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I think I've messed up my higher education

For a long time I wanted to study Music Tech, I enjoyed music and drama at gcse and went on to do music tech, drama and history at A-Level.

I did a year of Music Production at university but left due to various circumstances. Since then I've debated whether it's something I want to do, I enjoy it but I'm not entirely sure.

I've tried to narrow it down to subjects that genuinely interest me and excite me or things I think about all the time. One of which is space, it fascinates me completely and I love learning about it.

I'd love to study Astrophysics/Astronomy but pretty much every where requires and A level in physics or maths, and given that I've completed a year of uni I'd have to pay for a foundation year. Even then I'm not sure if it would be enough.

I'm just really unsure as to what to do with this. Even now I'm still a bit unsure as to what I want but I know that Astronomy is something I'm very interested in
Reply 1
Maybe there might be an apprenticeship you could take? After a quick google of 'astrophysics apprenticeship' and 'astonomy apprenticeship' two results came up. Don't think they're an exact match but they might be something from which you could go onto a more specific qualification at university or something (if they're recruiting any time soon, which I'm not sure about).

https://www.phy.cam.ac.uk/jobs/apprenticeships
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/about/newshub/news-events/lift-off-for-new-generation-of-space-scientists/
Reply 2
Without taking A-Level Physics or Maths (which you could do in a year at a crammer, incidentally), your best bet is probably the Open University's "BSc in Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Planetary Science)", which has no subject entry requirements. It's part time and over 6 years, so I don't know whether that is a negative for you.

But I guess there is an argument to be made that, if you don't want to do A-Level Physics and Maths or take a foundation year in order to study Astronomy, then how much do you actually want to study it anyway? There's a difference between "I find that subject interesting" and "I am so passionate about this subject that I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to study it". And if the thought of doing A-Levels again or working in retail for a year in order to pay for a foundation year puts you off, then that probably tells how much you're really interested in it.
Reply 3
Look at taking an appropriate 1-year Access to HE course - this could be a good way back in to education and may help you sort out what you want to do next - https://www.accesstohe.ac.uk/

Or, if you have good A level grades but in the 'wrong' subjects there are special Foundation Science years at Southampton, Leeds and Nottingham - here is Southampton's : https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/foundation-years/science.page
Reply 4
Original post by fedora34
Without taking A-Level Physics or Maths (which you could do in a year at a crammer, incidentally), your best bet is probably the Open University's "BSc in Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Planetary Science)", which has no subject entry requirements. It's part time and over 6 years, so I don't know whether that is a negative for you.

But I guess there is an argument to be made that, if you don't want to do A-Level Physics and Maths or take a foundation year in order to study Astronomy, then how much do you actually want to study it anyway? There's a difference between "I find that subject interesting" and "I am so passionate about this subject that I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to study it". And if the thought of doing A-Levels again or working in retail for a year in order to pay for a foundation year puts you off, then that probably tells how much you're really interested in it.


Tbh, I'm gonna be working in retail for a year anyway 😂 having to pay for it doesn't really put me off, it's whether I could actually afford to pay that much. And whether I'd even be able to get a grasp on the physics etc
Reply 5
Original post by Nathaniel31
For a long time I wanted to study Music Tech, I enjoyed music and drama at gcse and went on to do music tech, drama and history at A-Level.

I did a year of Music Production at university but left due to various circumstances. Since then I've debated whether it's something I want to do, I enjoy it but I'm not entirely sure.

I've tried to narrow it down to subjects that genuinely interest me and excite me or things I think about all the time. One of which is space, it fascinates me completely and I love learning about it.

I'd love to study Astrophysics/Astronomy but pretty much every where requires and A level in physics or maths, and given that I've completed a year of uni I'd have to pay for a foundation year. Even then I'm not sure if it would be enough.

I'm just really unsure as to what to do with this. Even now I'm still a bit unsure as to what I want but I know that Astronomy is something I'm very interested in

My Thoughts:

"No doubt astrophysics is one of the captivating fields of study that inspires humans and ignites curiosity in them. The study of astrophysics is quite hard as it involves the in-depth study of multiple disciplines including astronomy, mathematics, and physics.

In astrophysics, you have to study the behavior and characteristics of heavenly objects with the use of the laws of physics. The study is quite tough as you have to comprehend several laws, and theories and solve complicated equations of math to know the unknown."

Source: https://educatoroid.com/is-astrophysics-hard/

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