Has anyone here studies an Access Course

[TravellingSpoon]

And if so, how did you find it, and did it get you into University?

I teach on A Level and Access courses.
They both have the same contact hours per subject (5), it's just Access is squeezed in 3 days with no free periods, whereas A Level is across 5 days but has a different timetable structure.
They are both challenging in different ways. The content is taught to the same level. A/B grade work at A Level is the same standard as Distinction in Access. But they are obviously assessed differently.
I actually find Access a much better course to teach, and find it better prepared students for university.

Oh, Donna, me 'so bitter'! 😂

Our young people are being sold a pup. Along with those who will argue to the death that a one year Access Course, alongside GCSE maths and English is equivalent to 3 high grade A levels in 'serious subjects'.

The wealthy, and highly RG educated- oh, those snobs 😉 - know that.

All that so many of us are buying is a worthless degree with a £40k debt. That the government might call in at any moment.

I'm absolutely onside with your assertion that many, many industries now demand that degree- I said just that, up thread. Because Tony Blair decided that all should have degrees.

But did we fight that? Did we say, 'Where's your apprenticeship scheme, buddy?'. Nope. We went 'Ooh, a degree. That sounds dead posh!'. And 'industry' said 'Sounds good to me'!

So, my point was, and is, the OP needs to make sure that her 'access course' is good enough to get her into a degree course that won't fold next year due to that ex 'Higher Education Institute', now uni... turning out to be a poorly regarded degree farm for people who buy into it on the assumption it's effectively 'free', as the degree will never raise her wage above £25k. And the Chinese students leaving.

An aside, a disclosure, if you like.

Both my DSs have BTECs. The older messed up his GCSEs due to immaturity (by which I mean, AABBBBBBCC). He went on to a well regarded sixth form (AS level Maths, Physics, Economics and Geog.)

That went the same way, at Y12, so we pulled him out in order to do a 3 A level equivalent BTEC in Computing. Which had 4 exams (in 13 modules) as the govt was still smarting from the public anger with the modular, no exam approach where DC resat, and resat the modules they weren't happy with....

He got D star, D star, D, in that BTEC.

He's now at an ex-Poly doing Computing; all well.

But, what he's doing doesn't belong in uni! It's a technical qualification any Poly or Tech could have provided, back in the day! Yes, he grew up and worked hard in his modules for his BTEC, but he never faced the sheep/goats of A levels. Those on his course who did, got C/D,even E. (And it showed).

He'd've never have gone to a RG even with his BTEC triumph.

His is a middle ranking uni. He will get a reasonably paid job out of it. But how many people are being sold that pup? A year to go from 'no GCSEs' to ready to pass a value for money, meaningful degree?

Yes I did. It was an access to health care course so to go on to be a nurse or midwife. I'm all honesty it was really hard, it did get me into uni yes. Very intense though, only went twice a week but the work load came in thick and fast. The good thing though when I started uni the people who had done the access had a lot more
Understanding of the subjects compared to the people that didn't.

It definitely was worth it, my first year at uni was easy compared to the access!

I'm really confused about why you keep mentioning doing GCSE alongside access. Does it make a difference if someone does GCSE at 16 or alongside the access course a gcse is a GCSE regardless of when it was passed.

Oh and my access course was way fucking harder than the 4 levels I was trying to take as a teen.

@Miljea you do know the access course is equivalent to A levels right? 🙄 how rude. Anyway a degree is a degree and is the same for everyone, what an odd thing to say.

I did an access course, then went on to uni. Graduated last year and now doing a masters at a different uni and then going on to PhD. The access course changed my life in ways I couldn't have imagined, I sing their praises to anyone that will listen.

winterchill, my point, rather obviously is that the one year access courses shouldn't be a substitute for three solid grade, 'hard' (as opposed to 'soft'- there is an actual list!) A levels!

And Jesus, if you think 'a degree is a degree and is the same for everyone', you have entirely bought into Blair's delusion. A very expensive delusion.

And kristim, what are you studying?

How can people 'judge' how difficult their access course is unless they took A levels? It might be rilly hard if they struggled to pass a few GCSEs.

But that doesn't mean the course was equivalent to 3 hard A levels, just because they found it difficult.

@Miljea have you done an access course?

Nah, 3 A levels, myself. In order to 'access' my HCP Diploma course.

And two DSs, one of whom did 2 x AS levels, then a 2 year '3 A level equivalent' BTEC, with exams (now Y2at an ex-poly uni, doing computing); the other chose 1 AS (Geog, A grade), and 1 A level (A star); and a two A level equivalent BTEC (D star, D star); and an Art Foundation, Distinction, as that's what his chosen degree course (Graphic Design) dictated.

So no, I'm not about to buy into any 'you don't know how hard Access is!' - debate.

You clearly have no fucking idea what your talking about

I clearly have every idea what I'm 'fucking talking about', starscream.

As an aside, even in today's 'all shall have degrees' culture, your level of debate will have to be considerably better than that.

But you can't judge how difficult, or not, an access course is anymore than someone who hasn't done A-levels can.

Ive done both (and a BTEC). The access course was the hardest.

Wait... you've got a diploma? So not even a degree then? (Unless its changed since I was at college and they are now the same thing )

scamander yes I can 'judge'. It's supposed to be L3. I have a lot of experience of what L3 looks like, to the point of acknowledging that a couple of exams in a 13 module, 2 year BTEC were easier to pass than the UCAS equivalent of 3 A levels.

If your access course was 'harder' than A levels, it wasn't pitched right, and really shouldn't be offered to people who haven't yet passed English and Maths GCSEs! Would you agree?

I did, back in 2006. I didn't try to get into uni though, I was a single mum of a 3 year old and it just wasn't feasible. Not really sure why I did it! It was access to nursing, I'd still love to train!

I enjoyed it, was by far the youngest there - average age was probably about 45. Most were mums who'd got their children to mid teens and now this was their time!

I found the course interesting, in fact have recently looked into doing it again

Nope I don't agree. There are a million reasons people didnt get the required gcse grade when they were 16. They passed their gcse alongside their access course and went to uni.

Still cant work out how that 'devalues' anyone else's degree

Nope. I got a Diploma. Like the vast majority of us did in 1982. In Nursing, Teaching, Physiotherapy, Radiography.....

You needed at least 2 A levels to get onto those courses.

They then became degree courses, because the same 'ignorance'- I will use that term as I have been accused of that on this thread- that sold Joe Public the idea that only degrees counted, made public sector pay-awarding bodies distinguish between a Diploma and a degree, in favour of degrees; made everyone believe that only 'a degree' has any value- has lead to this situation where your inability to pass basic maths and English GCSEs should be no barrier to you being relieved of £40-50k in order to access, then get your degree.

However worthless it might end up being to you, or society (who, currently, are picking up that shortfall...)

An aside, I upgraded my Diploma to a degree via about 5 essays. 😂

You don’t seem to understand that people who aren’t capable of passing a gcse aren’t the ones doing access courses.
The people doing GCSE’s sling access courses are the ones who didn’t get their gcse for an extraordinary reason, like my friend from my access course who didn’t get his English gcse because he wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until his 20’s.

Well I would actually agree that nursing shouldn't have to be a degree. Learning on the job and working up from hca to nurse should also be an acceptable route to nursing. But until the powers that be agree people will continue getting in to uni on the back of an access course.

Anyway we'll have to agree to disagree, won't we?

No one has convinced me that, in one year, you can pass GCSE Maths and English, as well as reaching the same academic standard as three A levels hopefully as 'uni entry grades'.

'Access' courses are 'selling' that; financially desperate unis are 'buying' that.

I studied an online access course through learndirect, I passed at distinction.

I have just completed my first year of a Social Work BA and excited about year two. I would never discourage anyone from wanting to better themselves, do it and never look back.

I didn’t, but I know two who did. One then went to university to study medicine and is now a doctor. The other went to university to study social work and is now a social worker.

No one needs to convince you

People who have done both have told you what it’s like but you only want to hear what you want to hear. My access course was harder than my actual degree.