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Science access course.. Need distinctions in ALL assignments! Help!

Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.

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Original post by Jonsablue
Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.


Hi fellow mature student :smile:

Setting a target like 45 distinctions seems harsh, from what I've seen most people get a reduced offer. 2 students last year from the access course I'm starting needed 45 distinctions for their courses and after interview both got lower offers.

There are students here who have successfully completed an access with 45/45 distinctions so they'll be able to offer plenty of advice.

Regarding work, I think you'd need to be careful not to post your work online as it could be considered plagiarism even though it's your work. There may not be presubmission but I'm sure your tutors would be happy to answer questions you have relating to the assignment.

Well done on the GCSEs and good luck !!
My tutor was happy to skim over things before hand and we could ask him what he was expecting approximately to get a distinction, also ask(they may provide it anyway) for the awarding body's assesment criteria.

The benefit of it being a Science course is that there's usually only a right and wrong answer, you just need to make sure you give the answers in enough depth. I did Access to Computing and if it's anything like that you'll have to answer scientific questions in assignments using material that the college provide, where possible try and do extra research yourself to add more depth to your answers than you could have done via their material alone.
Well done on your GCSE results. You can achieve 45 distinctions, as long as you are diligent and thorough. Always read the assessment criteria carefully, and make sure that you have covered everything needed for a distinction. I don't think you'll need a tutor, but try to get somebody to proof-read your work, as it's difficult to spot your own errors. It helps to scout out other high-performing students and offer to do this for each other. The tutors at your college may refuse to do a pre-submission assessment, but they should certainly answer your questions, and will be more sympathetic to somebody who is putting in the effort themselves.

Not all universities will ask for 45 distinctions, so if you are not confined to your most local university, you can pick an insurance with lower requirements.
Reply 4
Original post by ApplyYourself
Hi fellow mature student :smile:

Setting a target like 45 distinctions seems harsh, from what I've seen most people get a reduced offer. 2 students last year from the access course I'm starting needed 45 distinctions for their courses and after interview both got lower offers.

There are students here who have successfully completed an access with 45/45 distinctions so they'll be able to offer plenty of advice.

Regarding work, I think you'd need to be careful not to post your work online as it could be considered plagiarism even though it's your work. There may not be presubmission but I'm sure your tutors would be happy to answer questions you have relating to the assignment.

Well done on the GCSEs and good luck !!


Hi! Thanks for the response.

Yeah seems harsh to me too but that's what all the unis it is viable for me to study at are asking for! I want to go on to study diagnostic radiography and it's a very competitive course to get on so the closer I can get to that level the better!

I wasn't going considering posting work online! I'm aware of the rules around plagiarism. I was hoping that we would get a chance to show our work to our tutor who would then advise if it's heading in the right direction or needs further work to reach the level I need. I suppose it is impractical to export a tutor to do this for every student in his/her class so I'm wondering if their are private tutors that anyone has used to support them through access courses more or less in the same way you can hire private tutors to help with gcses/a-levels etc!
Original post by Jonsablue
Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.


You could try searching online for some tutors in your area to help you in certain topics.
You can also find ones that aren't close to you and talk to them over Skype or something if you need extra help.
We weren't allowed to submit complete work to our tutors, but we were allowed to submit incomplete work to see if it's going the right way, is it worth asking if that's the case?
Reply 7
Hi Everyone. Thanks so much for your responses. Feeling much more optimistic now! I think it's the fear of the unknown that's getting to me, I'll be ok when I get that first assignment under my belt...

I don't suppose anyone knows anywhere online where I can see examples of work at the different levels? Doesn't have to be science based and I'm not wanting it to copy, I'd just like to see an example of the level of work I'm going to need to produce!

Thanks again, really appreciate the replies!

Jon
You will probably have to write lab reports during your Access course, and it will help you enormously if you really understand the purpose and structure of them before you start. These websites have some useful guidelines:

https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ScienceReport.html
http://www2.hull.ac.uk/lli/pdf/Scientific%20Reports.pdf
http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing-resources/reports
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/LabBact.html
Original post by Jonsablue
Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.


Hello Jonathan!

I completed an Access Course last year myself so i was able to get into University this year and like you i was nervous about getting the grades needed for University.

Obviously depending on the subject, Access Courses are likely to be different. But i and a few others in my class managed to get 45 credits at Distinction. I will be honest and say that although the work itself wasn't particularly difficult, the workload was tremendously hard and that added a lot of pressure. Because you know that if you had time, you would be able to get top marks on it without a doubt, but when you have 3 other bits of work due in at the same time the quality declines rapidly.

All i'll say is when you get given a piece of work, begin working on it immediately and don't do what many of my classmates did which is ignore the deadline for a while and go down the pub for a few weeks, because unfortunately for those who did that they did not get in to University. Also, pay attention to the criteria written on your Assignment Briefs, that's what you get graded on and many people ignored the criteria and done work they thought the teacher wanted to see or added in information that they thought was needed....Which is not the case. Always always always stick to the criteria only unless you're told otherwise.

Good luck on your course and enjoy yourself, the first month is the hardest and then it calmed down, well in my experience it did!
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 10
Im going to second rgh's advice.
I also got 45 Ds, so it is doable.
Definitely start assignments straightaway. You might get away with leaving them a week in the very beginning, but as the course progresses the assignments take longer. We were getting three or four at a time with a fortnight turn around to submission, and the next lot.
It is imperative that you check the assessment criteria for each assignment (which will be included). The course is intensive, and youre being taught for each assignment. So what your tutors teach you NEEDS to be in your work, no matter how basic it seems to be in the beginning.
You can also pick up easy quality marks for presentation and referencing, so get them. For each module, the first assignments were the easiest ones to get Ds on, because they're basically testing how well you've understood the introductory concepts. Work hard on these, easiest Ds you'll get!

I was the opposite way round to rgh, first two months we were eased in. Then it got hectic!!!
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by Jonsablue
Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.


Hi, I finished the access course this year (it was really tough) and got into my first choice for radiography. I had offers of 45 distinctions and got in with slightly lower. I would highly recommend taking a private tutor, there's no harm in having your work checked for quality before you submit it as that is one of the ways they grade it. You can discuss with the tutor how you want them to help you. I can recommend one if you're in the same area, pm me if you want :smile:
Reply 12
Original post by Jonsablue
Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.


What GCSEs did you do, and how did you do them as a mature student?
Again to reiterate that 45 D is entirely possible as I also managed it last year. It's more about time management than the level the work needs to be at. Start early with plenty of quality research. Pace yourself so that you're working over the duration of the assignment length, not panicking last minute.

However, if you do drop a D early on...DO NOT GIVE UP! Chances are dropping one or two over the course will still provide you with plenty of options and opportunities.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do just great.
I've just completed the Access to HE Nursing with 42 distinctions and 3 at merit. The first 3 at merit I could have got at distinction if I had been given guidelines as to exactly what was required.
For our modules (biology and psychology) the important things were
- reference absolutely everything using the Harvard referencing system. Your tutor should give you info about this
- do your own research. I didn't buy any books, but did loads of research on the Internet. Only use reliable sites (such as .gov, again your tutor should be able to assist)
- write concisely, don't waffle. If you haven't reached your word count then you have missed out something obvious. My first draft was always over the word count and I had to cut back
- make the presentation look good, add diagrams. Remember you can include diagrams off the internet just make sure that they are from a reliable source and reference them.
Good luck, I'm 50, I did my access course in 9 months whilst working full time and getting volunteering experience. It's hard, but the universities will like your commitment. I enrol tomorrow for my nursing degree 😎
Don't forget that your UCAS personal statement is absolutely key. Write it, leave it, go back and re-write it. Ask your tutor to read through it, re-write it. Think about what relevant experience you have, maybe get some volunteering work, talk about your determination. Why should they chose you over everyone else
Reply 16
Original post by Jonsablue
Hiya

I'm 46 years old, sacked off my past career of 23 years to pursue a lifelong dream of a career in radiography.

I am starting my access course on the 12th September.

The induction day yesterday has left me feeling a bit deflated as I feel achieving that level on every assignment is going to be more or less impossible. The tutor even used me as a scenario for the class in what someone should do if they don't get the grades they want. Don't give up was the message, the uni might MIGHT still give you a break. I'm sure I wasn't purposely picked out to be made feel sh*t about my prospects but that's what it's done haha

Anyway.. Just completed my gcses. Got a grades in all my work. I was pretty much awarded a grades for all of my assessments. I know I am capable of really good work and I will try to get this done right however it seems that no pre submission assessment of assignments is available through my tutor, apart from the first one.

I was wondering if anyone found any private tutors that they could recommend provide an assessment service. I don't want someone to write my work for me I just want someone to validate my work before it gets graded.

Regards

Jonathan.


Hey! I did an access course in Humanities and Social Sciences this year just gone. I know it's not the same exactly, but I did manage to get 45 Ds all in all.

I worked very very hard to get there, but here are the biggest tips I can give you.

In the first few months, probably up to Christmas, you will need to work incredibly hard to start at Distinction level in your assignments. What I would recommend is that you get A Level study guides relevant to your subject area and pathways in order to give yourself a headstart. I relied almost exclusively on my own research and revision from these guides as I started to realise that the teachers cannot always be trusted to give you the advice you need to reach the highest grades.

That's not to say that I wouldn't recommend listening to them, that's not what I'm saying, but you might find that they give you vague or obtuse guidelines on how best to achieve the highest marks in your work (even when they give you feedback on your first few drafts unfortunately). Pay close attention to any remarks they make about how the assignments are marked and what would be marked as a distinction level grade. Speak to the tutors throughout the lessons about anything you don't understand and also at the end of classes. Use every resource at you fingertips to understand the subject material. Books, videos, notes, familly and friends, forums like these and anything else you can think of.

If you're really driven and sincere about doing this then you can achieve these grades. I don't think they're out of most people's grasp as long as their resolve is strong and they put in serious effort, especially at the beginning of the course.

Good luck! If you have any questions, please ask away or pm me and I'll be happy to answer anything you're still unsure about.
Hi!

Well done on your GCSEs, I think if you managed that then you have shown you can work hard which is key to doing well on an access course.

I did an access course last year and achieved 45 D's and I completely agree with those saying it is all about keeping up with the work. Start assignments as soon as you can and do lots of reading from varied sources in the subject. YouTube is pretty good for science to help you visualise things, I found that helped understand things that we can't see ie. Forces, very small things etc
Reply 18
I did the Access to science a couple of years ago and got 57 of my 60 credits at distinction (the only one I got a merit on was reproduction - I blamed not having children lol) It's perfectly doable with hard work, I remember days where I went home crying and stressed, but in the end it was so worth it. If you ever need any help or someone to complain to feel free to PM me.

Edit - I still have 99% of my notes and text books, so if you need anything get in touch
Original post by Wisefire
Would anyone reading this say I am incredibly unlikely to gain an offer from UCL for Information Management for Business, Durham for Business and Management, Manchester for International Management or Nottingham for International Management through an Access to Higher Education Diploma in Business Studies? I am very worried over this being the reality.

I am 19. I hold 1A* 4As 5Bs 1C at GCSE and ABDE at AS-Level. I had offers from Manchester and Nottingham for Accounting & Finance degrees while doing A2-Levels in a boy's private school in January 2015. I have a really awry, horrible and intricate past which had not allowed me to continue with my education when doing A2-Levels. I went through a lot of distress. Now, miserably, I mostly if not only have access to Access courses and unfortunately not new A-Levels. My personal statement this year is in my opinion far stronger than what got me offers from Manchester and Nottingham two years ago. I'm petrified. I feel hopeless.

I would not ****ing have this anxiety nor this issue if I had the opportunity to give myself good, manifestly superior qualifications such as A-Level grades.

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Try not to stress about it. If the course websites say that they accept Access, then you have a good chance. You are young to be taking this route, but if your personal statement or tutor's reference (briefly) explains why you were unable to continue with A levels, it is unlikely to count against you.
If you don't get in this time, you can try another route, such as self-studying for A levels. You have plenty of time ahead of you, and while your path may not be smooth, determination will get you where you want to be.

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