The Student Room Group

Advice on Science related courses / Second Degree

Hi everyone!

I don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about this, so I decided to come back here and hopefully get some help :smile:

I'll start from the beginning, I did my GCSEs at college (in 2007) - there was no choice, so I had to do English Language, Biology, Maths, Psychology and Sociology. I got BBCCC, as this was the year they got rid of middle tier exams, and I was stupidly lazy, I went for lower in the last 3 and got max C.

After this I started A Levels for Biology (loved it), English Language and English Lit.
But I got ill and had to have over a month off, when I came back I was completely lost, and dropped out.

After this I went to another college for a BTEC in Interactive Media, in which I got a DDD.
I have just completed a degree in computer related art.

tl;dr
I'm 24 now and even through all this, my love of Biology and Science is still very much here.
Recently looking at getting in to it again, and was wondering, at my age what any thinks the best course of action I could take. I've looked at Distance Learning for GCSEs (like Double Science), self study for A Levels, and I've had a gander at Access and Foundation courses at Uni but I'm not sure what is best.

Thanks for reading this! It is much appreciated.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 1
Original post by jack-of-all-trades
Hi everyone!

I don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about this, so I decided to come back here and hopefully get some help :smile:

I'll start from the beginning, I did my GCSEs at college (in 2007) - there was no choice, so I had to do English Language, Biology, Maths, Psychology and Sociology. I got BBCCC, as this was the year they got rid of middle tier exams, and I was stupidly lazy, I went for lower in the last 3 and got max C.

After this I started A Levels for Biology (loved it), English Language and English Lit.
But I got ill and had to have over a month off, when I came back I was completely lost, and dropped out.

After this I went to another college for a BTEC in Interactive Media, in which I got a DDD.
I have just completed a degree in computer related art.

tl;dr
I'm 24 now and even through all this, my love of Biology and Science is still very much here.
Recently looking at getting in to it again, and was wondering, at my age what any thinks the best course of action I could take. I've looked at Distance Learning for GCSEs (like Double Science), self study for A Levels, and I've had a gander at Access and Foundation courses at Uni but I'm not sure what is best.

Thanks for reading this! It is much appreciated.


Hiya

I havent got sound advice on the science aspect as i havent done science. My background round is 0 GCSE's. Was a naughty teenager and was expelled from school just before exams :frown:

I went to college and completed a Access to Social Welfare course. I was originally going to do Social Work, but didnt have enough volunteering hours, so i then chose Criminology. Upon visiting the Uni i decided to change to Law and Crimimology. From the Access course, i passed and exceeded all the entry requirements for all courses. Ive had offers from Uni etc.

Access was amazing especially to preapre me for Uni. All modules are Level 3 (A level standard) and Maths and English are Level 2 (GCSE standard) so they gave me all the qualifications i needed. Also im 26 (27 in a few days) so its never too late.

Hope that helps and good luck deciding what you want to do :smile:

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Unless you can self-fund a second degree, you will be restricted to NHS-funded ones. Do you have a particular career goal in mind? If not, I would suggest looking into NHS careers to see if anything appeals, and work out what you need to do from there.
Thanks for the responses!

After researching further it seems an Access to Science may be the best bet, as it deals with Biology, Chemistry, Physics and some Level 3 Maths.
Plus at my age I can get a 24+ Advanced Learning Loan to pay for my college tuition.

Original post by Schadenfreude65
Unless you can self-fund a second degree, you will be restricted to NHS-funded ones. Do you have a particular career goal in mind? If not, I would suggest looking into NHS careers to see if anything appeals, and work out what you need to do from there.


Yeah, this is something I'm worried about... funding a second degree, and ELQ which could also mean I have to pay International Student fees just because I already have a degree.
I've been looking at Medicine, partly due to it being NHS-funded.
Original post by jack-of-all-trades
Thanks for the responses!

After researching further it seems an Access to Science may be the best bet, as it deals with Biology, Chemistry, Physics and some Level 3 Maths.
Plus at my age I can get a 24+ Advanced Learning Loan to pay for my college tuition.



Yeah, this is something I'm worried about... funding a second degree, and ELQ which could also mean I have to pay International Student fees just because I already have a degree.
I've been looking at Medicine, partly due to it being NHS-funded.


If you're looking at medicine then there Access to Medicine may be better?

Do you realise how competitive Graduate entry medicine is? With your academic history your application would not put you in the best position I'm afraid. You would be competing with others with first class degrees; some who have wanted to get into medicine for ages but were unsuccessful the first time (hence they also tend to have AAA at A level, good GCSEs, relevant work experience and background reading etc)
Original post by jack-of-all-trades
Hi everyone!

I don't feel like I have anyone to talk to about this, so I decided to come back here and hopefully get some help :smile:

I'll start from the beginning, I did my GCSEs at college (in 2007) - there was no choice, so I had to do English Language, Biology, Maths, Psychology and Sociology. I got BBCCC, as this was the year they got rid of middle tier exams, and I was stupidly lazy, I went for lower in the last 3 and got max C.

After this I started A Levels for Biology (loved it), English Language and English Lit.
But I got ill and had to have over a month off, when I came back I was completely lost, and dropped out.

After this I went to another college for a BTEC in Interactive Media, in which I got a DDD.
I have just completed a degree in computer related art.

tl;dr
I'm 24 now and even through all this, my love of Biology and Science is still very much here.
Recently looking at getting in to it again, and was wondering, at my age what any thinks the best course of action I could take. I've looked at Distance Learning for GCSEs (like Double Science), self study for A Levels, and I've had a gander at Access and Foundation courses at Uni but I'm not sure what is best.

Thanks for reading this! It is much appreciated.


I've just completed an Access Science and feel far more prepared for Uni than if I had done A levels. The main reason for this is down to the types of assessment that I had, which pretty much covered every type of assignment and assessment method that we could expect to get in Uni.

Also we were expected to do thing like referencing and extensively research which I feel is a great grounding for Uni work.



Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Ranibizumab
If you're looking at medicine then there Access to Medicine may be better?

Do you realise how competitive Graduate entry medicine is? With your academic history your application would not put you in the best position I'm afraid. You would be competing with others with first class degrees; some who have wanted to get into medicine for ages but were unsuccessful the first time (hence they also tend to have AAA at A level, good GCSEs, relevant work experience and background reading etc)


I had a look for Access to Medicine, and there doesn't appear to be any colleges that do it near me. Although I did find an Applied Science: Applied, Medical or Forensic Pathway (Level 3) course.
As far as I was aware, I don't have to apply for GEM, but can apply for a Foundation Year. I'm quite prepared to work hard now, I'm more mature than I was when I first went to college - I have multiple Level 2 certificates in Literacy and Numeracy, and a high graded degree.
I also have the volunteering pack for the NHS.

Original post by RobertsClan
I've just completed an Access Science and feel far more prepared for Uni than if I had done A levels. The main reason for this is down to the types of assessment that I had, which pretty much covered every type of assignment and assessment method that we could expect to get in Uni.

Also we were expected to do thing like referencing and extensively research which I feel is a great grounding for Uni work.
Posted from TSR Mobile


Yeah, I feel like that is probably the case! When I was doing A Levels it seemed very much 'memorise this', than actually preparing you for situations to use it in.
That sounds good, thanks for letting me know. What are you applying for? :smile:
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by jack-of-all-trades
I had a look for Access to Medicine, and there doesn't appear to be any colleges that do it near me. Although I did find an Applied Science: Applied, Medical or Forensic Pathway (Level 3) course.
As far as I was aware, I don't have to apply for GEM, but can apply for a Foundation Year. I'm quite prepared to work hard now, I'm more mature than I was when I first went to college - I have multiple Level 2 certificates in Literacy and Numeracy, and a high graded degree.
I also have the volunteering pack for the NHS.



Yeah, I feel like that is probably the case! When I was doing A Levels it seemed very much 'memorise this', than actually preparing you for situations to use it in.
That sounds good, thanks for letting me know. What are you applying for? :smile:


I'm going on to an Environmental Science degree which is a mixture of Biology, Chemistry and Geology/geography. Thanks to the Access course I'm no where near as nervous about starting Uni as I was when I was getting ready for college this time last year.




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