Please help!!! Uni with 74 UCAS POINTS - little brother

[Lovemylittlebear]

Would be really grateful if someone can help me.

I think my little brother has 74 UCAS points possibly more depending on something I’m trying to find details on.

He did 3 AS Levels and then went to a college to do hospitality and catering.

My parents moved to the states and he went with them. He suffered from anxiety before which is why he didn’t complete his A Levels and went to college but now is isolated as has no friends over there (they are all over here). He has tried to work but with little qualifications has struggled with working conditions (Work place bullying with no HR set up). He’s a really nice young man. Kind and conscientious and he is clever. He just has low self esteem and anxiety that flares up sometimes.

Anyway- he said after considerable thought he would love to go to university in the UK. He would like to live with similar people and have that life experience. He would like to study Korean language or possibly go back in to catering. If he studies Korean he would like to do his Tefl (not sure how to spell) and then teach abroad (in particular Korea). I have had a look for foundation courses but am finding it all a bit confusing to be honest. There appears to be one uni that has a foundation degree. If he can’t get on to this are there any other ways to get on to a normal degree? My husband and I went to uni but quite a long time ago now so are rusty with all of this. Many thanks in advance!

If he's never completed a level 3 qualification (full A-levels, level 3 BTEC etc.) then his best option may be to do a year's access course at college and then apply to uni. He can get a loan for the access course fees which he will not have to pay back if he goes to uni.

Alternatively, if he's been studying at a US college on a degree level course, he may be able to transfer some of the credits to the UK and get on a course that way.

Hi OP. I am a university head of dept.

So firstly, clearing is your friend. Anecdotally, in clearing 2017 places with ucas tariffs of 112+++ points were taking sub 90 easily and often sub 80.

Secondly, foundation years don't necessarily have to be dirrctly linked to degree subject. I lecture in English and we take fdn students with cognate humanities backgrounds and even business studies! We would probably interview but they certainly wouldn't be ruled out.

Now unless the Korean studies degree is at SOAS it is unlikely to be hugely oversubscribed. I would encourage your DB to contact the admissions tutor directly - not the generic admissions line but the academic (lecturer) listed as adms tutor. Explain his situation and ask about fdn routes in.

Good luck!

Thank you ever so much that’s really helpful. Sorry for being a pain. How do I find out if the one year course would give enough UCAS points for him to do the course he’s interested in?
I really want to help him with this. He’s been visiting family and friends for the past couple of weeks and is really happy and excited about the future. I want to help him get something set up as living abroad with parents at 21 and no friends isn’t good for his mental health. I think this could be a way forward for him. Thanks again!

And yes access courses can be brilliant too.

We are about to start our open day cycle for 19/20 adms. Why not see if there is an open day on and go along to speak directly to someone?

Wow thanks Johnny - I shall find this out and help him get in touch this weekend. Thank you for explaining this. Withthe foundation degree would he just need to have it all agreed with uni that he could do said foundation degree and then said undergraduate degree and then apply?

My husband actually did a foundation degree as he mucked up his A Levels and then went on to get a distinction in physics and a PhD in nuclear physics - but it seems to have all changed since then. Thanks again

He will need to look into this carefully as it’s quite possible that he’s be required to pay higher international fees if he’s lived outside the U.K. for a few years. This would also mean that he wouldn’t be eligible for student loans.

Thank you - he has lived inthe states for just over 1 year?

A quick google suggests that there are only three UK Universities offering Korean studies: SOAS, Sheffield and UCLan. It should be fairly easy to find out the entry requirements for each course and then work back from there.

(I note UCLan do TESOL and Korean which sounds like it would suit your brother well.)

Another vote for an access course.

As a mature student he would not necessarily need conventional qualifications.

He may well cope with uni but an access course really boosts self esteem as well as getting you back into the habit of studying.

All students on access courses have not gone the straight forward route of A Levels at 18, each and every one has a different story.

As well as looking at UK universities you might have a look at European universities. I have a friend who started a Japanese degree with a Swedish university but as distance learning so he 'attended' via the internet. As an EU citizen he would not pay fees. Oh and they teach via English.

And before he starts a degree check the requirements for teaching in Korea. Some ESOL schools prefer you not to know the local language.

Agree with going to open days.

And good luck to him and to you helping.

If he is not living in the U.K. he may not qualify for student loans and funding - if you haven't already confirmed this it would be worth checking this out first before making plans.

Second the idea of looking at access courses (these are also funded )

Thank you very much :) oh good I’m on the right track as I have just discussed UCLAN with him last night. Thanks very much to everyone for taking the time to respond. This has made it a lot more straight forward and understandable, thank you

Oh buggar re not qualifying for student loans - quick read looks like that may be an issue :( and just when we thought there might be a positive way forward for him....

How long was he out of the country? It's not just that he might not be eligible for loans: he might have to pay international student fees, which are much higher than £9,250 pa. The definitions of "settled" and "normally resident" are complicated and your brother will need to check these carefully. Unfortunately, the Home Office won't tell people what their fees status will be: it has to be decided by each university individually (but obviously the Home Office would flay the university alive if it got someone's status wrong and didn't perform the required attendance monitoring for a student who it decides is international).

Just over a year...

Did he visit the UK in that time? What sort of visa was he on in the US? Did he retain a UK address? All these things can help you claim you're still ordinarily resident in the UK even if you lived abroad for a while.

Students who spend their whole gap year travelling, for example, are still treated as home students.

He has been back twice...i think he went on my dad’s visa and now a green card has just been issued basically so he can be back here in the UK and if things don’t work he can go back to Mum and Dad if he wants to. It was a v quick move as my dad would have been made redundant with short notice if he wouldn’t have taken the job in the states so he didn’t have a huge amount of time to decide what to do and struggles with confidence. He is really keen to do something productive and wants to study now, to work and to make friends his age. He’s worried if he moves back and works in a minimum wage type job that he might not be in a situation to make friends and be part of a community so easily. Uni is a great place to be emersed in something that interests you, to make friends and build skills.. I hope there is a way forward for him as it breaks my heart to think of him going back and being by himself all day every day :(

I don't know about fees but I've just completed a foundation year. The course was in social sciences which as far as I was aware was to lead us on to one of four degrees offered by my uni. However with the credits people from my course are going far and wide to do all sorts of courses. Including nursing and midwifery. There is hope. I hope the fees work out though

Re the funding, look at the definitions carefully.

1 year out of the UK should be OK, lots of people take gap years and still go to uni.

The UCLAN degree with foundation year looks perfect for what you want. I would start by getting him to contact the uni directly and ask for advice as to whether they would class him as a home student or not. He can stress he's been back twice within the year and can provide an address (even if it's yours) and that he'd spent a year away but intends to come back for good. See what they say - they must have quite a lot of experience of this!

If his permanent residence was in US he may not qualify for funding in FE for an Access course or similar. 74 points is pretty low. Why did he change from AS to vocational level 3? Has he got any work experience behind him?

A friends dd has done the SOAS korean course. What that werent warned about was the cost of the year living in Korean . They had to come up with a fairly substantial amount in advance.

Remember now its for the korean student visa and you need to prove you have enough money in your bank account for living and study fees in advance, so something like £8k when friends Dd went

Thanks guys - oh bloody hell...didn’t know about the 8k in bank account for student visa thing in Korea. I think he might have about 3k in savings from working but not 8.

He was struggling with anxiety and so he swapped from A Levels and did that course instead. I tried to support him to stay on and offered to pay for tutoring etc but at the end of the day it’s tricky with him being my little brother and not my son (as I sometimes get reminded). I really want to help him though and this is great advice. Thanks guys.