Access not offering true access?
Hello,
I was wondering what people's thoughts and opinions are on Access courses, not allowing people 'true' access into university.
For the following example I am only talking about degree courses and universities that do not ask for specific A level.
You can have A level History, Psychology and English lit for example to apply to read Law at university at a top uni but you must take an access to Law, to apply if you do not have A levels.
If no prior knowledge of law is required but they simply want evidence of your academic ability, why can you Access not be in any subject area, provided it was mainly essay based. The course is equivalent to 3 A levels and 4 if you also take the level 4 Maths.
Do you agree/ disagree with this? Have thoughts as to why this is the case for many top uni admissions?
I was wondering what people's thoughts and opinions are on Access courses, not allowing people 'true' access into university.
For the following example I am only talking about degree courses and universities that do not ask for specific A level.
You can have A level History, Psychology and English lit for example to apply to read Law at university at a top uni but you must take an access to Law, to apply if you do not have A levels.
If no prior knowledge of law is required but they simply want evidence of your academic ability, why can you Access not be in any subject area, provided it was mainly essay based. The course is equivalent to 3 A levels and 4 if you also take the level 4 Maths.
Do you agree/ disagree with this? Have thoughts as to why this is the case for many top uni admissions?
Original post by crystal1330
Hello,
I was wondering what people's thoughts and opinions are on Access courses, not allowing people 'true' access into university.
For the following example I am only talking about degree courses and universities that do not ask for specific A level.
You can have A level History, Psychology and English lit for example to apply to read Law at university at a top uni but you must take an access to Law, to apply if you do not have A levels.
If no prior knowledge of law is required but they simply want evidence of your academic ability, why can you Access not be in any subject area, provided it was mainly essay based. The course is equivalent to 3 A levels and 4 if you also take the level 4 Maths.
Do you agree/ disagree with this? Have thoughts as to why this is the case for many top uni admissions?
I was wondering what people's thoughts and opinions are on Access courses, not allowing people 'true' access into university.
For the following example I am only talking about degree courses and universities that do not ask for specific A level.
You can have A level History, Psychology and English lit for example to apply to read Law at university at a top uni but you must take an access to Law, to apply if you do not have A levels.
If no prior knowledge of law is required but they simply want evidence of your academic ability, why can you Access not be in any subject area, provided it was mainly essay based. The course is equivalent to 3 A levels and 4 if you also take the level 4 Maths.
Do you agree/ disagree with this? Have thoughts as to why this is the case for many top uni admissions?
Sorry if I am misunderstanding here, but I don't know of any courses that require the specific Access to HE: Law course to be completed.
The ones I've seen state Access to HE, but I don't think you'd have a problem if you presented, for example, the Access to HE: Humanities pathway.
I would say they might have issue if you'd taken Access to HE: Science, as that wouldn't necessarily have enough of an essay basis, which Law is heavy on.
I think more emphasis is probably based on the LNAT whichever way you proceed though.
Original post by crystal1330
Hello,
I was wondering what people's thoughts and opinions are on Access courses, not allowing people 'true' access into university.
For the following example I am only talking about degree courses and universities that do not ask for specific A level.
You can have A level History, Psychology and English lit for example to apply to read Law at university at a top uni but you must take an access to Law, to apply if you do not have A levels.
If no prior knowledge of law is required but they simply want evidence of your academic ability, why can you Access not be in any subject area, provided it was mainly essay based. The course is equivalent to 3 A levels and 4 if you also take the level 4 Maths.
Do you agree/ disagree with this? Have thoughts as to why this is the case for many top uni admissions?
I was wondering what people's thoughts and opinions are on Access courses, not allowing people 'true' access into university.
For the following example I am only talking about degree courses and universities that do not ask for specific A level.
You can have A level History, Psychology and English lit for example to apply to read Law at university at a top uni but you must take an access to Law, to apply if you do not have A levels.
If no prior knowledge of law is required but they simply want evidence of your academic ability, why can you Access not be in any subject area, provided it was mainly essay based. The course is equivalent to 3 A levels and 4 if you also take the level 4 Maths.
Do you agree/ disagree with this? Have thoughts as to why this is the case for many top uni admissions?
Every access course at every college is different. To pass an access course you need a minimum 45 credits at level 3 and 15 at level 2/3 and some generic access courses only cover enough work for this. Access courses which are aimed at particular pathways have often been designed with help from the universities who offer that particular degree so that the students start university with the skills and knowledge that the university would like them to have. I don't really know much about Law but I studied an Access to Pharmacy course and completed 90 level 3 credits altogether. All of the work I covered was very relevant and I am benefitting from having studied it, I would not have been anywhere near as well prepared for university if I had only done half of the level 3 work and gained half of the level 3 credits. The A'level students on my degree have done way more chemistry than me but the chemistry I have done is very specific to the degree and in some respects I have the advantage because I've covered aspects which the A'level students haven't. So while I have a certificate which states I have passed an access course with 60 credits and the other 30 aren't worth anything in terms of qualifications or certification the universities that I applied to know that I covered all of the stuff that they think is important.
So yeah, I can see why you might think it unfair that you can't do a generic access course but from the universities point of view they want you as well prepared as possible. It is possible that in the past they have taken students from generic access courses and found they were unable to cope.
I was told I would not get onto a languages course at uni with access to humanities, im taking a language course as well anyway though
the scottish system is different though, you cant apply to any english unis with a scottish access course which I find unfair as most english unis ask for 3 AH which most colleges offer a very limited number in. So I dont know how you would go about doing it as a mature student
the scottish system is different though, you cant apply to any english unis with a scottish access course which I find unfair as most english unis ask for 3 AH which most colleges offer a very limited number in. So I dont know how you would go about doing it as a mature student
Original post by Michaelj
You're probably less likely to get into places like Oxford or Cambridge but a lot of uni's will accept an access course.
Not necessarily true. Mansfield College at Oxford are very receptive to Access to HE students.
Original post by Leoroary
I was told I would not get onto a languages course at uni with access to humanities, im taking a language course as well anyway though
the scottish system is different though, you cant apply to any english unis with a scottish access course which I find unfair as most english unis ask for 3 AH which most colleges offer a very limited number in. So I dont know how you would go about doing it as a mature student
the scottish system is different though, you cant apply to any english unis with a scottish access course which I find unfair as most english unis ask for 3 AH which most colleges offer a very limited number in. So I dont know how you would go about doing it as a mature student
I would agree that an Access course is not sufficient preparation for a degree in a language. You need to have a good grasp of the language prior to commencing the course.
I don't know. It's hard to say for law, not knowing anything about law but the system seems a mess/confusing. It may be for the best though. I remember when I went to university after my access course where I only did Biology and other non relevent subjects such as English and Psychology.
Chemistry and practical write ups when I first started were truly terrifying - not knowing anything about equations and the University assuming an A level knowledge. How I wished I had done even GCSE Math and Chemistry for a year before hand at the time. AS level Biology is not enough if you are going to be studying a Chemistry subject at University. Biology is largely just remembering facts, systems and nothing Mathematical at all up to that point. It really doesn't cut it.
I went off a bit there but the point I am trying to make is about fundamental knowledge. So it may be a good thing to do Access Law. However if that is the case I can see people being peeved at doing a regular all round Access course for a year before realising that.
Chemistry and practical write ups when I first started were truly terrifying - not knowing anything about equations and the University assuming an A level knowledge. How I wished I had done even GCSE Math and Chemistry for a year before hand at the time. AS level Biology is not enough if you are going to be studying a Chemistry subject at University. Biology is largely just remembering facts, systems and nothing Mathematical at all up to that point. It really doesn't cut it.
I went off a bit there but the point I am trying to make is about fundamental knowledge. So it may be a good thing to do Access Law. However if that is the case I can see people being peeved at doing a regular all round Access course for a year before realising that.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by jami74
Every access course at every college is different. To pass an access course you need a minimum 45 credits at level 3 and 15 at level 2/3 and some generic access courses only cover enough work for this. Access courses which are aimed at particular pathways have often been designed with help from the universities who offer that particular degree so that the students start university with the skills and knowledge that the university would like them to have. I don't really know much about Law but I studied an Access to Pharmacy course and completed 90 level 3 credits altogether. All of the work I covered was very relevant and I am benefitting from having studied it, I would not have been anywhere near as well prepared for university if I had only done half of the level 3 work and gained half of the level 3 credits. The A'level students on my degree have done way more chemistry than me but the chemistry I have done is very specific to the degree and in some respects I have the advantage because I've covered aspects which the A'level students haven't. So while I have a certificate which states I have passed an access course with 60 credits and the other 30 aren't worth anything in terms of qualifications or certification the universities that I applied to know that I covered all of the stuff that they think is important.
So yeah, I can see why you might think it unfair that you can't do a generic access course but from the universities point of view they want you as well prepared as possible. It is possible that in the past they have taken students from generic access courses and found they were unable to cope.
So yeah, I can see why you might think it unfair that you can't do a generic access course but from the universities point of view they want you as well prepared as possible. It is possible that in the past they have taken students from generic access courses and found they were unable to cope.
Hello,
I certainly see why a University would want science related subjects if you was going onto a Science related degree but then those courses ask for specific A levels also. I'm more confused as to why the degree courses that ask for NO specific A levels, want a specific Access. I have done both science and non-science related Access courses and both were heavy on essays. In both of them I completed 6 extra units, which means I studied at least 78 credits.
I completely understand why it is beneficial to do an Access in the subject area but I do not agree with an A level student applying with any A levels but an Access course being specific. I have since been told by one University that it is because it is so competitive, they use it as a way to filter out students, that does not seem correct to me.
Original post by ExWunderkind
Sorry if I am misunderstanding here, but I don't know of any courses that require the specific Access to HE: Law course to be completed.
The ones I've seen state Access to HE, but I don't think you'd have a problem if you presented, for example, the Access to HE: Humanities pathway.
I would say they might have issue if you'd taken Access to HE: Science, as that wouldn't necessarily have enough of an essay basis, which Law is heavy on.
I think more emphasis is probably based on the LNAT whichever way you proceed though.
The ones I've seen state Access to HE, but I don't think you'd have a problem if you presented, for example, the Access to HE: Humanities pathway.
I would say they might have issue if you'd taken Access to HE: Science, as that wouldn't necessarily have enough of an essay basis, which Law is heavy on.
I think more emphasis is probably based on the LNAT whichever way you proceed though.
Hi,
I don't want to apply to a uni that does not allow any Access, so it is not a major issue but one of my close friends who is applying for next year, we contacted similar universities to me, she had a few more distinctions then I did but have been told by all the Top unis she applied to they will only accept Access to Law, even if the Access was predominantly essay based. Some of these do not ask for the LNAT, so it seems you have to have the Access to Law or you cannot apply. It just seems strange as you could have A levels that do not include Law. :-/
Original post by crystal1330
Hi,
I don't want to apply to a uni that does not allow any Access, so it is not a major issue but one of my close friends who is applying for next year, we contacted similar universities to me, she had a few more distinctions then I did but have been told by all the Top unis she applied to they will only accept Access to Law, even if the Access was predominantly essay based. Some of these do not ask for the LNAT, so it seems you have to have the Access to Law or you cannot apply. It just seems strange as you could have A levels that do not include Law. :-/
I don't want to apply to a uni that does not allow any Access, so it is not a major issue but one of my close friends who is applying for next year, we contacted similar universities to me, she had a few more distinctions then I did but have been told by all the Top unis she applied to they will only accept Access to Law, even if the Access was predominantly essay based. Some of these do not ask for the LNAT, so it seems you have to have the Access to Law or you cannot apply. It just seems strange as you could have A levels that do not include Law. :-/
This is the first time I'm hearing you have to do law access. Maybe you should contact the law dept instead of general admissions who (imo) tend to give ill advice. I was told otherwise; the places I contacted suggested I take an access offering strong academic subjects instead of straight law access. So I initially enrolled on an access to humanities doing History, Eng. Lit & Politics. There were quite a few who opted to do this for law instead of doing the law access which my college offers as well. Also when the law access was full, the college offered humanities/socsci as a suitable alternative because it makes no difference.
However I quit the access when I realised my college also offered one year a-levels in the same subjects I was doing for access.
(edited 11 years ago)
Access courses appeal to prospective students who have a career they want to get into but don't have the qualifications. Since you already know what course you want to get onto why would you not want to do the most relevant access course?
This was posted from The Student Room's iPad App
This was posted from The Student Room's iPad App
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Bubble87
Access courses appeal to prospective students who have a career they want to get into but don't have the qualifications. Since you already know what course you want to get onto why would you not want to do the most relevant access course?
This was posted from The Student Room's iPad App
This was posted from The Student Room's iPad App
I have an Access in my relevant field and I also have another Access, plus other qualifications. It was not me who is struggling to get in to a uni, my friend was turned away by a number of unis, that I too had sent admissions questions to but she was told because her Access was not in Law, she would not even be considered. Thats what made me ask the question.
As for not doing the relevant course, some people cannot get onto them for whatever reason, happened to me once as the Access I wanted was full, so done the next best thing. Others live in areas where colleges are few and far between and will only offer one humanities type of Access, one Science type and one Arts type for example. I agree it may be best to study in your subject area but do not see why it is necessary, not when they are equivalent to A levels and for a lot of degree courses, A levels can be taken in any subject. Considering people can do a degree in pretty much anything, then apply for the Law conversion course, makes me think even more that it is not correct you must to an Access to Law to read Law at undergrad when you do not even need a Law degree to study it post grad! Just my thoughts on it anyway, I think it would provide a lot more "Access" if the amount of degrees you could do with it after, was widened.
Original post by crystal1330
I think it would provide a lot more "Access" if the amount of degrees you could do with it after, was widened.
Well of course but this is down to the universities, not the access courses. Universities can use whatever requirements they like to filter out appplicants. I did an Access to Pharmacy course but was told by at least 2 universities that they will only accept access courses if the applicant has also done A'levels, in other words 'don't bother applying here', another one wanted at least 5 GCSEs at B or above.
Anyone planning to apply to university with alternative qualifications like Access really need to check with universities they wish to apply to that their alternative qualification will be accepted. Every year someone comes onto this board to say that they've done a course which isn't accepted by universities.
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