University and Foundation years?

Former Member

I'm stuck in a bit of a situation in that I don't really know much about this topic.

I know that most University courses requires AS/A levels to go to University, but I only have GCSE's. Now, I don't want to go to college in Wrexham because I want to go back to Manchester plus I'm not 100% on what sort of career I want to go for yet, and I can't go to college in Manchester because the state won't support me and I know I wouldn't cope with a full time job and college.

However, the other day a friend touched on apparently there are University foundation years which allow people to go to Uni and not need all the necessary A levels and what-not. Could anyone shed any more light on this?

By the way, I'd like to go to a Uni in Manchester.

Former Member

As far as i know you need a-levels or a HND to get into uni.. however if you do a HND in a subject, the uni may count it as up to 2 years of your degree.

Former Member

My uncle did entrance exams to get into university which allowed him onto his chosen course. He was a mature student, but as far as I know this is available at all universities...at least I presume it is!

Former Member

Totally off-topic but foundation years are required on top of A-Levels/Highers for Art related courses so you're sure of your degree subject. Appropriate, but so annoying :banghead: !

Former Member

Oh yeah, I can't go as a mature student at the age of 18...

Former Member

chaos_insomniac wrote:

Oh yeah, I can't go as a mature student at the age of 18...

You could tell them you go to bed at 9PM each night with a warm cup of cocoa.. oh thats not what you meant by mature.

Former Member

totally depends on the university and the course you want to do.
some vocational degree courses you can get onto with some experience rather than soely previous acedemic study... like computing or social work or nursing for example.
you could get onto a foundation course and pursue your degree from there or you could apply for a HND (most HNDs you can get onto without a levels or equivelent), and pursue a degree from there.
if you are interested in manchester university - ask them for a course prospectus or check out their range of courses online to know what would / wouldn't be avaliable to you and good luck with it.

Former Member

you can do access courses, but i think they allow you onto a limited range of degree courses? not sure, you'll have to check it out.

unless you are a mature student (i think it's 21+ now) you might be expected to have A levels, or an equivalent qualification. is there any reason you couldn't do A levels now? you can do them part time/evenings. they would be a huge advantage, even after graduation. after i graduated, people couldn't give a toss about my GCSEs, but they are still interested in what A levels I have.

then again, it totally and utterly depends on the uni, subject area and levels of qualification. you'd probably need to decide that first, and then look into it.

Former Member

Neil wrote:

Totally off-topic but foundation years are required on top of A-Levels/Highers for Art related courses so you're sure of your degree subject. Appropriate, but so annoying :banghead: !

Yup, I found that out the hard way :impissed: My whole university/career plans were chucked out purely because I didn't take Art at A-Level. Bastards.

Ilora x

Former Member

Actually there is GNVQ foundation art and design which does not require A-levels and BTEC foundaton art and design which does require A-levels but they need not necessarily include art if you have a good portfolio since that is more important.

More relevant to you Chaos: Foundation years are offered only in specific subjects and tend to be aimed at people who have A-levels but not quite the right ones; For example, engineering foundation years are generally offered to people who have A-levels but don't have maths. Furthermore a foundation year is classed as further rather than higher education, like A-levels, so you can't get a student loan for it.

You have to be 21 to do an access course. That, too, is further education. It normally takes a year to complete and requires a lot of work and focus.

If you want to pursue your education in Manchester your best bet is probably evening classes, A-level or GNVQ.

Former Member

Correction to my last post: I was wrong about having to be 21 to do an access to higher education course, you only have to be 19.

And do you know what else I just found out? You can apply to a Diploma in nursing with five good GCSEs: http://www.nursing.manchester.ac.uk/programmes/dpsn, http://www.nursing.salford.ac.uk/Prospective/diplomaintro2.php Plus if you did that you'd get your fees paid by the NHS and be eligible for an NHS bursary. Or as I said you could apply for that job as a nursing assistant with North Trafford Mental Health Trust and they'd fund you to do an NVQ in nursing. You could apply to a degree programme with one of those. But obviously you'd have to be sure nursing was really what you wanted to do for either of those things.

Former Member

Kate?

Former Member

yep. Thought you'd have got that from the username tbh

Former Member

I did a foundation year for engineering because I muffed my a-levels. I'm not sure if you can apply for it outright though.