Getting Into Uni

Former Member

Hey,
My girlfriend is trying to convince me to go to university and all though id love to go the reason i didnt go the 1st time round, im 22 now. Is because i have little no no grades at all to stay on at school to do a levels, and thus leaving me no points to go uni! Im way to embarrassed to tell her about how poor i done at school as it is, but i was wondering is there a way i can get on a uni course regardless of grades. im 22 at the moment 23 in febuary and would love to actually attend. I'd only be looking to take photography and film or something like that, and allready have a nice portfolio of photos and a few short movies shot.
Is there anyway i can go about getting the girlfreind off my back and finally getting to go to do what i always wanted to?

Thanx

Former Member

You could do an access course. They are for adult learners, I completed one last year and found the tutors really supportive and it was a good induction into uni for me. They are the equivalent to A Levels really and it's only a year long.

Former Member

does it matter what access course i do tho? and where would i go about doing it. sorry to sound so stupid lol, but i thought it was all about points and stuff to get into uni, and you have to have the right points etc. i didnt have 1 a - c at gsce, the only thing i have under my belt is a nvq in ICT that was a merit i think, or a pass im not sure.

Former Member

If you decide to go to uni then it has to be for you own reasons, and because the course is going to bring you some kind of benefit. Don't forget it's being a student isn't cheap and you'll land yourself in a nice pile of debt as well as having no income, or next to no income for the next 3 years.

If you're thinking of photography courses then you should have a look at doing an Art Foundation year, that's one way to get onto some arty type university courses and they are often more interested in your portfolio than you academic results.

As Clementine mentioned you can also do Access to Higher Education courses, these usually last a year and are recognised by university as an alternative way of meeting entry requirements to A levels.

All that said, university is hard work, and whatever course you take you're going to need a reasonable level of competency in key skills. You might find you need to brush up on some of those skills through evening classes before you can get much further.

www.ucas.co.uk has information about the entry requirements to various courses, and if you track down some art/design foundation courses you'll be able to find the entry requirements for those.

Former Member

Marshmellows wrote: »

does it matter what access course i do tho? and where would i go about doing it. sorry to sound so stupid lol, but i thought it was all about points and stuff to get into uni, and you have to have the right points etc. i didnt have 1 a - c at gsce, the only thing i have under my belt is a nvq in ICT that was a merit i think, or a pass im not sure.

https://ava.qaa.ac.uk/SubSites/PublicSearch/search.aspx You can have a search on here but it would probably be an idea getting in contact with any higher education institutes near you. Loads of places do it now. If you think an Access course would be a struggle I'm pretty sure they do Foundation Access to Higher Education courses as well that would give you a feel of what it would be like in terms of study and difficulty. I really wouldn't let your grades put you off though, many people in access courses didn't achieve what they wanted at school for whatever reason and the support you get on an Access course is excellent from my own experience.

http://www.hero.ac.uk/uk/studying/education_and_qualifications_in_the_uk/qualification_types/access_courses.cfm <- this seems pretty informative too