The Student Room Group

Studying music just for student finance?

Hi there,

Im a bit stuck with something at the moment. i'm a 21 year old trying to go to college to do more A-levels(already have 2). Unfortunately there is only 1 college in my area offering the A-levels, and its at a cost my parents are not willing to fund.

So I'm thinking about going to uni to study just so I can get the maintenance grant to fund my A-levels. Because of this, I'm looking for the easiest possible course at university to allow me to do this, and because I'm already competent with music and performance, I'm thinking a part time music course at uni is the best option. Are there any music courses purely performance based and would have student finance backing as if it were a normal BA/BSc Degree?

Thanks
Original post by liascm00
Hi there,

Im a bit stuck with something at the moment. i'm a 21 year old trying to go to college to do more A-levels(already have 2). Unfortunately there is only 1 college in my area offering the A-levels, and its at a cost my parents are not willing to fund.

So I'm thinking about going to uni to study just so I can get the maintenance grant to fund my A-levels. Because of this, I'm looking for the easiest possible course at university to allow me to do this, and because I'm already competent with music and performance, I'm thinking a part time music course at uni is the best option. Are there any music courses purely performance based and would have student finance backing as if it were a normal BA/BSc Degree?

Thanks


If you're a 21 year old then you'd qualify as a mature student. Could you not look at access courses instead of A levels? It would guarantee your funding and mean that you're not having to waste time and stress over a course you aren't invested in.
Original post by liascm00
Hi there,

Im a bit stuck with something at the moment. i'm a 21 year old trying to go to college to do more A-levels(already have 2). Unfortunately there is only 1 college in my area offering the A-levels, and its at a cost my parents are not willing to fund.

So I'm thinking about going to uni to study just so I can get the maintenance grant to fund my A-levels. Because of this, I'm looking for the easiest possible course at university to allow me to do this, and because I'm already competent with music and performance, I'm thinking a part time music course at uni is the best option. Are there any music courses purely performance based and would have student finance backing as if it were a normal BA/BSc Degree?

Thanks


You wouldn't have funding to do another degree in future and if you aren't attending properly they ll ask you to leave , part time course don't attract living costs loans anyway
.Are you not eligible for other funding like an advanced learning loan? :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by liascm00
Hi there,

Im a bit stuck with something at the moment. i'm a 21 year old trying to go to college to do more A-levels(already have 2). Unfortunately there is only 1 college in my area offering the A-levels, and its at a cost my parents are not willing to fund.

So I'm thinking about going to uni to study just so I can get the maintenance grant to fund my A-levels. Because of this, I'm looking for the easiest possible course at university to allow me to do this, and because I'm already competent with music and performance, I'm thinking a part time music course at uni is the best option. Are there any music courses purely performance based and would have student finance backing as if it were a normal BA/BSc Degree?

Thanks


You should qualify for an Advanced Learner Loan, so don't mug the taxpayer off by doing a degree you don't care about for the sake of "free money".
Reply 4
Original post by Friffinghell
If you're a 21 year old then you'd qualify as a mature student. Could you not look at access courses instead of A levels? It would guarantee your funding and mean that you're not having to waste time and stress over a course you aren't invested in.


I want to pursue a pathway to medical school and my only chance of doing such would be with going to college to study a few science A-levels, as entry level requirements for most England medical schools is AAA. Without student finance, I wouldn't be able to fund these A-level courses. After calling student finance
it seems my only chance of finance help from is through entering university.
Reply 5
Original post by IWMTom
You should qualify for an Advanced Learner Loan, so don't mug the taxpayer off by doing a degree you don't care about for the sake of "free money".


Most of the colleges in my area are not support by this(suburbs west London), and the ones that are don't offer the science topics.
Reply 6
Original post by liascm00
Most of the colleges in my area are not support by this(suburbs west London), and the ones that are don't offer the science topics.


That doesn't sound right at all.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Access_to_Medicine

Here's a link about some different access courses in England. Do you qualify for any of these?
Reply 8
Original post by claireestelle
You wouldn't have funding to do another degree in future and if you aren't attending properly they ll ask you to leave , part time course don't attract living costs loans anyway
.Are you not eligible for other funding like an advanced learning loan? :smile:


Ahh i never realised that.

My overall aim is to get to medical school. My first step is getting more a-levels but I don't have the means to fund the course costs for a 19+, so I really am kinda stuck
Reply 9
Original post by Friffinghell
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Access_to_Medicine

Here's a link about some different access courses in England. Do you qualify for any of these?


Thanks for the link, its got really good information on it. My main concern with it however is how likely is admittance to medical school with a access course and 2 non-science A levels when there is likely a lot of AAA applications in science also being admitted to them?
Original post by liascm00
Thanks for the link, its got really good information on it. My main concern with it however is how likely is admittance to medical school with a access course and 2 non-science A levels when there is likely a lot of AAA applications in science also being admitted to them?


The Access course provides you with the same amount of credits as AAA students would receive. It's like a fast-track crash course of everything you need to know.
It can be very tough. But it's worth it if you're willing to put the work in.

Universities love mature students. They're generally a bit wiser with age and more likely to join in class debates and are incredibly driven = given that they have more at stake (giving up jobs, relying on family later in life, or having families of their own!)

Have a look at the different pathways for the access courses and see if your preferred universities are on any of them.
Original post by liascm00
Ahh i never realised that.

My overall aim is to get to medical school. My first step is getting more a-levels but I don't have the means to fund the course costs for a 19+, so I really am kinda stuck


what a levels did you get and what grades do you have? doing biomedical science then graduate medicine might be a better way round it.
Reply 12
Original post by claireestelle
what a levels did you get and what grades do you have? doing biomedical science then graduate medicine might be a better way round it.


Thanks for the responses.

I'm looking into doing college during the day and trying to apply to berbeck university which runs evening classes between 5-9pm 2-3 days a week(possibly on weekends too)

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