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Access Courses Info Help?

Hope this is in the right place to start with, still getting used to where certain things go!
I know what they are but am a bit confussed about how they work, this might just be a simple yes or no answer so here goes.

From what i can figure out they dont run by the UCAS points, but there 'own' pointage system, as from looking at a few Unis they want X credits X at Merit or distinction and then X in the specific pathway, is that what you would like to specialise in? as what im thinking of doing one in for a
BA (QTS) in Primary Education with English.

Thanks

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Original post by Jay018
Hope this is in the right place to start with, still getting used to where certain things go!
I know what they are but am a bit confussed about how they work, this might just be a simple yes or no answer so here goes.

From what i can figure out they dont run by the UCAS points, but there 'own' pointage system, as from looking at a few Unis they want X credits X at Merit or distinction and then X in the specific pathway, is that what you would like to specialise in? as what im thinking of doing one in for a
BA (QTS) in Primary Education with English.

Thanks



Yeah basically it's a really strange poont system and you have to work out hours from classes and such properly otherwise everything is worth nothing! Also you have to use rules of combination (Study Skills is key otherwise you can not pass anything)
You'd be suited to the educational pathway - At my local college those students study; English, English Literature, History, Study Skills, ICT, Science, Sociology (only 2/3 units) and Psychology (only 4 units) :3
They don't do it for wanting to go into specific teaching i.e. A pathway specificially for teaching Art etc but the possibilities are endless and they normally provide a placement as part of the course

Posted from TSR Mobile
When you do an access course, you earn credits.
Most access courses do about 72 credits minimum.
15 of these are level 2, which you do at the beginning of the year usually.
The others are level 3, which is equivalent to A-Levels, BTEC, etc.

You do assignments every week (I usually do about 3-4 assignments weekly). Your grades for these assignments (Fail, Pass, Merit or Distinction) are what decide your grade for one credit.
You need 45 level 3 credits to pass the course, individual universities will ask for special grades for these. For etc. Some universities want you to have 15 Distinctions, the rest merits, etc.

If you already have your english and maths GCSE at grade C or above, you automatically get 6 extra level 2 credits :smile:. You won't have to re-do these, if you don't, you'll need to take these alongside your course.

Hope this helps :smile:. Don't follow any ucas point system, there is no equivalent. Just follow the credit system - It's tough at first but you get used to it :biggrin:
Original post by Portia1993
Yeah basically it's a really strange poont system and you have to work out hours from classes and such properly otherwise everything is worth nothing! Also you have to use rules of combination (Study Skills is key otherwise you can not pass anything)
You'd be suited to the educational pathway - At my local college those students study; English, English Literature, History, Study Skills, ICT, Science, Sociology (only 2/3 units) and Psychology (only 4 units) :3
They don't do it for wanting to go into specific teaching i.e. A pathway specificially for teaching Art etc but the possibilities are endless and they normally provide a placement as part of the course

Posted from TSR Mobile


Thanks for the help, sounds really compliacted to sort out then but there would be help at hand. No wonder they say you have to have at LEAST 90% attendance to be able to pass the cours. i have found one that is a Teacher Training (https://www.racc.ac.uk/course/L00245-141501#.UtbBqPRdWSo) so im hoping that would be good enough as im wanting to do primary age teaching, probably best to contact the college and Unis I've found that i might like to go to and see if it would be acceptable.

But then again, going back to the points one Uni has said just a pass will do, do you know what criteria that will fall under, no worries if you don't.
Original post by Jay018

But then again, going back to the points one Uni has said just a pass will do, do you know what criteria that will fall under, no worries if you don't.


What do you mean by what criteria? If it says that just a pass will do, then you just have to achieve a pass grade in all your credits.

Your credit grades are decided by the quality of your assignments.
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
When you do an access course, you earn credits.
Most access courses do about 72 credits minimum.
15 of these are level 2, which you do at the beginning of the year usually.
The others are level 3, which is equivalent to A-Levels, BTEC, etc.

You do assignments every week (I usually do about 3-4 assignments weekly). Your grades for these assignments (Fail, Pass, Merit or Distinction) are what decide your grade for one credit.
You need 45 level 3 credits to pass the course, individual universities will ask for special grades for these. For etc. Some universities want you to have 15 Distinctions, the rest merits, etc.

If you already have your english and maths GCSE at grade C or above, you automatically get 6 extra level 2 credits :smile:. You won't have to re-do these, if you don't, you'll need to take these alongside your course.

Hope this helps :smile:. Don't follow any ucas point system, there is no equivalent. Just follow the credit system - It's tough at first but you get used to it :biggrin:


Ah Okay, making more sense as i go along :smile: So with you saying that if they want '45 level three credits, with 30 at Distinction or Merit and 15 level three credits relevant to the subject specialism pathway' I would need to do 45 level 3 assignments at M/D then on top of that 15 level 3 Credits (at any level would that be?) in lets say English?

I do have them al
ready so YAY! :P But the level 2s dont count to your credits to get into Uni though? But it certainly does help lots more to understand how it works, as its kinda been drilled into my head that UCAS= Uni.

Mega thanks again :smile:
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
What do you mean by what criteria? If it says that just a pass will do, then you just have to achieve a pass grade in all your credits.

Your credit grades are decided by the quality of your assignments.


Because of the points system, not knowing until now how it works that credits= P/M/D
Original post by Jay018
Ah Okay, making more sense as i go along :smile: So with you saying that if they want '45 level three credits, with 30 at Distinction or Merit and 15 level three credits relevant to the subject specialism pathway' I would need to do 45 level 3 assignments at M/D then on top of that 15 level 3 Credits (at any level would that be?) in lets say English?

I do have them al
ready so YAY! :P But the level 2s dont count to your credits to get into Uni though? But it certainly does help lots more to understand how it works, as its kinda been drilled into my head that UCAS= Uni.

Mega thanks again :smile:


Level 2 credits in an access course will count. But only because the 15 level 2 credits you have to do in the course are essential in passing the course. Universities will state you have to pass the course with a minimum number of credits. :smile:.
It'll take a few months and you won't really understand the credit system until you're halfway through the year. I didn't understand it fully until I had mine marked a couple of weeks ago :smile:.
You don't need to pay attention to UCAS points if you're doing the course though, just look at individual access requirements for the universities you want.
And don't freak out too much if they state they want high grades. For each university that replied to me, they've asked for lower grades than they put on their website. Eg. One uni said they wanted DMM on their website, but in their offer have said all I need to do is pass the course. :smile:.
Okay, some i think have said,

BCU have said Access to Teaching only at Pass, including 40 Level 3 credits at merit or distinction grade.

St Ma
rys want a Pass no credits mentioned

Plymouth want
45 level three credits, with 30 at Distinction or Merit and 15 level three credits relevant to the subject specialism pathway'.

Wincheste
r havent specified what they want from what i can see.
Those a
re some i have thought about going to. All id need to do then is ring or email them first and ask what would they expected me to have to go to their Uni. Getting that now, that Access is a 'special' course that doesn't follow the rules of UCAS points, if you get what i mean. How do you mean about the DMM is that because the course is split into 3 or because your doing 3 different Access courses?
Reply 9
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
When you do an access course, you earn credits.
Most access courses do about 72 credits minimum.
15 of these are level 2, which you do at the beginning of the year usually.
The others are level 3, which is equivalent to A-Levels, BTEC, etc.

You do assignments every week (I usually do about 3-4 assignments weekly). Your grades for these assignments (Fail, Pass, Merit or Distinction) are what decide your grade for one credit.
You need 45 level 3 credits to pass the course, individual universities will ask for special grades for these. For etc. Some universities want you to have 15 Distinctions, the rest merits, etc.

If you already have your english and maths GCSE at grade C or above, you automatically get 6 extra level 2 credits :smile:. You won't have to re-do these, if you don't, you'll need to take these alongside your course.

Hope this helps :smile:. Don't follow any ucas point system, there is no equivalent. Just follow the credit system - It's tough at first but you get used to it :biggrin:


Access courses are 60 credits, not 72. 45 level 3 and 15 level 2.
Original post by Jay018
Okay, some i think have said,

BCU have said Access to Teaching only at Pass, including 40 Level 3 credits at merit or distinction grade.

St Ma
rys want a Pass no credits mentioned

Plymouth want
45 level three credits, with 30 at Distinction or Merit and 15 level three credits relevant to the subject specialism pathway'.

Wincheste
r havent specified what they want from what i can see.
Those a
re some i have thought about going to. All id need to do then is ring or email them first and ask what would they expected me to have to go to their Uni. Getting that now, that Access is a 'special' course that doesn't follow the rules of UCAS points, if you get what i mean. How do you mean about the DMM is that because the course is split into 3 or because your doing 3 different Access courses?



DMM would mean 15 Distinctions, 30 Merits.
So a distinction to every 2 merits in my credits :smile:.
You'll understand it properly when/if you start, I remember going mad before the course trying to figure it out and honestly, no one can explain it perfectly. Access is classed like that, just because it's the most popular way for mature students to gain access to HE :smile:. It's different in alot of ways from the basic A-Levels, so it's really hard to compare the grading system to UCAS points.
Original post by b0x3s
Access courses are 60 credits, not 72. 45 level 3 and 15 level 2.


Access courses are most commonly around 72 credits. Personally, I'm doing 88 when you take into account my extra subject.
You need to pass 60 credits to pass the course: 45 at level 3 and 15 at level 2.
Reply 12
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
Access courses are most commonly around 72 credits. Personally, I'm doing 88 when you take into account my extra subject.
You need to pass 60 credits to pass the course: 45 at level 3 and 15 at level 2.


All the ones I've seen are 60 credits which is what Uni's want, anything extra doesn't give you a better chance of getting into Uni, where are you doing your access course? Why are you doing so many credits?
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
DMM would mean 15 Distinctions, 30 Merits.
So a distinction to every 2 merits in my credits :smile:.
You'll understand it properly when/if you start, I remember going mad before the course trying to figure it out and honestly, no one can explain it perfectly. Access is classed like that, just because it's the most popular way for mature students to gain access to HE :smile:. It's different in alot of ways from the basic A-Levels, so it's really hard to compare the grading system to UCAS points.


Okay, making a bit more sense now. One uni want 15 credits in the subject specialism pathway, as seen as im wanting to do teaching and it would be a teaching Access course, i wouldnt have to worry about those 15 credits as the whole qualification would be on teaching? or have i got it wrong? From now on im going to ban myself from thinking about UCAS :P as its all going to drive me insane and just think about lovely credits.
Original post by b0x3s
All the ones I've seen are 60 credits which is what Uni's want, anything extra doesn't give you a better chance of getting into Uni, where are you doing your access course? Why are you doing so many credits?


In most access courses you do over the minimum number of credits required to pass a course. This is because if you get a lower mark on some of these credits, you can ruin your chances of getting into university. I'm doing an extra subject so extra level 3 credits on top to give myself some leeway, as I need to get 45 Distinctions to qualify for an academic excellence scholarship.
Other people on my course are doing the extra subject aswell, so they can have a better chance of meeting their university offers as some universities won't allow you to go in for teaching, etc. unless you have 30+ level 3 distinctions as it's so competitive.
Original post by Jay018
Okay, making a bit more sense now. One uni want 15 credits in thesubject specialism pathway, as seen as im wanting to do teaching and it would be a teaching Access course, i wouldnt have to worry about those 15 credits as the whole qualification would be on teaching? or have i got it wrong? From now on im going to ban myself from thinking about UCAS :P as its all going to drive me insane and just think about lovely credits.


If your university course is on teaching, that should be fine :smile:. If you wanted to make sure though, just give them a phone call. University admissions are genuinely really helpful. I called them at the beginning of the course just to ask them what subjects they'd like me to take, which helped alot.
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
If your university course is on teaching, that should be fine :smile:. If you wanted to make sure though, just give them a phone call. University admissions are genuinely really helpful. I called them at the beginning of the course just to ask them what subjects they'd like me to take, which helped alot.


Okay, thanks. I guess i just need to start ringing around at some point then and see what they say, as they wont bite, as they want you to go to theirs and will offer all the help they can :smile:
Original post by Jay018
Okay, thanks. I guess i just need to start ringing around at some point then and see what they say, as they wont bite, as they want you to go to theirs and will offer all the help they can :smile:


They most definitely will :smile: Good luck, I hope you get the courses you want :smile:!
Original post by cinnamon&cheese
They most definitely will :smile: Good luck, I hope you get the courses you want :smile:!


Thank you :smile: You have been a massive help once again :biggrin:
Original post by Jay018
Thank you :smile: You have been a massive help once again :biggrin:


Haha :smile: If you have any more questions, feel free to send me a message. I feel like an expert in this course because I ask far too many questions about it myself!

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