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Access courses and funding available

I am trying to get back into university and do a science related degree, however my A-levels were in non-science subjects so I have to either do a foundation year based undergraduate course or opt for a science based access to higher education course.

I have already (march) applied for two foundation year based science degrees but I have had no reply and with time running out I was considering also applying for an access course which will hopefully lead to a standard 3 year science based degree next year.

What I am uncertain about is whether I will be able to get the same sort of financial help, such as a grant or student loan, if I opt for a full time access course. I am also currently out of work so even if I can't get specific funding, I might not have to pay tuition fees, but in that case will I be able to get any help with living expenses?

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Reply 1
I found money a real struggle on my access course. Because it's classed as further education not higher education there's hardly anything you can apply for. I was able to get 50% of a small grant, to help towards course costs and childcare, this being means tested, but it was a really difficult year financially.
I know there is a government grant or something available, but that's if you don't have A levels. It's quite unfair.
There may be the option to study access part time and get a part time job, or have you considered doing an A level instead? Or what about the open university? I'm sure I've heard you can get financial help to study, and you can do a basic science course with them that should get you onto a degree.
Sorry that's not alot of good news, but that first year can be very hard money-wise. Once on the degree it does get (a bit) better!
x
Reply 2
Well for A-level I would have to self-study (don't have a clue about how I would manage the coursework/experiments as it'll be science based) and then I would apply just for the examinations. I had a look on the open university website and it seems to not offer anything I can use to get into another university, just 'opening courses' tailored for their own undergraduate courses, and I'd have to do the majority of the degree sitting in front of my pc :frown:

I am giving the Open University a serious thought as it will probably pay off in the long run but it would also mean having to either hope to find a decent full time job (with the current economic state :s-smilie: ) or be forced into some other full time job or training I may or may not like.

I will try to contact some access course providers and see if I can get any more input. Thank you for the information :smile:
Reply 3
Just an update, I got an unconditional offer to do Bsc (Hons.) Biology with a foundation year at Kingston university in September :woo: :eek3: :yep:

I no longer need to do an access course. However I did find out that, though there is no official financial help/loan for doing an access course, if you do not have the funds and are out of work you can do any full time course as long as it's below 16 'guided' hours per week, which should include most access courses. Obviously that would mean having to continue searching for work but at least you will be doing something constructive.
Reply 4
ALG is available as long as you don't already hold a level 3 qualification (and meet other criteria) - its essentially like EMA for adults, worth up to £30 a week dependant on your earnings.

Details here
Reply 5
Mature.student
Just an update, I got an unconditional offer to do Bsc (Hons.) Biology with a foundation year at Kingston university in September :woo: :eek3: :yep:



Well done - that's brilliant!!! Hope you enjoy it.
The foundation year should ease you into it. Hope you get finances sorted x
Reply 6
Orli19
ALG is available as long as you don't already hold a level 3 qualification (and meet other criteria) - its essentially like EMA for adults, worth up to £30 a week dependant on your earnings.

Details here


Would that apply to people of any age (above 21 too?), I did have A-levels already so it wouldn't apply in my case then I guess.



Roodie
Well done - that's brilliant!!! Hope you enjoy it.
The foundation year should ease you into it. Hope you get finances sorted x



Thanks! I should be entitled to normal student finance for my course, really looking forward to it :biggrin:
Reply 7
Mature.student
Would that apply to people of any age (above 21 too?), I did have A-levels already so it wouldn't apply in my case then I guess.


It's for people over 19 in "full-time" further education... but you're right, you would miss out due to your existing A-Levels.
Mature.student
Just an update, I got an unconditional offer to do Bsc (Hons.) Biology with a foundation year at Kingston university in September :woo: :eek3: :yep:

I no longer need to do an access course. However I did find out that, though there is no official financial help/loan for doing an access course, if you do not have the funds and are out of work you can do any full time course as long as it's below 16 'guided' hours per week, which should include most access courses. Obviously that would mean having to continue searching for work but at least you will be doing something constructive.

Congratulations..I too have been offered a place at kingston on their science foundation, but I think for timetable and travel reasons I will be going elsewhere. Have they told you anything about the hours yet?
Reply 9
Dropdeadfred2
Congratulations..I too have been offered a place at kingston on their science foundation, but I think for timetable and travel reasons I will be going elsewhere. Have they told you anything about the hours yet?



Thanks!! I am yet to receive any information about my timetable, however I have emailed the science foundation year course tutor (Dr. Ian Piper) regarding module details and grade requirement for progression. If I hear anything in relation to times I will post it here. All the best.
I was also offered a place at Westminster...apparently the grades needed thee for progression os approx 40%..seems very low..but you need to pass 7 of 8 modules at that level.
The hours at Westminster are actually only two full days per week..that suits me better due to childcare etc but I did like the idea of kingston...
Best of luck..perhaps we can compare notes when we start!!

PS I also emaile ian Piper months ago and never heard back...you may be better off calling the college direct as that is where you will do the first year
I also read on another university's web page that they wanted 40% for progression from their science foundation year, it might have been East London university. However someone at Kingston told me they wanted 70%, which sounded a lot more and that's mainly what I wanted to confirm with Dr. Piper. Kingston, relative to similar universities, do generally have higher requirements for their degrees, so it might even be 70%.

Well if I don't get a response I'll try calling the college, they might provide some details about the timetable too.
The college told me that it was 16 hours a week at Kingston spread over 4 days normally..but they couldn't give me more details at the time as the tmetable hadn't been arranged. How mature a student are you? is this your first time at Uni?
Yes it's my first time at uni for a degree, I went straight into professional accounting qualifications (CIMA) straight after my A-levels, I'm 27.
I've got a decade on you!!! Did you look round Kingston?
Not the actual university campus yet but I know the local area pretty well as I live very close to Kingston.
that's lucky then...not alot of travellin for you...I I know the travel would not be good for me...which other uni's did you apply to?
I really didn't want to travel too far either so generally applied to local universities such as Roehampton and St Mary's. I did get offers from them but they are not for my first choice subject.

After having spent the last 5 or so years doing business/finance, I really want to get back to the sciences as I found the whole finance/sitting in an office experience a little less than exciting. It's great that people like me (and you) can go back, even at our ripe old age, and be given the opportunity to do what we may find more satisfying.

What kind of academic/employment background do you have?
I have never done any studying since school. I've worked in a variety of roles, my last one was at The Home Office, in the Immigration dept...I'm on a career break after the birth of my youngest child, but really don't want to go back...so I chanced applying for university as an alternative option and was amazed to find that I could get into the foundation year so easily! I have always liked science but never thought, without any science employment, that I could study it at this stage in my life.
Do you have a clear career plan for ater your degree?
Yes and no, as with most long term plans (4 years+ in this case) I have a few options in mind but it really does depend on the circumstances a few years from now. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that you get the opportunity to spend 4 years in a thought provoking environment, maybe make new friends or at least meet other people also out to make a positive change in their lives.

As for the post graduation options I have in mind, without actually investigating if the university can provide relevant placements (which I believe Kingston does as part of a sandwich year for Biology), I believe the NHS and some other institutes do have relevant research positions for biology graduates.

Then there is the option of going into medicine, but at a later stage due to having already studied a lot of overlapping material. However most medical courses will require own finances for tuition fees, so that will need to be considered at the time, I think there are some national shortage courses that are NHS/government funded but naturally that changes periodically.

There's also quite a few graduate schemes, or you could always get into further post graduate education, you might have to contribute some finances but there is a lot of financial help available in the form of scholarships and bursaries.

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