Best way forward for me - Law

Hi,
I'm currently 19 years old and do not have any A Levels, as I had to drop out of college due to very ill health when I enrolled in 2018.
I got all 9s at GCSE and am looking to continue my education journey.

I like the prospect of being a Lawyer, or somewhere within the law-politics landscape.

I currently work full time so am looking for distanced learning course(s).
I am torn between starting 3 A Levels or starting an Access to HE Diploma. Both can be done online, it's just a question of which carries more weight. I would most likely do Politics, Law and ? at A Level or an Access to HE Diploma in Law.

I would like to go to a top 10 university in London to do an LLB, most likely, so was wondering if you had any advice as to whether an Access to HE Diploma would be enough to get me into UCL or QMUL? I would like to enrol by January 2022, with a view to starting in September 2022.

I am aware that schemes exist in large companies that take on A Level Leavers and you can study a degree alongside one of those positions. How common are they? Is that a possibility?

Any advice would be appreciated. What do you think I should do?

Hi,
I'm currently 19 years old and do not have any A Levels, as I had to drop out of college due to very ill health when I enrolled in 2018.
I got all 9s at GCSE and am looking to continue my education journey.

I like the prospect of being a Lawyer, or somewhere within the law-politics landscape.

I currently work full time so am looking for distanced learning course(s).
I am torn between starting 3 A Levels or starting an Access to HE Diploma. Both can be done online, it's just a question of which carries more weight. I would most likely do Politics, Law and ? at A Level or an Access to HE Diploma in Law.

I would like to go to a top 10 university in London to do an LLB, most likely, so was wondering if you had any advice as to whether an Access to HE Diploma
would be enough to get me into UCL or QMUL? I would like to enrol by January 2022, with a view to starting in September 2022.

I am aware that schemes exist in large companies that take on A Level Leavers and you can study a degree alongside one of those positions. How common are they? Is that a possibility?

Any advice would be appreciated. What do you think I should do?

Most unis do accept Access course - however at your age you could also consider A levels. UCL and QMUL both do accept Access courses. This is what they require:

UCL: Pass in Access to HE Diploma, with a minimum of 36 credits at Distinction and 9 credits at Merit, all from Level 3 units.
QMUL: The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall, with 45 credits at Level 3, all of which must be at Distinction. (The School of Law may specify particular Level 3 subjects in which we require a Distinction.) Typically, successful candidates are aged 21 and above at the start of the Access programme.

You would be young to start an Access course at 19 and some top unis have a preference for A levels students it seems. I think in your shoes I would go down the A level route but it's a hard decision.

Thanks for your advice.
It is a difficult one, I suppose it's similar to the BTEC argument; they aren't strictly 'below' the level of A Levels, but perception for them isn't the same.

I think A Levels are most likely the way to go. Whether they should or not, they carry a bit more weight.

Yes that's what I think deep down. If you look at the stats, not many of the intake into Law degrees at top unis have Access to HE. Of course that might be because not many Access people apply.

You have excellent GCSEs which is always going to be a good predictor of ability but oveall, I think A levels would be safer. Maybe try emailing the unis directly to ask if they have a preference?
@Johnny ~ may have an opinion

Yeah, I think so.

Another one is what to do post A Level.

There's the uni route and apprenticeship route, but I'm struggling to make sense of things.
If I went to Uni for 3 years and did an LLB, I could get a Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship, start on a decent wage and have my SQEs done during that time too.
However, there is the option, as an A Level leaver, to do a Solicitor Degree Apprenticeship, lasting 6 years, in which I would gain an LLB and SQEs, but on less pay. I suppose it depends on what my view of student debt is.

What's the common route? Is one safer or more appropriate than the other? Or is it just down to preference and ability?

The uni route is much more common...I don't think there are many solicitor apprenticeships around. Far more common to do a degree followed by the SQE exams

I suppose it's similar to the BTEC argument; they aren't strictly 'below' the level of A Levels, but perception for them isn't the same.

Hi,
I'm currently 19 years old and do not have any A Levels, as I had to drop out of college due to very ill health when I enrolled in 2018.
I got all 9s at GCSE and am looking to continue my education journey.

I like the prospect of being a Lawyer, or somewhere within the law-politics landscape.

I currently work full time so am looking for distanced learning course(s).
I am torn between starting 3 A Levels or starting an Access to HE Diploma. Both can be done online, it's just a question of which carries more weight. I would most likely do Politics, Law and ? at A Level or an Access to HE Diploma in Law.

I would like to go to a top 10 university in London to do an LLB, most likely, so was wondering if you had any advice as to whether an Access to HE Diploma would be enough to get me into UCL or QMUL? I would like to enrol by January 2022, with a view to starting in September 2022.

I am aware that schemes exist in large companies that take on A Level Leavers and you can study a degree alongside one of those positions. How common are they? Is that a possibility?

Any advice would be appreciated. What do you think I should do?