss of what to do. On one hand, I feel like a failure for wanting to leave, but I don’t think that this Level 1 qualification will benefit me in any way when I can easily achieve this Level 3 qualification online in the next couple months? The days that I am at college, it takes it out of me. I haven’t really made many friends there and the college is a good hour away from my home, using public transport. The teachers also seem to have this idea that we’re troubled students because we’re level one and I’ve never really felt like this before. I’d be back on track once I achieve the Access to Higher Education diploma as it’s equivalent to A-Levels and would give me a pathway to University. I don’t really have anyone else to talk to about this (other than my mum lol) and I’m just looking for other input. Do I leave college and focus on this instead?

Leaving college to focus on another course would not make you a failure. It's more important to focus on what you feel is enjoyable and worthwhile. If you want to attend college to socialise, there are other ways to do this. You could volunteer, start working, look into apprenticeships, join local clubs/groups etc. And at uni you will have many chances to make friends. You would be with like-minded people who will have similar interests (based on the degree you choose), which would make it much easier to make friends. I was homeschooled for GCSEs and joined college for my A Levels, and I honestly regret it. I've made some friends but I don't feel it's worth the long journeys and I feel I could just study better from home (I made the mistake of hanging on for the hopes of friends but I haven't made many and a lot of them dropped out anyway). I think it's better to choose how you work best and what you enjoy, rather than tiring yourself out for something you may feel isn't worth your time. But of course, it's up to you and how you feel