I posted about this last year, so I apologise if I do repeat myself somewhat. I have been out of ‘formal’ education for the past three years and am currently attempting to get back into education. I have been unwell for years with various symptoms, but fell seriously ill in summer 2009 shortly before I was due to take my GCSEs (I completed only one exam.) For the following two years I was ill and in and out of hospital on and off. As a result, I couldn’t enter back into school or college. I have only just reached the stage where I feel well enough to study again, but I find myself at a bit of a crossroads.
Because I am now nineteen it feels like my options are suddenly incredibly limited. I have been to see Connexions and have discussed options with advisors. I originally planned on re-entering education last September, but there wasn’t enough time to make a decision, as I only started investigations in July. Prior to falling ill I was doing very well in my studies and had high aspirations. I would like to study English Literature at degree level. Despite my circumstances, I still have high aspirations in terms of the kinds of grades I would like to gain and the universities I would like to apply to. Having spoken to the Connexions advisors, it seems like these are my options:
Take two GCSEs at the local college this year (Maths and English Language) and take a Humanities access course the following year.
Take five GCSEs this year at my local college and take A-Levels the following year (i.e. the traditional route. The only problem with this is that my local college only offer Maths and English and obviously it would also put me back another year.)
Apply for some kind of funding and do A-Levels via distance-learning, without doing the GCSEs.
It feels like there is no direct pathway, so it is very frustrating. In an ideal world, I would have liked to have gone straight onto A-Levels. I have completed some A-Level grade work and done well in it, so I don’t feel that it would be unmanageable to me. After all, I did study to GCSE level, including the coursework, so in a way it feels like spending a year re-doing some GCSEs is a step-backwards. I understand it may be a necessary step.
Option two does appeal to me - my only worry is would it be possible to do five GCSEs in one school year? I am a lot more healthy than I was a few years ago, but I still experience fatigue and ailments related to my illness, so obviously I wouldn’t want to take too much on and risk relapsing. It would also put me back another year, which is a slight disadvantage.
Option three is also appealing, as I would be able to begin A-Levels this year. However, my previous experiences with distance-learning were not particularly good and with A-Levels I think I would need a better support network and teachers who I could speak to regularly about the work. You do get tutors via distance-learning, but they only mark work occasionally (‘assignments’) and generally speaking they just cannot help you as much as school or college teachers.
I really don’t know what to do. I need to make a decision in the next few months, as I will have to sign on for the courses in June. I have contacted the universities that I’m interested in and all of them accept Access Course students, but there’s a niggling part of me that thinks I would have a much better chance if I were to go the traditional route (i.e. GCSEs and A-Levels.) However, I’m not sure that this is feasible - I did speak to my Connexions advisor about this and she said that if she were in my position, the Access Course would probably be the best way to go. She also added that sometimes Access Course students have something different to offer to A-Level students and so that could be an advantage.
That is true to some extent - despite having no formal qualifications, I do have fairly extensive work-experience in journalism. I’ve also won writing competitions and have continued to ‘educate’ myself over the past few years by reading and learning as much as I can, whenever I feel well enough. Hopefully this would be enough to prove to universities that I am just as motivated and capable as ‘traditional’ students. I did ask my Connexions advisor whether she’s ever met anyone in my position and she said, ‘no.’ That disheartened me a little, but I suppose it also proves that my circumstances are quite unique.
If anyone has any advice that might be able to help me, it would be hugely appreciated!