Don't have A levels? Alternative Routes into University FAQ

.Access to HE Diplomas (also known as Access courses) are designed to prepare people without traditional qualifications for university. Access courses are the best established and most common route into university for mature students and students without A levels. Each year more than 20,000 people apply to university after doing an Access course. There is a large community of Access students in the Mature Students forum.

Thank you for this great post!

I'm looking into taking an A-Level that I'm missing (you've actually helped me on another thread ) and just trying to understand the system here (I'm not from the UK so still wrapping my head around all this!)

Access to HE is meant for people without A-Levels. But why would those people not just do the required A-Levels instead of the Access course? What does the Access give you that the A-Levels won't?

I only need to do one A-Level (Biology) in order to be able to apply to the course I want, and it seems to be the most doable option but I feel like I'm missing something here... As a mature student (29yo) would an Access course be preferable to doing that one Biology A-Level?

It really comes down to personal preference. Many people do Access courses because they only last a year, and they're often more affordable because you can get a loan to pay for them if you're over 24. Arguably Access courses offer preparation for university because you do so many essays and get used to researching and formulating your own arguments.

I suggest you phone the admissions tutor for the course you want to do and ask them what they think about A levels vs Access. If they have no preference, do whichever one you're most comfortable with.

I've completed my access course with great grades and have been accepted onto my first choice of uni for September, but reading the OP and some of the subsequent comments panics even me!

Panic doesn't help most people.

I'll share a bit about me so people can grasp what's possible with the right advice.

I started my access course (access to nursing and allied health professions) as a single parent to a 5mo. I needed 30 credits at distinction, 15 at merit and 15 level 2 credits to get into my first choice uni. I achieved 36 at distinction, 9 at merit and passed my level 2 units.

I know about a dozen people who've attempted access course...the pointers I'll give below are based mainly on my experience but I know most of those people would agree with me.

- If you already have full time commitments (children/work/etc) then distance learning around them is very practical but you really must be prepared to put the time in. You can't leave your assignments to the last minute if you want a decent mark. Your social life will suffer. So will your sleep.

- Be aware of what exactly is expected of you. "I didn't know" isn't going to help once you've missed a deadline. If you suspect you don't have everything you need from your tutor, chase them.

- Micromanage yourself. If you're not organised by nature then you really do need to put more effort in.

- Colleges have good and not-so-good tutors, just as any profession varies. Don't dwell on the injustice of getting a tutor who doesn't give a damn...you don't have the time to wait for them to develop a work ethic. If you're not getting what you need, escalate it as high as it has to go until you do.

- If you need merits and distinctions, you absolutely must do your own research beyond what information you're given and you need to be able to write about this in a way that shows you have a good understanding.

- If you're not given it upfront, ask for copies of the criteria you need to be working towards for each assignment. This will be split into pass/merit/distinction levels. Do this before you start writing. It'll help you stay on-point and structure your assignments.

- Getting decent grades on an Access course requires a lot of determination. Getting lazy for a few weeks will really hurt your chances. If you've got holidays booked, ask for assignments that start during that time beforehand so you can get a head start and be on track when you get back.

Hey, I've recently been accepted onto the course at The Manchester college, but I'll be doing the distance learner version of te course and I was just wondering if anybody had any feedback, how the course is set out, how its taught (like by email or something?) and is anybody starting the course in September 2016?

I'll be doing the Nursing and Allied Health Professions course.
How easy did you find it learning from the materials given? Do you have any interaction with tutors other than via moodle? And did you find it easy to get in contact with tutors if you needed to?

Then the equivalency of these grades to A level will probably be A*AA?.

Yeah I was expecting the long haul to be honest. I'd have to save up a good £35000 to do a three year course somewhere and live there also. Depending on what jobs go like in the next few years that is possible. I've always been really interested in how humanity affects the earth and climate change, fossil fuel consumption at the rate we do it is laughable these days and civilisations of the future will acknowledge that (if we survive). I'd love to be a piece of the change towards a potential Type 1 sustainable global civilisation...Renewable Energy is a huge part of that transition from what I've researched.

Oh, well i've already got 4 years of student finance and they wouldn't let me get any more...1 year of a course I didn't want to continue and then 3 years of a course which I dropped out of in my second year on a resit...pretty headless right? I regret it but I didn't really know what I wanted to study properly until now. I was simply immature and too in love with the student lifestyle to stop at the time