Access to HE courses, any admissions tutors on here?

[Sooverthemill]

I have a query about these courses. My DD has a serious chronic illness and has been bed bound and unable to access education even at home since age 14, 8 years now. She is very bright and before she became ill she was top of her year 9 ( I was sent the certificate while she was in hospital ) and did get an A* in an EPQ . She and we always assumed she would go to university. But she's not been able to study. Her specialist advised against tutors as we did try at first but it made her much worse. She can do some things if she's given lots of time and she's continued to read when she can but she's utterly unpredictable in terms of how well she will be in any given day. We have an EHPC in place which expires in 3 years.

She was asking yesterday how on earth even if she gets well, could she go to university no GCSEs and we talked about sitting exams and how she might be able to or might not.

I know about Access to HE courses as I've had colleagues in the past who have been on them.

How would she be able to do such a course if she can't be predictable in terms of health hour by hour? Are these courses 'good enough' to get into university to do STEM subjects ( she probably would want to do science based subjects)? How do you do these if you are always in bed because you can't get out of bed or sit up?

I just want to give her some hope really. So any advice from admissions tutors would be really helpful and any websites to look at. I've googled but it's all very generic. I was hoping that what with the pandemic more stuff might remain online. I had to give up work to care for her 24/7 and I'd be willing to act as her support worker to enable her to do this.

I definitely want ( and so does she!) her to do basic GCSEs which I think she would sail through if it could be done in 5 minutes blocks but taking the exams would be tough as at the time of the Sam even if a moderator came here she might not be well enough to do it but the previous day she could have! It's tough.
Anyway, lots to think about thank you all

If she can only cope with short bursts of study then taking a degree is going to prove very challenging. Even watching online lectures in 5 minute blocks will take up a significant amount of time, plus there are the essays, seminars/labs and assessments to fit in. I think you need to be realistic about her stamina for studying and exams, could you contact a local fe college about their programme and any adjustments and access arrangements. If gcse are not appropriate there may be online level 2 qualifications with more regular assessments which she could work towards.

I'm totally realistic about her physical limitations. She wants to study

They can only do so much to help though. I don’t think the poster above was being malicious in saying it, but you do keep writing about how clever she is and how she’d sail through it.

It’s just not that simple, or supportive to be honest. You’re asking for a miracle.

I hope you can find the right support to get her through it, but I think if her health is this bad it might be worth asking yourself why?
We all do these things for the career at the end it it, I’m not sure it’s worth the stress for anyone if it’s not viable to go to work.

At the end of it’

I'm afraid I have no advice @Sooverthemill but just want to offer a ton of sympathy. I have mild ME/CFS, which has had a massive effect on my life, and it's heartbreaking and unbelievably frustrating that there is so little help, treatment or support of any kind for people like your DD who are struggling so much when she should have a myriad of options at her age. I really hope that she somehow manages to find a way forward, academically and otherwise 💐

The mental and physical stress studying has on the average person is a massive load, I can’t imagine how it would feel being so limited because of illness.
Good luck in your journey!

It may be worth looking at starting an online support group/ forum or something along those lines for people who suffer with their health in a similar way?

Form her own career?

They can only do so much to help though. I don’t think the poster above was being malicious in saying it, but you do keep writing about how clever she is and how she’d sail through it.
Academically she would sail through it. Physically she wouldn't. I'm incredibly supportive of my daughter and her dreams and I cannot believe your suggestion that I am not. I have given up all,other aspects of my life to care for her, I have lived in hospital and nursing homes with her and I have shaved off her hair at 4 o'clock in the morning when she had chemo. My support extends to hoping beyond hope that she might be able to pursue a university course which has always been her dream.

I still strongly suggest OU for a degree and one module at a time.

I spend at least 60 hours a week on my degree; there is 37 contact hours plus a lot of extra reading if you want the top grades - smart or not, if you don’t do the extra reading for breadth and depth, you don’t get a 1:1 or even a 2:1.

Noone is questioning your support and commitment to your dd's recovery. I was trying to suggest that you may need to take things gently and seek advice as to the best way of accommodating your dd's ongoing health issues. OU probably gives most flexibility for degrees, although increasingly other unis are offering remote learning, but unfortunately gcse/A level courses are more rigid. She may not be ready to resume formal learning just yet but have a look at MOOCs in the meantime.

I agree with PP, taking individual modules with the OU may be her best chance at being able to study at a pace she can cope with. And in the meantime she could try out a few courses on Future Learn to help her narrow down the subjects she is interested in.

I feel for you both. It must be tough knowing she is academically capable but held back because of her health.

You could try looking at iGCSEs. These work well for people learning outside mainstream education. For the Sciences there would be less laboratory work.
There are also opportunities to take the exams at other times of year rather than just in the Summer.
However even if the course is studied on-line, arrangements would need to be made to sit the exams.

Ultimately you might look at uni entry as a mature student , such as https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/dll/courses/foundation?fbclid=IwAR3U4VOkEFiDfF1Innc9MM6Af7PVny6ujt54HUt-tUQr4uOyODWLLbXjS8aemmARoseHL3PArkyfUZuVELvvVWypVr-ARecmWu5N4aGmB-9XGo7O7XyxdVDD3aan9q-jy02X9ZvFVL21u9QhJIiOfcqytT14q84xPT9wyAh16eErvtAjEjBmsLmOCKAHBns
But even this requires some gcse equivalent qualification.

A couple of things to carefully consider;

1. Assessment type - courses with mostly essay or assignments may be better, as then if your DD is unwell on the day of exams then the impact on grades will be lessened. Courses with fixed national exam dates, like GCSEs, are probably less suitable than Functional Skills tests, which can be arranged much more flexibly.

1. Look at course content - if you can't pass without x number of hours attendance in a lab, it might not be the right fit.

1. Modular courses may be better (many uni courses have options to leave early with a CertHE, for example) so if health declines during the course she'll still gain a qualification.

1. Look for part-time study. I did my CertHE over two years, as I worked full-time (no A Levels but Birkbeck let me in based on interview).

I think it depends on your DDs prognosis. Is she likely to improve and be able to attend in person? As a PP has said, universities can and do make huge adjustments for students with health issues but there is a limit and five minute bursts is probably well past that limit.

I would second the suggestions from previous posters of accessing free online courses like MOOCs on FutureLearn. That way she can start to see what realistic for her in terms of study and also what’s tough/a limitation. Plus build study skills which are vital.

Armed with that experience/information you can then work with colleges to look at how to make Level 2 options like GCSEs work. From there you can look at next steps which may be an access course or A Levels. University wise there are part time, distance learning options which could work for her - with careful research on assessment but I do think the OU sounds like it will be her best bet. If you get in touch with them they’re great at giving advice, even if you aren’t ready for her to start anytime soon.

I'd agree with the suggestion of looking at the OU, if no great improvement is expected in her condition. No GCSE/A-levels required, so she could launch straight in (the level 1 modules assume very little prior knowledge). The OU does have access courses, but she could go straight into the degree.

They're also very used to dealing with people with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Deadline for enrolment to start in October is early September; there's also a February start.

Years ago, and in a different country, my husband tutored a boy who had lifelong illness affecting him to a similar extent to your daughter. They moved from school level work through university level maths and physics (at least the theory side!). I forget how much assessment he was able to access; he was totally housebound in an adapted environment.

I really hope your daughter can find things that she can achieve on - I can see how a goal of being "good enough" to manage X, would help her tolerate her current status and do what she can to improve her health (to the extent that there are things she can do herself).

I might PM you if I can find out anything else helpful.

What a difficult situation for her. And you. Some thoughts immediately came to mind- and not really about the academics. Are her health conditions being treated optimally? Eg medications. Has she had access to a specialist pharmacist to manage side effects and interactions. Severe asthma- is she under a tertiary clinic? Mental health- you don’t mention…. But I would think she’s fairly depressed? Is her mental health being taken care of? If she’s still covered under ehcp- can you ask for a review? Is there provision for a tutor to work with her? Or if she gets dla could that be used to fund a tutor. Not for working towards anything- but for stimulation, enjoyment and confidence. They could tailor what they do according to her fluctuating needs. Set work- they could design a curriculum together. Etc. She must be lonely. Does she have friends? Who she sees? As for an access course. … there are a few that are online. I know 2 people who are doing jt that way. Part time as well. Access courses are extremely prescriptive. They cater for a massive range of abilities and are quite rigid in terms of dates etc. They’re not designed to be fun! My opinion- for what it’s worth - is that she should fall in love with learning again. Or if she didn’t fall out of love with it, she should spend a couple of years at least learning in a much less structured way. Things like edx - look at the MIT courses they have. They’re seriously good. Confidence . Slowly slowly. And maybe in a few years things will seem much more possible. The worst thing would be for her to relapse badly or consider herself to be failing. I think if you can both find a way for her to experience consistent small successes, these will add up in time. I hope some of this makes sense and isn’t offensive in any way. Very best of luck to you both