Access to HE Diploma in Science

Hi, I'm in a similar position but starting my Science access in September :P

Have you taken a look at some uni's pre-reading guides? Maybe that will help you feel ready for the transition? If you just google the something like 'Biology degree reading list' or 'pre reading list' or 'year 1 reading list' etc, some uni's pages will come up You could also look at some year 1 modules and do some research yourself on the topics maybe

Sorry that's all I could offer lol, can I ask which topics your Science course is covering? Mine will be Biology, Chemistry and Psychology, but I'm a little gutted because I was hoping for maths instead of psychology lol :P And which degree are you planning on doing? I'm planning on Biomed

Thank you! I'll think about looking at those reading lists in June (when the course is finished 🙈).

Oh that's great to hear you're embarking on the course, there's a girl in my class doing biomed at University of Sheffield in September! (She's aiming for all distinctions) I'm personally doing Therapeutic Radiography, as it's my second degree and funding is limited 🙈 (my first degree was a creative one so not very heavy on the academia but heavy on workload)

My access course is biology (24 credits) chemistry (15 credits) and physics (6 credits), then of course the obligatory 'non graded' modules (you only need to achieve a pass) (15 credits). I've enjoyed it to be honest, the anatomy/physiology and I understand aspects of chemistry I never expected I would!

I will say this, the pandemic has affected my learning experience and made the course a little chaotic. So I hope there are no more lockdowns to come for your sake on your course!

A recommendation is definitely write your personal statement before the course starts in September and get it looked at by someone in your college. Another tip is attend open days (they're virtual) so when your application is sent to the admin team they'll see youve attended an open day (it plays in your favour 😜)

Best of luck!

Hey

I was on the Access to Health course last academic year 2019 Sept, currently first year doing a BSc, transition wasn't too difficult, however it is quite different in university, because I learnt that university have their own unique style when it comes to specific things such as referencing

That's quite promising to hear! I'm guessing it's just a case of keeping up the hard work and good time management then!

Oh yeah on referencing one of the unis I'm considering as an insurance uses APA and I'm more accustomed with Harvard myself 🙈

Thank you for the insight!

Ooo I did a lot of research into Radiography too and was thinking about doing that, super interesting Physics must be super hard.. but a lot of unis ask for a Access course with a psychics module for Radiography right? So that's lucky you found one with that in

Thanks for the tip about virtual open days - didn't even think that the admin team might be able to see you attended :O I'll need all the help I can get haha

Can I ask if you're staying in halls? I'll be in my mid/late 20s when I start uni so a little conflicted whether staying in halls is a good idea, although I have read they try to group people of similar ages together so there's not six 18 year olds with one 60 year old haha

Yeah definitely, just hard work and keeping on top of your assignments and deadlines

Honestly best thing to do is to learn how to manually write your references rather than using tools online, as they can make errors and cost you marks

Oh yeah I try to do that now as much as possible and only use mybib for journals, then adapt to match the format of my others 😊 it's definitely a great tip!

I think the most daunting part for me is the heavy reading requirements 🙈

Oh yeah initially I was going for diagnostic Radiography because CT and MRI are so cool! But then I saw it involved nightshifts...🙈 Therapeutic thankfully is a Monday-Friday sociable hours job 🤣 and you get to use CT and MRI so it's a win 😊

I just chose the college nearest to me tbh, there wasn't much in terms of preplanning haha.

I know your course will be very interesting and you'll have so many options afterwards! (2 people I know ended up pursuing grad entry medicine afterwards haha)

The open days will 100% help too if there are staff you can talk to, you can get a real feel for the course and whether you gel with the staff (which is definitely important). There are some at the moment and into the summer, just have a Google of some unis you'd be interested in and get signed up! 😊

That one is a tough call for me at the moment if I'm being honest! Liverpool (I'm considering firming) offer an £800 discount for halls (you have to qualify for the £2,000 bursary which I will) and that will save me some money ofc. But for me I'm more of a day sesh drinker/daytime socialiser and will turn 28 by the time I start uni 🤣 I like my sleep and silence at night haha! You will have to weigh up priorities I would say 😊 whenever I was placed in halls in my first degree I had one year with an amazing flat with people around my age (I was 20) then the following year due to some graduating I had a less amazing experience....we had 2 bad flatmates out of 6. It's very hit and miss, but if you're very unhappy you can ask to move flats if they have spare rooms 😊 I feel like it's best I'm honest with you. 🙈

I'm weighing up spareroom or a halls that's meant for 'mature students' personally 😊

MRIs are scary!!! Watched a video once of how strong the magnets are and it dragged a metal chair from one side of the room to another 😂 Would panic if I needed to have one incase I mistakenly had jewellery on or metal in my clothes hahah

Night shifts in hospitals are kind of cool, but freaky too - very empty and ghosty lol I think therapeutic radiology is going to be super rewarding for sure!

Yeah I agree, I'd love to have one of those mini studio flats in halls with your own kitchen but wow so expensive, I don't even think a maintenance loan covers the cheapest rent in halls with a shared bathroom 🙊 I'll defo be going into debt as I'm 100% opting for en suite hahah

Oh I've definitely heard horror stories with MRI, some relating to oxygen tanks and you get the picture....😬😬 Haha I would panic if I were the patient too, but just because I'm claustrophobic 🙈

I like the idea of the peacefulness of a hospital at night, but I like to sleep at night 🤣 I'm a terrible light sleeper so daytime sleeping is a no go for me haha! I'm assuming you've worked in a hospital at some point then??

Oh yeah the studios appeal to me as well, but they cost an absolute fortune!! Well at the moment it's £9400 I believe and will probably go up to £9,800 by the time you're studying, so never know you might get to be a fancy pants and live in a studio 🤣

I don't blame you on the ensuite front, I couldn't handle sharing a bathroom with strangers 🙈 but sparerooms does have an ensuite option, so you could live in a shared flat or shared house, it's looking more and more likely that'll be my option!

Oh also just remembered some unis do offer a 'mature student' bursary or scholarship, so keep your eyes peeled for those 👀👀 also depending on your household income you might qualify for extra £££, I know some people on my access course have kids too so qualify for another bursary. It's all worth doing the research on if you need some extra pennies! 😊

Omg I think I read that oxygen tank story... 😬 I'd be panicking if I needed an MRI, checking with the staff if anything is correct hahah

I haven't worked in a hospital sadly really need to get some hospital/clinic/lab work experience though for my personal statement.. but covid has made it super difficult, so my PS is gonna look awful 😂 Have you managed to get any? I know it's not necessary but my PS is gonna look so empty without it lol :P

Ahh yeah I've read a lot about bursaries, sadly the few unis i'm interested in don't offer any that I'm applicable for 🤪 Maybe that will change by the time I apply though, hopefully!! And I have 18 months to save some cash hahaha

Background on my life is I was due to teach in China in Feb 2020 paid for all the visa and quit my job (I know, the best timing 🙈) then after that blew up did research into other ways I could help people, went to an open day for healthcare course and signed up for some work experience in summer 2020. So unfortunately I don't have any clinical experience, although I'm a trained volunteer vaccinator 💉 (still awaiting my first volunteer shift haha). For my course in the interviews they really didn't care though, they just needed to see I had the soft skills (which I do from retail jobs 🙂)

If you have time around working maybe St Johns Ambulance volunteering might be a good shout! I know for yours any kinda relevant work experience to show your interest in the subject will help. But like I've said honestly if you just email the admin teams and attend the virtual open days of your possible unis they'll see you're keen, also unis like us mature students 😜 were apparently 'hard working' and have 'life experience' so use that to your advantage and boast about your time management somewhere haha

In my PS I had a short section on my future aspirations, a tip if you're aiming for a Russel group would be to mention an interest in research to contribute to the field 🙈 (but said in a jazzy more independent way) some unis even have tips on what they want to see, I found a pdf on Liverpool's website.

Which unis are you most interested in ?🙂

Oh yeah 100% savesavesave! You can always get a job in the summer months too for some extra ££

Noooo that's awful luck 😩 Blessing in disguise maybe though, now you've hopefully found your career for life And being a vaccinator is suchhhh good experience, funnily enough I've been trying to find that role too hahah, spent all day yesterday searching for all the vacancies but everywhere local to me is only hiring qualified HCA's or people with low level health care qualifications 🥺 Thought it was be amazing experience and for the PS, so a little gutted :P Am going to carry on checking though if more appear though!

At the moment I don't think I'll be applying to any RG uni's, it's mostly non-RG uni's that offer the accredited degree I'm wanting (because non-accredited degrees are usually more research based, i.e, RG) but still need to do more research and be sure what I want to do in the future.. I think I want to work in NHS labs though, and they require an accredited degree so :P I'm looking at most of the universities down south, where I'm from, so quite interested in Brighton, Westminster, Portsmouth, Reading, and Surrey, but still need to do some research 👌 what about you? Do you mean you had interviews for your unis? Sooo thankful that Biomed degrees rarely have interviews, I'd defo fail at that 🙊😂 How were they?

St John's ambulance - thanks for the tip, will defo see if they have anything I can do!

Dont think so. access course prepares you for the written assignments where as normal a levels do not. i personally think its easier taking a test than writing an essay on a topic, where are you doing your access course?

Oh that's a shame! But if you keep your eyes peeled I'm sure something will come up eventually, it has to 🙈

That's fair you seem to have done some good research to know RG unis aren't the right ones for your particular aspirations 🙂 I like the sound of lab work as I feel you'd be mostly left to get on with your work (I may be wrong 🙈) as I'm doing Therapeutic Radiography and oncology theres potential to go into cancer research (which may involved some lab work) at the moment I'm thinking I need to just do the degree and see where it takes me.

It definitely makes sense for you stay in the south if that's where you're based, now I can understand the expense you're coming up against with the accommodation 🤣 Brighton would be great I imagine for living in as a student!

Unis I've got offers for are University of Liverpool, Sheffield Hallam, Hertfordshire, AECC (Bournemouth) and I'm awaiting interview outcome from St George's (London) I've picked a mixed bag really 🙈 but I think I am swaying moreso towards the northern unis as I'm based in Yorkshire. I've got to think long term where I may want to buy a house unfortunately 🤣 (it sucks having to think of these big life decisions). Also weirdly those two universities offer an 'elective' placement, so I could have a months work experience in NZ, Aus or Canada!

The interviews were quite informal if I'm being honest, but obviously you're still grilled about your subject knowledge, NHS values and have those god awful scenario questions 🙈 I've taken it as practice because I'll have harder interviews once I'm actually applying for the jobs 😬 (dreading it hahaha).

I'm sure biomed will open up international opportunities for you too if you so wish to pursue them!

For me I'm just so grateful student finance offers a second degree loan for certain courses. I am definitely going to appreciate my second time around that much more, I think that also might be because I'm a little older now 🙈 I love learning in general 🤷🏻*♀️ some people don't really get it. I can definitely see myself doing a master's and even a PhD down the line 🙈

But that's enough of my essay 🤣🤣

Ah yea that's what I love about science/health care degrees, there's so many opportunities for research and the subjects can be so broad you can dip your toes into everything to see what you enjoy the most 😆 I've been watching lots of 'day in the life' videos on YouTube to try and supplement work shadowing, and the research side of things seem super interesting, so if you see yourself doing a PhD at some point then woah 👩*🔬

I've read a lot about AECC actually, they seem amazing, and of course St George's would be amazing too, one of the best places for health sciences :P Some of the unis I'm looking at have optional placement years abroad as well, which would be amazing opportunity 😮

Yeah I relate to that, I really enjoy learning and studying.. although my education history has been all over the place hahah, taken me a while to know what I really want to do, so I have loads of small random qualifications in a mixture of different areas.. so a little worried that unis will think I'm indecisive and not 100% set on the course I'm applying to so will have to try and prove it in my PS 😬😂