Can someone please explain A-Levels to me/advice

Cedrus · 01-10-2015, 04:32 PM

Background info: I'm a mature student (25) and can't do an access course as I tried twice at college, managed 7 months last time round but ended up in hospital during both attempts.

Anyway, I was talking to my social worker about doing A-levels at home but she confused me.

Do you HAVE to do both AS level and A2 level? Do they combine to become the A-level? Or can you just go straight to A2 and gain an a-level like that?

Also, anyone know of any good websites to look at regarding studying for a levels at home?

Thank yous

sherlock holmes · 01-10-2015, 05:21 PM

Yes you need to do AS and A2. So it typically takes a year for each part, making it two years in total.

I don't know of any websites where you can study A levels at home.

However I study with the Open University and they do their own version of an access course (distance learning) that lasts 1 year and also you don't need any qualifications to take a degree with them, and you can get funding from student finance to study with the OU. So that might be another option.

mikey · 01-10-2015, 05:25 PM

You do the AS level first, and then do usually an extra year to gain your A2. So yes, you need to do both! The content in the AS level goes towards your A2; it's kind of a 'halfway point'. Does that make sense?

I'm not sure you can study at home unless you hire a personal tutor. Would that be an option for you?

Cedrus · 01-10-2015, 08:19 PM

Thanks for clearing that up for me!

I just need to find a route to uni. I want to do history and haven't been able to find any colleges that do access courses with that subject in my area. my local college wont take me back as i got sectioned both attempts and they've become strict on intake now.

Would the OU access course give me a L3 qualification? I know I can't do any courses at L4 as that will mess up student finance. I was going to do the cert of HE at birkbeck but there are many drawbacks. im going to look into the OU now, thank you!

Oh and my mh team said they will help me apply to charities to help cover tuition costs.

sherlock holmes · 01-10-2015, 08:22 PM

I'm not sure if the access module is a L3 qualification. There's some info here, and you can always ring them. http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/do-it/access

It also says that you can take the module for free if you meet certain criteria.

sherlock holmes · 01-10-2015, 08:23 PM

This is the access module that covers history http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/modules/y031

Cedrus · 01-10-2015, 08:29 PM

Thank you for that! I did actually go on their website and it said its worth 30 credits which make me dubious as to whether thats L3 or L4, but im going to ring them in the morning to enquire.

Thank you =]

Iamcatbug · 01-10-2015, 10:53 PM

Can I just ask why you need to know if it is level 3 or 4? Generally access courses are the equivalent of a level 3 course and they can occasionally be counted as points towards degrees depending on the institution.

Cedrus · 02-10-2015, 10:18 AM

Basically my plan before was to do the certificate of HE at birkbeck and they said that you can progress on to year 2 of the part time degree if you do well enough. (but thats not guaranteed)

Anyway, the reason I'm concerned is because when i contacted birkbeck about the Certificate of HE (which is equivalent to first year uni) and the fees they essentially said that if I didn't progress on to their year two part of the part time degree, regardless of weather i took out a loan or payed for the cert of HE myself then i wouldnt be eligible for student finance loans for the degree, if that makes sense. im not explaining well, sorry. they just said that if i have a level 4 qualification (cert of HE) then i wouldnt be eligible for a loan for an actual degree.