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How hard is the access course?

I've chosen the Humanities pathway which includes the following subjects: History, Sociology, English Literature, Psychology, and standard English and Maths.

Just a bit of background information on me: I've been out of education for a long time (excluding my personal training diploma because I didn't find it academically challenging due to the huge emphasis on practical sessions). I've had a turbulent school life due to a variety of reasons that I'd rather not list here, but it consequently resulted in me having terrible attendance; and when I did attend school, I didn't really learn much due to my negative mindset at the time. I somehow achieved a respectable grade in performing arts, and a C in my English subjects. I did a few sport related courses in college and passed successfully-but I feel as if they didn't make up for my lack of education. Hence the access course.


Considering my current level of education, would I realistically be able to handle such an intensive course? I'm going to be working roughly 16-20 hours alongside this course too.
i'd say don't worry about how hard it is. of course if your work/home circs are tricky that's gonna make things difficult, but how "hard" it is is basically irrelevant; you'll either rise to the challenge (and possibly surprise yourself), or you won't.
Original post by Hijikata
I've chosen the Humanities pathway which includes the following subjects: History, Sociology, English Literature, Psychology, and standard English and Maths.
Considering my current level of education, would I realistically be able to handle such an intensive course? I'm going to be working roughly 16-20 hours alongside this course too.

Hi. Good luck with your course. I did 3 academic subjects (Soc, Pysch & Lit), so maybe yours will be structured a little differently.

Don't beat yourself up about your past mistakes. Access is a kind of second-chance saloon for your education.

Re. difficulty, Access is as hard as it needs to be to get you up to the level where you can cope (and ideally flourish) at degree level, basically. You'll have a busy year doing it alongside part-time work, but it should be manageable. You can't know for sure how you'll cope with the workload and the academic demands until you get stuck into it, but if you organise your time properly and knuckle down to studying during the time you've set aside for studying, you'll probably be fine.
Hi, I had similar schooling. I came away with an A and a B in English (lit. and Lang.) and not much else at GCSE level. 10 years later I got a B in GCSE maths, was able to then do Access to teaching. I had to do English; literature and language combined, psychology and education (looked at the history of education, the pedagogy and such) and also took GCSE science alongside it. I haven't got the science results yet but with a huge amount of effort, learning how to write academically, use Harvard referencing and support from good friends on the same course I managed to come out the other end with mostly distinctions meeting the conditions of my uni offer. I did all this whilst juggling my family life- I have 3 young children, health issues, discovering I have dyslexia and a husband who works away a lot (military).
I would say the more prepared you are to do assignments early and not at the last minute, use the library to its fullest and work hard then the Access is what you make it.
It sounds like you're in the right mindset so that's a good start! Best of luck


Posted from TSR Mobile
I've just finished an access course in the sciences.

I'd previously been out of education ten years.

It is hard, but it's worth it. I worked roughly ten hours a week alongside my course, and managed that fine. Honestly, the year will just fly by and it will open up so many more options.

The good thing about the access course is how structured the assignments are, so don't be scared about suddenly having to write 2000word essays after being out of education so long! You'll get a 'front sheet' for each essay, and that will tell you how many words you have for the essay, plus it will break it down into smaller sections that you have to cover. If it's similar to my course, you'll also have some time dedicated to planning assignments as well, and help with how to brainstorm, etc etc.

Fact is, the teachers and staff who run the access course want you to pass and be successful just as much as you do. Partly because I think they genuinely want to help you succeed, but also because without you, they don't have a job! The more people that pass their course, the more money they get to continue with the course. So they will be happy putting in the time and effort needed to make sure you're confident with the subject and passing all your assignments :smile:

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