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Is it hard to get Distinctions in an access course?

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Reply 40
I'm finding it a lot harder to get good grades in my Access course compared to A levels. I have this "study skills" nonsense (it's like making a timetable etc, really noddy) but even that is hard to get distinctions on. And I got As in my A levels. It's getting pretty disheartening now. My lowest uni offer is 30 distinctions and I don't know if I'll even be able to do that, I've got 9 Merit Credits so far and only 3 Distinction credits. Wish I'd chosen A-levels now!
Reply 41
Original post by Missmoose
I'm finding it a lot harder to get good grades in my Access course compared to A levels. I have this "study skills" nonsense (it's like making a timetable etc, really noddy) but even that is hard to get distinctions on. And I got As in my A levels. It's getting pretty disheartening now. My lowest uni offer is 30 distinctions and I don't know if I'll even be able to do that, I've got 9 Merit Credits so far and only 3 Distinction credits. Wish I'd chosen A-levels now!


I am in exactly the same position as you (including being in Study Skills hell!!). I've done alevels previously and found it much easier to get a's in b's in those than I am to get distinctions in my access course.. Wish I just taken a couple more alevels rather than doing this!

I also need 30 distinctions to get into my chosen uni but I need my 30 distinctions from specific Science modules which makes it even harder because I have no room for error. I've got 9 Distinctions and 6 Merits at the moment and currently waiting for exam/assignment results which will decide whether or not it is possible if I can reach my offer. So stressful!
Reply 42
Original post by Darkwater
I am in exactly the same position as you (including being in Study Skills hell!!). I've done alevels previously and found it much easier to get a's in b's in those than I am to get distinctions in my access course.. Wish I just taken a couple more alevels rather than doing this!

I also need 30 distinctions to get into my chosen uni but I need my 30 distinctions from specific Science modules which makes it even harder because I have no room for error. I've got 9 Distinctions and 6 Merits at the moment and currently waiting for exam/assignment results which will decide whether or not it is possible if I can reach my offer. So stressful!


It's good to hear other people are in the same boat.. So many people on TSR go on about how easy it is to get distinctions but I'm really not finding that the case at all.. Weirdly enough the only subject I'm getting distinctions in is history which I have never studied before. Maybe things will improve as we get used to the mark scheme. I can't stand study skills, Urgh!


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Reply 43
Ah thanks guys ! I could have written your posts.
My Access course to Health and Human Sciences is much harder than my "terminale" in France (last year of high school) even though I studied science. I have 6 credits at distinctions so far and everything else at merits :/
I need 30 - 33 credits at D by the end of the year.
If all goes well interviews soon. Yes that's stressful. Oh and I hate study skills too !
What's the point of doing a nice schedule and mindmaps ... ? I'm already well organised.

Hang in there with hard work you'll make it. And don't forget you'll probably do more credits than required.
I think here at Morley we do 69 credits.

I can see in this thread there's a huge disparity in what's expected of us by different colleges and courses.
I find that a bit unfair.
I have gcse's at 1A 5C 3D 1E from 16 years ago. I returned back to education to do a teacher training access course and I'm not finding it difficult most of the time. I'd say since September, I've struggled with about half a dozen lessons. I've got 7 units back so far (21 creds) and all are at distinction.
Original post by funnelwebspider
I have gcse's at 1A 5C 3D 1E from 16 years ago. I returned back to education to do a teacher training access course and I'm not finding it difficult most of the time. I'd say since September, I've struggled with about half a dozen lessons. I've got 7 units back so far (21 creds) and all are at distinction.


wow 21 distinctions ! That's good :smile:

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From people on my course and the responses of this thread I've noticed a bit of a correlation:

1. If people haven't studied the unit before they find it comparatively easy
1. If people have studied the unit before (maths, english, w/e) they find it, bizarrely, more difficult

It seems to be down the to the teaching style; I found high school very prescriptive and I think the 'inflexible' learning methods you're used to are something they try and stamp out at access - Certainly at my college there is a massive emphasis of delivering information and briefing assignments in a way that will help us at Uni rather than the GCSE/A level approach which is massively different
Reply 47
I'm inclined to think TSR forums attract members who are either more dedicated or just have above average academic ability. Hence so many people posting up saying it was 'easy' to get distinctions. I achieved mainly distinctions and I did not find it too 'difficult' to achieve them, but it did require a lot of time and attention to detail to anally retentive levels. It wasn't easy, it was tedious and looking back now I'm not sure how I stayed motivated.

I noticed other very capable students 'losing' distinctions for really silly mistakes but those mistakes are so easy to make, especially when you are returning to study after a long break and have other priorities/responsibilities outside of the course.

TBH for the people saying they got 60...70...whatever.... easy credits at distinction, I would say really? Please be careful . Unless you found it genuinely 'easy' to achieve those results you may well hit burnout by the second year of Uni. Remember access and 1st year don't count for squat at the end of the degree. If you start churning out 55% in your second/third year because you have hit a brick wall and can't be arsed anymore you will be gutted you didn't save some energy for when it actually counts.
(edited 10 years ago)
I would mirror what Big V has said - if you look where most people have applied there are a large amount of Oxbridge Candidates as well as Russell Group applicants.

So far I am achieving Distinctions - but as said, I am throwing as much time as possible at it, and being anally retentive and squeezing my tutors for all the advice I can get! Last year, in a cohort of 80 or so 8 students achieved straight distinctions worth 60 credits.... This year I imagine it will be lower as we have a new moderator, which is causing problems!
hey guys
I'm on a access to nursing course and i am finding it hard to obtain these distinction because the amount of detailed you have to go into is huge and some teachers set word counts which limits what you would like to say in your essays. So I try to shorten sentences to make more room fro in-depth analysis but this also hard.
so far I have achieved MPP for 1 unit, which i think is grade P for that unit.
my college is really slow to mark work.
i received on Friday one of my science essay back and I just need to complete one more assignment for it .

Luckily the comment the teacher had written was : you have shown excellent insight and application of the subject knowledge. you have thoroughly explained all aspect of the subject.

I think if you are doing anything like a core practical write up you need to think of the questions like?
- what limitations are there in this experiment?
- how to overcome these limitations
- when calculating data you must have more than 6 results and find an average and but a graph.
-talk about outliers
-safety and ethical issues if there are some
- reference and cite your work throughout the essay

hopefully this information may help somebody


i personally put in a lot of hard work and time but it is still hard to get distinction for the units. I have studied A levels before in Biology,Chemistry and sociology but this course is so intense. (since it is only one yr)

I need 30 distinction for my chosen adult nursing course but this is just insane, because at this rate I am just confused at what I should do now. Because I am working hard and put in the extra hours and I also looked at articles in the newspaper and use journals to help deepen my knowledge.

I not trying to get into any specific high rank university, and I am so scared because at college they are spoon feeding us like crazy but university is going to to insane and a huge milestone.
Reply 50
I would say distinctions are not easy. So far I have 12 D's but I have honestly worked really hard to get them. Spent hours researching each topic and many hours/days/weeks on my essays.

I only need merits for uni. However I want to give this my absolutely best shot.

There are some(one) people in my class that can crack and essay out the night before and scrap a merit. But generally people have to work really hard to get merits. And often they miss out on silly things. I lost one distinction because I'd included something and not fully explained it. The tutor said I should have just left it out then I would have got a distinction. But because It was included it needed to be explained. But I'd ran out of word count lol.

The hardest thing I'm finding is being concise with enough detail. Often 1-2000 words on a short essay is not enough words to say everything you want to.

On exams it's 60% pass 70% merit and 80% for a distinction. So far every has reached 80% on the short answer exams however the essay exams only 20% of the class got a D in the essay exam question.

Grading here is averaged. With each unit of 6 credits being given an average of the overall grades. So if you got PMDDD you'd get a D over all for all 6 credits. This is good because it means you can have a weak area and still get a distinction. If your over all work is of good quality.

I defiantly wouldn't see the access course as an easy way out though.

I'm also worried that the breadth of topics is not broad enough and uni will be a shock. However I guess there is only so much they can deliver in 7 hours a week. I would say most weeks in putting an extra 20+ hours of independent study in as well.


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(edited 10 years ago)
I wouldn't consider it difficult to get distinctions, up to now on my access course I have obtained all distinctions, however I know others on my course don't find it as easy. I guess it depends on how academic you are and the amount of time you put into your work. Also how easy or difficult you find each subject in your access course, ie, I enjoy the mental health side, but dislike the biology side and find that harder to get my head around, so need to work harder for the distinctions.
this is completely insane trying to get some good grades
I'm doing an access course in Northern Ireland. Our course is graded slightly different but along the same line. We get an overall percentage where 60% or above is pass with commendation (Merit), 70% above is pass with High Commendation (Distinction), I don't know what 80% or above is, but it is exceptionally hard to get and rarely given out.

After 2 pieces of coursework, I'm sitting on 82.5%, I do not expect it to stay there at all. I'm waiting on a 3rd piece to be marked, and I have one more piece to do plus my first year exams. I'm doing it part time over two years.

Am I finding it easy, hell no!! Have I academic ability, well I got 6 GCSE's in school all A's 20 years ago!! I would say I am a little higher than average, academic ability but by no means 'Bright'

This is a tough course, I am having to do approximately 15 hours extra study at home every week, on top of my 9 hours at college. So I'm not taking to it naturally, I working my backside off, whilst juggling work, home and two kids, to get these grades.

As someone before said, you get out what you put in. I would say, I could get a pass easily but I want to do the best I can and to get that I need to work hard!

I hope that helps a little, best of luck.
Reply 54
Greatly depends on how long you have been out of education. It's meant to be the equivalent to a-levels and preparation for higher education.

At a guess it's bound to be found harder by some people. This could be due to having other commitments etc. I found a lot of people who find it hard or have dropped out are people with other commitments. Which is fair enough tbh, if your struggling to keep up its best to find out now rather then later when your paying 9k a year for a degree!

I have heard a lot of people complain about the amount of detail, workload and commitment that is required. With an access course they can be flexible to help you out. However, unis will give you little or no sympathy when it comes to meeting deadlines/ staying on track!

All you can do is give it your best and enjoy the course!
Are acess courses structured like alevels? are all exams in june?do any of the courses consists of level3 maths or cognitive psychology ,biological rhtyms?
Original post by limitededition
Are acess courses structured like alevels? are all exams in june?do any of the courses consists of level3 maths or cognitive psychology ,biological rhtyms?


I do level 3 maths for health and social science so very stats based, correlations, deviations, standardisation etc.... I take psychology which includes elements of cognitive but it doesn't solely focus on it, and do you mean biological rhythms as in sleep? If so we did a sleep essay.

With regards to exams, we are continually assessed, I'm doing several exams at the moment, in Psychology, sociology, and maths, the former two are timed essays, maths is an unseen exam, and the latter is the same for unit 3 biology.
I find it quite bitty and feel that I need to manage my time effectively to keep on top of it all.... It's fun though 😬
Is it the access to health science course ur doing? .aaah sounds like allot of work :colondollar: anyways gooood luck :smile:
Is it this course ur doing?Health and Human Sciences - Access to Higher Education Diploma - Level 3


Original post by Bright_blonde
I do level 3 maths for health and social science so very stats based, correlations, deviations, standardisation etc.... I take psychology which includes elements of cognitive but it doesn't solely focus on it, and do you mean biological rhythms as in sleep? If so we did a sleep essay.

With regards to exams, we are continually assessed, I'm doing several exams at the moment, in Psychology, sociology, and maths, the former two are timed essays, maths is an unseen exam, and the latter is the same for unit 3 biology.
I find it quite bitty and feel that I need to manage my time effectively to keep on top of it all.... It's fun though

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