Taking an A Level for "interest"

[batmanladybird]

I am thinking of doing English Language at my local college. Would this be weird? Am I likely to be among a pile of 16 year olds?
I am 44 with a second class bachelors degree in a humanities subject and twenty two years working behind me but just really interested in the subject

I wouldn't bother unless your interest is in working to an exam syllabus and learning exam skills?

Go for it. I did a language at night school ( equivalent to A-level) and I was the only school aged person in the class. The rest were there for interest. And even in the rest of the class were at school, I think it would still be fine

I did, I took film studies at the school I work at, yes I was the oldest there by several decades (including the teacher). But at college it may be different.

I have done a couple, although only finished one. I did Law first, which was great. The class were all mature students, the teacher let us veer off on tangents and was very knowledgeable so we had good discussions and debates. It wasn’t a case of just teaching the syllabus, although obviously she covered everything we needed and we all did well in the exam.

I then did psychology and that was the complete opposite. I was one of two that were not ‘normal A level students ( their college couldn’t offer the A level during the day for some reason so they did the evening class as part of their normal studies). That wasn’t great. If it wasn’t on the syllabus it didn’t get discussed. Lessons were very rigid, and the teacher was teaching as if we were at school.. lots of ‘fun’ puzzles and wordsearches,, the teenagers needed disciplining and it just felt like I was back at school! Gave up after a term.

Do you want the A level, or is that incidental to your interest in the subject?

There are many course now available on Zoom that bring in people from all backgrounds and ages. Have a look at York University's Centre for Lifelong Learning to get an idea of what you could do, and you can expand or narrow your search from there. Most are not credit-bearing or examined courses, but some are, and you could put them towards another qualification if you wanted to.

If you want to do the A level to get another qualification, you could still do it by Distance Learning, but I don't think there will be much engagement outside of the syllabus.

Is it still 50% coursework?

I enjoyed it but there is a lot of linguistics in it. Not sure if that interests you or not.

I'm currently studying a different subject and enjoying it - should have done it years ago tbh. If you do evenings at college there's a real mix of people and ages and reasons for studying. But there are tests throughout the year and an exam at the end as you're studying for a qualification so keep that in mind. The amount of coursework can be hardgoing at times but the knowledge you gain is fulfilling.

My DDad has done GCSE then A level French at college after suffering his second mini stroke. He was the oldest but they certainly weren't all 16. He also found the teachers very helpful and were willing to speak to him about the subject as he was obviously doing it because he wanted to not because he had to.