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can you do Access to HE with A-levels?

So I didn't do too well during A-levels due to personal circumstances and wanted to pursue a career in dentistry. I recently found a course called access to medicine pharmacy dentistry etc, and although I have heard of people going onto this course with A-levels what would be the possibility of actually getting into dentistry due to having A-level grades with the Acess to Higher education?

will the A-level grades overcome the grades from the access course and will the fact that I have a level grades put unis off?

Reply 1

Bambae

How old are you? That's quite important.

Access to HE courses are designed for mature students who've been out of education for significant periods of time. They are usually open to anyone 19+, which does mean you get a few recent school leavers using the course immediately after A-levels, or perhaps after a gap year, to make their university applications more successful.

Personally, I think if that's the best option for you, why not? There are plenty of people on my Biomedical Science access course with A-levels. However, universities aren't necessarily impressed. If you've just completed one full level 3 course (A-levels), then that does rather advantage you in completing an access course, because you've already studied all the content knowledge. Therefore they might not necessarily view your application as competitively as someone who never completed A-levels, or did so a decade ago. Of course, attitudes do vary significantly by university and department, so the best thing to do is contact universities and ask.

Moreover, don't assume that just because you did well in your A-levels, you'll be able to handle an access course. Having A-level knowledge is a big help, undoubtedly, but there are people on my course (Biomedical Science) with A-levels who are still failing to reach distinctions/merits, not because they don't have the knowledge but because completing assignments to the required standard within a short deadline is a separate challenge.

I don't say this to put you off - I'm so glad I enrolled on my course - but there is a misconception that access courses are the easy option, and a lot of teenagers turn to them as a backup and subsequently fail. I have seen two such students on my course. Whilst access inevitably covers less material because it is an accelerated course (1 year instead of 2), the flip side is that the workload is much higher. If you performed poorly at A-levels because of a poor work ethic, you won't find an access course any easier.