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?

Scottish universities don't require A levels, because they accept a range of qualifications, just like English universities do. It doesn't mean that they don't require any qualifications. Articulation from FE to Scottish HE is not always as easy as the poster makes it sound.

Well two of my own children have done it successfully, hence my suggestion and one was a creative subject.

@poetryandwine it's incorrect to say that "Scottish students begin university after 12 years of school". They may do that, but many will do a further year and do Advanced Highers, entering university after 13 years of school as in the rest of the UK.

OK. Thank you. Scottish students can begin university after 12 years….Scottish and American education systems are more similar than English and American education systems.

Thank you for university suggestions. We will research those and also see if it is possible for her to obtain APs whilst in the states. It sounds like foundation year is a more reasonable goal. I fear I've done her a disservice with the home ed, but she's very bright. Will also look into the Americas team as someone suggested.

Most dc have to prove they are bright by taking age appropriate exams which the universities expect to see. The DD hasn’t done this.

@ThisWarmOliveQuail What does your DD want from her Higher Education experience? Is it acting/theatre work, or a general job leading on from a drama degree? Any work can be very difficult to attain due to immense competition. This decision very much influences decisions on courses in the uk. There are many degrees offered that are a training for the theatre but it’s not Drama at a Russell Group university such as Exeter.

I would strongly suggest you read the guide to acting degrees written by the Complete University Guide. This might give you a far better insight into the difference between an academic Drama degree and the vocational degrees at dedicated colleges (drama schools). Choice of career should drive which is chosen and academic attainment.

I agree, @ThisWarmOliveQuail she needs to think about what she wants from her degree.

I don’t think you’ve said, but does she or do you think a degree in drama and politics from Exeter will lead to her becoming an actor?

Why Exeter I wonder? All unis have lots of societies to join and many will offer combined honours.

Be careful when researching, there are degrees with a foundation year and there are also foundation degrees.

A foundation year is year 0 of what is normally a 3 year course (3+ foundation so the student does 4). A foundation year is for students who have not got the correct qualifications for the degree they want to study, so maybe they did humanities at A Level but now want to do a science degree.

Foundation degrees are two year courses in their own right. After the Foundation degree it may be possible to 'top up' to a degree.

Additionally there are HNC / HND courses (Higher National Certificate - equivalent to 1 year of uni, Higher National Diploma - equivalent to 2 years of a degree).

I think one thing people are missing is that for drama it might be an audition that gets you the place rather than academics.

@sashh No audition for “academic” drama I think. Exeter have said apply via UCAS.

They hold studio workshops for offer holders: lots of teaching is via workshops. No final exams either so a practical course in many ways but not a complete stage/acting training. I also think it’s not very academic when compared to History or Politics. The performance elements render it less academic. Politics at Exeter will be competitive.

Audition for vocational drama schools - yes.

@clary We have relatives near there with whom she could stay for much less than halls or other student accomodation.

Entering U.K. universities has another route if you don’t have standard qualifications - it’s called a foundation year and is frequently used by overseas students. Look into that as an option. Usually USA students use sats or similar as a starting point but uk universities will be wanting a lot of details about whether you have the academic rigour to start the course, you need some proof. Drama will have specific requirements on top

Please bear in mind that when it comes to practical drama, Exeter isn’t necessarily the best location due to where it is in the U.K. - work as in paid work or extra/supporting artist work can be anywhere in theory but not do much in Devon. London, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and maybe Bristol all have rep theatre, small scale production studios etc as well as the more mainstream ones you will know about. Some cities I admit are rather expensive to live in but Cardiff for example is reasonable and they do a lot of tv production there. Just putting in suggestions - or and the tariff to enter is likely to be lower

Something that will affect future job prospects… does she have the right to work in the UK?

Ok I see.
The acting career question is a key one IMO. I agree with PPs that Exeter is not a great base to find acting work.

It does sound a bit as tho Exeter is the place bc you can live cheaply with the cousins… but is that the priority? Are they actually in Exeter? If not then she might miss out on aspects of student life. I agree tho, paying rent is a biggie (glares at eternal student DS)

@mamagogo1 Not sure it does. Exeter want AAB or equivalent at A levels though.

Nowhere is a great base for acting work, I’d be amazed if anyone doing drama at Exeter gets paid work in Devon unless via nepotism. Even in London it’s ridiculously hard and Exeter isn’t RADA!

Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh has Drama degrees and degrees in International tourism.

Not sure that I can see this mentioned already, but if DD has not lived in the UK for the last 3 years she will not be considered a ‘home student’. The classification is usually based on residency, not nationality, so you need to to factor in the fact that you will be paying international student fees, not home fees. The criteria is that you have to have been living full time [ie not as a boarder in a private school] in the UK for 3 years up to the day before starting university. International fees are just a little shy of £30k pa, compared to the £9.5-10k pa home students pay.

@CautiousLurker01Some arts courses are less. Science and elite courses more but one assumes op knows this.

Misread ‘home educated’ for ‘home student’… doh!

No longer true unfortunately. Courses that are drama at an academic institution rather than vocational acting have standard academic entry requirements, and many don't even audition. Exeter has entry requirements of ABB at A level for drama- FYI @ThisWarmOliveQuail , they don't have a combined honors Drama and Politics option.

Vocational programs in conservatory style professional training centers will audition, but they still require some kind of academic qualifications. Eg RADA doesn't specify qualifications or grades, but applicants have to demonstrate they are capable of completing written work at degree level. They don't offer their own academic entrance exams, so realistically it's difficult to prove that without traditional qualifications of some description.