If you started working straight out of school, or didn’t really pay much attention in sixth form, it’s normal to regret it now if you’ve decided that you’d like to earn a university degree. But, don’t worry – many people change their goals as they get older, and between the ages of 16-18, you might not have known what you wanted to do, or maybe you felt like university wasn’t for you, but that’s changed as you’ve gotten older. The good news is that even if you don’t have A-Levels or equivalent, going to university and getting a degree doesn’t have to be off the cards. There are several things that you can do to earn the qualifications needed to get onto a university degree course. Here are some of the options that you might want to consider.

Foundation Degree:

A foundation degree usually involves studying for an additional year, usually at the beginning before you embark on the degree course. Some degree courses have a foundation year while others are more general study for a year with the same university, before going on to study for your degree. More and more universities are offering foundation years, and the entry requirements will differ depending on what you want to study. Most of the time, it’s required that you have certain GCSEs or equivalent as the foundation year is equivalent to A-Levels.

Access Course:

Access courses are specially designed, one-year courses that will qualify you to start a certain degree program. They are available for a wide range of different industries including healthcare, engineering, science, business and more. Before starting an access course, it’s ideal to have a clear idea of what you want to study at university, as your access course choice will be based on this. You can brose university courses at University Compare; a university comparison site where there are thousands of undergraduate courses to explore. You can use University Compare to look at entry requirements and determine which degree courses accept an access course. Access courses are usually taken at local colleges and you can get a loan to pay the fees, which will be written off when you complete your degree. You can also study for GCSEs and other necessary qualifications alongside your access course.

Online Study:

If you want to get traditional A-Levels, you might want to consider studying online. This is an ideal option if you are currently working full-time and want to get them completed as quickly as possible, as studying online gives you more flexibility than taking night classes at a local college, for example. You may or may not need to pay for your online A-Levels depending on a range of factors such as your age and any previous qualifications. Many online educational institutions will allow you to pay for your qualifications in instalments which can be easier to manage if you are unable to pay in full upfront.

Online Degree Courses:

Finally, you might want to consider going straight to degree study with an online degree course, which might have more lenient entry requirements compared to studying at a brick university. For example, the Open University provides fully recognised degree qualifications, many of which do not require you to have earned A-Levels or equivalent beforehand. However, be careful when taking this route, as if you have a certain career in mind or postgraduate study plans, your lack of A-Levels could stand in your way even after graduating. Some online and traditional degree courses will also accept a certain amount of work experience in the place of A-Levels which might also be worth looking into.

If you didn’t get A-Levels or equivalent, and you’ve decided that university is the right choice for you, don’t panic! There are plenty of options available to help you reach your academic goals at any stage in your life.