Any possibility of Uni with a Foundation

Okay so I am currently a 17 year old soon to be 18 guy and want to apply to some sort of Uni to go and study English. I do not Have any A-levels as when I started A-levels at 16 my dad had a serious accident and spinal injury and I was forced to drop out and take a BTEC in mechanical engineering that I was very regretful my decision. To make matters worse I began an apprenticeship in that field that I was very unhappy with and have recently been forced to quit. My old college has taken me back and Ill finish my BTEC however.

The problem is I cannot rejoin an A-level course this year as you've probably guessed but I really want to progress towards my English degree which I was very strong in during GCSE. My question is that I don't want to go to a normal College next year to study my A-levels were I will be 2 years Older then the rest of the Students.

My question is is it possible to get on an English course through something like a foundation course instead and then go onto my degree. Any other options you could tell me I would be incredibly grateful for but my main question is that would any foundation course launch me into a Degree and let me accomplish what I really want to do in life. Thanks so much for any help you can provide.
Thank you.

Reply 1

claireestelle

22

Original post by HarrytheCook

Okay so I am currently a 17 year old soon to be 18 guy and want to apply to some sort of Uni to go and study English. I do not Have any A-levels as when I started A-levels at 16 my dad had a serious accident and spinal injury and I was forced to drop out and take a BTEC in mechanical engineering that I was very regretful my decision. To make matters worse I began an apprenticeship in that field that I was very unhappy with and have recently been forced to quit. My old college has taken me back and Ill finish my BTEC however.

The problem is I cannot rejoin an A-level course this year as you've probably guessed but I really want to progress towards my English degree which I was very strong in during GCSE. My question is that I don't want to go to a normal College next year to study my A-levels were I will be 2 years Older then the rest of the Students.

My question is is it possible to get on an English course through something like a foundation course instead and then go onto my degree. Any other options you could tell me I would be incredibly grateful for but my main question is that would any foundation course launch me into a Degree and let me accomplish what I really want to do in life. Thanks so much for any help you can provide.
Thank you.

There would be universities out there that would accept you for foundation years especially if you can give them evidence for your personal circumstances. Your best bet is to email universities you like the look of and see what they say.

Reply 2

HarrytheCook

OP

Original post by claireestelle

There would be universities out there that would accept you for foundation years especially if you can give them evidence for your personal circumstances. Your best bet is to email universities you like the look of and see what they say.

I'm unsure on the exact specifics of the foundation course such as it it a replacement of A-levels or Will I have a lot of catching up to do. Must the foundation course be linked into the Main Degree of can they be separate? Cheers

Reply 3

claireestelle

22

Original post by HarrytheCook

I'm unsure on the exact specifics of the foundation course such as it it a replacement of A-levels or Will I have a lot of catching up to do. Must the foundation course be linked into the Main Degree of can they be separate? Cheers

It's supposed to get everyone up to the necessary standard to be able to start year 1 of a degree, they are normally linked to degrees.

Reply 4

Paulington

11

I was in a very similar situation to you, except it was I who had the accident. I tried going back to Sixth Form at age 18 and didn't enjoy it a whole lot so stopped again and looked for something new, I looked at FdScs and such but nothing really jumped out at me.

Eventually I came across a friend who'd done an Access to Higher Education course and when I looked at them they really seemed perfect, so I enrolled and now I'm just over halfway through it. It is equivalent to A Levels and done over a year of intensive study in three different subjects. Once you've completed your Access to HE course you can apply directly to universities via UCAS and the best part is that it is 90% older students. I am 24 and around the mean age on my course (ranges from 19 to 42). I just applied to Unis with my only previous qualifications being GCSEs and I got offers from Bristol for Neuroscience and Biomed! :smile:

.

So if the foundation degree doesn't work out, I'd definitely suggest an Access to HE course, probably Access to HE (Humanities) for you as you enjoy English studies but you could do any you fancy.

Reply 5

HarrytheCook

OP

So do you do the access course at a college or somewhere else? I'd just about given up hope for this post thanks so much for answering.
Also are the access course graded and will I obtain good qualifications from them that good unis will recognise? Thanks for answering mate I really appreciate it

Reply 6

Paulington

11

Original post by HarrytheCook

So do you do the access course at a college or somewhere else? I'd just about given up hope for this post thanks so much for answering.
Also are the access course graded and will I obtain good qualifications from them that good unis will recognise? Thanks for answering mate I really appreciate it

Yes, they are usually done at colleges.

They are graded, a "full" Access to HE Diploma is 60 credits, and 45 of them will be Level 3 (A Level) Credits which are graded as either a Pass, Merit or Distinction.

You will usually see Universities ask for something like "Pass the Access to HE Diploma with 30 Credits at Distinction plus 15 at Merit" or something along those lines. If you look at the tariff calculator for 2017, getting 30D/15M is equivalent to ABB at A Level.

I haven't found a university yet that does not take Access to HE courses that are properly accredited. In fact a lot of Unis like Access students because whilst we don't get into the "depth" of an A Level, we cover a broad variety and it includes things like study skills and academic writing/research which A Levels don't cover too much.

They're a great alternative route for those that don't wish to do A Levels, I'd thoroughly recommend them.

Any possibility of Uni with a Foundation

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