If you live in England, you might be able to do this course for FREE, see ‘Additional Information’ tab for more details.
Apply today and our team will confirm if you could qualify for free place, with no obligation.
Access to Higher Education qualifications are nationally-recognised, one-year, intensive Level 3 courses. They are a fast-track route to gaining the skills and qualifications you need to study at university and begin the career you’ve dreamed of.
An Access course is for mature students (19+) who have been out of full-time education for one or more years and would like to go on to higher education but do not have the formal qualifications needed.
The broad experience on the Access to HE: Art and Design Level 3 Diploma enables you to understand what you are really good at and helps you decide what you want to specialise in when you progress to higher education.
This insight will help you choose the right future career path.
Benefits of studying with Activate Learning:
- Designed exclusively for adults (19+)
- Supportive environment provided through tutors with subject expertise and includes guidance webinars for every module.
- One year programme equivalent to three A Levels, allowing you to achieve the qualification you need to progress to university.
- Widely recognised and accepted qualification by UK universities. This is validated and moderated by Ascentis under licence from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
- Help and guidance on writing your personal statement and completing your UCAS application
- Flexible learning enabling you to study whilst working and around personal commitments
- Funding with the Advanced Learner Loan available.
Each year, around 95% of our Access to HE students progress to university on completion of their programme, going on to over 100 different universities across many different degrees and disciplines.
Course Fees £3928
Remember:if you go to university and complete a degree, the loan for your Access course is written off by the Government.
What you'll learn
During the programme, you will take part in several internal exhibitions and work alongside specialist lecturers, who will help guide you throughout the course.
Towards the end of your programme, you will have the opportunity to choose a subject specialism and complete a final major project.
In addition you will be able to access careers advice from specialist members of staff and you will be carefully guided through the UCAS process. Staff will also advise you on developing your portfolio.
Units covered include:
- drawing
- camera work
- visual language
- digital art
- design
- 3D art and design
- glass
- graphic communication
- photography
- textiles
- printmaking
How you'll learn and be assessed
This programme is taught through a range of approaches designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop your technical and conceptual skills.
You will be given assignments to work on at regular intervals throughout the year. The teaching team will help guide you through all of the assignment requirements.
The programme will help develop your skills in a range of areas, including drawing, media, digital art, glass, photography, printmaking and textiles as well as your critical and analytical skills.
Your communication, personal and study skills will also be improved through a common core programme. There will also be the opportunity to gain GCSEs in maths and English.
You will benefit from socialising in an educational environment and working collaboratively on specialist projects. All of this is excellent preparation for higher education.
You will be assigned a personal tutor who will agree performance targets with you and support you to achieve these targets. Your tutor is also the first port of call for any pastoral issues. Our committed team of staff and careers specialists will also guide and support you with your higher education choices and applications.
You will work on projects that develop your time management skills, research abilities and factual writing skills. These transferable skills are relevant to all areas of creative arts and will prepare you for both higher education and the world of work.
Many of your tutors are practising artists and designers bringing current industry practice to the classroom. What you can expect from the team is enthusiasm and commitment, individual guidance to help you progress and achieve, help with working on your individual strengths, extensive guidance for application to higher level courses, help with building a varied portfolio of work and help with exploring careers within the creative industries.
Entry requirements
Although there are no formal entry requirements for this course*, for university, you will need to have a GCSE at grade 4 (C) or above in both English and maths, or a Functional Skills Level 2 qualification.
*The Engineering and some Science pathways do require you to already have achieved a grade 4 (C) in Maths. These pathways will also require an additional entrance assessment which will be held on campus.
It is advisable that you have these qualifications prior to starting your Access level 3 course as the skills you will have gained from studying these qualifications will really help you on this programme.
*Please note: If you wish to go on to study a medicine degree, most universities require five GCSEs, including English, maths, and science at grades 7–9 (A–A* equivalent).
Applicants must be aged over 19
Applicants must have been out of full-time education for one year
Applicants are advised to contact their university of choice to confirm the criteria
Some degrees require that you have some relevant paid or voluntary work experience
You will have a numeracy and literacy assessment to check your suitability to study at Level 3 and may have the opportunity to re-take either a maths or English GCSE alongside this course*
*Please note, it will not be possible to resit both English and maths GCSE alongside an Access to HE programme
If you don’t meet the entry criteria, don’t worry! Some campuses offer a Pre-Access course to get you ready, or our part time GCSE maths and English classes, available at all sites, could support you to readiness for an Access to HE programme.
There is also a wide range of support available at the college for students, including financial support.
Additional information
Funding Options:
To be eligible for funding, you will need to live in England. Anyone in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland will need to self-fund the course.
Level 3 Entitlement fee remission: If you are aged 19-23 and do not hold a prior full Level 3 qualification, you may be eligible to study the course for free. This would also depend on your location within the UK, but we would check this for you during your application process.
19+ Advanced Learner Loan:If you are aged over 23, or you are 19-23 with a full Level 3 qualification, you can fund the course with the Advanced Learner Loan supplied by Student Finance England. This loan will be wiped from your records if you progress to university and complete your studies! If you do not progress to university or a higher education course, you will not need to start paying back the loan until you earn over £25,725.00.
Remember: If you go on to study at university and complete a degree, the loan for your Access course is written off by the government.
