GCSE's...

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LizSherman
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GCSE's...

Post by LizSherman » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:23 pm

Hello everyone,
A bit of an odd request for advice (mods - feel free to delete if this is completely off course) but I wondered if anyone here knew anything about retaking GCSE's.
Due to extenuating circumstances, I didn't take a full portfolio of GCSE's when I was 16, I only took English Maths and Science. While I managed to get A in English and C in Science, I got a D in Maths. So, i'm only left with 2 GCSE's at A-C grades and most A level courses require at least 5.
In the long term, I'm actually looking into taking a History Degree with a view to taking a masters and becoming a lecturer (nothing quite like high hopes! ;D) so I wanted to start over and re-take my GCSE's.
BUT I am having trouble finding information on taking GCSE's as a mature student (I'm 19, 20 in under a month).
Has anyone here done it? I'm not looking to re-sit Maths, and I'd quite like to pick which GCSE's I could take (History, RE & Psychology were a few that appealed to me). I'd also quite like to do a full portfolio of them (5 A - C).
I've been googling for ages, and while I've discovered I'd more than likely not have to pay tuition fee's, I've not found a whole lot else!
Again, sorry mods if this is totally OT, delete if you have to! :)

x

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Dude
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Dude » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:34 pm

I was thinking of retaking mine, actually more taking them as I never done them in the first place ......
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Moody108 » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:42 pm

most colleges do them, i'm redoing my science GCSE, starting in a couple of weeks (i'm almost 19)

you may have to pay to retake some but it will be worth it, have a look at your local college courses, it's not too late to enrol even now!

and good luck!
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by neonpixie » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:01 pm

try your local adult education office, they offer GCSE's aswell :)
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Vicsarina » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:03 pm

I'm not sure if you'll get away without retaking Maths again. A lot of places demand a C or higher in Maths for you to go onto Uni for certain(If not most) academic subjects.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Tanya.Lou » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:13 pm

I dont know if this really helps at all
But last academic year i retook my Maths GCSE as i only got a D when i took it at school i just had my results back and got a C this time around.
I did mine again in college and i must say i found it so much easier and understood things i had never got before when doing it in college.
Much easier. If you do, do them in college more than likely you will have to pay for either the course or entry fee, maybe both.

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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LizSherman » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:19 pm

Vicsarina wrote:I'm not sure if you'll get away without retaking Maths again. A lot of places demand a C or higher in Maths for you to go onto Uni for certain(If not most) academic subjects.
I've had a check on a few College's sites and for History they're only looking for 5 A-C's with good grades in English... But i'm not so sure about other subjects!
I'm gonna keep on looking around, but I may be moving again soon and it seems all the places I'm googling have few colleges!

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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Becca » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:20 pm

hey hun,
have you looked at Gloscat/Gloscol? (Same college but it's just changed it's name to Gloscol.) They have a campus in Chelt and one in Gloucester by the docks, maybe you could have a look on there?

http://vle.gloscol.ac.uk/

best of luck :)
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by +\\Ultra _Violet//+ » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:29 am

You don't need to do GCSEs to get into uni, there's a much simpler way for anyone over 19. Over the age of 19 I think you have to pay for GCSEs and A levels, so when I wanted to go back to uni to do history (fantastic subject!) I haven't got A levels, so I did an Access course. There are 2 levels the first is GCSE standard and takes a year, (friends on my course had done this). Then you do another one that's the 'depth of A levels but not the breadth', according to my college, and is also a year. The fees were about #10 a year ( this was 11 years ago, but A levels were over #100) We did 3 subjects, plus IT. I did history and social policy, sociology and literature, you could also did some science subjects.

I can't recommend this way enough. The classes were ages 19 to 50ish, and everyone was incredibly supportive. We had loads of help with our UCAS form, and although before I applied I was worried about unis looking down on the course this wasn't the case. Practically all of us got into uni, and there was no stressful wait for results so I had my place and accommodation sorted by the end of June.

If you're looking at unis Leicester's history department is great, they want people who are passionate about history. It's a smallish friendly uni.

Doing the access course rather than A levels had no effect on post-grad either, I did my masters in medieval history at kings, London which incidentally put me off doing a phd. I decided academics were way too bitchy! So I went down the museum route, which I really love!

Sorry if this is a bit of an essay, I love my job and am a complete history geek. I'm so glad I went back to uni, it really changed my life. I started my access course in 1997 and finished my museum studies PGDip last year, as I had to keep taking years out to earn money to pay for everything. It was a really hard slog but so much fun at the same time. Good luck with everything :)
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Sakura » Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:39 am

Generally in life though GCSEs show you have a broad base of knowledge around different subjects.
Most colleges offer adult learning courses including GCSEs, your local authority shold be able to point you in the right direction.
In addition, maths may be a requirement at some collges for A-levels, it certainly was at mine, however, since this is adult education it might be different.

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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LizSherman » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:38 am

+\\Ultra _Violet//+ - Thank you for your advice!! I had seen the access courses, but was discouraged over nerves of then getting into a University. However it sounds like they're a booster into Uni more than anything! =D I'm going to have a good look into that, see what I can find and sort out :) I know I *may* be able to wave the tuition fee's because I haven't got a full level 2 or 3 qualification, so I'm going to start looking at places! So far i'd only found access to Nursing and Childcare, is this the Access to HE? I'd always assumed they had a very structured course and didn't involve history! XD Did it help you get back into what I call "education mode"? I'm really concerned I'm going to go in and be completely lost, it's been a loooong time since i've studied properly.

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Re: GCSE's...

Post by MistressH » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:41 am

you should be able to pay for part time courses at your local college, if you go full time then it should be free!

you would need to find out NOW though as term starts in a few days

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Re: GCSE's...

Post by MissAnthropik » Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:23 am

I was going to suggest access courses too. I know 2 people who have done them as mature students as a way in to university. I agree that GCSEs show that you have a broad base of knowledge, but once you have a degree really NO-ONE cares about your GCSE subjects and grades (unless you want to become a teacher, in which case you could just do a single GCSE in maths if you needed it).

To get a degree you need to have rounded skills, even though your subject knowledge is one area, your skills cover a range of areas, as does your thinking.

If it;'s GCSEs you want then go that route, but if it's doing a degree you want then I seriously think you should look into access courses
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LizSherman » Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:28 pm

Hmm... access courses just seem more and more appealing!! =D Looks like I may be relocating again around Christmas though, so unless I can find somewhere to enroll after that I may have quite a while to do my research! :lol:
I'm not 100% sure where I'd like to go after a degree yet, I know I'd like to get into Archaeology, preferably Egyptology, but what I'll do with that once I'm there i'm not sure! XD

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Re: GCSE's...

Post by MissAnthropik » Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:36 pm

most people don't know what they want to do after their degree! And even if they think they do they change their minds or discover things they didn't even know about (or in my case find that it is so competitive to do what you want to do you decide whether you are prepared to put your life on hold while you keep trying to do somehting you may never achieve and then do somehting else instead!)
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by +\\Ultra _Violet//+ » Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:37 pm

The childcare and nursing one does sound as though that's the one for the nursing degree. You should be able to choose the subjects for your access course although the choice is limited. I lived in Nottingham at the time so I got prospectuses for all the colleges and went to see a couple. One just wasn't for me and the other was the one I did. One of my brother's friends did one down here, so I think they must be quite common.

ETA: Yes it did help me get back to studying, we had so much more support than at school, and if someone did badly there was never the negativity that I got in school. The tutors just wanted everyone to improve and because we all chose to be there, if you did badly it was assumed that you'd still tried hard, and critcism was very constructive. Also we were all in the same boat and everyone supported each other.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LittleMissHated » Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:20 am

Just to add access courses are free up to the age of 25 if you haven't got level 3 quailifications. (If this has been said sorry for repeating.)

(This is full or part-time, my boyfriend is doing it part time and he gets it for free, he's 23 so he gets both years free.)
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Rhaeniel » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:27 am

You could try asking the college you want to apply to - many colleges will accept students without certain quals if they're over 19, depending on what life experience you have. I got accepted onto the Art & Design A Level two years ago (I was 23 then) without having ever studied Art at GCSE, even though Art GCSE is a requirement to get into Art A Level.
it's worth asking anyway, as many colleges make exceptions for mature students, depending on the course you're applying for. They could also offer you GCSEs alongside your A Level if you really want to retake - a lot of colleges do that.

*edit* Oh, I only have 3 Cs at GCSE, by the way. The rest were Ds, so going by that, I'd never have got into A Level. However, I now have 2 A/Ss and one full A Level, all at A grade. So I could get onto a University foundation Art degree if I wanted - so don't let a lack of GCSEs hold you back! :)

*2nd edit* just read what people are saying about Access. I did Access to nursing before totally changing track and doing Art - it was a good course, but you do have to pay. I think it was close to £900 for me, but I'm not sure. My parents paid, but they got all the money back, as they were also paying my brother's uni fees, and if you earn under a certain amount then you only pay up to a certain amount.. it gets complicated, but you basically get help with fees if you need it, same as with Uni fees.

A Levels, however, are free and you should qualify for ALG (£30 a week) if you haven't done them before. You may even get to do the GCSEs free too, as you didn't gain the 5 A-Cs, although I really can't stress enough how important it is to find out if you can get into A Level without them - as I mentioned, I only had 3 Cs and I still got in as a mature student.
If you want to fast-track though, and not waste too much time retaking two-year courses, then the Access to Higher Education is the best, as it's only a one year course (at least, the one I did was) but, as mentioned, it's not cheap!

The other good thing about Access courses is that, far from Unis looking down on them, most Unis are keen to get Access students rather than A Level students, as Access students are usually more mature, more sure of what they want, they've had to pay so they're more serious about going the full distance rather than changing their minds and dropping out, as many younger students do.. and they're usually more prepared for Uni than younger A Level students who are used to playing around in class and not doing much (a generalisation, I know, but this is how many Unis see it) The Access course is actually more intense and can be harder than A Levels, as you have to get to the same standard as A Level students, but you only have a year to do it in.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LittleMissHated » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:48 am

Rhaeniel wrote:It was a good course, but you do have to pay. I think it was close to £900 for me, but I'm not sure. A Levels, however, are free and you should qualify for ALG (£30 a week) if you haven't done them before.
That's odd, loads of my friends have done access courses and none of them have had to pay since they count as a level 3 quailification, which are free up to the age of 25 if you haven't got any. (This counts for all of them.) When did you do your access course?
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Rhaeniel » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:54 am

LittleMissHated wrote:Just to add access courses are free up to the age of 25 if you haven't got level 3 quailifications. (If this has been said sorry for repeating.)

(This is full or part-time, my boyfriend is doing it part time and he gets it for free, he's 23 so he gets both years free.)
That's crazy - is that new? I had to pay full whack for my access to nursing, and i didn't have Level 3 quals at the time! I was also under 25.
We did get the money back, but only cos the 'rents were also paying my brother's uni fees.


Access courses are ideal for getting back into learning - they give you so much support and extra help. I must admit, if I hadn't got back into the swing of things with the Access course, before then doing an A Level, I think I would have struggled with it. Even though they were totally unrelated courses, just being back in a college/school environment really helped.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by Rhaeniel » Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:57 am

LittleMissHated wrote:
Rhaeniel wrote:It was a good course, but you do have to pay. I think it was close to £900 for me, but I'm not sure. A Levels, however, are free and you should qualify for ALG (£30 a week) if you haven't done them before.
That's odd, loads of my friends have done access courses and none of them have had to pay since they count as a level 3 quailification, which are free up to the age of 25 if you haven't got any. (This counts for all of them.) When did you do your access course?

Ah, it was about 4 years ago.. so I was 21 at the time. I didn't hear anything about it.
Also, the Access course didn't count as a full Level 3 course, as when I applied for the A Level course two years ago, I qualified for the ALG. I did ask about the Access course I'd done, and they said as it's only a year and not a full Level 3 course, it didn't count, so I could still get ALG and my fees paid for.

*edit* Also, there never used to be an age limit on the ALG or first Level 3 course fees paid for thingamy.. That 19-25 thing only came in last year. If I'd carreid on full time this last year, I'd have been in contention as I turned 25 in January (as I dropped two subjects and only did the one for the second year as part time, I didn't qualify any more on those grounds). When I started the year before tho, there was no question as it was just a blanket 'over 19' thing. There was another student that year who was 30 and he still got the ALG and his fees paid for, under the same rules. I have no idea why they've placed that cut-off point there, it seems ridiculous to me.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by +\\Ultra _Violet//+ » Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:39 am

Rhaeniel wrote:The Access course is actually more intense and can be harder than A Levels, as you have to get to the same standard as A Level students, but you only have a year to do it in.
My mum did A level sociology the same year that I did it for my Access, and her course was much harder. Although it's the same standard, you don't cover the same amount of work. So it's not like squeezing it all into 1 year. My course was £10 for the whole year, although this was 10 years ago.

Also some unis do access courses too, I know Nottingham used to do Medieval Studies and University of Kent do History. Maybe it's worth checking with local unis too.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LittleMissHated » Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:49 pm

Rhaeniel wrote:
LittleMissHated wrote:Just to add access courses are free up to the age of 25 if you haven't got level 3 quailifications. (If this has been said sorry for repeating.)

(This is full or part-time, my boyfriend is doing it part time and he gets it for free, he's 23 so he gets both years free.)
That's crazy - is that new? I had to pay full whack for my access to nursing, and i didn't have Level 3 quals at the time! I was also under 25.
We did get the money back, but only cos the 'rents were also paying my brother's uni fees.


Access courses are ideal for getting back into learning - they give you so much support and extra help. I must admit, if I hadn't got back into the swing of things with the Access course, before then doing an A Level, I think I would have struggled with it. Even though they were totally unrelated courses, just being back in a college/school environment really helped.
Think it's the past year or so, all the people I know have enrolled for this year.
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Re: GCSE's...

Post by LizSherman » Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:29 pm

Thank you, everyone, for your fantastic advice!! =D
I've found out that i definately can get GCSE's, A Levels, and Access Courses for free due to not having full qualifications at that level already, which is exciting!
I know I won't get into anything now this year, and with the possibility of me moving over Xmas I doubt i'd be able to start somewhere in Jan! lol :)
So i'm going to have a good look into finding an Access course to start next September. I'm feeling a lot more positive about the whole thing, and I'm really glad Access Courses were brought to the light for me!
Thank you all so much :)

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