Starting college after chemo

Just to be clear, you want to go to college and not sixth form??

Sixth form, college, I don't even know the difference. I haven't been told anything at all 😞

How old are you, and what qualifications do you have already? Do you know what you'd like to do in future?

Currently I'm 17, I have no qualifications and due to me having chemo for so long I don't have to have GCSEs due to the change in grade boundaries and the way they are ran. I want to go on to being a medical researcher so there were courses at a college called health and social care and science that could help?

With sixth form, you typically pick 4 (sometimes 5, depends on school) subjects.

You have lessons for these subjects as normal, but you also will have alot of "study periods", where you have no lessons at all but rather you are free to do your own thing. Typically, you are meant to study, but a lot of people just around on their phones for some reason.

I'm not sure how college works, but it is probably a better option for you as it is considered to be easier than sixth form.

Hey!
First of all congratulations! For dealing with something so awful yet getting back on track and continuing your education. You're a role model.

So basically, I'd say sixth form is a lot stricter, but might potentially offer more support.
- Sixth forms are generally attached to schools, so a lot of people who go have completed their A levels there. Not everyone, but the majority have already been there 5 years. In college its a lot more diverse, you get a lot more people of different ages from different places.
- Subjects on offer: Sixth form colleges usually only teach A levels (some might do a few others), but colleges offer a wider range of courses and qualifications
- Sixth form colleges might require you to take 3 a levels, where at college you might get more flexibility with how many you do
- At sixth form I was required to attend two registrations a day and I had to wear a uniform - not the case in all, but in college you can come and go when you please and never have to wear uniform!
- At sixth form I still had assemblies and things similar to school, rather than the freedom you have at college.
- I'm not 100% sure, but I think sixth forms might offer a bit more support but obviously thats dependent on the college itself. With college you get the freedom and independence, but that also means you're expected to deal with more by yourself.

So for health and social care and science...
You're much more likely to get a BTEC in health and social care at college, and maybe you could do a science A level as well. It's always a good idea to look where you want to go in the future and what you want to do - do you want to go to university? If so, look up some courses/universities you might want to go to and look for their requirements. If you're thinking of a job, see if you can find out what the educational requirements of the job are. I know its so hard trying to decide when its so far away right now, but it might help you to decide whats best for you to study, and therefore where you're best to go!

Good luck - any other questions just ask!

Gosh you are a huge help! I would say that college is definitely the route I want to take as A-levels may be way too stressful after not being in education for so manny years,

I don't NEED to have my GCSEs, that's already been sorted and won't ever need them even for university. I will have a letter from the exam board and government explaining everything.

I obviously want to be a medical researcher and go to university but things are done a lot differently compared to the usual way now due to my health. I have no idea about anything to do with colleges because it's completely different once you have health issues such as I do

If you're absolutely sure. I still have significant reservations about this myself, especially if you haven't even got this letter yet, but its up to you.



We are just telling your what universities will want. And to study biomedical sciences or another science at a decent uni, which is your best route into being a medical researcher, they will likely not accept a health and social care BTEC/diploma - that is a non-academic qualification mainly for people going into social work.

I'd seriously suggest looking at a large number of unis and uni courses you'd be potentially interested in doing and looking at what they require. Wasting two years on the wrong qualifications now could change your entire life's direction - put in some research.

I've spoken with colleges and my GCSEs are not needed, it's been confirmed due to the situation I was under at the time. Instead I would be doing English and maths a levels at college, currently they are having me do qualifications that show my academic ability for example, I am currently writing a level 3 debate on the legalisation of medical marijuana. It's with the top college in the area, colleges have said that evidence of my abilities education wise and my commitment to education is what is important in my case. When it comes to going onto university I have started looking at courses but for now focusing on college I'm going to show any and all abilities I have and that the effects of chemotherapy and down time from education has had no effect on my academic abilities.

You're going to show your academic ability... by only doing qualifications universities aren't going to recognise as adequate to show your academic ability?

I'm not saying you need to dive right in now, but if you're serious about university you need to know what to aim for, to have a plan. Burying your head in the sand and not even looking into which qualifications you need is a mistake.

So long as they get Maths and English GCSEs universities don't care about anything else. It's likely they'll be put in to study these alongside A-levels or BTECs or whatever. Going in to research is a long route, and even if you don't dive straight in at undergrad you can refine your path at masters (provided you get the 2:1/1:1 required) i.e. even if they don't get into a top research degree at UG it's not the end of the world. I know a couple of people who studied science based BTECs and are now bio researchers at various universities and working towards their PhD.

Not to mention, I think "having cancer" is the apex of "extenuating circumstances"!