Access to HE Science Diploma

Hey everyone,

I’ve just been accepted onto a part-time, online Access to HE Science course and I’m excited to get started (August 18th)! It’s been about 10 years since I’ve done any formal studying, but I’ve always enjoyed learning through my job in agriculture.I didnt have much drive in school but I really enjoyed Science as a subject, I think it's just how my brain works! I have felt I lacked real knowledge behind my job role due to that and want to go on to achieve big things.

I’m 27, based in Worcester, and will be managing the course alongside a busy work schedule. Just wondering if anyone here has done something similar and could share a bit of advice?...

If you’ve done the course or a similar one (part-time) how was it, honest real reviews would be great .
How many hours a week did you realistically need to put in? (I am a high achiever and have a streak of perfectionism, I am aiming for high grades!!)
What kind of equipment/ unique gadgets should I get? Is a laptop and external hard drive enough?
Any prep you can recommend before the course starts?
What helps you stay focused and make studying easier?
Does anyone know if Access students get any perks or discounts like uni students?

Would love to hear your experiences or tips
Thanks

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Original post

by michelle.pumfrey

Hey everyone,
I’ve just been accepted onto a part-time, online Access to HE Science course and I’m excited to get started (August 18th)! It’s been about 10 years since I’ve done any formal studying, but I’ve always enjoyed learning through my job in agriculture.I didnt have much drive in school but I really enjoyed Science as a subject, I think it's just how my brain works! I have felt I lacked real knowledge behind my job role due to that and want to go on to achieve big things.
I’m 27, based in Worcester, and will be managing the course alongside a busy work schedule. Just wondering if anyone here has done something similar and could share a bit of advice?...
If you’ve done the course or a similar one (part-time) how was it, honest real reviews would be great .
How many hours a week did you realistically need to put in? (I am a high achiever and have a streak of perfectionism, I am aiming for high grades!!)
What kind of equipment/ unique gadgets should I get? Is a laptop and external hard drive enough?
Any prep you can recommend before the course starts?
What helps you stay focused and make studying easier?
Does anyone know if Access students get any perks or discounts like uni students?
Would love to hear your experiences or tips
Thanks

How many hours a week did you realistically need to put in? (I am a high achiever and have a streak of perfectionism, I am aiming for high grades!!)
Speaking as a fellow perfectionist, I didn't spend more than 30 hours a week on it - tutorials + homework. Having said that, I did degrees before I did an Access course, so it was a lot easier for me (the style of learning and teaching were similar to that of uni). Those who didn't went to uni prior had to go through it slower.
If you're doing things online, you might need even less time but that would depend on how well you study. When I was conversing with my tutors, they more or less told me that I could have covered the material in 5 hours per week as opposed to 15 that others were used to. If I then play material at double speed consistently, I might only spend 2.5 hours on the material. (The homework still take the same 15 hours, no matter how fast you cover the material.) If I had freedom to cover however much material that I want in an online course at whatever pace I choose, I might be able to get away finishing the course in 3-6 months. It's too open ended to say for sure.

What kind of equipment/ unique gadgets should I get?
It depends on what your course say you need (there should be a brief). When I did mine, I needed pencil, pen, paper, and a standard scientific calculator.

Is a laptop and external hard drive enough?
A laptop is plenty. All the files that I needed to download and look into didn't take up more than 4GB - most of this was accessible through the cloud. An external hard drive is overkill.

Any prep you can recommend before the course starts?
Nothing in particular really - they will go through everything you need from the ground up (A Levels aren't even this well prepared). There are a few things that I recommend looking up or getting though (but this is like going the couple extra miles):
1) Get a revision guide on the topics you find difficult e.g. chemistry, biology. It doesn't matter which exam board it is, because your specification won't follow any exam board; it will be bespoke and be based on what the tutor says you will study. The material in these revision guides will provide you with the basics that you need to know, and often it's more than enough.
2) Read up on academic writing, since you would be doing a lot of it. I recommend getting How to Write Great Essays by Peter Levin if you can get it.
3) Checking up which specific degree that you want to do at which specific university. This caught me off by surprised when I was doing research into the degree I wanted to do, since not all universities would accept Access on its own as a means of getting into the degree (some don't accept them at all). If they do, they might only accept it for specific courses. If you don't know, always ask undergrad admissions of the specific department that you want to study under (I'm guessing the science departments of each uni, but I don't know what you would be studying so I'm being general).
4) Learn to speed read - plenty of YouTube videos on the basics. Again, another skill for life.
5) Learn to touch type - plenty of free resources online. A 2k word assignment at 5wpm (a finger on each key sort of speed) takes 400 minutes (6 hours and 40 minutes). At 30wpm (this should be your minimum target in terms of improvement), it's 66.67 minutes (1 hour and 6-7 minutes). Another skill for life.
6) Get really acquainted with Word, PowerPoint, and Excel if you don't know anything about them. Plenty of YouTube videos on this. Go through each ribbon and each feature to make sure you know what they do.

What helps you stay focused and make studying easier?
I never stopped studying since I left uni/school/college. So a lot of this was second nature to me. I also never had a problem staying focused, unless it's something really boring or I have to do it for hours. General tips though:

•

Meditation for 5-30 minutes daily, depending on how much you need it

•

Learn to go into flow state within 2-5 minutes - it's a life skill and you would probably thank me for it

•

Look at the mark scheme (grade descriptors and marking criteria) often - make sure you give ample evidence for each and everything they ask for to score high marks in the assignments

•

Look at the specification and what the module needs to cover - what they say will teach is what they will mark you on. Anything that's not in the specification won't be covered. Target what you need to learn.

•

Remove all distractions when studying. If you are doing 30 hours per week, you're typically looking at roughly 5 hours of uninterrupted study per day - even less if you play videos at double speed (assuming you can understand the material at such speeds).

Does anyone know if Access students get any perks or discounts like uni students?
I did my course offline at a college. Because of that, I had an ID card that allows me to get discounts. If your online course doesn't provide you with an ID card, you might have a hard time getting discounts - still try and ask around though.
Having said that, if you're a student:
a) you typically don't have a lot of money, unless you're telling me you're loaded
b) what you buy typically isn't expensive
c) the most you would probably get is a 10% discount on selected items - you can probably get more from credit card points (not that I am encouraging you to get credit cards). A 10% discount is probably the difference between what you can buy in shops vs on sites like Amazon where pretty much everything is at a discount.

Reply 2

Mind_in_Margins

Hi MindMax, these points are extremely helpful, thankyou for the detail and support on my post. I am shocked at the touch typing! how long did it generally take you to get this down?

Reply 3

MindMax2000

Original post

by michelle.pumfrey

Hi MindMax, these points are extremely helpful, thankyou for the detail and support on my post. I am shocked at the touch typing! how long did it generally take you to get this down?

About 15 minutes. I needed time to think about what to type.

Reply 4

Mind_in_Margins

Original post

by MindMax2000

About 15 minutes. I needed time to think about what to type.

Oh fabulous. No i was more interested in the touch typing didn’t take you a long time to get the hang of it?

Reply 5

MindMax2000

Original post

by michelle.pumfrey

Oh fabulous. No i was more interested in the touch typing didn’t take you a long time to get the hang of it?

10 hours - essentially something you can do over the weekend (or spend the whole day on it if you want). It's the standard amount of time learning to touch type.

Do also note: 30 wpm is considered slow by those who touch type. The top speeds are in the 250s. A professional is in the 60s. Some of the YouTubers you see can sometimes be in the 120s (usually after drinking a lot of coffee, which I don't think is healthy).

Reply 6

ErasistratusV

You don't need to learn to touch type. All/most Microsoft Office apps now support voice to text. I think some of them will also now narrate written text back to you, too. Windows itself also had this feature built in but it doesn't always play nice with some applicatons.

Some applications also allow you to convert handwritten text into printed text via handwriting recognition. I can't say how good these are now.

I would say to the OP, what University course are you aiming for?

Reply 7

Arden University

Official Rep

Original post

by michelle.pumfrey

Hey everyone,
I’ve just been accepted onto a part-time, online Access to HE Science course and I’m excited to get started (August 18th)! It’s been about 10 years since I’ve done any formal studying, but I’ve always enjoyed learning through my job in agriculture.I didnt have much drive in school but I really enjoyed Science as a subject, I think it's just how my brain works! I have felt I lacked real knowledge behind my job role due to that and want to go on to achieve big things.
I’m 27, based in Worcester, and will be managing the course alongside a busy work schedule. Just wondering if anyone here has done something similar and could share a bit of advice?...
If you’ve done the course or a similar one (part-time) how was it, honest real reviews would be great .
How many hours a week did you realistically need to put in? (I am a high achiever and have a streak of perfectionism, I am aiming for high grades!!)
What kind of equipment/ unique gadgets should I get? Is a laptop and external hard drive enough?
Any prep you can recommend before the course starts?
What helps you stay focused and make studying easier?
Does anyone know if Access students get any perks or discounts like uni students?
Would love to hear your experiences or tips
Thanks

@michelle.pumfrey

Hello! I've taught on an Access to HE program for over 10 years (largely Nursing and Midwifery).

You sound like a typical Access student, the average age of my students would be about 26 - 27, some are as young as 19, I think the eldest I have had was in there early 50's.

Key things to focus on - time management. Make sure you save the equal amount of time to work on assignments as 'class time'. Also, I would find out what the courses preferred referencing style is and get used it it if you are not familiar with it. It will likely be Harvard or might be APA at a push.

a lot of Access students I have taught struggle a bit with confidence at first after being out of education for a while but this is perfectly normal - I was the same when I did my Masters after a break of 8 years or so. You'll do great!

Marc
Arden University Student Ambassador

Reply 8

Tw1x

Hi! So I have just completed the first year of my part time science course, having not been in education in at least 13 years and working full time. I have achieved distinctions in everything so far.

If you’ve done the course or a similar one (part-time) how was it, honest real reviews would be great .How many hours a week did you realistically need to put in? (I am a high achiever and have a streak of perfectionism, I am aiming for high grades!!)
So I attended college 10-4 one day a week, however I found how much I did differed from week to week depending on assignment deadlines and working schedule. I think it depends on if you are planning on staying in full time employment or not. This is the part I struggled with most but realistically I probably did a couple of hours 2 days a week after work and I dedicated one day a weekend, around 8 hours. More so towards deadlines - quite a few all nighters! Again, this was probably more due to the demands of my job.I also used annual leave days around particularly difficult deadlines.

What kind of equipment/ unique gadgets should I get? Is a laptop and external hard drive enough?
I did get a laptop but I didn't physically take it to college. Just your standard pen, pencil, notebook, scientific calculator was all I bought. I purchased a couple of books during the course for uses in referencing.

Any prep you can recommend before the course starts?
Wasn't primarily for the course but I purchased an IGCSE biology course a couple of years ago and it came in handy for getting basic information. I also still had my old GCSE and A level revision guides which I used a lot. If you're not Microsoft literate like me I'd advised looking on Youtube for tutorials on use.

What helps you stay focused and make studying easier?
I had plenty of meltdowns haha but I just tried to remind myself why I was doing the course and telling myself its only 2 years (1 for most people) out of my life. There are also half terms which give you time to recharge.

Hope that helps

Reply 9

ErasistratusV

On the 1 year Access course I did you were expected to attend 3 days per week. I was able to do paid work the rest of the time but go home early if I had any particular assignments I was pressed for time to do.

Buying some old A level revision guides will be useful if there are any concepts you need to reread or brush up on. They also give clues as to the level of detail and scope you should cover as a minimum in the assignments.

I personally would invest in a tablet + stylus + keyboard and put all your class notes into OneNote straight away as that is largely the study workflow I used in University. A second monitor is very helpful for writing essays or when creating the other assignments as you can read your references and sources as you go.

It is perfectly possible to achieve a straight flush of distinctions if you are dedicated enough as this is what I managed.

Be sure to use the Access course to really prepare you for the demands of University, this is the entire point of the course. I really worked hard and got right into the groove of full time study and I still maintain my Access course was harder than studying medicine and I stand by that.

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 10

ARU Graduate

Official Rep

Original post

by michelle.pumfrey

Hey everyone,
I’ve just been accepted onto a part-time, online Access to HE Science course and I’m excited to get started (August 18th)! It’s been about 10 years since I’ve done any formal studying, but I’ve always enjoyed learning through my job in agriculture.I didnt have much drive in school but I really enjoyed Science as a subject, I think it's just how my brain works! I have felt I lacked real knowledge behind my job role due to that and want to go on to achieve big things.
I’m 27, based in Worcester, and will be managing the course alongside a busy work schedule. Just wondering if anyone here has done something similar and could share a bit of advice?...
If you’ve done the course or a similar one (part-time) how was it, honest real reviews would be great .
How many hours a week did you realistically need to put in? (I am a high achiever and have a streak of perfectionism, I am aiming for high grades!!)
What kind of equipment/ unique gadgets should I get? Is a laptop and external hard drive enough?
Any prep you can recommend before the course starts?
What helps you stay focused and make studying easier?
Does anyone know if Access students get any perks or discounts like uni students?
Would love to hear your experiences or tips
Thanks

Hey!

I didn’t study the same course as you, but I did an Access to HE course for nursing and midwifery before going to uni. I was a similar age to you when I started (29) and hadn’t studied since school! Access courses are intense, but I honestly loved it.

I worked part-time as a carer alongside mine, which worked well as I was only in college twice a week. Most of my free time was spent on assignments and studying, so time management was everything. A diary was my lifesaver…at the end of each evening, I’d jot down goals for the next day, and anything I didn’t finish would roll over as the top priority. Start assignments early and plan them out.

A good laptop and a hard drive are fine, but you might want to get Microsoft Office (unless your college offers a free student account) – saving work to OneDrive is a lifesaver if your laptop ever crashes. I had a notebook for each subject, and using highlighters and coloured pens made it so much easier to find info quickly.

I found it helpful to set fixed study times each day…study for an hour, then take a 5–10 minute tea break. Breaking it up stops you burning out. Also, make time for yourself each week to relax. I’d avoid making social plans right before deadlines to keep the stress down.

And yes you’ll absolutely get student discounts with UNiDAYS and Student Beans, so make the most of them!

Overall, while it was intense and a bit of a shock to the system as a mature student, I loved it. It really prepared me for uni, and I made lifelong friends. The teachers were brilliant and so supportive.

If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to ask :smile:

Sophie

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