Listen to what Helen has to say about her experience as an Access to HE student and how it helped her to achieve an undergraduate degree in Politics and Philosophy and a master's degree in Global Health Policy!
Joe explains how the key skills he gained from his Access to HE course helped him succeed at the London School of Economics and Sciences Po.
"I think one of the key ways in which the Access course helped me was with its emphasis on essay writing and constructing academic arguments. Since we spent so much time deconstructing academic essays and studying each component in isolation in the study skills section, and were almost always in the midst of writing an essay for one of our other subjects, I felt like I'd internalised essay structure before I got to uni. I got the highest overall mark for my exam performance in my second year at the LSE, and was top of several of my classes at Sciences Po, and I attribute that entirely to that ability to recognise what makes a good essay and where my arguments might be inconsistent/in need of greater support.
I also still really value my time on my Access course because of the quality of the classroom discussion. I felt like the debates we had about the topics we were studying were far more interesting and varied than the debates I normally have at uni, because there was more of a mix of people at different stages in their life. So that's a part of Access that I really miss!"
In 2015, Bret successfully completed an Access to HE course in Nursing at Bexley College. He highlights how the Access course helped him progress to higher education and qualify as a registered nurse.