Which Universities accept Access diplomas?

Former Member

Hey guys.

My sister left school with two GCSEs at D and E grade - not high enough to do A levels. She has since undergone education and got a level 2 certificate in hairdressing.

Now she's looking at trying to find someway back into 'mainstream' education and I found the Access to Learning course which looks quite good. Only problem is, it says it will entitle you to go to university, but then I am not sure which universities accept it as on Uni conditions page on UCAS they just say 'two A2 levels' or something.

Anyone have any experience with Access courses?

Former Member

This is only from the experiance I have with nursing but they accpet access courses as the grade you get is equivalent to A levels. If the access course is ased on a specific subject that she then wants to go on and do at uni then yes it will definatly be accepted. Most colleges are starting to do BTECS so I think they are becoming more recongnised in unis

I did a BTEC course at college rather than A levels and that was equivalent to 3 A levels.

Former Member

Ok, looking on a few universities they do have Access listed, but there is still scope for confusion lol. For example, Nottingham Trent wants 24 credits (16 at level 3), but to get the diploma you need to get 60 credits (75% at level 2). So I'm not sure whether you can just leave without actually getting your diploma and go to university anyway. I assume because of the way it's written, access is the same as three A levels as well... but it is dependent on how many credits you achieve to what courses are open.

Oxford doesn't mention access courses though cambridge does...

Former Member

Yeah with an access course it is equivalent to A levels as you still get points etc
From what I've heard about access courses alot of older people use them who want to go to university but don't have A levels. Also with access courses and BTECS you can top up GCSE's so say you need a C in manths you can do a key skill module to top up your GCSE if you get less than a C.

Former Member

problem with my sister is that she did not complete her GCSEs so can't do A levels. In this way, she can't progress her education as after you have left secondary education you can't re-enrol to do GCSEs easily (I think you can retake certain GCSEs, but not ones you didn't initially do, or something).

So the access course seems a good way to enable her to get back into it. I nudged her to phone the local college and she's going to be headed down there to get some more information from them.

Former Member

It's definately a good idea to go and talk to the colleges. When i enrolled i didnt have a C grade in either maths nor english but they still accepted me. A condition of the acceptance however was that I'd undertake a maths GCSE alongside the course and pass a key skills level 3 exam in communication. Did both of these and gained a BTEC from the college course, had no trouble getting into uni with the BTEC either.

Former Member

i think that is the whole point of access courses.. so people have 'access' to university..
so... most likely

Former Member

almost any uni will accept an access course, asides twattish ones like oxford and cambridge

but she can go back to college and do GCSEs in a year and A levels in 2. She can go back and do the ones she did before...

Former Member

I'm doing an Access Diploma too and have had no problems getting into uni. It's best to speak to the university directly and see what they have to say.

Ok, looking on a few universities they do have Access listed, but there is still scope for confusion lol. For example, Nottingham Trent wants 24 credits (16 at level 3), but to get the diploma you need to get 60 credits (75% at level 2). So I'm not sure whether you can just leave without actually getting your diploma and go to university anyway. I assume because of the way it's written, access is the same as three A levels as well... but it is dependent on how many credits you achieve to what courses are open.

Nottingham Trent might be talking about different course, as there are some where you can get 72 credits and some where you can only get 69.

Former Member

I would also suggest finding out where she wants to go to uni and contacting them directly. How old is she? They might let her in without an access course but then, my friends who did them said it really helped get their heads into uni work.

Former Member

The best thing that you could do is find out exactly what she wants to do, where she wants to go, then contact said Uni and see what can be done

Former Member

I'm 19, and I've applied for an access course this year too. I only recently found out about them actually, cause I was looking at alternative ways to get into uni cause I've wasted sooo much time messing about now, and the access site just popped up on google. Anyways. Before I applied I looked at all the universities that I've been thinking of eventually going to, and the courses that I'm interested in, and all of them have basic entry requirements. All of the degrees that I'm interested in (psychology, english literature etc) accept the Access to higher education as a legit qualification. So as far as I can tell it's really widely accepted cause I looked at a lot of different universities. So yup your sister should definitely be able to get to uni without having to resit any GCSEs or anything, cause they do basic literacy/numeracy skills as a part of the course anyways. (:

Former Member

Durham University accept Access to Higher Education qualifications, to give you an idea of how widely accepted they now are.

Former Member

I know people at UCL who got in through Access to Learning, so I'm guessing most of the Russell Group accept it.

The most basic academic requirement for a degree is 2 A2s at grade E or equivalent.