Mature student who recently completed access to science - Ask me anything!

3vo

Title says it all.

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Reply 1

linnyloo87

Hey Congratulations for completing it :smile:

Did you do chemistry and how did you find it little bit worried about it. I haven't done chemistry since I was at school 10 years ago! I'm particularly worried about lab work.

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Reply 2

3vo

Original post by linnyloo87

Hey Congratulations for completing it :smile:

Did you do chemistry and how did you find it little bit worried about it. I haven't done chemistry since I was at school 10 years ago! I'm particularly worried about lab work.

Hey, Thank you!

My access course also included various units in chemistry (it was access to science). I was previously in a similar position as you but found overall the experience range of the students on my course was quite wide, many with little to no chemistry experience at all! The access course is usually structured in such a way to cater for all students and my first two units were level 2 (didnt really count towards the course) and were mainly used to teach us the basics and get us ready for level 3 work.

I found my access course was aimed more at theory than practice and this meant no lab time at all (which I felt was a bit of a let down). Although keep in mind, each college is relatively free in the way they deliver their access programe and your experience might be different.

My one bit of advice for anyone about to start a science based access course is (if you've been out of the game for a while), use the summer holiday to revise on any areas of your knowledge that you feel is weak. You can also use this time to write up some basic notes for each subject. I found this gave me a slight edge over many of my peers. Please dont wait until the last few days to do this.

There are some really talented teachers with helpful lectures for many subjects on youtube. Two of the best (in my opinion) I would recommend for chemistry is https://www.khanacademy.org/ and issacteach. Just work through the various videos in each playlist until you feel confident enough to move on to the next.

Good luck!

Reply 3

linnyloo87

Thanks so much for the advice :smile:

I've bought an access to chemistry book so trying to make my way through it.

Can I ask what your planning on studying next? I'm hoping to do bio med.

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Reply 4

3vo

Original post by linnyloo87

Thanks so much for the advice :smile:

I've bought an access to chemistry book so trying to make my way through it.

Can I ask what your planning on studying next? I'm hoping to do bio med.

Your very welcome.

I found about 99% of the people on my access course were doing either radiography or bio-med. I'm of the minority and due to study Geology. Wanted a career that had no aspect of customer services whatsoever! :smile:

Reply 5

skeptical_john

Original post by 3vo

Every job in the world has customers to please :smile:

Was looking at this myself but a bit put off by my lack of knowledge on chem,

How many hours were you doing in college and how many self study?

Thanks
John

Reply 6

3vo

Original post by skeptical_john

Every job in the world has customers to please :smile:

Was looking at this myself but a bit put off by my lack of knowledge on chem,

How many hours were you doing in college and how many self study?

Thanks
John

Hi John,

On paper it was 15 hours of teaching time which worked out to 3 days in college. I cant really comment on the number of hours meant for self-study as I found this seemed to vary greatly between my class peers and did somewhat reflect on the quality of assignment submissions.

Although I managed to gain distinctions across all units, I personally felt the way my access course was run was more aimed towards completing units rather than preparing me for uni. However according to one of the uni lecturers I spoke to, they pretty much already expect this from us and dedicate the first year of the degree towards building up our foundation knowledge of the core sciences. (I hope this turns out to be true!). BTW if you feel your lacking on chem knowledge, give the youtube video tutorial a go which I posted above. Really simple and easy to understand explanations.

Reply 7

Bambi2312

Hi,
Congratulations on completing your access course!

What were the subjects (apart from Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) that made up the access course and how in depth would you say the modules were?
Im starting the Access to Science course in September and im sooooo excited and impatient to wait until then to find out :smile:

Reply 8

linnyloo87

Wow geology that's pretty cool :smile:

my access is slightly different in that it also has pharmacy & biomedical modules which is cool just wish I knew what to expect lol

Roll on September!

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Reply 9

3vo

Original post by Bambi2312

Hi,

For access to science we studied the core science (biology, chemistry and physics) as well as maths (which was split weekly into one block for algebra and the other for statistics) and study skills (a block for study skills and another for IT).

You can expect the core sciences to cover most aspects of AS and A2 (we used the same books) in order for you gain a good overall understanding of the area, however as the course only lasts for a year it wasnt quite as in depth as what I remember alevels to be (due to obvious time restrictions). Maths was pretty fast paced (esp near the end) covering from GCSE, alevel and beyond degree in some statistics aspects. IT was surprisingly pretty useful. Study skills was a waste of time (but had two units which were mandatory to pass the access course).

BTW If you can find out which exam board your college is using for the access course, quite often the you can find out the list of units you will be covering on the exam board website. This wont give you the actual tasks for the units but will give you an idea of the criteria you will be covering.

Good luck!

Reply 10

cassini27

Hi 3,

Firstly, well done!
Secondly, how much spare time did you get? I am about to start an Access this year (lingering somewhere between Science and Social Science...TBC) and planning on working (am self employed and home based, so flexible with work) as much as poss - trying to get a grasp on how bad a hit my finances and personal life will take....though appreciate days and time commitments will differ according to establishment, any advice or knowledge welcomed!

Good luck with future.

Reply 11

Soawarlock

Hi well done on completing the course!
I am starting my access course in September and had a couple questions. Does your access course prepare you to study physics? I've looked on OCN and some colleges do different units in physics, chemistry and biology. When you applied to university did they ask what units you study? If you don't mind me asking what sort of offers did you receive?

Thanks for any help

Reply 12

Schadenfreude65

Original post by Soawarlock

Hi. I've just finished an Access to HE course in Engineering, and am about to start a physics degree. The key thing is actually maths: loads of colleges offer level 3 physics but very few offer level 3 maths. The university that I've firmed asked to see a list of all the maths and physics modules I was studying, and a more detailed breakdown of the calculus syllabus, before offering me an interview. Entry requirements vary a lot between universities: some will ask you to do a foundation year first, some won't accept Access at all, and some will happily admit you to year 1 of the degree. It's important that you research the universities you are hoping to apply to carefully, so as to not waste a UCAS choice.

Reply 13

Soawarlock

Original post by Schadenfreude65

Ok thanks very much for the help I will make sure to research as much as possible.

Reply 14

Schadenfreude65

You're welcome. Do you have any idea of where you want to go yet?

Reply 15

Soawarlock

Original post by Schadenfreude65

You're welcome. Do you have any idea of where you want to go yet?

I kind of have an idea I been looking at Unis for a while I have been through UCAS before about 6years ago. The five options I was thinking are Cambridge (hopeful shot but may aswell try) Royal holloway, Kings, Kent. I want my 5th option to be something with low entry requirements just incase. I'm assuming some will say the maths is the problem since most of then want A or A* from an A level student. Hopefully I will atleast get an interview to prove I'm suitable for the course. where did you apply?

Reply 16

jack-of-all-trades

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, what qualifications (i.e. GCSEs, A Levels) did you have when you applied for the Access course?
Thanks

Reply 17

Schadenfreude65

Original post by Soawarlock

I don't think Cambridge will take Access students for NatSci (unless maybe you also have a maths A level). Royal Holloway and Kings will both consider you, as long as the content of your Access course is suitable. I don't know about Kent. Portsmouth is a good back-up choice as their entry requirements are super-easy. They are not very highly ranked, but this is partly because they have only had a physics department since 2010, so haven't had a chance to establish statistics on things like graduate employment. Their undergraduate course is run by researchers from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, which is well-regarded.

I applied to Royal Holloway, Southampton, Surrey and Portsmouth.

Reply 18

zakit

hi, i just had a quick question.

did any1 u know use the access course in conjunction with chem and bio a level get into an mpharm program?

Reply 19

zakit

Original post by 3vo

Title says it all.

hi, i am thinking of doing intensive as/a2 chem and gona try get a B as well as the access course in science level 3 at MMM all in september.

i have bio a2 grade C which i did 13 yrs ago...when i finished high school.

do u know any1 that used this tactic to get onto an mpharm program?