Have I completely messed up my chances of getting into university? (long read)

https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/2013/info/?id=5184&title=Music+with+Foundation&ucas-code=W301&degree=BA&year=2013#essentials

Says 'formal qualifications not required' (whatever that means), and a-level students aren't eligible. Durham is a very good university.

I'm sorry you're in such an awful situation. Have you considered self-teaching AS/A Levels? If you self-taught two full A Levels, whether it be over one year or two, and managed to achieve two Cs, you'd have 160 extra UCAS points (you'd only need two Ds to top your total UCAS points up to 240, but I'd advise aiming for at least Cs in order to improve your chances of getting in).

Having said that, studying for AS/A Levels is difficult by itself, let alone whilst working. Furthermore, if you were to achieve poor grades, this might impact negatively on any university applications your make in the future. If you think you're dedicated and capable enough to do it then go for it, but you'd need to be realistic about the likelihood of achieving good grades and also about the timeframe in which you'd do the AS/A Levels when making a decision.

Dunno about your qualifications system but for money surely you get income support and housing benefit? Sounds like you may be living beyond your means because you obviously survived living with your mum before you got the apprenticeship and hence that £120 a week salary. Perhaps cut the internet?

I wasn't aware that you could self-teach A levels, hmm. I don't know if I could juggle that with both a job and my apprenticeship work, though. Thanks for the suggestion

I'm pretty sure you can self-teach A Levels and then pay to sit the exams at an exam centre (a school or college). As you said, it would be difficult to juggle studying A Levels with working, but if you think you could manage it, it might be worth looking into.

We don't have the internet, I'm typing this from work. Shh
We get by on benefits, just, but if I didn't have this job we'd be struggling way more than we already are. I'm 18, I need toiletries, clothes, and money to go out etc... I can't get anything for myself if I leave this job, because the money is simply not there to spend.

I don't have any job and I'm not struggling?

I'm hardly dying of hunger, but you have to understand, some people just aren't as well off as others. I've always lived on council estates, and my current house is a complete dive, we have damp everywhere, the house is falling apart etc... (I've actually never had a friend round due to the embarrassment) We get our weekly benefit and it goes on food, bills, and the essentials. We do get by, but it's not very fun. Also, we're in debt with BT, from when we did have the internet.(and a couple of other companies, i think) If I quit my job and went back to college, I'd get absolutely naff all, even less than I do now. I don't think my mum could afford it. See, when I was in college before, she got paid for it. Now that I've left, she'd no longer receive anything, and my £120 a week is gone.

I'm 18, and I'm currently in an apprenticeship. This apprenticeship completely clashes with my lifestyle and £120 a week simply isn't enough, considering the fact that I live with my unemployed mother, who looks after both me and my 13 year old sister. I'm also paid monthly, which is a complete ballache in my situation, forcing me to budget my money like crazy and still end up skint after a couple of weeks, leaving me dry for the rest of the month. I came out of high school with decent GCSE results, I easily got A-C's in everything except PSHE or something, but that was a useless subject anyway. I also gained an ICT qualification at a distinction level (I think it was an OCR), and a distinction in Business Studies. I then went into college, originally wanting to study Music Technology. The entirety of the (renowned) music courses were scrapped at my chosen college because of the cuts, and by then it was too late to apply anywhere else, so I opted for a Level 3 Extended Diploma in ICT Games Design, considering my previous quals and my interest in gaming. Bad decision. After about 6 months of the course, the entire class realized that we were being fobbed off by the curriculum itself, and that we weren't actually learning any real skills at all, we never learned how to actually make games to any sort of standard. We had countless "focus groups" come in and apologize to us, promising that the curriculum would be changed "for next year's students". It was after that, we started to mess around and not really focus on the work. I'm not blaming the course for my bad grades though, I will hold my hand up and admit that it was completely my fault that I only came out with a PPP. (120 Ucas points)
I'm now sure that my dream/ambition is definitely to take a music production/sound engineering course, ideally at SSR in Manchester. I don't really have any music experience with instruments, but I am dabbling in electronic production and I'm about to start work on a couple of projects with friends. The thing is, I need 240 Ucas points to get in, and I only have 120. I have sent an email to SSR, asking whether I should still apply for the course anyway. I am pretty nervous about the whole thing, I feel like I won't be taken seriously at all. What should I do? Is there anything I can do to boost my Ucas points while juggling this dead-end, desk-bitch job, and my apprenticeship work? I'm in such a **** situation at the moment, and it's really depressing. My wage goes up in about 15 months, but it's still not great, and I'm the only 18 year old in an office full of 30-60 something year olds, I cannot relate to anybody here. Sorry for the long winded post by the way. As I was writing this, I got an email back from SSR that said "I just wanted to confirm that although you have the relevant GCSE qualifications for entry onto the BA (HONS) Electronic Music and DJ Practice, you are required to have the 240 UCAS points for acceptance onto the course. " It then explained how if I was over 21, and I had some experience, I would be considered because I would be classed as a Mature Student. I'm 18, is this it, then? Am I completely screwed, doomed to be a desk jockey instead of a disc jockey? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated, as I just don't know what to do. Thanks.

If there is any chance your student life will be far better with some money you earned during your apprenticeship, I would try to stick with it, unless it makes you mental. Money, maturity and work experience are very helpful and the two years, won't be necessarily a disadvantage, so I would really look through all advantages and disadvantages until then. Have you any possibility to play/listen music on the weekends? To get connections and self-teach you a lot to get a better idea, of what you want to do? Is singing allowed as supplement for an instrument somewhere? (I am just supposing it, as it is much cheaper to join a choir than to buy an instrument and pay for teaching?) Any church you belong to, where you could use a piano/organ? (Or others, sometimes there are possibilities to learn/play an instrument without selling it.)

Also, I can't sing so I don't think that's an option. Thanks for the help though

Hi there. Firstly stop panicking, you need to try and book yourself into a college to do those qualifications again. I know this sounds daft but if you cant find a foundation course for your degree then that is your best option and once you re-do those A-levels or BTECs then you can put in for mitigating circumstances which judging by your situation you seem to meet fully. I honestly wish you all the best of luck and future success. don`t let this bring you down, you deserve better than what you were dealt with!

As you know, I'm fully supportive of your efforts, but if you can't sing and you can't play any instruments, are you sure this is the right direction for you?

I'm pursuing Electronic Music, you know, like Drum n Bass, House, Ambient, etc... you don't need to play instruments, you create the sound using software and hardware. I'd be applying for a Electronic Music and DJ Tuition course at SSR ideally, if I could get the ucas points first. There are other Electronic Music courses out there, though.

*young people's music*

Haha, I guess it is.
Whichever route I decide to take from here, I'm pretty screwed, and it's not going to be easy. But if I stick it out for as long as possible, save up, try to fit in time in the weekends to learn how to produce/mix, absorb my friends' knowledge on sound engineering itself, and THEN go back to college/do a foundation course. (if possible)
THEN I'll be ready to go to uni... and I'll be about 20 years old. Haha.

Well, good luck with whatever you decide to do.