Access to HE (Health) for Paramedic Science at University.

[VivaLav1da]

Good evening all,
I'm awaiting my start date for September 2018 to commence an Access to Health course. The dream is to study Paramedic Science, the problem is it's become apparent to me that most universities require 5 GCSE's as a minimum. Now I don't have 5 at C and above, I only have 1.

I guess my question here is has anyone successfully completed this and gained entry to university without GCSE's? I'm a little confused as to whether the access course covers the equivalent of GCSE's or not?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you. 😊

The Access course won't give you the Maths and English you need. Tbh I'm surprised you were admitted with only 1 GCSE...

You could do the missing ones at the same time but that's seriously hard work.

Some places will let you start your course as long as you’re studying for Maths and English GCSE at the same time, but it depends where you are studying.

I had to sit entry tests for Literacy aand Numeracy to get on to the Access course. Theres a handful of Universities that don't require any GCSE's so ill just have to hope for the best and apply to those 😂.

Either way, GCSE's don't define my academic ability. I have previously been a network engineer for over 6 years and that required University. I've just never been down the route for health care.

Access courses aren't allowed to include elements that claim to be GCSE-equivalent. If it were only maths & English that were missing I'd advise you to do the GCSEs at the same time as the Access course, but doing 4 GCSEs would be pretty difficult. If the universities have specific GCSE maths & English requirements they are unlikely to accept the FE college's literacy & numeracy assessments in lieu.

As you said, the GCSEs aren't an absolute requirement for all degree courses, as there may be other qualifications or evidence that can be presented in lieu of them. The entry requirements for Birmingham City University, for example, are fairly clear: www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/paramedic-science-bsc-hons-2018-19. Do you need to study in a particular part of the country?

You can resit English and/or Maths alongside, free if you have not already passed.

You'll do level 2 as part of the access. English and maths. I only have English as a formal GCSE but I've just finished my first year of crim/psych.

Loads of unis accept that I lieu of GCSEs.

Oh, and I got a offer from and RG red brick without a maths GCSE.

In fact, their offer conditions were fairly low. 27 distinctions. I got 39.