A "I have zero qualifications, but would like to go to Uni" thread

Bengaboy

Bengaboy

Bengaboy

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So, I only have GCSEs, but am currently starting an A-Level in business studies.

As far as I am aware, you need 2 (ish?) A-Levels to be considered for Uni ACAS points wise. But the thing is I am 22, and would like to start Uni ASAP as I eventually will be too old...

Question is, is UCAS points the long and short of it? No way around it? I am currently in the Navy - maybe this would go in my favour for maturity reasons? I wouldnt have thought so, but worth a go...

Full time uni aswell, so I would leave the forces. Unless part time courses are maybe viable?

Any help would be great - Uni noob!
 
Bengaboy said:
But the thing is I am 22, and would like to start Uni ASAP as I eventually will be too old...
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Say what now? :p I know people who are in there fifties going to University. You're never too old to learn something new.

Just do your A levels and go on to Uni as normal. 22 is still really young :)
 
Access Course to HE diploma.

http://www.accesstohe.ac.uk/
EDIT:

Just noticed you are in the Navy......There should be something called the Standard/Enhanced Learning Credit Scheme, I think it was called ELCAS or something like that....it helped fund a whole range of higher education courses for me throughout my time in the Royal Marines....Go talk to your Education and Resettlement officer.
 
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Phone a few unis and ask them?
Applications are down this year because of tuition fees, so maybe you'll get lucky?
 
Uni isn't what it once was. It's not longer a requirement. You'll be likely just wasting your time and money. People do not come out of uni and get a grad job as a result... I don't personally believe it makes any difference anymore unless you're doing something vocational like law or medicine.
 
Lysander said:
Uni isn't what it once was. It's not longer a requirement. You'll be likely just wasting your time and money. People do not come out of uni and get a grad job as a result... I don't personally believe it makes any difference anymore unless you're doing something vocational like law or medicine.
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I tend to agree - Out of six of my mates who went to Uni, four of them can't get jobs in their field of expertise, one is going on to do a PHD, and the other has about four more years to become a Doctor.
 
Experience is what seems to matter more than anything now. Every interview I've had the questions are based on experience. Many people nowadays just try and work their way up in a company instead of trying to get in high up with qualifications. It all depends on the demand for the career you're going for though.
 
If you can go to University with a couple of GCSEs and no intermediate level qualifications i.e. Not BTEC or A-levels then I can only imagine you would get accepted onto courses at Universities that are scraping the bottom of the league tables and desperate for applicants. My ex-girlfriend has the same level of qualifications as you and she is doing some social something at Staffordshire. She showed me her 'really hard' maths when she was in second year (which she failed) and it was GCSE level at best. It was hilariously easy. She is fully aware that upon graduation she will be stuffed for graduate work.

I am all for education, if is worthwhile education.
I am good academically but useless with my hands, but so what? The same goes with the other way around.

University is not for you, but there is nothing wrong with that. If you do go to University, you will be doing something that is not hard enough to be worth your while as it will not significantly improve your job chances and/or earning potential.

"I have a degree" does not have the same ring to it that it did back in 1980. It seems any man and his dog can get a degree of some sort in the UK now.
 
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OpenToSuggestions said:
He has GCSEs.
Don't run before you can walk. Get A Levels first then reassess the situation.

I am all for University, if, and only if, it is something that is worth the £50,000 of loans you rack up during it.
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A lot can happen between 16 and 22. I didn't get into university via a-levels. But university was the best thing that happened to me. I went straight into well paid software development job after university, otherwise I would probably be in a supermarket or something.

Also you seem to implying if your not good with your head, your good with your hands, and vice versa. That's to simplistic.

I didn't do a-levels, and i'm physically clumsy as hell too =P
 
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OpenToSuggestions said:
He has GCSEs.
Don't run before you can walk. Get A Levels first then reassess the situation.

I am all for University, if, and only if, it is something that is worth the £50,000 of loans you rack up during it.
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So what!.....he is in the Navy, he has options that don't require A Levels as well as funding options that do not involve £50k of loans (which is rather exaggerated anyway) ....you don't need A Levels to enter Higher Education.

But that still doesn't explain why you think University is not for him and you are advising so? I am curious why you think that someone with GCSE's who joined the Navy prior to A Levels is not suited to University or that he will only be clever enough to do some dumbed down degree, which is totally contrary to my own personal experience.
 
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Castiel said:
....you don't need A Levels to enter Higher Education.
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To get into higher education, no.
To get into higher education at somewhere decent, yes.

We are talking of a debt of £50,000. Half a house!
You must be confident that it is worth it before dedicating yourself to it!

OP: At 22 you have at least 45 years of work left in you. You are not too old to further your qualifications. If you are going to do it, then do it now before you get a family etc. as it will be harder then :).
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
To get into higher education, no.
To get into higher education at somewhere decent, yes.

We are talking of a debt of £50,000. Half a house!
You must be confident that it is worth it before dedicating yourself to it!
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Open University?

Access To HE?

All these a good options to get in without a-levels.

You can also go somewhere bad, then do a postgraduate somewhere good(What I did).
 
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UK-AL05 said:
You can also go somewhere bad, then do a postgraduate somewhere good.
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Or save yourself a lot of time and money and go somewhere good in the first place :p.

I realise my views are strong, but I feel that they can help the OP.
The last thing he wants is to do some form of degree and find there is no work out there in that field.

I am 24 and most people I know who went to University went somewhere naff and are in the same jobs that they would have done had they left school at 16. Seems quite pointless to have that debt over your head for no added benefit.
 
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