Access to HE Diploma - routes into Social Science

The Access to Higher Education (HE) Diploma is a Level 3 qualification that prepares 19+ students who are returning to education or who left school without the qualifications needed to progress to university.

This Access to HE Diploma is ideal for those who want to progress on to a degree or other higher education programmes in a wide variety of subject areas.

• Psychology
You will be introduced to key psychological approaches and debates that can be used to explain behavior, whilst gaining an understanding of key studies and evaluate methods of data gathering. You will plan and carry out a laboratory experiment in the field of cognitive psychology, using appropriate methodology.

• Sociology
You will learn how various agencies of socialisation (e.g. media, family, education etc.) influence personal identity. We will discuss key concepts such as norms, culture, stratification and inequality. You will apply sociological theories to a range of topics which might include: mass media, the family and personal life, education, globalisation, social class, ethnicity and gender.

• Mental Health
You will learn about models of mental health and apply these to a case study as well as investigate inequalities in the experiences of mental health and illness between different social groups. You will look at the treatment of mental illnesses from different psychological perspectives and discuss the relationship between mental health and substance abuse.

• Crime
You will learn about different explanations of the cause of crime and apply theories to a range of crimes such as: street crime, human trafficking and slavery and cybercrime. You will also discuss differences in gender and crime, and ethnicity and crime, and evaluate the usefulness of crime statistics. You will investigate different ways of offender profiling and evaluate the usefulness of offender profiles in cases.

• Academic development and study skills
Besides subject knowledge, academic research and writing skills are crucial in helping you with your assignments whilst preparing you for your future studies. This subject will help you to identify your own skills and those required to progress to a degree and/ or future employment. We will support you with your UCAS application and prepare you for interviews.

You are expected to attend all timetabled classes (2.5 days per week) and in addition you are required to do some independent study. Sessions are taking place in regular classrooms, and computer rooms. There will be some ‘live’ on-line teaching and learning depending on the subjects.

We encourage all our students to volunteer or work in a field that relates to your future career. This is an intense course and you need to be 100% committed to your studies.
There are no tuition fees for anybody under the age of 24 with no full level 3 qualification. If you are 19+ with a full level 3 qualification, or your are 24+ you can take out an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for the tuition fees. “Student Finance England will ‘write off’ any outstanding Advanced Learner Loan balances you owe for an Access to HE course once you complete a higher education course. This means you do not have to repay it”. For more information: Advanced Learner Loan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

In the weekly tutorial session, you will be tracking your progress, reflecting on feedback received and plan how to keep improving your academic skills. You will receive feedback from your subject tutors on all coursework and have 1:1 tutorials with both your subject tutors and with your personal tutor.