Applying for access course help?
Hi everyone, new to the site, I've joined up to get some help regarding access courses, I'm hoping to get on one this September and have been to my local college for more info, the problem is I have 0 GCSE's as I left school at 16 before exams took place and went straight into work, I have now worked for the last 7 years and want to return into education to progress myself into a more satisfying career,
I originally wanted to study a specific subject on one of the access courses and then go onto university, but have been advised by the college to take a foundation course for a year to begin with which will gain me my GCSE's, the problem is I won't actually receive GCSE's just a diploma, I was wondering if anyone with experience of these courses would be able to tell me if I would be better doing the proper access course I wanted originally and gain gcse's elsewhere? or would this be too much of a workload? also is the foundation GCSE course a bit of a waste of time since all you get is a diploma? (I'm in a fairly well paid job and can't justify leaving for gcse's) any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am an absolute noob when it comes to college and uni, thanks in advance
I originally wanted to study a specific subject on one of the access courses and then go onto university, but have been advised by the college to take a foundation course for a year to begin with which will gain me my GCSE's, the problem is I won't actually receive GCSE's just a diploma, I was wondering if anyone with experience of these courses would be able to tell me if I would be better doing the proper access course I wanted originally and gain gcse's elsewhere? or would this be too much of a workload? also is the foundation GCSE course a bit of a waste of time since all you get is a diploma? (I'm in a fairly well paid job and can't justify leaving for gcse's) any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am an absolute noob when it comes to college and uni, thanks in advance
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the workload is heavy, ive just done access to H.E Art and design, they offered me GCSE maths and english alongside (which i turned down), however i also work full time and i felt i was really pushed for time. so i did the access course and applied with a deffered year (i have 3 offers, so i have a place) during the coming year im going to do GCSE Maths and English and BTEC subsidiary diploma in construction and the built environment. hope that helps
(edited 10 years ago)
oh and GCSE,S can be done as an evening course
I have known of colleges that offer you a way of doing the GCSE's alongside your access course. From what I understand of these courses they can get you into university for certain courses but for other courses they are no good such as Maths, Science and Engineering. They can get you onto some health related courses but not all health related courses. I think a lot depends on the college you are going to and the university course you are applying to, but as I have said from what I understand of Access courses the access courses that you are required to have the GCSE's before you can enrol are much better and allow you access to better university courses.
This may not necessarily be the case for all colleges and courses but you should speak to the college and tell them what you want to do and if they say the course is fine then do them side by side.
With regards to you not getting the actual GCSE, well that really isn't important as you will have level 2 in maths and English which you need in order to complete and pass a level 3 access course, which will get you into university.
This may not necessarily be the case for all colleges and courses but you should speak to the college and tell them what you want to do and if they say the course is fine then do them side by side.
With regards to you not getting the actual GCSE, well that really isn't important as you will have level 2 in maths and English which you need in order to complete and pass a level 3 access course, which will get you into university.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by heavenlyphoto
the workload is heavy, ive just done access to H.E Art and design, they offered me GCSE maths and english alongside (which i turned down), however i also work full time and i felt i was really pushed for time. so i did the access course and applied with a deffered year (i have 3 offers, so i have a place) during the coming year im going to do GCSE Maths and English and BTEC subsidiary diploma in construction and the built environment. hope that helps
Hi thanks for the reply I also feel pushed for time which is why I would like to go straight to the A level equivalent course, so are you saying they have accepted you without GCSE or just on the principal of you completing your GCSE during the coming year?
i dont have full GCSEs atm only, city and guilds stage 2 numeracy and OCR level 2 literacy, and ive got offers from UWE Bristol, Birmingham cty and London south bank for BA architecture.
ive been accepted with only gcse equivalents!! however i want to get full GCSEs as i dont want to struggle at uni, the BTEC construction im doing purely out of intrest rather than need!
Original post by heavenlyphoto
ive been accepted with only gcse equivalents!! however i want to get full GCSEs as i dont want to struggle at uni, the BTEC construction im doing purely out of intrest rather than need!
ahh I see, well I don't even have equivalents so I'm starting to think it will benefit me to do this foundation course first, as it's a big risk to do a level 3 course and then be turned down from uni for no gcse's thanks again
what do you want to do?
Original post by SAXONGB
I have known of colleges that offer you a way of doing the GCSE's alongside your access course. From what I understand of these courses they can get you into university for certain courses but for other courses they are no good such as Maths, Science and Engineering. They can get you onto some health related courses but not all health related courses. I think a lot depends on the college you are going to and the university course you are applying to, but as I have said from what I understand of Access courses the access courses that you are required to have the GCSE's before you can enrol are much better and allow you access to better university courses.
This may not necessarily be the case for all colleges and courses but you should speak to the college and tell them what you want to do and if they say the course is fine then do them side by side.
With regards to you not getting the actual GCSE, well that really isn't important as you will have level 2 in maths and English which you need in order to complete and pass a level 3 access course, which will get you into university.
This may not necessarily be the case for all colleges and courses but you should speak to the college and tell them what you want to do and if they say the course is fine then do them side by side.
With regards to you not getting the actual GCSE, well that really isn't important as you will have level 2 in maths and English which you need in order to complete and pass a level 3 access course, which will get you into university.
I've been told by my college that they only allow you to study one GCSE alongside the course, so I think I will contact them on Monday to confirm this and decide from there, If I can study on a night course aswell on the side I might try that, just not sure if I can fit it all in with work as I'll have to somehow work part time aswell! anyway thanks for the advice it's very appreciated
Original post by heavenlyphoto
what do you want to do?
To be perfectly honest I'm not sure as I don't have any experience of the courses and jobs they lead to, I'm torn between science and engineering, business or law I have never done any academic type job and have always wanted to test myself as I know I'm capaple,
as in at uni sorry!! is it a 1 or 2 year access? mine was one year two days a week.
no ive never really been much of an acedemic, i am quite creative though hence why i want to do architecture. tbh its been a dream come true i never thought i had it in me. my access course (running 14 yrs) has never had anyone go onto architecture before so they made a massive deal out of it. id recomend it to anyone... just dont apply to greenwich, they seemed snooty as!! they scoffed at my biro sketches in my sketchbook during the interview!!
Original post by heavenlyphoto
as in at uni sorry!! is it a 1 or 2 year access? mine was one year two days a week.
1 year full time access course at HE college
they advise me to do a foundation access course first to gain gcse's can be studied full or part time still takes a year, not sure how many days a week it is though
sorry missunderstood your question, I'm hoping to go on and study whichever subject I pick for the access course out of the three I mentioned earlier, the problem is they want me to do a GCSE course first, and my instinct tells me to ignore that do the level 3 and study GCSE at night school, if it's only two days a week that's even better I thought these course were at least 4 or 5 days a week!
ah ok i get ya, well i hope you do it!! its been the best thing ever, totally life changing!! 7 years time ill be a fully qualified architect hopefully!!!
one thing though make sure you have a good idea of what you want to study(at uni) because they make you do your UCAS stuff really early, i mean october, november time!!
one thing though make sure you have a good idea of what you want to study(at uni) because they make you do your UCAS stuff really early, i mean october, november time!!
(edited 10 years ago)
yeah thats what im doing night school for GCSEs. they are normally 1 or 2 days a week as they are aimed at mature students they have to cater for people with jobs/kids etc. the other thing is they normally class as full time so you can put in for a council tax discount certificate (speak to the finance dept for that)
Original post by heavenlyphoto
ah ok i get ya, well i hope you do it!! its been the best thing ever, totally life changing!! 7 years time ill be a fully qualified architect hopefully!!!
one thing though make sure you have a good idea of what you want to study(at uni) because they make you do your UCAS stuff really early, i mean october, november time!!
one thing though make sure you have a good idea of what you want to study(at uni) because they make you do your UCAS stuff really early, i mean october, november time!!
I'm really not sure what I want to do, glad to hear it's been life changing for you though! I'm wanting to study something that will get me a well paid job so I'm thinking law just unsure as i have 0 experience in anything like that so got a bit of research to do yet
well good luck with whatever you decide to do!!
Original post by heavenlyphoto
well good luck with whatever you decide to do!!
thanks and good luck to you too
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