Anyone applied to Bristol?

Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone else had applied to Bristol with an Access course. Though on their site it says they accept them, they emailed me a couple of days ago to say that the wanted "predicted exam results or certificates of results already achieved otherwise your application will be rejected within 2 weeks". It was clearly a generic email they'd sent to a lot of people, and I get the impression they don't understand the Access course. Has anyone else had this issue? I got my referee to email them to explain what the Access course is but I'm just worried they'll reject me. I have tried emailing them and calling them and have had no response- it's all very frustrating!

Reply 1

Schadenfreude65

Your tutor should have put your predicted results for your Access units on your UCAS application when (s)he wrote your reference. If you are sure they did this, then I guess you'll just need to keep trying to contact the university. You could try going to UCAS for help if you don't get anywhere with Bristol.

Reply 2

Bright_blonde

I applied and rejected within two weeks despite having straight distinctions predicted.....

Reply 3

Frankston

This is a worrying thread. Our UCAS applications have to be in this Friday and I was going to put Bristol as one of my choices. :frown:

Reply 4

Bright_blonde

If I were you I would call them and check as that is where I would imagine I went wrong!!
Apply to Bath instead. ;-)

Reply 5

Missmoose

I have decided to call the mature students advisers at Bristol as I think they may be more clued up on the Access course than the admin of the department which I applied to. The Politics department doesn't ever answer their phone. Fingers crossed I can actually get through to a real human being! I will update with any info given as it may be of interest for other mature students.

Reply 6

Frankston

Original post by Missmoose

Thanks, keep us updated! Interested in hearing what you find out.

Reply 7

Missmoose

Original post by Frankston

Thanks, keep us updated! Interested in hearing what you find out.

Small update for you: I finally got an email back from the Social Sciences department. They asked me for more details of the grades I would get on my Access course. My referee had already sent them this, but I just forwarded the email she sent to them again, and they said they had received it and that it would be added to my application. So looks like I am at least still being considered. I guess you just have to be patient! But also chase them up if need be. I have heard from a friend at Bristol that the Social Sciences department is notoriously bad at communication, so maybe I just got unlucky and other departments may be more on the ball. Good luck with your application :smile:

Reply 8

Missmoose

Another update for any curious folk. If you're applying to Bristol as a mature student, chat to/email Betsy the mature students lady. She ran Access courses herself. She replied to my email the day after I sent it, and was really helpful and talked to the department I've applied to. She told me that basically the Bristol system is geared more towards 17 year olds doing A-levels, so Access students can be at a disadvantage because of this. But she will answer any queries you have.

Reply 9

Frankston

Thanks for keeping us updated Missmoose. I don't think I'll be applying to them because I want to do a foundation year and Bristol don't offer them. Good luck with your applications!

Reply 10

b3ckiboo

Don't give up on Bristol people! I am also doing an access course and have a conditional offer for cellular and molecular medicine. Sounds like some sort of fault on your referees part perhaps, missmoose x

Reply 11

Missmoose

No, not a fault of my referee- actually it's the fault of the Social Sciences department at Bristol. My referee is actually pretty clued up. The mature students lady at Bristol said this issue has happened before with the Social Sciences department, and as you can see by this thread it seems to have happened to others too.

Reply 12

will446

I applied in the middle of November and they got back to me quite quickly asking for more information regarding my course units. I sent them the information they asked for and they replied saying it had been added to my application. I haven't heard back from them since then.

Reply 13

Missmoose

Original post by will446

Pretty much my experience there. No further communication since my tutor sent them some more info about my grades. I think they have til 31st march and I read somewhere that they do often give out offers quite late.

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