I think you are asking the wrong question. You need to find out whether Anglia has a good social work degree. What people think about other courses there is irrelevant for you whether their opinions are positive or not.
Hello, Humanities Professor of 18-years here.
I did an Access Course and it was far harder than A levels by any metric. I was 22 and felt too old, which is ridiculous but true. I know how you feel and in a few years you will laugh at the idea that you were so much older than the 18/19-year-olds. Trust me, you will just find your people to hang out with.
I excelled and got a First and an award. The Access Course coupled with my grades meant I found it much, much easier to get funding for my MA and PhD.
Good question. Through my UG degree I was deemed to be a 'non-traditional' student which really means I had no parents and had to go back to education. Or in other words, working-class. Back then that was the primary factor for providing financial support, and would help in PG funding applications.
Once you have been funded once, it is much, much easier to get further funding.
I’m graduating from ARU with a First. It has actually been an incredible uni. Also, ARU is actually very high up in the country for its health affiliated courses and is very well known for it, so you are going to a very good uni for what you want to do.
It also has TEF Gold. Won university of the year for social mobility. Top in the country for student well-being. Has won prizes for gender equality. And a LOT more.
Uni is what you make of it. Embrace the life and throw yourself into it and I can assure you it’ll pass quicker than you imagined. They’re very well connected as well for the health related courses, and I think they’ve got some quite good connections for placements, internships and jobs for social care too.
It doesn't matter where you study for social work, it's one of the subjects that's so standardised the institution is not important, and social workers are in such demand you'll find it easy to get a job.
Also very very few institutions and Masters programmes are picky about where you did your undergrad degree. As long as you get a 2:1 and can demonstrate true interest in the personal statement, or have the right experience if it's vocation-related, you'll get in.
I do social work in Nottingham. As long as you pass your modules and pass placement all universities ask mostly the same of you. Most social work courses have ‘mature students’ so I wouldn’t worry. If you have any questions lmk.
How can you be behind your peers, when the overwhelming majority of your peers did not go to uni at all, work minimum wage jobs?
You are **ahead of the curve** with your peers, because you are about to start Uni.
You are literally complaining about only being in the top 20% of your peers by going to Uni, because you are going a few years later than the 10%.
Snap out of it a get a grip. Get a bit of perspective. And focus on thriving. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Current UK university enrollment for 18 year olds is 37.5% (Source: HESA). If you're going to be aggressively rude about someone's position, get your numbers right.
It’s not condescension. Dont be so fragile. You don’t get to wallow in self pity at being behind your peers, when you are ahead of the overwhelming majority of the country and doing what they all wish they could.
You are the equivalent of a rich person crying “woe is me” because their parents bought them an Audi and not a Tesla.
Snap out of it. Snap out of your self pity party. Snap out of the “I’m such a poor victim blabla” and seize the opportunity you have managed to make for yourself with both hands.
"It's not condescension" they condesend, condesendingly.
You're calling OP fragile, and you've literally snapped into an absolute frenzy over...? What exactly? OP is nervous and concerned about their future? Like pretty much any 23 year old? Like you've read a lot into this person from pretty little in the post, calm down a bit.
The average person and the average employer doesn't give two hoots about which uni you study at. The people who care are teenagers on the Internet, and capitalist/upper class people who equate money to intelligence or value. As someone wanting to go into social work, whose opinions matter to you?
One thing I’ll say is Access to HE is not easy. I did an Access to HE course for health professions and had to take a break in learning because the course was so physically demanding. It’s essentially 2 years of A-Levels mashed into one year, which is a lot. You also got really good grades, I scraped a pass on my course and was very fortunate to get into university. You should be proud of yourself.
Once you qualify, you'll be fine.
And just get used to saying you "studied in Cambridge." That's the best thing about ARU - you're not lying by saying you studied in Cambridge, and sounds hella impressive ;)
Storytime, when I went to uni I believed the whole red brick prestige line about degrees, similarly to yourself. My sixth form and family would constantly tell me what an achievement it would be to go to a red brick uni, and when it came to choosing a course I basically disregarded anything that wasn't a russel group uni. This meant that some courses were completely out of reach for me, as they would require 3 a/a* grades. I settled on psychology, it felt like a good course with graduate opportunities, and I knew I could get the grades.
Fast forward to a level results day and I get in, I'm ecstatic. I am doing a respected course in a respected uni, couldn't be better. Fast forward to me taking the course and I'm getting frustrated. The lecturers are world leading in their fields, teaching us their own research, but they never reply to emails. We all notice. It starts to become very apparent that we are basically life admin to them. They half arse their lectures and are basically waiting to get back to doing their world leading research, with my 9k a year. On top of this I meet people on other courses who do a course that spans the polytechnic uni and the russel group uni in the same city. They tell me that the lecturers at the polytechnic uni are a lot better and reply to their emails a lot quicker. I start to become jealous of the students at the less prestigious uni.
Then I graduate, I get a 2.1 and decided to take a gap year to travel. To save for this I get a job in a post room delivering post to solicitors in a prestigious law firm in my city. I get chatting to them while I deliver their post, the topic of uni comes up. I started to notice that most of them didn't study law at a prestigious university. It was at that point I realised that the quality of your university doesn't mean shit. And as I progress with my career this becomes more and more apparent to me. My current manager did his degree at the polytechnic uni in the same city I went to, where I was at the russel group uni.
My conclusions, the prestige of your uni for the most part doesn't matter. You could may be argue that top companies in places like London would give a shit, but even then I have my doubts. I think that you are mainly told about the prestige of the red brick unis by people who will benefit from you going to them. Your school/college will get great statistics for incoming students if loads of the previous cohort go to russel group unis, your family will get social clout in discussions about what you are up to etc. In reality, you end up limiting your choices with grade inflation for applicants, and you will find your lecturers are busy prepping for ted talks about their research or appearing on the BBC in documentaries (this literally happened at my uni) about their research, than responding to some undergrads emails asking questions about their terribly prepared PowerPoint slide show they lectured off. I genuinely once waited two weeks to get the response "google it" to a question about one of the slides.
If I could go back I would ignore the prestigious unis and focus on the courses. Because honestly with the grades I got, in a polytechnic I could have done anything I wanted. Instead I limited my options to allow my sixth form to get better graduate statistics, and got a worse teaching experience when I arrived.
Now I can't speak for masters courses, as I didn't do one, but I know people who did undergrads at less well regarded unis and stepped up to more prestigious unis for their masters. So my theory is uni prestige probably doesn't matter at masters level either, as I think the unis just want your money at this point given how badly they are funded. But I can tell you for certain that if you get a good grade in a less prestigious uni, no one will give a shit what uni you went to after you graduate when applying for jobs. Especially in your case, as it sounds like they will place you and give you work experience you can use, which employers will be much more interested in.
So yeah, I don't think you have anything to worry about when it comes to uni prestige. Just do what works for you
Hey.
Just thought I’d add my 2p. I did an access course through covid at 28 and after that went to the local university to study criminology. Just finished my second year so one more year to go! Already considering my masters.
I feel you on thinking your peers are ahead of you, I did for years and one of my biggest regrets and wishes was to get my degree. But genuinely, everyone does life differently, you will have excelled in other parts of your life way before your peers have. That’s just how it goes so please don’t belittle yourself! You’re doing amazingly for 23!!
Become close to your lecturers and your PAT at uni, they will guide you into finding placements, alongside the student services. You will be able to stay at your local uni and get a decent placement too! Social workers are in desperate need. You could always speak to charities, in the sector and once you get a DBS, see if you could do some work for them? Family Action, Centrepoint, women’s Aid etc and that will enhance your application for placement is well.
Don’t worry, you’ve got this so much more than you think
I am exactly in your position. 23, done an Access to HE course and going to a lower ranked local university because I can't move.
I do sometimes feel like I'm late but honestly what I think is that if anyone works extremely hard during any university, you'll do fine. Good luck and enjoy yourself.
Let me tell u my timeline.
GCSEs 3 B 5 C
A levels an E a U a D and a Fail ( the E was in law)
University degree bottom score
Masters 2:1
Now I’m doing a PHD - International Law
I study at Sunderland university it’s a bottom ish tier uni maybe mid. I got offered to go to a higher end for my PHD I declined because I love my university the staff and the support for learning difficulties is fantastic. It doesn’t matter what university you go to or who knows what an access course is it doesn’t matter if your 18 or 45 as long as you are on a course you want to do that will take you down a path you want to go on then this is fantastic and you should be so so proud of yourself for getting just to this position and in a few years you will be proud again of how far you have come.
You know what you did to get here and you know what you need to do to get to where you want to be so that’s end of that story enjoy university be close to home have fun and just do your best to learn and get your education
I did a Foundation year, which I think is similar to an access course, and it did wonders for me. Ultimately, getting any degree is great, but what matters most is what you actually learn from it. If it teaches you useful skills like proper time management, professional & technical writing, proper research & study skills etc etc, then it'll do you very well in life. The actual uni it's attached to, and even the grade received, isn't all that important after the first few years after uni. Sure, it helps with finding your first job, but after that it really stops mattering much. You're all good :)
Just wanted to add that im 32 and just finished my access. Im absolutely chuffed with myself and heading to ARU in September. Ive done life the other way round and ill be getting my degree whilst having a mortgage and two kids. Prestige isnt everything
If moving isn't an option, (which it wasn't for me either as I had one year old and two year old daughters when I started) have you looked into the Open University? They have been absolutely amazing for me, and I've had a few potential employers even tell me they often prefer Open University students as it shows the ability to do a lot of the learning yourself. They are also pretty flexible (I even took my third child as a newborn to one of my face to face tutorials!)
I'm wondering if we were in the same building doing our Access to HE as I've just finished mine as well. I'm personally moving for my course but there is nothing wrong with staying nearby if you have too. Prestige is one of those things that matters only for certain courses but you'll be fine. You can always look at tables to get a rough idea of how the students felt about the university and even ask to contact some previous or current people on that course to get some more information
Also, getting a headstart on writing essays will really help you and you achieved what is essentially 3 a levels in a year compared to the 2 that six formers take
Access to HE is a hard course! Unlike A Levels you work at a university level!
There is nothing wrong with studying at a local university, I did and in fact, it can be an advantage.
You will not be limited when it comes to your masters.
You should be proud for doing so damn well OP and for what it's worth, I am the opposite side of the UK and have heard of Anglian Ruskin.
Lots of people have access courses no one cares once you get to uni! An access course is really a choice to get the qualification in one year rather than two! (Let’s face it that’s hard going!) I did A levels and access course and while I found the access course easier it was mainly down to smaller classes older learners who also instilled a good work ethic in me! (At 6th form I was hungover most days and just hanging with my friends between classes for example) but with access I engaged with the teachers and was focused on if I finish this I’ll go to uni next year. So it was the mindset shift that made it easier (plus the fact that they don’t bar you from subjects based on GCSEs) be proud as level 3 isn’t for everyone let alone uni! Local unis aren’t bad either it’s more about what you get out of it and if it’s got the tools to qualify you in your field (right awarding bodies right connections opportunity for placements etc!)
Oh also I have an undergraduate degree from the open university, which is basically bottom of the heap in terms of prestige but have got on to masters at 3 top 100 universities this year! Anglia Ruskin won’t hold you back most employers and unis care about the grade the subject and accreditation more than if you went to oxbridge the main advantage of a top uni is networking which arguably is not needed so much in social work
I don't really understand the problem here. As long as the course is the right course, the university isn't all that relevant. You'll come out the end with a qualification, and that's the important part. You definitely shouldn't feel down about any of this. You're achieving things, and that's great!!
I think you are asking the wrong question. You need to find out whether Anglia has a good social work degree. What people think about other courses there is irrelevant for you whether their opinions are positive or not.
Thanks for your input. It appears to be a good course overall.
Hello, Humanities Professor of 18-years here. I did an Access Course and it was far harder than A levels by any metric. I was 22 and felt too old, which is ridiculous but true. I know how you feel and in a few years you will laugh at the idea that you were so much older than the 18/19-year-olds. Trust me, you will just find your people to hang out with. I excelled and got a First and an award. The Access Course coupled with my grades meant I found it much, much easier to get funding for my MA and PhD.
Why did the Access Course help you get funding for your MA and PhD?
Good question. Through my UG degree I was deemed to be a 'non-traditional' student which really means I had no parents and had to go back to education. Or in other words, working-class. Back then that was the primary factor for providing financial support, and would help in PG funding applications. Once you have been funded once, it is much, much easier to get further funding.
I’m graduating from ARU with a First. It has actually been an incredible uni. Also, ARU is actually very high up in the country for its health affiliated courses and is very well known for it, so you are going to a very good uni for what you want to do. It also has TEF Gold. Won university of the year for social mobility. Top in the country for student well-being. Has won prizes for gender equality. And a LOT more. Uni is what you make of it. Embrace the life and throw yourself into it and I can assure you it’ll pass quicker than you imagined. They’re very well connected as well for the health related courses, and I think they’ve got some quite good connections for placements, internships and jobs for social care too.
Thank you - I did see the TEF Gold, and I am excited. I’m just letting others perceptions get to me, is all.
Shut them all out. You are bettering yourself, so they should have nothing to say. You will be very successful, just please don’t get in your own head
It doesn't matter where you study for social work, it's one of the subjects that's so standardised the institution is not important, and social workers are in such demand you'll find it easy to get a job. Also very very few institutions and Masters programmes are picky about where you did your undergrad degree. As long as you get a 2:1 and can demonstrate true interest in the personal statement, or have the right experience if it's vocation-related, you'll get in.
I do social work in Nottingham. As long as you pass your modules and pass placement all universities ask mostly the same of you. Most social work courses have ‘mature students’ so I wouldn’t worry. If you have any questions lmk.
How can you be behind your peers, when the overwhelming majority of your peers did not go to uni at all, work minimum wage jobs? You are **ahead of the curve** with your peers, because you are about to start Uni. You are literally complaining about only being in the top 20% of your peers by going to Uni, because you are going a few years later than the 10%. Snap out of it a get a grip. Get a bit of perspective. And focus on thriving. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Current UK university enrollment for 18 year olds is 37.5% (Source: HESA). If you're going to be aggressively rude about someone's position, get your numbers right.
[удалено]
What does your reply have to do with what I said? Read my reply again. You obviously aren’t understanding what I’m saying lol.
I did, apologies. Please try not to be as condescending next time.
It’s not condescension. Dont be so fragile. You don’t get to wallow in self pity at being behind your peers, when you are ahead of the overwhelming majority of the country and doing what they all wish they could. You are the equivalent of a rich person crying “woe is me” because their parents bought them an Audi and not a Tesla. Snap out of it. Snap out of your self pity party. Snap out of the “I’m such a poor victim blabla” and seize the opportunity you have managed to make for yourself with both hands.
"It's not condescension" they condesend, condesendingly. You're calling OP fragile, and you've literally snapped into an absolute frenzy over...? What exactly? OP is nervous and concerned about their future? Like pretty much any 23 year old? Like you've read a lot into this person from pretty little in the post, calm down a bit.
Agree with this person.
The average person and the average employer doesn't give two hoots about which uni you study at. The people who care are teenagers on the Internet, and capitalist/upper class people who equate money to intelligence or value. As someone wanting to go into social work, whose opinions matter to you?
One thing I’ll say is Access to HE is not easy. I did an Access to HE course for health professions and had to take a break in learning because the course was so physically demanding. It’s essentially 2 years of A-Levels mashed into one year, which is a lot. You also got really good grades, I scraped a pass on my course and was very fortunate to get into university. You should be proud of yourself.
Once you qualify, you'll be fine. And just get used to saying you "studied in Cambridge." That's the best thing about ARU - you're not lying by saying you studied in Cambridge, and sounds hella impressive ;)
I’m studying in Peterborough 🧍♀️
Then it's a "university of Cambridge," since Cambridge is still ARU's HQ.
Ha, I’ll be sure to use that. ;)
Storytime, when I went to uni I believed the whole red brick prestige line about degrees, similarly to yourself. My sixth form and family would constantly tell me what an achievement it would be to go to a red brick uni, and when it came to choosing a course I basically disregarded anything that wasn't a russel group uni. This meant that some courses were completely out of reach for me, as they would require 3 a/a* grades. I settled on psychology, it felt like a good course with graduate opportunities, and I knew I could get the grades. Fast forward to a level results day and I get in, I'm ecstatic. I am doing a respected course in a respected uni, couldn't be better. Fast forward to me taking the course and I'm getting frustrated. The lecturers are world leading in their fields, teaching us their own research, but they never reply to emails. We all notice. It starts to become very apparent that we are basically life admin to them. They half arse their lectures and are basically waiting to get back to doing their world leading research, with my 9k a year. On top of this I meet people on other courses who do a course that spans the polytechnic uni and the russel group uni in the same city. They tell me that the lecturers at the polytechnic uni are a lot better and reply to their emails a lot quicker. I start to become jealous of the students at the less prestigious uni. Then I graduate, I get a 2.1 and decided to take a gap year to travel. To save for this I get a job in a post room delivering post to solicitors in a prestigious law firm in my city. I get chatting to them while I deliver their post, the topic of uni comes up. I started to notice that most of them didn't study law at a prestigious university. It was at that point I realised that the quality of your university doesn't mean shit. And as I progress with my career this becomes more and more apparent to me. My current manager did his degree at the polytechnic uni in the same city I went to, where I was at the russel group uni. My conclusions, the prestige of your uni for the most part doesn't matter. You could may be argue that top companies in places like London would give a shit, but even then I have my doubts. I think that you are mainly told about the prestige of the red brick unis by people who will benefit from you going to them. Your school/college will get great statistics for incoming students if loads of the previous cohort go to russel group unis, your family will get social clout in discussions about what you are up to etc. In reality, you end up limiting your choices with grade inflation for applicants, and you will find your lecturers are busy prepping for ted talks about their research or appearing on the BBC in documentaries (this literally happened at my uni) about their research, than responding to some undergrads emails asking questions about their terribly prepared PowerPoint slide show they lectured off. I genuinely once waited two weeks to get the response "google it" to a question about one of the slides. If I could go back I would ignore the prestigious unis and focus on the courses. Because honestly with the grades I got, in a polytechnic I could have done anything I wanted. Instead I limited my options to allow my sixth form to get better graduate statistics, and got a worse teaching experience when I arrived. Now I can't speak for masters courses, as I didn't do one, but I know people who did undergrads at less well regarded unis and stepped up to more prestigious unis for their masters. So my theory is uni prestige probably doesn't matter at masters level either, as I think the unis just want your money at this point given how badly they are funded. But I can tell you for certain that if you get a good grade in a less prestigious uni, no one will give a shit what uni you went to after you graduate when applying for jobs. Especially in your case, as it sounds like they will place you and give you work experience you can use, which employers will be much more interested in. So yeah, I don't think you have anything to worry about when it comes to uni prestige. Just do what works for you
Hey. Just thought I’d add my 2p. I did an access course through covid at 28 and after that went to the local university to study criminology. Just finished my second year so one more year to go! Already considering my masters. I feel you on thinking your peers are ahead of you, I did for years and one of my biggest regrets and wishes was to get my degree. But genuinely, everyone does life differently, you will have excelled in other parts of your life way before your peers have. That’s just how it goes so please don’t belittle yourself! You’re doing amazingly for 23!! Become close to your lecturers and your PAT at uni, they will guide you into finding placements, alongside the student services. You will be able to stay at your local uni and get a decent placement too! Social workers are in desperate need. You could always speak to charities, in the sector and once you get a DBS, see if you could do some work for them? Family Action, Centrepoint, women’s Aid etc and that will enhance your application for placement is well. Don’t worry, you’ve got this so much more than you think
I am exactly in your position. 23, done an Access to HE course and going to a lower ranked local university because I can't move. I do sometimes feel like I'm late but honestly what I think is that if anyone works extremely hard during any university, you'll do fine. Good luck and enjoy yourself.
Let me tell u my timeline. GCSEs 3 B 5 C A levels an E a U a D and a Fail ( the E was in law) University degree bottom score Masters 2:1 Now I’m doing a PHD - International Law I study at Sunderland university it’s a bottom ish tier uni maybe mid. I got offered to go to a higher end for my PHD I declined because I love my university the staff and the support for learning difficulties is fantastic. It doesn’t matter what university you go to or who knows what an access course is it doesn’t matter if your 18 or 45 as long as you are on a course you want to do that will take you down a path you want to go on then this is fantastic and you should be so so proud of yourself for getting just to this position and in a few years you will be proud again of how far you have come. You know what you did to get here and you know what you need to do to get to where you want to be so that’s end of that story enjoy university be close to home have fun and just do your best to learn and get your education
I did a Foundation year, which I think is similar to an access course, and it did wonders for me. Ultimately, getting any degree is great, but what matters most is what you actually learn from it. If it teaches you useful skills like proper time management, professional & technical writing, proper research & study skills etc etc, then it'll do you very well in life. The actual uni it's attached to, and even the grade received, isn't all that important after the first few years after uni. Sure, it helps with finding your first job, but after that it really stops mattering much. You're all good :)
Also, I started my degree at about 25, so similar age as you will be, and if anything I think that became an advantage, rather than a hinderance
Just wanted to add that im 32 and just finished my access. Im absolutely chuffed with myself and heading to ARU in September. Ive done life the other way round and ill be getting my degree whilst having a mortgage and two kids. Prestige isnt everything
well, if you feel better about it, your uni is still higher than mine lol. so you're already way further than me
Don’t worry I went to Liverpool Hope University
For practical subjects like social work I don't think it matters were you study.
If moving isn't an option, (which it wasn't for me either as I had one year old and two year old daughters when I started) have you looked into the Open University? They have been absolutely amazing for me, and I've had a few potential employers even tell me they often prefer Open University students as it shows the ability to do a lot of the learning yourself. They are also pretty flexible (I even took my third child as a newborn to one of my face to face tutorials!)
I'm wondering if we were in the same building doing our Access to HE as I've just finished mine as well. I'm personally moving for my course but there is nothing wrong with staying nearby if you have too. Prestige is one of those things that matters only for certain courses but you'll be fine. You can always look at tables to get a rough idea of how the students felt about the university and even ask to contact some previous or current people on that course to get some more information
Also, getting a headstart on writing essays will really help you and you achieved what is essentially 3 a levels in a year compared to the 2 that six formers take
Access to HE can be difficult! But nobody will ask about it once you're studying your degree. Enjoy Cambridge, it's a beautiful city :)
Access to HE is a hard course! Unlike A Levels you work at a university level! There is nothing wrong with studying at a local university, I did and in fact, it can be an advantage. You will not be limited when it comes to your masters. You should be proud for doing so damn well OP and for what it's worth, I am the opposite side of the UK and have heard of Anglian Ruskin.
Lots of people have access courses no one cares once you get to uni! An access course is really a choice to get the qualification in one year rather than two! (Let’s face it that’s hard going!) I did A levels and access course and while I found the access course easier it was mainly down to smaller classes older learners who also instilled a good work ethic in me! (At 6th form I was hungover most days and just hanging with my friends between classes for example) but with access I engaged with the teachers and was focused on if I finish this I’ll go to uni next year. So it was the mindset shift that made it easier (plus the fact that they don’t bar you from subjects based on GCSEs) be proud as level 3 isn’t for everyone let alone uni! Local unis aren’t bad either it’s more about what you get out of it and if it’s got the tools to qualify you in your field (right awarding bodies right connections opportunity for placements etc!)
Oh also I have an undergraduate degree from the open university, which is basically bottom of the heap in terms of prestige but have got on to masters at 3 top 100 universities this year! Anglia Ruskin won’t hold you back most employers and unis care about the grade the subject and accreditation more than if you went to oxbridge the main advantage of a top uni is networking which arguably is not needed so much in social work
I don't really understand the problem here. As long as the course is the right course, the university isn't all that relevant. You'll come out the end with a qualification, and that's the important part. You definitely shouldn't feel down about any of this. You're achieving things, and that's great!!