Foundation year with no alevels?

[pinkflower223]

I decided to go to college when I left school two years ago but now I'm super regretful I didn't do alevels, I was curious as to if I could do a foundation year at uni and if they would even consider me without having further qualifications other than GCSEs they we're definitely not bad results but I know that doesn't necessarily matter, I just wanted people's opinions or if they've ever done this before?

It will depend on the uni. If not you could do an Access course or other level 3 qualification.

Sorry I have no words of wisdom but following as DS (with pretty decent GCSEs) is currently doing a L3 NVQ at college. He can go to uni I think but only to study something related to what he’s doing at the moment. I think he will also need to do a foundation year prior to degree.

He loves what he’s studying but it secretly terrifies me that he’s making the wrong decision.

You'd be much better doing an access course. Unis accept mature students without the usual entry quals, but they'd need to see evidence of recent study to demonstrate you're capable of uni level study, so unless you did your GCSEs a couple of years ago, an Access course should be your route.

Did whatever you do at college attract UKAS points at level 3?
I was looking at degrees with a foundation year only last night and the entry requirements were a low amount of UKAS points at level 3 if I'm remembering correctly

Is he really doing an NVQ, not a BTEC?

OP, you will need some sort of a Level 3 qualification, but foundation years require fewer UCAS points, so someone could not do too well at A levels or a BTEC and then do a foundation year before continuing on for another three years.

You could do an access course, as already suggested.

I think it’s BTEC 🤦🏻‍♀️ The one that’s equivalent to 3 a-levels

@DragonsFurry - in that case he most definitely can go to uni without a foundation year - DS1 did, and DD is planning on doing so. The degree doesn't have to be in exactly the same subject either. A lad from DSs course got into a top uni to do engineering as he also had a Maths A level, so BTECs can be a really great choice.

@DragonsFurry
Be aware that some courses might require an A level too. The engineering example is typical for a higher ranking university. They went a maths A level and BTec. Others will be ok with BTec.

OP. What qualification are you doing at college? && What kind of degree are you thinking of?

I’m currently on a foundation year as a mature student, doing a degree in History. All I have is GCSE’s , no A levels and I received an unconditional offer. The foundation year is brilliant as it really prepares you for study at a higher level in year 1. Obviously I can only speak for the Uni I’m at but I’m loving every minute of it and feel really supported by my lecturers . Best thing I ever did!

You can do a foundation year without Alevels. DS is currently on one at Bristol and he left school with GCSEs and has no higher qualifications. He wrote a good statement and went for an interview where they verbally set him some questions relevant to his subjects.

Bristol is a pretty decent Uni, I believe?

@DragonsFurry

My son is going to university in October to do an MSc in Computing.
He did a level 3 Btec in Engineering. He came our with 87 ucas points. Course requirements were 96 points.
The foundation year requirements were 40 points - so he is way above that level.

He was able to get a contextual offer so us going into the first year of the degree.
So yes your son will be able to go on to uni if he had the points or is eligible for a contextual offer

www.bbk.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/life-sciences-for-subjects-allied-to-medicine-certificate-in-higher-education

I did this course with no A Levels, if you pass you automatically get on to the Biomedicine degree. They have them in other subjects too though if science isn’t your thing. An access course might be better, but Birkbeck is pretty good if you just want to go straight to a university.