Many adults in the UK have the potential and ability to study for a degree or professional qualification but have been unable to do so because their education was disrupted due to family, financial, social or personal circumstances.

Due to these circumstances, these individuals may have been out of education for some years and thought that they have missed any opportunities to pursue goals of higher education.

Access to HE Diplomas have been specially developed to provide these learners with a second chance to go on to degree or diploma programmes in higher education or in other professional areas.

There is a wide range of Access to HE Diploma courses leading to many different qualifications and career opportunities available, all targeted at adults who have benefited least from the education system in the past. Most Access courses can be completed full time in one year, and many are also available on a part-time basis, over two or more years.

Access to HE Diploma courses

Some Access courses are designed to prepare students for a particular university degree course, such as Law or Nursing and some provide a more general preparation for university study, allowing choice of a range of different subjects on offer.  Access courses generally include a number of academic subjects relevant to your intended degree course plus a compulsory core element including numeracy, literacy, IT and communication skills, which will provide you with the essentials needed for successful study at university.

How our Access to HE Diplomas have helped learners

Gateway Qualifications nominee named runner-up at Keith Fletcher Awards

Colchester Institute student, Michael Allport, was named runner-up in the Outstanding Academic Achievement category at the Keith Fletcher Awards. After leaving school with few GCSE’s Michael had a strong desire to study Computer Science at University.

To reach this goal, Michael enrolled at Colchester Institute to study Gateway Qualifications Access to HE Science and Maths Diploma. Excelling in his course, Michael received the prestigious prize and is now studying at the University of Essex and achieving firsts in his modules.

Read Michael’s story