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A/AS Levels, Distance Learning or Access Course for Physics/Sciences?

Hi everyone,

I'm in a bit of a quandry at the moment due to a realisation that I had at 4am filling shelves with baked beans and I'm after a bit of advice. I left university in 2008 after the second year (ie didn't graduate) of a BSc Motorsports Technology course and wandered headlong into the economic mess we're in now, sitting on the dole for 18 months before getting a job with a local charity helping to deliver Learn Direct ICT and maths courses. After a redundancy and another six months of signing on I'm in the pleasant job of stacking shelves on the local supermarket's night shift. It was on one of these great shifts that it finally hit me - my life is totally screwed up. I'm bored out of my skull after only six months of baked beans and spaghetti hoops so there's no chance of me progressing through the company ranks, my lack of other experience and meaningful qualifications coupled with very few job opportunities means there's next to nowt I can move into and the PTLLS level 4 that I did get while working with Learn Direct makes me too qualified for most apprenticeships going. That leaves getting back into education and probably heading back to university.

The question is the route.

Being more interested in physics and materials (the modules I got on best with in degree round 1 were high performance materials and mechanics), I'm looking at courses in that kind of area, like materials science/engineering or metallurgy, so I know I need to get my maths level 2 (Level 2 Cert. in Adult Numeracy) up to at least AS Level and the AS Physics I did back in 2006 upgraded to A Level (I was surprised to find that the course spec I studied is still live with OCR). I've found a distance learning company that offers both A Level Maths and A Level Physics but local colleges do too, though in the "16-19" sections of their websites. Reading through this forum, I see that access courses are another route.

I suppose what I'm asking with this post is this: does anyone have any experience, as a mature student, of studying these kinds of subjects by these routes? I'm not sure which I prefer the sound of best and I'm not sure how colleges take those a decade older than normal wanting to do A Levels. I know nothing at all about these "access course" things so if anyone could give me a brief overview of what the score is with them I'd be grateful. This is all before I get into looking at the happs with student finance these days since that has changed since round #1 too.

So many questions wandering around my head about this. Makes me curse my younger, idiotic, bone idle self :redface:

Thanks for any help,

Anth.
Reply 1
Avatar for Gillybop
Gillybop
14
Hey, I have been talking to the University of Glasgow with regards to doing Geoscience in 2014, I've been working a financial consultant for many years in a senior management position, and have the best part of 250 ucas points from completing financial qualifications along the way. But they wouldn't take any of that into consideration for a science degree (rightly so, it's a completely different field) and pointed me in the direction of access courses, and told me that the Exploring Science course through the OU would also be acceptable. So you need to be having a chat with whatever uni you want to apply to and they will tell you if you meet the entry criteria, and if not, what you can do to improve your chances.

one thing you may have to consider is funding, if you spunked away 2 years already, you will potentially have to shell out for two years from your own pocket. So get onto that quickly.
Reply 2
Avatar for _amyjane
_amyjane
5
Yes - I left Uni my first time around and can't get funded for the first 2 years if I go back again, so call student finance and ask them. If you can't afford full time fees there is always the option of part time too. Thankfully the course I want to do this time around is NHS funded so I can still do it :smile: If you do distance learning A levels bare in mind you need to find an exam centre that will let you to the Physics practical as a private candidate. Alot of these places are really expensive but I have found one in London that do them for £65.. if you want more info, PM me :smile: (I am doing maths bio chem and physics as a private candidate)
Original post by Anth
Hi everyone,

I'm in a bit of a quandry at the moment due to a realisation that I had at 4am filling shelves with baked beans and I'm after a bit of advice. I left university in 2008 after the second year (ie didn't graduate) of a BSc Motorsports Technology course and wandered headlong into the economic mess we're in now, sitting on the dole for 18 months before getting a job with a local charity helping to deliver Learn Direct ICT and maths courses. After a redundancy and another six months of signing on I'm in the pleasant job of stacking shelves on the local supermarket's night shift. It was on one of these great shifts that it finally hit me - my life is totally screwed up. I'm bored out of my skull after only six months of baked beans and spaghetti hoops so there's no chance of me progressing through the company ranks, my lack of other experience and meaningful qualifications coupled with very few job opportunities means there's next to nowt I can move into and the PTLLS level 4 that I did get while working with Learn Direct makes me too qualified for most apprenticeships going. That leaves getting back into education and probably heading back to university.

The question is the route.

Being more interested in physics and materials (the modules I got on best with in degree round 1 were high performance materials and mechanics), I'm looking at courses in that kind of area, like materials science/engineering or metallurgy, so I know I need to get my maths level 2 (Level 2 Cert. in Adult Numeracy) up to at least AS Level and the AS Physics I did back in 2006 upgraded to A Level (I was surprised to find that the course spec I studied is still live with OCR). I've found a distance learning company that offers both A Level Maths and A Level Physics but local colleges do too, though in the "16-19" sections of their websites. Reading through this forum, I see that access courses are another route.

I suppose what I'm asking with this post is this: does anyone have any experience, as a mature student, of studying these kinds of subjects by these routes? I'm not sure which I prefer the sound of best and I'm not sure how colleges take those a decade older than normal wanting to do A Levels. I know nothing at all about these "access course" things so if anyone could give me a brief overview of what the score is with them I'd be grateful. This is all before I get into looking at the happs with student finance these days since that has changed since round #1 too.

So many questions wandering around my head about this. Makes me curse my younger, idiotic, bone idle self :redface:

Thanks for any help,

Anth.


Hi I'd say access course. It's quicker and is good prep for uni. You can do an access science/engineering and choose physics as one of your options. Look up access courses on your local college websites to get a better idea.
Here's the link to mine:

http://www.leedscitycollege.ac.uk/courses/fe_course.php?course_id=10094023&pNum=0&tab=all&sub=2&atten=Any

Self studying A level sciences would be difficult as you need to do practicals, plus from what I've experienced with unis they seem to prefer mature students with access courses. One member on tsr said she'd done a degree and was now doing an access course, she found the access course more intense.
Reply 4
Avatar for Evellinej
Evellinej
3
Hi everyone!
I'm an italian student 24 years old and I'd like to move to London next year to begin the university. I'm interested in a chemistry / biochemistry degree (I'm not sure yet but surely a science degree).
The italian school system is different from the english one, so it's difficult for me to compare my grades. Anyway the problem is that the course I'm interested into require biology and chemistry modules and degree. I have never studied these subjects in the high school. Actually I studied in two different schools in Italy: the first lasted 3 years and gave me a qualification (not a diploma) with a high grade. Then I wanted to continue my study and I finished with a Diploma (a kind of school leaving) with a low grade and without biology and chemistry.

So I asked all the colleges that offer BTEC courses and ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION courses to enquire what is the best route for me to entry in a course degree. They were very vague, some of them haven't ask yet and other tell me to inform from NARIC.

My question is: BTEC and Access to HE courses has the same value to apply to a university or not?
In your opinion for a scientific field what is the best?
Bothe of these courses allow me to get straight onto the degree course or I have to take first the BTEC and then the Access course??
Do you know anything about the prices?

Can I link the course I found at a college that I think is right for me so you can tell me if it's suitable?


Thanks for any help!!
Daniele

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