Does anyone here teach on an Access to HE course? Or teach undergraduates who have followed this path?

[CousinBob]

I’m just wondering how a one year course can be the same value as a two year A level course? Is it very intense?
Thinking of university courses, are these students disadvantaged by not having the same depth of knowledge as those who have done A levels?

The maturity of an adult with life experience opting to learn can be very different to a 16-18 year old fresh out of GCSEs doing A levels automatically

@Andoutcomethewolves @Crispynoodle @Nat6999 @Luddite26 @BrummyMommy thank you so much for sharing your experiences, really good to hear from others who didn't go down the A level route, and the different career paths taken. DC still feels they should have 'tried harder' to complete A levels (it really wasn't an option), so trying to put forward all the positives of this alternative route. I think meeting others with a variety of educational backgrounds and reasons for being there will really help to dispel the worry that everyone else who starts uni will be 18. I think the resilience needed to choose this path, and purposefulness of the course will also help to make the most of this opportunity for learning and progression.

Mine too.

I used to teach A level. The intensity of an access is much harder than A level

It's 19+ (it used to be something like 21) unless it has been changed. I don't currently teach but I have. The anatomy and physiology is about the same as BTEC level 3.

An access course is not supposed to be equivalent to A Levels, it is designed to bridge the gap between the qualifications (if any) you have and the start of a degree course. They are designed for mature students who have been out of education for a few years.

Depending on the uni course you are applying for you might have to sit GCSEs in maths, English and science (for teaching).

Do exams form part of it? Well they can the college / staff have a lot of leeway. I use Moodle quite a lot, so instead of drawing a poster of a cell I might have a drag and drop of 'label this diagram'.

A levels certainly aren't the only way to higher education and they're not for everyone. At 16 I knew I didn't want to do them even though I'd done well at my GCSES. I think my parents were a bit horrified I went to the tech college and did a BTEC.

I've gone on to do 2 degrees and a Masters since then. We do need to stop judging people who do alternative routes.

It sounds like they cover more content in the masters. I have seen some of the anatomy content of DD's course and it is very detailed. All the students needed a 2.1 or above in a related degree and shadowing experience to get on to it.

The teaching staff don't drag the students through the course or offer any hand holding either.

DD and her friends are probably all over qualified in your opinion then.

Yes, I’d say entry to radiography via another degree plus a Masters is rather over qualified for a B5 job!

But this isn’t what I’m talking about. It’s whether Access delivers the same quality students as 8 GCSEs/3 A levels, and my first hand experience suggests ‘not necessarily’.

I love the idea of the Access pathway.

Sadly my School’s experiment with direct entry into Year 1 from our university’s Access partner did not work well. But our entry requirement is very high, and this was more about the Access curriculum not meeting our needs than about the students.

Eg the large majority of our students have A/A star at Further Maths; the Access curriculum (even the STEM one) has a wide ranging mandate and cannot offer similarly intense maths.

However we have found that Access students willing to do the University’s STEM Foundation Year, with automatic progression upon satisfactory completion, do well. And the loans align well; your Access loan is cancelled when you graduate university and your Student Finance loan will cover the FY.

So yes, I support the Access pathway strongly but it must be recognised that sometimes more academic preparation is needed before beginning university.

Sorry to derail further @Fordian but is there no progression then?
I don't know about NHS banding, but it is what DD wants to do and is able to do within the constraints of her health condition.

It sounds like you don't like radiographers.

Having had 1 DC take the conventional route and 1 DC take GCSEs post 16 and an access course, I agree with this.

The DC that took a (science) access course struggled a bit at university because there was little or no maths content, the degree followed on from the A level syllabus and they hadn’t covered many of the subjects, they was very little teaching of critical analysis, essay writing skills and exam technique compared to A levels. There was also far less support with UCAS applications, There was also the drawback for any students applying to courses or universities with an October UCAS deadline that they had only just started the course when they had to apply, which means their predictions were based on just a few weeks study.

Both DC are equally bright and studied similar courses at similar universities with identical course requirements. It was easier to achieve straight distinctions than A*s (I am basing that on the quality of their work).

RampantIvy
Band 5 is the NHS pay point for nurses and allied health professionals on first qualifying.
I would expect your DD to progress fairly quickly.

My dd has just done an Access course in Maths and Physics. She’s been accepted to do Maths at a red brick.

It covered all the A level text book in Maths plus stuff that wasn’t in it. Dh has a degree in Maths, he was suprised at the high level of the course.

She’s had to write essays and has had loads of support for applications.

I did an access course as my a levels were no longer valid consideration when I got around to taking a degree. It was far harder than my early 2000s a levels, and far more intense than my law degree to date (entering year 3 in sept).

I am glad to say that the prejudices against it as an avenue to higher education don’t seem to plague top law firms ime so far- as others said it has been a topic of conversation and interest at interviews for training contracts and vacation schemes. I’d highly recommend it. I hadn’t studied for over a decade when I took it and it was such a strong re entry into academia- time management/ multi tasking through topics/ Harvard and Oscola referencing/ revision and independent learning / presentations etc. the breadth of the course and the intensity meant I went to uni completely prepared.

Yes this has been my DD’s experience.

Group work, presentations, everything they do in 6th form. I think it’s harder than A levels because it’s so concentrated and intense.

I am glad it went well. I hope her course does, also.

I agree with other PP that the workload is intense and most Access students excel at project management and other important auxiliary skills.

Thank you🙂

Shes tackling further maths for a bit of fun over the holidays. Not my idea of fun!

Yes I taught Access in an FE College for a number of years. I think it is a brilliant way of opening up access to higher education. A second chance for many. Many of my students were mature learners often with other commitments such as family and work. They were very good at managing their time. I found that with support, they were the most motivated and successful students. They worked very hard and tended to score the highest marks. Those who were unsuccessful on the Access course tended to be young students only out of school a year or two who had no intention of working hard and often dropped out. Those mature students who were motivated, worked hard and scored the highest marks were already very suitable students for university education. A lot of my ex students now have careers in IT, Business and Nursing. I follow their progress on LinkedIn and meet up with them now as a mentor and friend.

Completely agree, taught on many STEM Access courses, some women only. The most rewarding teaching I've ever done and I was in awe of the mothers, and/or refugees, who made the most incredible progress in one year. Far better suited to genuinely using their degree than the privileged youngsters they were competing with 😁

Mine started 2 months after her 18th birthday. Shes just finished it now.

I did one, it was quite in depth but I could have done it over longer than a year if I wanted to (I did mine online).

I had far more assignments to do over the course of the access course than I’ve had to do at uni.

I’m on track to qualify with a first, and don’t feel that any other students who went down the A level route have an advantage really.

I think an access course shows more tenacity and determination than A levels.

You just do A levels as an automatic follow on after GCSE. But you have to make a different sort of decision to do an access.

One that’s independent and determined. And l don’t understand why it’s a ‘bridge’ rather than a qualification. It’s a Level 3 course which is like A level or BTEC. And equivalent to 3 grade A A levels. Would someone with 3 Grade A A levels be expected to do a foundation year?

I have both taught at FE and HE level inc access to HE and I was also an access to HE student - messed up my A levels when younger, took voluntary redundancy so I could get a degre, did Access to HE at 37, started degree at 38, got a first class and won HE student of the year, then went onto a PGCE then onto a PhD which I finished Jan '24. In the last year of my PhD I taught at a college at HE level (inc the access to HE course as above) and also A-levels, T-Levels and BTECs (all L3). I left teaching a year ago (just under two years service).

Access to HE is easily the equivalent of 3 A-Levels and yes it is intense, but it sets you up nicely for the pace of degree level study. Better to find out if your cut out for degree level study after a year rather than after you've spaffed 9k, 18k or 27k in tuition fees. I had no exams, it was all assignment based, but this varies by institution (even my actual degree had zero exams).

Happy to take any further questions.

@kittenkipping did you get a training contract? I was quite surprised that every firm I applied to (basically the entire top twenty City firms at the time) offered me at least an interview (other than Norton Rose, feck them 🤣) and I had vacation schemes at 2 magic circle and two silver circle firms, multiple offers, trained at Hogan Lovells. I don't think I'm standout so I can only assume the access course and backstory helped!

Sorry just being nosey! I've never come across someone else who got into law via an access course before! Glad you had a good experience too 😊

It is not uncommon for A level students to do our FY. We frequently make the FY offer to promising students who miss their Y1 offer; also, those who come late to the decision to do STEM and are missing some of the background do it.