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?

It depends on the course and what their A Levels are. There are a couple of unis that teach BSL / English Interpreting.

You can't take an A Level in BSL so if you don't have BSL qualification you might be offered a foundation year.

I will tell you post vacation schemes/ when I finish the degree! But I’ve got two vac schemes off the back of it (got 4 but they overlapped so had to choose my top two!) this summer so fingers crossed!

Norton rose didn’t want me either! But they helped me rule out any of the “game based” test forms. I’d far prefer a Watson glaser over a series of arcade games!

I did an access course. The level is the same as A level standard but the intensity is more than 1st year at university.

Theyre an excellent option for people who have been out of education. There was a test to get on to the course to make sure you were at the right level. I’d been out of education for 20 years - I had 3 A Levels but they were old so I had to show evidence of recent study.

Ive now got my degree in nursing and my DNSPQ

I did an access course as my A Levels were 20 years old and I needed evidence of recent study. The majority of my cohort were in the same boat. 2 even already had degrees but because they were a little older and competition at the time for nursing places was high, they did the access course. We all but one (who found out she was pregnant in her first week of university) graduated and a fair few have been one senior nurses….

The MSc will be the 2 year pre-reg route to Diagnostic Radiography. Most registered healthcare professions have this route now for people with relevant first degrees and experience. It only takes 2 years rather than 3 because you already have proven underpinning knowledge re critical thinking and writing scientifically, unlike undergrads. It is more intense than the UG pre-reg route though because you still have to gain the same number of practice placement hours to register with your relevant professional body and obviously that has to be done alongside the academic elements of the course content.

As for your DD @RampantIvy, she is clearly not what @Fordian is referring to. They are specifically referring to students who make unsafe practitioners because they have insufficient knowledge and experience and yet the system allows them to coast, register and practice Your DD isn't that. Plenty of radiographers are competent, safe practitioners.

Access is seriously intense. It's also taught and delivered the same way as uni so prepares you really well.

Access: Ok, we need a 6000 word essay, an academic poster and a presentation, due in four weeks.

(And mostly, students have never done this before)

Uni: Hello, happy September; we need a 2000 essay by Christmas.

Crack on if you think Access is nice and easy 😁

I did the extended degree route, 4 years instead of 3 studied applied science. (No A-levels left school at 16 in the 1970s) went to university in 2011 passed the foundation year then passed BSc Hons in applied human biochemistry then straight into an MSc I was 52. BSc Hons Graduation was almost exactly 10 years ago. Great way to get qualifications it was a steep learning process but excellent foundation for the actual degree.

Exactly this!

I’ve just finished my first year at uni, all of the essays had a smaller word count than my access course assignments, we had longer deadlines and there was only one assignment per module.

I think my final access course assignment was a 20 minute presentation, a 3000 word essay and a journal article 😂. I had less than a month to do it!

Access students tend to be older and more mature and I find they engage better than 18 year olds. We don’t drag anyone through on our degree. It’s a RG university. They get the same support as anyone else and two assessment attempts. I find what does impede their completion is family crises and financial constraints quite often.

A lot of Access content on healthcare courses overlaps with first year undergrad content. As PP say, it also uses the same assessment methods, so students are hitting the ground running.

Content-wise, Access courses are vocational and are tailored and specific to the courses they lead to. So students learn field-specific level 3 (A level equivalent in depth) science as well as other professional aspects like ethics, inequalities, basic legal principles, sociology & psychology. Whereas the academic A level equivalent subjects are less vocational in content because they are standalone qualifications, catering to a student body which is going on to a variety of HE courses and professions.

This isn’t totally true from my DDs course people are going on to study: Psychology, Anthropology, History and Primary teaching.

But the ability to use academic papers and write fully referenced essays will stand them all in good stead.
Most have family or other commitments so only applied locally but my DD is off to a very highly thought of RG Uni (and far better prepared than A’levels).

Hi - I'm facing a quick decision about whether to do an access course and am desperate for advice!

I'm a 49 year old mum to two secondary-age kids (in year 10 and year 7 at school). I have been a stay at home mum for a very long time. I'm considering an Access to HE Sciences course (biology, chemistry and psychology) as I don't have any science background but would like to get back to work and pivot from my old career (editing/journalism) to speech therapy (or possibly nutrition or occupational therapy).

I'm wondering how demanding this course will be and whether I'll be able to cope with constant deadlines and family commitments too (kids, clubs, household, elderly parents).

I'd love to hear if anyone has experience of older adults/mums attempting the course.

I have to decide in the next few days whether to enrol on the course locally (I've been offered a place). Thanks so much!

Go for it, @Singsing! One of my DC did it as a single parent with a toddler. The workload was fine.

I suggest you contact the universities you are considering applying to to check course entry requirements though. There are specific access courses for healthcare degrees, as well as the science pathway. They may have a preference.

ETA most of the students on her science access course were older mums looking for a career change! They all went on to university, mostly to study healthcare eg nursing, midwifery.

I did access to humanities, so I can’t directly say whether the science course is more demanding. But I did the humanities course near 40 with two children, one doing GCSEs and a part time job. It was demanding and hard but I managed to pass with all distinctions and am now half way through my degree with a training contract secured for when I finish. Best choice I ever made was to sign up for that access course.

Id recommend you do it. It’s hard but worth it. (And to date much harder than my degree!)