Limited choices!

[Tulvander]

So after a lot of thought and asking advice from mature students, I have told myself that come September, I would like to go back to college and study an Art and Design Foundation course which runs 4-5 days a week. There are, however, a few factors that are preventing me from committing to this decision. I work part-time on a 0 hour contract with my 2.5 son attending nursery 3 days a week (eventually going up to 4 once we get the free childcare hours). Husband works full-time and we share one car. At the moment, we have tax free childcare to help with the cost of nursery and I get child benefit monthly (around £90). I have a BTEC Level 2 in Art and Design with D* so I am qualified to enter but I need polishing up. Not a lot.

There are 4 part time Art and Design courses that are also being offered but they only qualify as a Level 2. The college does not offer Access to HE in Art and Design but does have Access to HE in Humanities and Social Science (2 days a week) which I also like but it isn't my first choice. I contacted the lecturer to get her opinion after explaining my circumstances but all she suggested was to apply for the part time Level 2 courses and perhaps come to another open day. I have no intention of doing another Level 2 course when I already have the qualification. Quite frankly,her response to my questions did not seem well thought out and has put me off applying for the Art and Design course at the college. Saying that, I have sent an application for the Art and Design Foundation course AND the Access to HE in Humanities and Social Science. I have been given an interview for Art and Design so I'll see how that goes I suppose. Realistically speaking, studying closer to home will be easier to do but attending college 4-5 days a week sounds unreasonable and risky to me when I have other important commitments. The Access Course in HE at the college is way more doable but it's not want I would like to do. It will give me the grade to enter Uni but I would really need to polish up on my art skills if I did so.

The other option that Im thinking of is travelling further afield to attend Access to HE Art and Design. I've found a few colleges down in Leeds and Halifax (2 hours away) like Calderdale College, Leeds City College, and Bradford College. There is also Carlisle College (one hour away) and the Northern School of Art down in Middlesbrough (2 hours away). These classes run 2 days a week. The long travelling time is the issue but I'll be doing what I enjoy. Question is, should I try this option instead? What do you think?

Have you got any Level 3 qualifications? Is the Foundation courses you’re talking about a Foundation degree or a Foundation Year?

On your point about the lecturer - I found your post a bit difficult to follow, so if she did as well I don’t blame her response for not being great. If you’ve been out of education a while it’s not a mental suggestion that you might want to think about a Level 2 to get back into the swing of things though.

From re reading I think your options are
Level 2 at your local college
Access to HE Humanities at your local college
Art Foundation Year at your local college
Access to HE Arts further away

If you want to go to uni for art eventually, the Access to HE Humanities isn’t a good idea, because you’ll either need art quals or a decent portfolio (which ideally you’d have help with from art staff) to get onto the course, so while it would get you a Level 3 for entry, it’s not the best fit.

You might or might not want to do a year of Level 2 to refresh yourself or explore other mediums or whatever. It’s not likely to make much difference to your eventual outcome.

If you want to go to the uni you need to do either the Access Course or the Foundation Year. The access courses sound further away than is reasonable given your commitments - the teaching time might only be two days, but you might need to do additional time in college to work on pieces or use specialist equipment. If you’re reliant on public transport for that travel as well it’s fairly hard going.

The Foundation Year is your best choice - it’ll be close to full time but not totally. You could contact admin now to ask for example timetables, but you’ll have to figure out how to make it work with childcare etc. Speak to the college to see if they offer any financial help - bursaries etc. They should have a student support or money advice service who can sit down with you and see how you can make it work. Colleges are used to mature students so you won’t be the first trying to sort it out.