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

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I'd consider it yeah, is that because of their cheaper tuition fees? Do they vary country to country? Does the STEM degree affect all of Europe and where be the best website to keep upto date with the new rules?

Reply 41

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Day3091

Yes fees vary by country. Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and a few others are basically free. France has a nominal charge of a few hundred euros. The Netherlands and Ireland are expensive by European standard but their fees are still considerably less than what you'd pay in the UK.

Keep any eye on this site for the updated information regarding STEM part time students. https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/parttime-students

Reply 42

Spadoogle

Thanks alot Snufkin, you are an incredible help. Just wondering whether the QAA database you hyperlinked is the only place to find all of the Access Courses in my area?

Reply 43

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Day3091

Thanks alot Snufkin, you are an incredible help. Just wondering whether the QAA database you hyperlinked is the only place to find all of the Access Courses in my area?

It is the only database I know, but I'm not sure if it is completely up to date. It might be easier to look on google maps to see which FE colleges are near you and check their websites individually.

Reply 44

Spadoogle

I've just applied to this course: http://www.liv-coll.ac.uk/Access-to-HE-Engineering--c828.html

It says you need a B in Maths aswell as two Science subjects at GCSE...I only have two Cs at Science GCSE so I'm worried I won't be allowed on...hopefully my other qualifications / skills will outweigh that :/

Most RE courses should accept that diploma, right? Including foreign Universities? I'm thinking about doing a split 3 year program which has one year out of the three abroad but part of me wouldn't mind just going abroad to study for the full 3 years! The only worry is not being able to speak the native language!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 45

Schadenfreude65

Original post by Day3091

I think it very unlikely that they will drop their entry requirements. This course is pitched at the same standard as A level maths, physics, etc, and they don't want to encourage people to enrol if they are unlikely to be able to keep up - the pace is blistering. I think you should consider applying for the pre-access course
http://www.liv-coll.ac.uk/Pre-Access-Full-Science-c816.html - which will get you the GCSE grades you need. This will benefit you enormously if you go on the full Access course next year, and will improve your chances of getting a decent university place, and later on, job offers.
Which degree subject are you considering? It's a good idea to check out universities now, to see if they accept the Access qualification for the course you want to do. I'm not too sure if an Access qualification will be accepted by overseas universities. Historically, I think it hasn't been widely accepted abroad, but that may change from this year, as Access now carries UCAS points. If you are serious about studying overseas, A levels would be a safer option.

Reply 46

Nikki1892

Original post by Unicorn13

Hi All I am a very mature student 45 years young, I am looking to do a SWAP access to teaching course to get the qualifications I need to go and do a degree to become a primary teacher. The bit I am not sure about is the pre-entry test to just get on the access to teaching course. Does any one have any examples of the sort of questions asked for this test?

Hey,

I had to complete an English and maths test on a computer. It was pretty straight forward, starts off really easy then gets harder. You are then told what level you are working at level 1, level 2 etc.
To be accepted through the first round of interviews we jd to achieve level 1+.
Next was informal session at the college and we were giving a document depending on what pathway we had chosen. We then returned a week later and had to answer multiple choice questions relating to the document and produce a 500 word essay about what our plan b would be if we were not accepted to college. Then came the interview which was pretty straight forward.

We then told 2 weeks later wether we had an unconditional place, conditional or reject.

Seems like a lot of work but the tutor explained it was due to many drop outs the year before.

Hope this helps 🤗

Reply 47

Spadoogle

I've actually enrolled - did it on the 22nd. I'm officially studying Engineering Science ES1 =D. We were given an "Introduction to Maths" booklet and I've been really enjoying it. I feel bad for kids in schools which fail to present the context of it all / teach it effectively (such was the case when I was 16). Now I'm 26 I can see the beauty and how applicable / present it is throughout civilisation. Bless the Ancient innovators from the lost civilisation onward =]

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 48

BumbleBeaButt

Hi,

I'm currently looking into applying for an Access Course in Humanities (English, History, Sociology and Psychology) and judging from everyone's messages here Access courses are really intense. I have issues with self- confidence anyway so i'm struggling to judge whether or not i'm capable of completing an Access Course to my desired level.

I'm looking to do a Literary based degree at University and the requirements are BBB. What kind of success rate would I need Merit/distinction wise to match that?

Also I'm motivated, love to write so have no issue with essay based work and have a drive I lacked at College. I already have GCSE's at grade C and above in all required subjects, one A-Level at grade C in Art and Design and a few diplomas in microsoft programmes. Do I seem intelligent enough to keep up with the kind of work involved in the Access course?

Any advice would be appreciated, I've had a really rough week trying to get back into education and sort myself out!

Reply 49

BumbleBeaButt

Regarding NEC as a distance learning alternative- I've seen reviews of people getting whacked with huge exam fee's from their partner centres like £100 per unit! Does anyone else have experience with them? I cannot physically find an exam centre that will take an independent student in to do exams which hugely put me off of the idea of distance learning - NEC have a list of partner centres that they can liaise with to book exams in which is a god send but I might be wrong if they charge so much!!!

Reply 50

Alex95card

Hi there,Im currently a student at staffordshire university and to get here i went through an access course. I am afraid i dont have all the answers you need but i can try to explain my own experience and hopefully that will help a little. I left 6th form after one term due to ill health and i thought my university dream was over bexause i was no longer going to get in when i was 18 and had no qualifications to get in. I went off and workedand got home learning qualifications but nothing filled the gap of me wanting to be in university. I was terrified of going back into education and was convinced that i would never be able to handle the work but i did.I think most courses are similar but i did the health sciences pathway which also had psychology and sociology but also had biology and health care. However both pathways were offered at the college i was at and they both seemed to be mainly made up of essays or presentations but the biggest portion was essays.Im not going to lie, i did find the course quite intense because they are pacling so much into one year but it is manageable, it just takes dedication. A lot also depends on the suport systems they have in place.For the amount of merits/distinctions you need, it really is different from uni to uni. Staffordshire university gave me a place with 45merits whereas ARU wanted 30 distinctions and 15 merits and portsmouth uni would not accept my course at all. My best advice is to go to the open days and ask the admissions team what they require. When i spoke to the staffordshre unversity admissions team they actually said that they welcome access course students because they are more mature (im not saying they dont like non access course students). I cant really say if you are intelligent or not becuase i dont know you but if you are confident in writing essays and have lots of self motivation, you have a good chance of doing well.Like i say this is based on my experience and i am not an expert so please talk to the college and to universities and get their advice too. I hope this has helped a little and good luck.

Reply 51

Nadenemch

Original post by BumbleBeaButt

Hi,

I completed the Access course in June. I had been out of education for 15 years and only had 3 gcses. I did the access diploma in humanities and social sciences. It was intense but I enjoyed it. You do need to have the time available to give it 100% it's not like school the tutors give you assignments and some information but it's on you to figure out everything else, and it's very time consuming, I finished with a distinction at 75% overall and I am starting university on Monday for a full time BcS in Accounting.

For your degree you would need to be 70+% a high merit or distinction to get in to uni. If you apply yourself you should have no problem achieving a distinction in the course.

Reply 52

JTFrith

Original post by BumbleBeaButt

Hey! I just completed the same course that you are thinking of applying to. From your credentials and qualifications, i can 100% say that you are capable of completing the Access course. Some people in my class got 2 GCSE's when they were younger and therefore had to sit English & Maths GCSE alongside and got into a very good university. All comes down to time management, ability to look at questions from every angle possible and a can-do attitude and you will succeed. As for the Uni entry requirements (BBB @ ALevel i presume?), it depends on how your access course is run. With mine, we did 45 Level3 (A level equivalent) graded credits and 15 ungraded credits (Pass or Fail - Study Skills). A lot of universities have specific access requirements (eg a mix of pass&merits, or merits&distinctions) however usually if a uni course is asking for BBB at ALevel, that would mean 45 Merits - each A level is equivalent to 15 credits. Distinction being equivalent to an A, Merit a B, and Pass a C.Personally, i acheived 2 B's and 4 C's at school. Left straight after too work for a few years, returned last year (aged 20) and now off to study at University Of Oxford on Saturday (Politics, Philosophy and Economics). I acheived 100% Distinction. Anything is possible! Work hard and dream BIG. All the best!

Reply 53

BumbleBeaButt

@JTFrith @Nadenemch

Thanks so much for responding! I joined the course and had my first day yesterday! I nearly had a heart attack I was so nervous but it was surprisingly laid back and having a mixed age group of students really relaxed me. From what I gather I think I'm going to enjoy the Access course and hopefully come out with some great grades.

Thanks again, your responses have given me reassurance I needed :smile:

Reply 54

Venomz100

To be honest I have just the started access to higher education and i find it really Challenging and hard to complete 17 units in only 1 year in order to pass.

Reply 55

Charityaka

Pls which access do i need to do so as to gain admission into the university to study pharmacy??

Reply 56

Redcap7760

Original post by Charityaka

Pls which access do i need to do so as to gain admission into the university to study pharmacy??

Your best bet is to ask the universities directly. Each university may have different access requirements.

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

Reply 57

Chezdon

So if I read all this correctly, basically it boils down to this (as a mature student):

You fit your life around an Access course
You fit A Levels around your life.

As in with A Levels you can be more flexible. Especially if you're doing just 1 or 2 max. Am I right?

It looks as though it would be difficult to hold down a job and pay the bills whilst doing an Access Course as opposed to doing an A Level which you can study for a few hours in the evening.

Reply 58

Craig Beardsley

Original post by Chezdon

I am currenty studying access to social work and i am currently finding it differcult with the amount of content that you have to obsorb in and remember, not to mention the assignments. Acces is very intense and you have to 100% committee to the course. I am having secomd thoughts, as I am writing this message.

Reply 59

Chezdon

How long you been doing it? Hope it gets better for you. Sounds tough.

I’m having trouble deciding what to do myself. I want to go to university Sept 2018 so have about a year and a half to prepare. I have BBD (PE, Business, Maths) at A Level which isn’t enough to get me in to a physiotherapy course. The three I’m looking at want AAB, ABB or BBB (KCL,SGUL, UEL) or 45 merit/distinction in an access course. I therefore have two options. If I want KCL which looks to be the superior option then I’ll need to do the access course.

There’s almost no way I’m getting two As at A Level in this amount of time. However if I was to do Biology A level and get an A, it would open the other two unis up for me. Smashing the Access course would open up all three unis. However, am I right in saying Unis will look preferably on A levels to an access course?

What makes my situation a little more complicated is I’m in New Zealand on a working holiday visa until June 2017. I’m thinking about starting a biology A level via distance learning and then seeing where I am come June. Maybe I could still do the access course from Sept 17 if the biology A level isn’t going to plan. It will be good to start studying anyway and I’m sure some of the material I learn will help me.

What do you think? You guys who worked and studied access course did you work part time in the evenings or study in the evenings?