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Access Courses

Has anyone completed an access course when they have previously had other qualifications - especially a levels?

If so, how did you find it? And was it worth it?

Reply 1

BenR94

Original post

by Mollyhtayl

Has anyone completed an access course when they have previously had other qualifications - especially a levels?
If so, how did you find it? And was it worth it?

I did an access course after failing to get into the second year of A-Levels. I found it was worth doing just to get into university. After lots of setbacks over the years. Some universities won't accept access course for direct entry to a degree program without doing a Foundation Year though.

Reply 2

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by Mollyhtayl

Has anyone completed an access course when they have previously had other qualifications - especially a levels?
If so, how did you find it? And was it worth it?

Hi there 😊

I completed an Access to HE in Social Sciences to gain the entry requirements for BSc Psychology and Criminology which I am now studying on. I did previously study A-Levels but received quite low grades due to the difficult circumstances I was going through. I spent some time working and travelling before deciding to do my degree and found the access course to be a huge help in getting used to studying and academic writing once again after having a big gap away from education.

It was definitely challenging and it took some time to get used to the workload and assignments, but was also a really great learning experience and helped me refine my academic skills to a high standard. The challenges for me were less about the actual work difficulty and more about getting used to the education routine again. Something I found difficult was getting used to balancing a few different assignments at once but this was also a skill I would need for university and I found once I started my degree that I was ahead of many of my fellow students because of this. It can be a steep learning curve and I remember feeling quite overwhelmed initially, however I was reassured by my tutor this was very common and once I started getting my first assignments back I realised how capable I was - plus a better idea of where I had room for improvement 😊 my advice to make things easier is:

•

Do a little bit each week so you stay focused but less overwhelmed - try set aside designated time to complete work, plus time for yourself to recharge.

•

Reach out to your tutor or the course provider as much as you need for support - we had optional 1:1 meetings which I took advantage of each week, whereas some students would only have these occasionally. Having these weekly meant I stayed more checked in, held myself more accountable and I got valuable feedback and reassurance more often. Take advantage of anything like this you can, even if it is just speaking via email.

•

Keep a good diary for deadlines, draft deadlines, homework, reading, etc. - seems obvious but doing this at the start of the term is really helpful for staying on track. I found a simple to-do list at the start of the week really helped me feel less overwhelmed with workload.

In answer to if it was worth it - I loved studying my access course. I believe it enhanced my essay writing, organisation, referencing and reading skills to a high level which gave me a good advantage once I started my degree. It was also super fun to study the course content as there were lots of topics I really loved! From the experience I had I would really recommend it, however I do advise speaking to the college/course provider you're looking at and asking any questions you have to get an idea of whether it's right for you. If you're looking at studying a degree and have an idea of a course and where, I'd also advise checking that the Access to HE you're looking at is suited to the entry requirements and speaking to the universities if you have any questions on this too 👍️

All the best 😃

Becky
University of Salford Student Rep