UK uni qualifications for home educated US student

[ThisWarmOliveQuail]

Hi all. Have read through the many replies on expatmum's recent thread and they were helpful. My DD wants to attend a UK uni due to the dreadful political climate in the US and not wanting to do unrelated general courses before specialising. She works hard and has no trouble fending for herself academically or socially. She's looking at Exeter for drama possibly with combined honours for employabilty. The issue is she is home educated so has no APs or academic references. She got high marks on all but maths on her GED and ACT. Can someone please advise if there are additional requirements for home educated international students?

She needs to contact the university admissions team at any university she is interested in and ask. It’s an unusual situation so she is better talking to them directly.

Yes agree, she should get in touch with the unis directly. They will be used to working with HE students for sure, but in the UK IME anyway most HE students will sit public exams (GCSEs and A levels) even if they don’t follow exactly the same plan as students in school (so they may take fewer subjects, or over a longer period).

Just to say, you mention drama possibly with combined honours for employabilty – was there a specific career she was looking at? What would she do with drama? Some degrees are more vocational (I am thinking med, vet, law, journalism, engineering) but many are not. I don’t think drama itself is a degree that leads to a career (other than roles needing an unspecified degree - there are many of these of course). Combined honours is a lot more work (ask me how I know!) so she should be sure it’s a course she wants to do.

I wouldn't recommend drama. There isn't really much you can do with it for employability. Other than The fact it's a degree. But no business employer would value it particularly highly.

Actors work in call centres and hospitality etc the majority of the time. Even if they went to RADA or LAMDA.

What does she actually want to do for a living?

She loves acting but is trying to be realistic with her expectations as I've explained steady work is far from certain for even the best and brightest. Her other main interest is politics.

Is she thinking of actually emigrating to the UK?
She should study something that will lead to a job that she's likely to get a visa for (I don't actually know what that could be).
Otherwise it's unlikely she'll be able to stay after university.

I’d say that drama is a great degree personally. A lot of jobs have a performance element. I’d certainly look for opportunities to direct shows, broadcast on university radio, speak in debates etc to show leadership and team skills etc but I’m sure she will do well.

I’d say that drama is a great degree personally. A lot of jobs have a performance element. I’d certainly look for opportunities to direct shows, broadcast on university radio, speak in debates etc to show leadership and team skills etc but I’m sure she will do well.

A drama degree is a good choice if that is what she will do well in – first in drama is better than a third in maths. Probably.

But a drama degree is not a route into acting really. For that she needs to look at drama school – which is a whole different ball game (and not one I personally know much about – but there are threads on MN to check out). What sort of and how much acting has she done up to now?

Tbh unless she is already gaining serious roles in local paid theatre and possibly in films I would advise steering well clear of hopes of an acting career (in the same way that I would advise a footy-mad 10yo not to pin their hopes on a pro footballer role) and suggest she enjoys the uni offer in terms of acting, as that can be amazing.

Most UK uni's will require either A Level qualifications OR International Baccalaureate Diploma. This is a stage higher than a GED. GED is the equivalent of Middle Years Programme or General Certificate of Education in the UK.

GED isn't of a high enough standard without AP courses. Therefore even if she is accepted, she will need to do a foundation year. This is because IB Diploma or A Levels are the equivalent of an Associates Degree in the US, so your daughter is actually 2 years behind uni level for the UK.

So the searches you should be doing are not for a BA in Drama. You need to search for a Drama Foundation Course. This foundation course will then be entry level for a Bachelors in the UK.

“Drama” can mean different things in different unis. Not all courses are performance based, some offer a more academic emphasis. Some unis offer Liberal Arts which can include modules of drama, literature, languages etc.

Maybe so but it's just not a good subject to study if you want a lucrative steady career within that specific field.

Could she not do some APs? As a previous poster said a GED is equivalent to the qualification taken in England two years before uni. I doubt she’d be accepted for a foundation year either tbh, esp not at somewhere like Exeter.

Though a much lower ranked uni may make her a FY offer given her fee status….

Why UK? I'd be looking everywhere internationally. some courses in Netherlands or Bulgaria are taught in English, for instance.

I assume you have £££££ spare each year to pay for fees & travel.

I've got a degree in drama and I've never struggled with my career. I've had a few different types of job, some related and some not, over the years and have always earned a decent salary. The idea that a drama degree is good for nothing bar acting is completely wrong and very old-fashioned. It wasn't even true when I graduated and I am well over fifty.

As above, I wouldn't expect those to be enough without AP quals or equivalent to get onto a UK degree course.

Your daughter will need to be looking at a foundation year first.

A friend of mine was home educated in the US. She took APs because that is what most UK universities will expect from US students, in addition to SATS.

A friends son in Dubai, only has GCSEs, has been accepted onto a foundation course in the UK.

I don't know the uni, or the course however. He's not the most brilliant of students either. But of course, very dependent on the uni he's picked.

A GED isn't equivalent to GCSEs. A GED is equivalent to someone having the basic GCSE passes, i.e. maths, English, and maybe three other subjects. Whereas most students will have 10-12 GCSEs. That's the key issue.

International students take less IGCSEs than home students. 8 or so would be the maximum, with many only having 5. That's why what they do AFTER KS4/MYP is so important.

Because it will most likely cost less (even with the living component factored in) than the equivalent degree at a US university. A lot of UK Russell Group Universities are highly ranked worldwide so employability back in the US, will be increased.

Home educated students can take AP exams, you just need to talk to local schools. Private schools tend to be more accomodating

The key thing to be aware of here is combined honors in the UK doesn't work the same as double majoring in the States. You won't find a UK university that offers a BFA style acting course that can be done as a combined honors with a non-BFA course, eg politics, eg like double majoring somewhere like NYC Tisch. You just won't. It will be less well-regarded drama courses that are unlikely to lead to a career in the industry.

She also needs to be aware that the courses offered under politics in the UK will be very different than those offered in the States. If she wants to take US politics specifically, she will need to look at individual universities and their courses very carefully. I suspect the list of universities that offer a drama and politics combined honors will be extremely short as it is, so choice are likely to be very limited.

Definitely contact the admissions departments directly. The appetite for overseas fee-payers is such that there can be a lot of flexibility and worst case will be the aforementioned foundation route.

Ironically, given the flight from US generalist, your best bet at Exeter to do drama and politics (or maybe consider international relations) would be Liberal Arts or the Flexible Combined Honours courses

I know of quite a few people in the UK home ed circles who have managed to get a place at uni without formal qualifications- portfolios and interviews have been enough, although that will be very dependent on the uni and course.