Access Course?

I've been out of education for three years and recently I have been looking into applying for an access course. I left school at 16 with 3 C GCSES' english, science and history, I also got an E grade in maths and When I left school I went onto a local college and studied hospitality and catering and gained a level 2 qualification and a level 1 essential skills in numeracy.

What I really want to do is get into social work, I have been looking at a local university and what percentage of a pass with an access course I would need to obtain a place. Out of two colleges one college offers an Access Diploma in Social Science or Humanities and the other offers; ACCESS Diploma in Foundation Studies: Biological/Biomedical Science and ACCESS Diploma in FS Sociology/Psychology. From what I have read up on from various websites and threads on thestudentroom I am stuck as to which would best suit me and would help me gain a place on my desired course at uni. I guess I am a bit confused by it all, but I have worked full time since I was 17 years old and lately I feel like I want a career and to have a job I genuinely feel passionate for. I have looked at two courses at a local uni which are Social Psychology and Health and Social care policy, both of these courses only require a C GCSE in English and an overall access profile of 65%. I guess I would just like any information or advice on what to do next? Any tips for interviews or what an access course is like?

I would be doing the course part time over 2 years, It would work out at 1 day a week in college and I will continue to work full time to support myself. I am 21 and I guess I have doubts in my head that I am not intelligent enough or won't have the luck to gain a place on a course, however I really do want to better myself and have a career in something I love doing.

Sorry for the massive paragraph, any advice or tips on which access course would help me best? Or any advice from people who have done an access course and what it was like?

Many thanks

Try not to worry about 'not being intelligent enough', the course is to boost your knowledge ready for university. I'm currently on a one year access to biomedical science course at 21 years old, I also hold an E in GCSE maths, they do advise that you retake your GCSE maths alongside the course, which is what I'm doing. The best thing you can do is talk to your college about what course they'd recommend for you and they'll likely tell you to redo your maths. The fact that you have a C in English and Science is a plus, I started my biomed course with a D in science! Haha! Because you're planning on studying part time, it may not be as hard going as the standard one year course so you may find it easier because of the extra time you'll have (the one year course is pretty hectic with assignment after assignment due to time restrictions) When you go for your interview you'll likely have to take a Maths and English assessment, but don't worry too much! My method was to skip to all the questions I can answer easily first and then try the harder questions. In my college, all the people who didn't quite pass the assessment got another go at it on another day. When you start the course, the first few months before Christmas are the GCSE recap sessions really, they mostly cover the GCSE material and try to get everyone up to the same level and then start working on the A level material later on. But please don't feel like you're not smart enough! There are plenty of people on my course who have no qualifications and are doing well, you just need to put the time in and try to revise whenever you can.

I am currently studying GCSE English and maths and level 2 (extended) applied science BTEC. I'd like to study access to science next year at college,then, study biomedical science but I don't know if I can study it at university with this qualification that I'll get by the end of this year or no. Could u help me with this please as I'm very nervous and don't know what to do

It sounds as though you're doing the right things. The Access to Science should get you into university to study biomedical science, but look at the websites of the universities you are thinking of, to check that they accept Access. Good luck with your studies.

The only thing that I'm worried about is just GCSE, I've heard btec science is not equivalent to GCSE so if don't get GCSE in sciences but I get in english and maths . If I finish access to science, will I get to uni with English and maths GCSE and access to science????
Thanks for your help buddy

Yes, you should be able to. Universities don't usually ask for 5+ GCSEs from mature students. As long as you have maths and English GCSEs at grade C or better, those and the Access qualification should be enough.