The Drifter's Guide to Education -- COPY *** GIVE ALL INSERTS A NUMBER
"One door closes, another one opens".
[* LATER, MAKE THE POINT OF FE AND HE DIFFERENCE]
Introduction
Just for a moment, suspend all beliefs you have about learning and, more importantly, yourself, and consider the following statement
YOU , (whoever and wherever you now are) CAN study to graduate level and beyond, without classes or money. IN fact you can end up with an impressive CV of qualifications, the study of which will be rewarding, and the acquisition of which will change your whole life.
I wish someone had pulled me aside and told me that when I was a kid.
Of course, I probably wouldn't have listened. I was far too busy getting through school. The problem was, I'm intelligent and love learning, and school is generally the worse place in the world for intelligent people who love learning. 'Getting through' in these circumstances, means making it through those wasted eleven worst years of my life alive, in one piece and with enough remnants of self-esteem to function at all'.
This is because schooling is a lot more about socialisation rather than learning. People who do well are usually people who are compliant.
Luckily, I'm a natural autodidact (a person who educates themselves). I was able to make a distinction, draw a line between schooling and education -- and never did stop educating myself.
TYPES OF LEARNING
There are lots of different ways to learn something. the most common is a person standing in front of a group explaining a piece of knowledge, while writing notes on a board and the learners ask questions to expand their understanding and take notes each time they comprehend something. Those notes are later reread (revises) closer to an examination date. This can be a good way to learn, it's obviously the most common teaching method -- but it certainly isn't the only way.
to
One disadvantage is that your pace will be that of the lowest common denominator. You might have to spend long time on something you already understand. Conversely, you can't spend extra time on something that's harder for you because the class will move on. The worst thing about it is that it doesn't teach self-reliance. The facts are presented and everyone writes them down.
And it's true that this can work. The human brain, after **** years of evolution - is very efficient. It doesn't remember inconsequential things that are only encountered once. When the same thing is repeatedly recalled, it burns a ?*neural pathway?* in the brain.
So if. for example, someone is learning a new language, in the beginning it's necessary for them to keep laboriously repeating each now word with its meaning; when trying to speak the language, they have to struggle hard to recall each word.
As time goes on, it becomes easier and easier, the words are recalled more rapidly, until one day, it's all automatic, and they don't even have to think about it.
Of course, even as a fluent speaker, every now and again, they'll struggle for a word they know buy _haven't recalled_ (used) very frequently === they *know*it, but it... stays of the tip of the tongue.
This kind of thing happens all the time, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. Perhaps you're talking about someone one day, you know, that guy from the greengrocers, around the corner... of God, what's his name -- bald with a stutter, used to ride a racing bike -- oh yer, Dave the cabbage-head'.
-- But you never forget your siblings name, do you?
So, you can remember things by repetition -- and learn things by being told them -- but this isn't the only way to learn things.
By learning things this way, you're gathering information through your senses, understanding on the left side of the brain, then it's automatically being storied on the right side as a memory.
Of course, the brain doesn't store meaningless information on an long-term that it thinks will never be needed again, so the memory straight-away starts fading.
But if you're a good student, then a little while later, you'll go over your notes and 'revise', which means to use the motes to 'jog the memory', and bring back the understanding into your consciousness or awareness -- if you keep doing this, the repeating precess of recollection becomes automatic -- the memory becomes solidified at some point and you 'know' it.
But memories are generally stored on the right side of the brain -- and repetition by revision isn't the only way to recall them.
The brain is much better at storing information under certain circumstances. It remembers information that comes in through all the senses much better than something that arrives via just one sense. So you can learn something about the second world war by reading, or going to a class - by you may remember a lot more by going to an interactive war museum
It's easier to remember things with a personal meaning rather than abstract things. You can probably outline the general plot of the last three movies that you saw. Conversely, you can almost certainly recall times you went to the shops with a mental shopping list, then spent the evening in silence with black tea and dry toast -- as you forgot milk, beans and a battery for the remote control.
You don't always have to 'revise' information to recall it. When you 'revise' it doesn't have to be from reading your notes. When you talk to someone about what you've learnt, you're recalling the information and solidifying the memory; it's just as effective.
it's much easier to remember things that relate to your personally. You can't personally get involved with some subjects in the real world, but you can in your mind. The brain can't Tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience. So you cant build a rocket to the moon in the world to help remembering the principles of physics, but you can have a discussion with Einstein in a rocket in space, and your recollection of the things you have recalled is exactly the same. Essentially, use you're imagination to put yourself inside of your learning.
So the point is, you might have had a wonderful experience of schooling Previously, which is excellent, and now you can use this book to understand how qualifications are structured, what you need to know to pass them, enter the exam and pass -- and then move onto the next stage.
If you haven't had a positive experience of earning, then the point is that it's an irrelevance =-= there are different ways to learn things.
The types of people interested in independent study whom this book will help.
People who don't stay still.
The world is becoming more mobile in every way and in every sphere possible (and I love it!). People move jobs more, they rent short-term more, travel more, change careers more.
If this is you then you'll want to know the practical options for study, ones which don't depend on staying in one place.
People who have already home-studied, but feel they can save money by learning independently.
People who had a bad previous experience of schooling and now confuse schooling with learning.
People who have already taught themselves a lot about a subject and learnt to pass a useful exam without going to basic classes
Foreigners away from home who want to use their time in Europe to obtain recognised qualification or transferable points before going back.
BASICS OF EDUCATION
Let's have a quick look at the kind of qualifications that independent learners can study.
All types of qualifications are broadly:
Vocational
Academic
Vocational means to learn something by doing it, academic means to learn the theory of something.
You're vocationally learning things all the time. Many people, probably most, choose to learn practically when given the choice. Most people who, for example, buy a new mobile phone, take it out of the box and 'play' with the phone for a while to )learn) what it can do.
Others read the manual, then have a go at using it.
Others use a combination of reading the manual while using it.
Eventually, all three types will give up and have to find a ten year old who can explain it to them.
The reason a ten year old can it it is that they 'play' a lot more intensely. They're not frightened to press everything with excitement and interest and so they learn permanent memories by doing something, extremely well.
There are many types of vocational qualifications. Some are based on going to a practical course to teach you something new. Usually these courses are a mixture of learning both theory and practical application. Sometimes they are college-based, other times they're work-based, with some college time.
The other type of vocational qualifications recognises something that you can already do. So if you have a job which involves skills which you either taught yourself (you old autodidact you), or learnt from the person teaching you to do the job -- then you collect a body of evidence to show what you can do and exchange it fort a qualification. This system is both fair and sensible because it means both the government and employers are recognising the equality of self-taught skills and making them transferable between jobs.
Vocational qualifications aren't particularly suited to independent study for two reasons. One, learning to do these things generally requires you to be in a professional setting with someone to show you how to do something eg. on a building site driving a fork lift truck, or in an office with clients coming and going or in a hairdressers with people whose hair needs cutting.
Also, vocational qualifications are assessed by people who run courses and even if they're prepared to test someone not on the course, they don't like to as to on the assessment, there's usually an ongoing assessment of evidence, like a portfolio -- and it isn't practical to assess someone they don't get to observe over time.
Academic qualifications, i.e. studying and understanding the theory of something, are much better suited to independent study. They work like this:
An examining board decides what a new qualification will be and at what level. E.g. understanding sociology to an advanced level suitable to university entrance level.
They devise a syllabus, e.g. a list of all the things a person who wants to get this qualification will need to know. eg. Feminism, ethnicity, employment statistics, Marx etc.
Schools/colleges decide that they want to offer the qualification. Their teachers get books and teaching aids to teach an understanding of the syllabus, e.g. a book about feminism, lecture on ethnicity, PowerPoint presentation about employment statistics, discussions about Marx etc.
Publishers get academics to write books about the syllabus, wit the essence of each point to help revision (remember, revision is repeatedly recalling something to make a memory permanent.
The teachers write the questions about the syllabus, and the students write essays as answers to show their understanding of the syllabus. The teacher gives help pr advice about any weaknesses in their essays, with tips to improve.
The real exam comes. the examining body writes a list of secret questions that the students don't know until they are in the exam. these secret questions are about things already in the syllabus. Each question has a 'marking scheme'.
This is to help the people marking the papers to know what grades to give. So a question might be 'Name three contributions of feminist theory to the typical make of of the modern average family'.
This is the question that the students see in the exam, and they answer it the best they can.
The examiner looks at their answer and compares it with the marking scheme e.g. it will have a list of terms you're expected to use, and certain studies you're expected to quote in relation to the question.
Based on how close your answers are to the marking scheme -- the examiner gives you a grade.
So put simply, a marking scheme is a list of what kind of things the examining body expects to see in a good answer.
Obviously marking schemes are secret until *after* every6one has sat the exam. But most examining boards do publish past examination papers together with their marking schemes, which gives a good idea of the kind of things that examiners have been told to look for.
Marking schemes are always very close to the syllabus, i.e. the point of the marking scheme is to reward you for how much you know about the syllabus.
TYPES OF EXAM STUDY AND ENTRY
There are three main ways that you can pass these exams.
FORMAL STUDY
To decide which kind of qualification that you want, then find a class that will offer it.
A teacher will teach you a syllabus buy talking, maybe some slides and other teaching aids.
They give you practice questions, and advice about good answers.
At the end of the course, you revise from your notes and they arrange the exam and you sit it.
Advantages
Any questions can be instantly answered.
Help from an experienced academic can home essay writing skills
Support and friendship from other students.
Exam cost and arrangement generally included.
Disadvantages
Some teachers are better/more motivated than others.
How interesting the course is depends on the natural passion the educator brings to a subject, how well they can explain things and their personal charisma.
Group dynamics, groups, especially of adult learners, can be incredibly supportive.
Sometimes there can be some politics involved. Other times,b ad chemistry between tow people can spoil the enjoyment of learning.
You have to learn at other peoples' pace.
Attendance can be inconvenient.
Living costs while studying if it's full time.
Superfluous information., Just think -- the average exam lasts about an hour, whereas full-time courses last a year or two. Yes, some qualifications have multiple exams. But if you loo at the syllabus, there's no way you need two years to answer questions about the subject for one hour, especially if you're familiar with the format of marking schemes.
Most large subjects can be broken down, e.g. sociology, into segments: family, work. leisure etc. Each section will have a couple of major studies to quote, a couple of major contributors and a couple of linked issues. Now, whether you've studied for two years or two months, that's all you can write in one hour.
No, I'm not suggesting that you can bluff your way through an exam.
What I'm saying is that, education is a huge business, with many customers and a lot of government money available for providers and -- a policy of 'more and longer is better than focused and targeted', and this gives a lot of people a good living.
When you get into independent study and start passing exams, the you'll see what I mean.
HOME STUDY
In this type of learning, a private company is paid to help people to study at home.
They decide that they want to offer home students a certain Qualification, then they pay an academic to look at the syllabus to see what students are expected to learn. The academic then writes a book that explains all the units that you'll need to know, eg. chapter one, understanding society, chapter two, feminism ect.
They may also create other learning materials, such as audio recordings, cd-roms ect. to assist learning (which is easier when it involves more than one sense of course). These books and learning materials aren't available in shops, but are only for people who enrol on the course.
Once you're on such a course, then generally you learn it by reading each unit, taking notes and looking at any other learning materials that come with each unit. At the end of each unit you're required to write an exam, which you sent to the tutor, either by conventional or email, who will then comment on it. If the essay is below standard, you might have to do it again until the required standard is reached .
When you've completed all the required essays, then you have to sit the exams. As far as I know, you have to arrange these exams yourself, though advice is usually given in the form of an 'exam booklet'[. This has lists of centres/schools which are conducting the course themselves and arranging the exam fort their own students -- and will let you sit.
You'll have to go there, pay (varying amounts), show ID, turn up and sit the exams. No school or centre is obliged to take you, they do so at their own discretion.
Advantages
Study at your own pace.
Help with your essays.
Exam centres don't like giving outside places to people who don't formally study, and may give preference to candidates who've completed a course.
Disadvantages
Varying quality of service/materials.
I got two home-study A level courses as a gift when I was a teenager. AT 170 pounds each, a parcel arrived in the post. Each unit was a separate booklet, lithographed printed and stapled together in tiny font, with no margins -- absolutely unreadable, total rip-off.
I've not been a great fan of home-study since this, obviously, but also for other good reasons.
The books are written for home-study courses are produced in-house by academics. An academics is, be definition, good at learning things, and perhaps even classroom teaching, but writing well is a very different skill and they may or may not be able to do it; often they can't. They are given the assignment to write the course based on the qualifications they've obtained rather than any test of their particular writing ability.
Yes, they can write to the standard needed to pass the exam -- but can they _write to the standard to teach that? They often assume far too much knowledge and can be verbose, often writing to a required world count to fulfil a proposed target publication size -- with no experience of ever having done this, then I can tell you as a professional writer, is a very honed skill, including editing and rewriting.
One telling point is that the course, that means a book/s and cd if you're lucky, are top secret,they're only for students, i.e. people who've paid. You can't look at it first.
If, for example, you want to buy a book that covers the syllabus for a certain exam, you go to the bookshop, look at a few, compare them to each other and after a good flicking through all of them, make a purchasing decision. In other words, there's a lot of competition at this product level. Because of this competition, the books are generally well written and laid out, authored by professional academics in their fields with a lot of Teaching and *writing* experience and ability. The books have also been professionally edited and proofread.
With home-study, you have no choice, you can't see the 'course' (book and possibly cd) until it arrives -- and it shows. It's usually written by one person, with no professional writing experience, no professional editor etc.
Expensive.
With home study, you're generally receiving some book/s and a couple of other learning materials, which are very cheap to produce, yet the courses are very expensive, perhaps 300 pounds per course.
Of course, what you're really paying for is contact with a tutor.
To have an experienced academic mark you essay, critique it and make suggestions, is incredibly useful for a lot of people -- if the academic providing this service is good. If they have experience of the syllabus, can give good suggestions -- buy why aren't they in full time education? Perhaps they're semi or fully retired, -- but do they then stay current with the syllabus?
For this much money, to mark six essays or whatever, it would have cost about the same to advertise in the local paper or a shop window for a home tutor and then be able to meet them, check their credentials and get face-to-face feedback.
Propriety qualifications.
This means that you home study a course in some subject, which doesn't have a syllabus written by an examining board, but it's essentially a course of study written and devised by the home study company. You do all the assignments for the course and submit essays, and at the end you get a certificate which says you did so -- but the certificate isn't recognised by any awarding body. It doesn't give you any points towards HE entry. For the same money you could have passed a gcse or AS at A level.
Of course, not all home study experiences are negative. It can benefit someone who could really do with the help in essay-writing. Perhaps a person has felt worthless after failing an exam in the past, a long time ago, and needs to have an experience not involving a graded test where you can pass and fail, without pressure, and to have an academic tell them their essays are in the ballpark can cancel out whatever conclusions about themselves were forced into their mind by irresponsible 'educators' in the past. If such a 'pressure-free' experience builds the confidence to move onto the next stage then it's money well spent on a good course. And just because a qualification isn't particularly recognised, it still counts for something on a CV. It counts for someone who got off their.... and DID something as opposed to doing nothing, and that's got to count for something!
If you do choose to go down this route, the best advice would be to use Google to find other people who've used the company and ask then if it was good. Check with ____________ *that they're reputable. Check with ______* that any qualification is recognised nationally and internationally if that's what you want.
Two other things. One, check how much extra the exam will cost and know where you'll sit it as you might be surprised how hard it is to find a centre who will accept you and how much that will cost (rarely less than a hundred, eg. Campbell ________ in London = 250 pounds per a level. The literature from the company will probably say that there's a centre that often accepted their students in the past... but there's no guarantee nor obligation on their part at all. I'm not quoting any scientific study, but based on my own experience, I'm suspecting there's a lot of people who do these courses and then either can't find or can't afford the exam.
The other thing is, if you're going for a recognised qualification, then you might be eligible for state funding even if you're working. Check the finance chapter later in the book.
Independent Study
This is studying wholly by yourself.
You decide the qualification that you want, then go straight to the examining/awarding body and print out the syllabus, past examination papers and marking schemes, basically all the things you'll need to know to pass the exam.
Then you go to the book shop/library to get the books that teach subjects on the syllabus, or maybe a study book specifically about the syllabus. You also use the Internet for information, make mind maps, get cd roms, audio-books, you take notes, imagine, learn, discuss. You practice your own essays and possibly get support from other students on message boards.
When you feel you know the syllabus, you get a list of exam centres from the examining bodies, enter yourself, sit the exam and get your own certificate sent to you or collect it.
Note: depending on coursework, not every subject is available to study this way.
Advantages
Study at your own pace.
Choice of study methods.
Cheaper (especially if you use libraries)
Good to put on a CV, shows useful skills of resourcefulness etc.
Confidence and self-reliance building
You don't have to relearn things you already know.
You can study anywhere.
Long gaps in study are possible as you choose when to sit the exam yourself.
You're definitely studying the latest curriculum as you acquired it yourself.
Finding your own information from a syllabus rather than having it all presented to you is the way that undergraduate study, the next stage of education, is pursued, so the skills you learn will stand you in good stead.
Disadvantages
No direct help with essay-writing skills.
Must be self-motivating.
Only exam-based qualifications are generally available.
Some qualifications have a coursework element and exam centres will generally only let you sit these if you sign up for the whole course due to the extra marking and administration involved (this also goes for home study students).
The information given so far relates to entrance to higher education, that's GCSE and A levels and their equivalents. They are standalone qualifications that impress employers on a CV, and also form the basis to entering undergraduate study if you want to go further, this means starting study towards a degree at a university. Of course, along the way to a degree, there are further qualifications which can stand alone, like a certificate of higher education after the first year and/or a diploma after the second etc.
Strictly these can't be studied wholly independently, as they're not exam based. The assessment is continual and based on ongoing assignments. There's no syllabus, you have to find your own information, so having previously independently studied, you'll be used to doing just that. In a way, it *is* independent study, just with continual assessment. But you can certainly pursue a degree away from a university, even though you'll have to be linked to one, you can do the work in any place. Not only that, but the British government will give you money in to form of loans or grants depending on circumstances, for courses, materials and even a laptop, right up to degree level.
Starting in Independent Study
So where do you start independent study? Luckily, the QCA, in all it's wisdom, has created a National Qualifications Framework, an ongoing effort to tie up all the qualifications, from the lowliest gcse's right up to the loftiest doctorate. All we need to is to look at it and decide where you are now, what exactly you can start going fort independently, and how to get the government to pay for is as much of possible, and hopefully start you up the ladder, yes!, even a hopeless drifter like you!
The Educational Ladder
The National Qualifications Framework
Once upon a time, life was much simpler (but people have always been saying that, perhaps we imagine it?). There was a set of qualifications everyone got when leaving school, teachers who barely knew you would decide which exams you can sit and you have a stressful few days of examinations which will decide your whole future. Most folk got at least a few of, they all went to work and got paid.
Some people stayed in school a bit longer, then left with a higher level of qualifications, and either went to work and got paid even more, or went to university, got a degree and got paid even more again..
If someone wanted to learn something practically, they were apprenticed, someone taught them as they went along. When you could do it, then everyone in the town, village or city locality would know that you're the one that learnt from old mad Jack how to fit horseshoes or chisel stone and you got business based on reputation.
Life's a lot more complicated now, but certainly a lot fairer in many ways. There are all sorts of semi-levels in between standard qualifications to help people go further. Some qualifications are spilt into pieces which are separately passed to make individual resits easier. Higher education has qualifications before degrees for people who can't fit in a full four years of study into their life-plan. Apprenticeships are rare now, but many subjects learnt vocationally have qualifications and of course there are brand new subjects to study, like computing and women's studies etc.
Vocational qualifications certify that someone has learnt to do something by doing it. Some teach them from scratch and others are awarded after assessing what someone can already do on a job they are already in. Just think how much fairer that is. Everyone is different, we all learn best in different ways. Some people learn by doing. Some subjects are best learnt by doing. Who would you rather have fix your car, someone who's studied the theory of engines for a year, or someone who's been actually doing it under a mechanic for six months? Who's best suited to taking a managerial job? A person with a four year academic BA degree in Business studies from a university, or a person with a two year foundation degree mostly learnt managing in an office? I don't know that answer. I'm making the point that vocational qualifications aren't seen as a second best option for people who can't study academically.
But think how much more sensible it is also. Say there was a person who learns things practically. Left school with just a few low level academic qualifications but joined a company and learnt on the job. After twenty years of practical learning they're near expert and risen right to the top because that kind of learning suits them. But if they ever left the job and wanted to move elsewhere, then technically, they're right back to where they were at sixteen as there's no recognition that, basically, they've become an expert at what they do.
Another good thing about vocational qualifications is that it breaks the 'do you have experience' problem. Many employers don't want to be the first person who takes an employee with the theory alone of doing something. That in itself is a recognition that you have to learn certain things by doing them.
With vocational learning you learn by doing in a professional environment. So, you might leave school and go straight to college and do a vocational qualification, half of which is spent outside the college actually on the job. So when it comes time to actually find an experience, yes, you do have experience.
Because it's now recognised that the vocational qualifications, whether taught from scratch or awarded for something already known, are equal to academic qualifications, it was necessary to make a kind of official scale of all the qualifications you can get and rank them next to each other. This way everyone knows what is worth what and no one will be undervalued or underused. Employers will know that certain vocational qualifications are at degree or doctoral level and (hopefully) will pay accordingly! Also, most routes into university are through a centralised application procedure (University Centralised Admissions System?*). This is on a points system. So once the qualification framework is in place, all recognised qualifications have a number of points. So Ucas use the system but add recognised foreign qualifications and their equivalent. Also the __________* is in charge of making sure that any qualification obtained in one EU country can be exchanged for it's equivalent in another EU country so that you can go and work there.
So, it was necessary to have one government body to look at qualifications and decide which are real and worthy of government funding and to be taught in schools (to stop any tom dick or harry making up sham qualifications and tax payers money being wasted one them), but the same organisation is in charge of ranking all the recognised qualifications onto a national framework.
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
[*qca info here]
UCCAS[* ucas info here, plus how foreign qualifications are ranked on the framework, and some UK like igcse not on framework in uk but recognised, so worth going for.]
The National Qualifications Framework
Originally, the framework had fie levels, now there are eight; the extra ones help to equate higher university qualifications to their vocational equivalents. The framework presented there applied to England, Wales and Northern Island. Scotland has a separate system of twelve levels (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)), also used by the Open University.
The eight levels of education
Entry Level
Qualifications:
BTEC certificate in life skills.
BTEC certificate in Skills for Working Life.
Tish is a types of pre-level, very introductory pre-level. This ?level of qualification shows learning has been applied to an every day situation under supervision. It's basic knowledge rather than being geared towards a specific job
Level One
Qualifications:
Vocational:
NVQ level one
BTEC introductory awards
Academic:
GCSE grades G-D
Similar skills needed as for entry, but may be linked to job relevance.
Level Two
Qualifications:
Vocational:
NVQ Level two
BTEC Diplomas, Certificates and Awards
BTEC First Diplomas, Certificates and Awards
Academic:
GCSE Grades A-C
Skills are the ability to gain knowledge of a subject of area of work with limited guidance.
Level Three
Qualifications:
Vocational:
NVQ level three.
BTEC National Diplomas, Certificates and Awards.
BTEC Diplomas, Certificates and Awards.
A/AS levels
Skills: obtaining advanced/detailed knowledge and skills. Qualifications at this level are university entrance.
Level Four
Qualifications:
Vocational:
BTEC Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards.
Academic:
Certificate of Higher Education.
Skills: Specialist learning; detailed analysis of high level information.
Level four and beyond is considered 'higher education'. Academically, qualifications are received from a university.
Level Five
Qualifications:
Vocational:
BTEC Higher National Diplomas and Certificates and Awards.???????? this is as above?? what's national and professional then?*****
Academic:
Diploma of Higher/Further Education.
Foundation Degree (part vocational two year degree).
Skills: Increased depth of knowledge; solve complex problems; high level of knowledge.
Level Six
Qualifications:
Vocational:
BTEC Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards.
Academic:
Degree (BA/Bsc).
Skills: Own ideas and research to solve complex problems; high levels of professional knowledge.
Academically, this is standard degree level. A degree is called a bachelor of arts of a bachelor of science, depending on which subject/s you've studied.
Level Seven
Qualifications:
Vocational:
BTEC Advanced Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards.
Academic:
Masters Degree.
Skills: Highly developed and complex knowledge; in depth and original responses to unpredictable problems.
Level Eight
Qualifications:
Vocational:
BTEC National Diplomas, Certificates and Awards.
Academic:
Doctorate.
Expert level.
Skills: Original approaches that extend of redefine existing knowledge or professional practice.
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This ladder can look like a long, long way up, depending on where you are now, and your previous experience of learning. But once you realise the way it all works, you might just be surprised by how far you can go.
The Drifters Path Up the Ladder
So if you're reading this book, then I'm making the assumption that you:
A -- Want to go at least some way up that ladder.
B -- Can't or don't want to attend a formal course, and/or can't/don't want to stay in the same place (you gypsy person you).
Qualifications are basically four levels:
Entry
University entry
Higher educations (undergraduate)
Post graduate (after you have a degree)
Entry qualifications are basic skills. There's an awful lot of free help if you want to go for these, say if your English or maths are below the level to make a start on a recognised qualification.
The other qualifications are fairly sequential. You start at the bottom and pass and move up. You can't turn up at university and ask for a doctorate if you haven't done a GCSE.
Pre-University
Generally (with exceptions for mature students), you can't start university education with no qualifications at all. Traditionally, for a person to be considered having finished school, the educational level would be five GCSE's and two A levels. These qualifications are enough for entrance to universities, but are also qualifications is their own right and can lead straight into a well-paid job.
GCSE's are one year courses usually taken aged sixteen or anytime. A levels are two years courses taken aged 18 or older.
*********INSERT ONE**************
It might only be for a moment that you manage to believe that -- or perhaps you can't fully believe it al all right now.
But a belief is just that, a belief, a conclusion about yourself that comes into your mind and then leaves, just like any other thought or feeling or memory that comes into the mind; the mind is always full of things coming and going.
It's true, that life's sometimes unfair. If you can't believe you can do this, if you have all of these negative beliefs (changeable conclusions) about yourself, the chances are that they were put there by someone else a long time ago, even people who's joy bi was to give you just the opposite beliefs.
Buy you *DON'T* have to be a victim. They're (YOUR* beliefs now. You can let them come and hold you back, like a victim -- of they can e fuel for the fire. If they coming into your mind, you can think, yes, that who I am, that's what I can't do... or you can reel energised and think 'I'll show 'em!'.
In the words of Frank Sinatra, 'Success is the best form of revenge'.
Your path up the career ladder as an independent learner is, in essence, quite simple:
Understand the hierarchy of qualifications and decide where you're going to start.
Learn what you need to know to pass the exam.
Arrange the exam.
Pass it.
Decide the next qualification and back to step two
Yes, saying and doing are two different things. There's a mass of information out there. There are also a lot of businesses and individuals with vested interests to tell you that independent study isn't possible and you'll have to pay for their help. There are government departments who don't know what the others do and also are at a loss to understand how their own system works.
But there are people who make it through this quagmire; I know because I'm one of them. Hopefully this book plots the path upwards, and once the overview becomes clear, they'll be no stopping.
[ALSO, WHO THE BOOK'S FOR?*]
Once you have this overview, there's an awful lot of help available... if you know where to look. Even for those in work, the government can pay some or all tuition costs as grants that never have to e paid back. There are grants towards the cost of a computer and study materials. The cost of an exam can be free or subsidised. There are special non-repayable payments for anyone who gets into financial trouble while studying. There can be home-study fees paid, interest free loans which are only ever paid mack when the borrower is earning a certain (fairly generous) amount. You may not believe this, but, savings aren't taken into account with most of this kind of help, so even if you're starting basically unqualified, the government will basically 'give' you all the tuition fees all the way to masters degree level, with part time study that is completed at home.
Not only that, once you have a little understanding of modern education/neurology theory, independent study can actually be an advantage as you can use the latest techniques to comprehend, remember and recall information rather that dated 'repetition and writing down' theory in cur4rent use, making the whole journey actually fun.
MODULAR STUDY AND COURSEWORK
This is where you have to complete an assignment, usually written, outside of exam conditions eg. in your own house and time.
The advantage is that there's no exam pressure and you can just do the best piece of work you can do.
Another advantage is that it shows you can actually do something.
The disadvantage is cheating, with sites on the Internet selling guaranteed grade coursework. There had been recognition of this and of late, there' a move away from coursework at GCE and GCSE level, back to exams.
The big disadvantage for independent students is that it is nearly impossible to sit any qualification with a coursework component, because of the extra work involved in the marking.
Assessment
This is used to grade vocational qualifications and usually involves practically doing something and retaining evidence of what you did and learnt into a portfolio, which is marked by an assessor.
Modular units
Modular means to cut something up into independent pieces. A levels are now modular, as are some degrees.
It used to be, for an jA level for example, you would study for two years, sit an exam and hope for the best. It was cheap to mark, but pretty unfair.
Now the qualifications are split int pieces - eg. six for an A level. Each unit is a separate subject within a subject. For example, a sociology a level may have units like family sociology, work sociology, The first three units taken together combine to form an AS level, which is half an A level.
Each unit has a separate exam, the units individual scores are then averaged out for an overall mark.
The great advantage is that if you do badly on just one unit, you can sit just that one again six months later, after re0studying just that one unit rather than retaking a whole course.
The disadvantage is, for our purposes, the cost.
Lets look at qualifications, from gcse to doctorate, and everything in between -- and get you on the way to go as far as you can go.
[* INSERT NQA]
[>???* INSERT UCAS]
Choosing an Independent Path to Success
So, qualifications are 'school leaving', you can take this at any age.
Above this, they're undergraduate, that means studying towards a degree.
Post graduate means qualifications after a degree.
So, the main questions at this starting point is, have you got enough qualifications to enter a university or have you not? It doesn't particularly matter what the answer to that question is, just that you know the answer.
If you do have enough, then it's time to go onto the information about undergraduate qualifications. It's not possible to wholly study these independently because of their nature -- but it certainly is possible to study for these qualifications away from full time education wherever you are, and to get much of it paid for to boot.
We'll come onto this. If you're not at this level yet, then this should be the first goal. To have acquired enough qualifications to enter university. i.e. ____* ucas points or more, is an achievement in itself. Remember, these qualifications stand alone and near guarantee a better job and future.
Depending on your circumstances, there are a number of options.
There are vocational and academic qualifications. Vocational qualifications generally can't be studied independently, because the learning is achieved while actually doing it, then you need someone to show how to do it, it needs to be conducted in a professional environment, and there needs to be someone assessing it. This is also true if you want to gain an NVQ type qualification to assess something already done at work.
If you want to go by this route, then you'll have to be linked to a course, either at a college, or a training agency. The best idea would be to go online and decide the NVQ, BTEC or GNVQ you want to go for, then ask the awarding body, the LEA and your local library of your intention and ask them the best way to go about it.
*************** INSERT VOCATIONAL TRAINING
Vocational and Occupational Qualifications
Replacing GCSE'S in vocational subjects are GNNQ's, General National Vocational Qualifications.
They are equal to two Gcse's. They contain three units, usually one test and two pieces of coursework. As far as I'm aware, due to their practical nature, they're not available to independent students but there might be a home study option for students willing to attach themselves to a learning institution.
AVEC are like vocational A Levels, in subjects like business and arts etc. They have three units and are equivalent to AS levels. Again, I'm not aware that they are available to independent students.
NVQ's are National Vocational Qualifications, you are passed by evidence in a portfolio, and LIFE EXPERIENCE counts. I think the idea was that there are quite a few people working who don't actually have the qualification on paper but learnt by getting a job at the bottom in a company and working their way up over the years. When you consider what they're learnt over a decade, whether formally by reading up or being shown practically, then they could know an awful lot and be highly skilled, but the skills aren't transferable particularly, plus they show up in statistics as unqualified and unskilled.
So the idea of this was, a criteria is set up. Each subject has I think three levels. So, I personally did an NVQ in business administration. Level one included filing, stock control etc. I went along to a training centre and they practically taught me to do each thing. Every time I did something I included evidence. So, for example, when we did stock control, I made print outs as I went along and then had to answer a multiple choice about how to do stock control etc. All this was filed in a folder I walked around with.
I ended up with about two kilos of filing in various boxed, all of which was exchanged for an NVQ. Personally I wasn't hugely impressed, although these are recognised qualifications. They're especially good for the people they were originally conceived for. If you're already doing a job which requires you using all the required skill for a level, then just keeping evidence of the work you do in a folder, which you exchange for a worthwhile certificate is pretty easy and useful.
The main problem for an independent going along this route is finding a place that will take you. If you're unemployed the job centre might well help. If you're starting from scratch without the skills and want to pay for training as well as certification then there are millions of providers. If you are already doing the job, have the skills and just want advice about making the portfolio and having it assessed, then it's the usual independents' problem... no one want us as we don't make people so much money.
BTEC First and National Qualifications.
Not sure if these are suitable for independents.
BTEC Higher National Certificates/Diplomas (HNC/D)
Not sure if these are suitable for independents.
Foundation Degree
Not sure if these are suitable for independents.
City and Guilds
Including Pitman, these are vocational qualifications. I have one in photograpgy, which involved attending classes and putting in a portfolio of work at the end. I'm not aware of a way to obtain them independently. Pitman are a range of office type qualifications, like in short hand.
---
Professional Bodies sometimes award their own certification, which may or may not be suitable for independent study. You'd need to research any subject area you were interested in and then approach them directly.
Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) and Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).
This is basically like the NVQ in it's basic idea, so you can get qualifications in things you've already learnt how to do rather than have to join a course that won't teach you anything, although this type is more acedemic. Also, it's used if you want a previously studied course to count towards part of another qualification. It the former use, you make a portfolio of achievements to get credits.
-----
www.city-and-guilds.co.uk
Tel:
City & Guilds
Customer Relations
1 Giltspur Street
London EC1A 9DD
United Kingdom
Replacement certificates are twenty pounds each:
Archive Services
City & Guilds
1 Giltspur Street
London
EC1A 9DD
T:
F:
E: archiveservices@cityandguilds.com
www.lccieb.com
The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
They offer their own qualifications, eg. diplomas, in business type subjects which are 'internationally recognised'. They are recognised by universities, but would likely be expensive to get.
The best course of action if you want something like accoutancy etc would be to contact them at customerservice@ediplc.com or telephone to ask for the nearest examination centre, and then contact the local centre to ask what the exam entails and if you could sit independently.
*****
***************INSERT ENDED
Go forward in the book and read the ?*chapter*? on funding, to make sure you pay as little as possible!
There are also specialist courses like access, especially for people who are returning to education. This could be a good route for anyone returning to education who isn't confident of their studying ability. Starting points would be the same as for vocational qualifications.
Home study might suit some people, though I think I've made my views on the subject clear!
And then there is, of course, independent study. If a person's done well at formal education they generally fet to HE entrance level i.e. finish school, with five GCSE's and two A levels. Tish is general and advanced schooling in a good variety of subjects.
If you're reading this, then I'm assuming that you're an independent spirit, not the kind of person easily socialised within formal schooling,k but probably ideally suited to independently study.
Both GCSE's _and_ A/AS levels can be studied and passed independently. But returning as an adult GCSE's aren't a great advantage. Because the whole system is ranked on a points basis, and A levels are modular, with AS being worth half the points of an A level, and a qualification in its own right. But returning as an adult GCSE'S aren't a great advantage. Because the whole system is ranked on a points basis, and A levels are modular, with AS being work half the points of an A level and a qualification in its own right, it's much better to get to HE entrance level of education with a fewer amount of AS/A levels than a large amount of GCSE's.
The level of knowledge between good grade GCSE's and AS level in the same subject is not too great, an AS level counts for a lot n\more, moth in points and int he eyes of employers.
With everything taken into account, A/AS levels are definitely *the* starting point for independent students -- and no where near as daunting as you've probably thinking.
DRIFTING INTO FURTHER EDUCATION AND BEYOND
There are two basic routes for someone returning to further education - whether you obtained GCSE qualifications or equivalents, or not.
Either you're going to go for vocational or academic qualifications at further education level -- or you're going to a kind of 'bridge' level, which are routes into education pretty much for adults who missed out on formal education, for whatever reason.
If you choose the former, then essentially you'll decide on vocational or academic.
Choices of further education level
FE Qualifications
Vocational
Academic
FE/HE Bridge Routes
To get enough qualifications at level ?* is to be considered having finished further education. This means that a level of education suitable for entry into higher education has been obtained. Even if there's no subsequent entry into higher education, this is still a level of education far above the UK average.
[* INSERT UK AVERAGE STATISTIC, EDUCATION]
Awarding Bodies and Qualifications
[BTEC
QUALIFICATIONS
ABOUT
C&G
NVQ
GNVQ
*** WIKI]
If you're going this route, then as previously explained, attendance will be required. The best route is to contact your lea or careers advice lines in the directory section of this book.
Access and Direct Routes
Recognising that unqualified adults who missed out on schooling are a huge waste to a country, there are a lot of places specifically for adults who want to return to education. Either a foundation degree studied over two years, or a vocational subject, or an access course.
A foundation degree is a kind of two year degree specifically in a vocational subject. An access course is a course specifically designed for someone wanting to start study towards a degree. It can't be pursued independently, but has the advantage that you can begin it without formal further education qualifications.
***INSERTED FROM PRINTS -- ACCESS COLLEGES
National Open College Network.
This is essentially an accrediation organisation. They have their own 'nationally recognised' qualifications (meaning they're toilet paper out the UK) which organisations or employers purchase from them, and then have right to award them. They're not a whole lot of use to independent learners who already possess basic skills. If you can get on a course for free then they're better than nothing. But if you're going to spend money, then much better to go for an acedemic qualification that can get you into HE or is recognised globally.
The National Open College Network
The Quadrant
Parkway Business Park
99 Parkway Avenue
Sheffield
S9 4WG
Tel: 0114 2270500
Fax: 0114 2270501
Web: www.nocn.org.uk
E-mail: nocn@nocn.org.uk
Adult Residential colleges with businesses?
Bursary Diplomas. The following places are colleges which are designed for people who missed out on education and want to go back into higher education. They are generally fairly similar, but offer residential courses with higher national diplomas or similar, which can lead to a degree. Best of all, there are means tested grants available for fees and living costs. So if you get lucky, you could be taking a year off to get back into things educationally.
If you were accepted in one of these places, then it would basically be an alternative to independently studying two or three a levels as you're going straight for the higher national diploma, so it would be faster and is worth a try.
www.harlech.ac.uk
Coleg Harlech
"Students pursue a one year course leading to a University of Wales Foundation Certificate in either Information Technology, Social Studies, or Creative and Performing Arts, and then into a wide range of jobs and professions."
This is a welsh organisation, not sure if it's a college. It's specifically for 'adults who missed out'. No qualifications are needed to join a one year residential course, and grants are available. The foundation certificate sounds like it's a routue into higher education, and considering there's funding available, it's probably worthwhile trying if you'd rather join a course than study wholly independently.
Alternatively email info@harlech.ac.uk or complete the
enquiry form
?????? BLOCKED www.fircraft.ac.uk
NewBattle Abbey College
www.newbattleabbeycollege.co.uk
Scottish college offering one year residential course, specifically designed for adults who again 'missed out on learning' and want to return to Higher Education. There are full grants for people accepted, but they're means tested. Worth a try. Their general certificate is a recognised access course, meaning if you pass it you'll get 'points' that work a bit like uccas points, i.e. you can start a degree somewhere.
Telephone: 0131 663 1921
Fax: 0131 654 0598
Email (general) office@newbattleabbeycollege.co.uk
Email (course information) courses@newbattleabbeycollege.co.uk
Email (conferences & events) events@newbattleabbeycollege.co.uk
Postal Address: Newbattle Abbey College,
Newbattle Road,
Newbattle,
Dalkeith,
Midlothian EH22 3LL
Alternatively you may wish to send us a request using our general enquiry form or you may request a prospectus.
---
www.northern.ac.uk
Post
Northern College
Wentworth Castle
Stainborough
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
UK
S75 3ET
Telephone
Tel : 01226 776000
Minicom : 01226 776026
Fax : 01226 776025
Email
Course Queries: R.Roe@northern.ac.uk
----
Ruskin Oxford College.
www.ruskin.ac.uk -- telephone interview
This is a decent looking prospect. One year courses. All courses designed for adults. Higher national diploma and certificates. Fully funded and grants available. Again, for means tested, but work trying for pretty much any potential learner who isn't so highly qualified. If you can't get help from some kind of a place like this, you can still independently study A Levels and then go the loan option, but with these places, you can short cut with a grant including the living costs. There might even be financial help available for foreign students from the British Council.
Walton St, Oxford OX1 2HE
Tel: 01865 554331
Email: enquiries@ruskin.ac.uk
***** END ACCESS
[INSERT: WIKI-ACCESS]
[INSERT - SECOND CHANCES RESIDENTIAL COLLAGES]
A Levels
A levels are, as explained, the main focus in the UK for an independent education at FE level.
[INSERT WIKI A LEVELS]
A Level Examining Bodies
*** INSERTED OCR
OCR
Including RSA office qualifications, OCR (see later) is an examining body doing A Levels and GCSE's etc. RSA are qualifications in things like touch typing etc.
www.ocr.org.uk
The only main examining body that doesn't list it's examination centres online. You would need to contact them directly for a nearest centre. It's generally GCSE and A levels, but a full qualification list is on the website.
Tel:
01223 553 998
Fax:
01223 552 627
Email:
general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk
*** OCR INSERT ENDIT
[INSERT A LEVE LEXAMINING BODIES WIKI]
Commencing Independent A Level Study
A quick clarification: a private candidate is someone who studies formally, but enters themselves for an examination -- most commonly because they paid for a distance learning course -- an independent candidate is someone who's studied the syllabus without formal help, which is what I'll explain now.
The first thing is to look at the syllabus and decide the subject you're going to study. Go to the websites of the three main examining bodies. On each homepage, there are links like 'qualifications'. From this, pick A Levels Next, look at the list of subjects and decide which subjects you're initially interested in.
Click the link for each subject. Each A level subject has it's own page. Specifications, i.e. what you'd have to study, is published every year. Exams are generally twice a year, January and June, so depending on how long you'll want to study for, you'll likely want to download next years or the year after specification.
The syllabus of some subjects changes quite often if it covers an area where there's a lot of change e.g. media studies or computing. Other subjects change every few years, to represent changes in society of the field. Eg. religious studies recently had an overhaul to cover the effect of immigration has had on religion in the EU due to worldwide immigration -- and other changes like rising fundamentalism.
Subjects based on unchanging principles, like mathematics, change less frequently.
At this stage, look at the syllabus of each subject you are interested in. It's split into a number of units. The syllabus will tell you if the units are based on an exam test or coursework. Often there are optional units which are coursework and if you don't choose them, then the qualification will be 100% exam. Unfortunately, as in independent student, you have to rule out the subjects with a coursework component and look for subjects that interest you what are 100% exam.
Once you have a list of possible subjects you can go for -- go back to the exam board homepages. Remember -- just because the subject of one examining board is coursework based, the other might not be.
ON the homepages, look for a link, or search for something like 'information for private candidates'. Currently, each of the three boards have a downloadable pdf. Read the booklet, looking for two things. One, it should list which subjects are available for private candidates, the other is where you might sit them.
Edexcel and Aqa have a list of schools in their booklets. When you've picked a subject it's necessary to contact each school. Not all of them will be teaching the course you want to study, which means they won't be arranging the exam either.
If they _are_ arranging the exam, then they have absolutely no obligation whatsoever to accept you as a candidate -- and if they will, the best promise you'll get is to contact them in January when they accept registrations (for the June exam). That doesn't sound great, but you're much better off then a poor innocent soul who just paid hundreds of pounds for a home-study course and in snow in exactly the same boat as you.
Like all things in life, if you've got the money, someone will have the help. The examining boards generally charge about thirteen pounds per unit, and there are three for AS and another three for A2 (A2 is the other half that makes an AS level a full A level) There are various other charges, for late registration, changing your mind about various options which each one comes with.
ON top of this, schools are free to charge what they ant -- though they generally add a registration fee of administration charge, which is 'in the ballpark'.
REMEMBER -- there will be concessions. You'll need to take ID and register in person for the exam. If you have any concession, like a pension or full time student card, unemployment benefit booklet, evidence of housing benefit, TAKE IT, even if you don't get the full reduction -- there's a sliding scale of subsidy.
A note about OCR, it's the oly examining which doesn't publish a list of centres whicyhh might accept private candidates; then I contacted them, they confirmed:DOESN'T PUBLISH A LIST OF CENTRES WHICH MIGHT ACCEPT PRIVATE CANDIDATES. wHEN i CONTACTED THEM, THEY CONFIRMED:
"cENTRES THAT CHOOSE TO ACCEPT PRIVATE CANDIDATES DO SO AT THEIR OWN DISCRETION -- AND ON THAT BASIS, WE DON'T PUBLISH A LIST"
and went onto say that the local education authority might publish a list.
If you have trouble, and are OK with paying then [INSERT CAMPBELL BROWN] accept private candidates, all subjects and is about the only place which will accept coursework. It covers all three boards. At forty five pounds per unit -- it's definitely a last resort. There are a few other places that will accept coursework, but in addition to being marked, it needs to be authenticated i.e. a person of good standing who can verify that it's your work -- and for these reasons, coursework is best avoided.
Planning Independent A Level Study
If you get to this stage -- then you should end up with a subject it's possible to study and a place where it can possibly be sat.
Now you need to go back to the examining board subject pages and download the full syllabus, as well as *if it's there( the past exam papers and marking schemes. There's also as separate phone number and email for each subject department -- and it doesn't hurt to get these also.
The important things now is to grasp the way that Units work. The syllabus is a long list of all the subjects on the subject (if you see what I mean). So, sociology might be 1 - Foundations of Sociology. 2 - Family. 3 - Work 4 - Leisure etc. There are an average of ten or so of these. There are a mixture of compulsory and optional units.
Take the average AS =-= half an A level. Unit one would be the foundation or basic principles, with a list of everything, all the areas covered under this heading. This is a compulsory unit. When you sit the exam, you'll be asked questions based on all the subjects in this unit.
But, on the syllabus, after the first compulsory unit, there are another five to ten or so units which are optional and you *choose any two*. Each optional unit has a cod e number. You put this code number of the optional unit you have chosen on the registration form when you apply for the exam, then when the exam comes, you'll only be asked questions on the unit you have chosen.
So, obviously, you only study the options you have chosen. If, to continue the made-up sociology example, if one unit is feminism and you choose it, and another is Marxism and you don't choose it, then you do study feminism and you don't study Marxism.
I know what you're thinking, how can you say you know a subject to an 'advanced level' when you've chosen which bits to study!
But remember, compulsory units are foundations -- so you learn the subject overall. For example, with religious studies, the compulsory unit ts philosophy or religion, ethics etc. Options are Christianity, Eastern religion, Islam, Sikhism etc. To gain an in depth knowledge of all the the world's major religions in beyond an A level and into degree territory, but you can study the principles, philosophy, contribution of scholars etc. of religion as a subject, and in relation to one particular religion, and you can do this to an advanced level.
So, AS is the first half of an A level, A2 is the second. Generally each half has one compulsory unit and two options. Some units are coursework based -- so as an independent you're obliged to choose whichever option is exam-based.
AS exams tent to stay within the subject of each units you're asked to do certain things according to 'trigger words'. So, 'discuss' an issue, or 'identify' a problem etc.
A2 exams are more 'synoptic essays' which require you to write more synergistic-ally, making connections between areas of a subject.
There are a look of good books, in bookshops and in libraries, which explain specifically who exams work and give tips on passing. Hopefully, this overview has pointed you in the right direction and you're ready to make a start.
HOW TO STUDY
So, how exactly do you study by yourself... and what _is_ study?
Study is learning to understand new pieces of information and then recall the understanding at a later time and illustrate that you have that understanding -- usually be answering questions -- but sometimes by completing a project that requires you to draw upon the previously understood knowledge.
The actual process of study doesn't require any thought in itself when attending a conventional class. An educator presents all the information, mostly by speaking but possibly with other learning aids -- and you write it all down, going over the notes again before the notes to 'refresh your memory', and hopefully passing the exam.
As an independent student, you're in sole charge of actually finding the information, making sure you understand it and revising it properly. This does have some advantages -- one of them is that the information won't only be spoken to you, there are other methods of comprehension.
Another advantage is that it's actually interesting to find out the information,
I'm making the assumption that you're now at the point, or intending to get to the point, that you've decided on the exam you want to go for and know where it might be sat -- and have printed out the entire syllabus. There's a fair chance that you aren't exactly certain where you'll be sitting the exam, and so won't know exactly which examining board is going to be marking your paper -- thus you'll have to print out up to three syllabus from three different boards on the same exam -- which isn't really as bad as it sounds. Firstly, there's an awful lot of overlap between them. Secondly, the more you know the better. Lastly, only you know which optional units you want to study -- it's actually quite a focused area of a subject.
Briefly, remember that the syllabus is published each year; make sure you've printed the correct one!
Where to Get Learning/Study
First step is to get a revision book written specifically for the exam. If the exam exists, you can be certain there will be at least one exam book written especially for it. If it's a fairly popular subject, then there will be quite a few books written especially for it.
A good A level study book will be attractive to look at with fair size text, some if it nicely boxed off, various colours, diagrams, pictures etc. It will cover all three examining boards. Each topic should have some quotes from academics that can be used in exams. check that the one you get was published after any significant changes in the syllabus. A level revision books are usually quite large, not so thick, but quite a bit bigger than A4 -- mainly to allow for one sub-topic to fit onto a double-page spread.
A great advantage to buying a book is that you can use a highlighter pen on it, and take notes in the margins. Another reason that the books are generally large.
If the book/s is expensive, as long as you recall the current year edition, you can try and find one on ebay ()email the seller first to check it's not full of highlighter pen already) or ask at the school/college where you might be able to sit the exam as they might have a noticeboard/exchange service.
Generally, these books are only a couple of hundred pages -- and if you just sat and read them it would only take a day or two. This doesn't seem like much for a course which students spend two years studying, but obviously, they are exactly what they claim to be -- 'revision guides'.
As well as the standard revision guides, there are often much smaller 'revision express' or 'in a nutshell' type books, very colourful, more pictures than tests with only a few key facts on each page; they're almost like flashcards. They're surprisingly useful, mainly because of the way that human memory works. We don't store facts in isolation, but together in linked bundles. that's why when you spend a long time trying to remember a forgotten fact or experience, but then it suddenly all 'comes flooding back'. i.e. not just the specific thing you were trying to remember about , but all the associated memories which are linked to it.
Of course, the mainstay for any good student is the library. Always remember -- if they don't have the exact book that you want, then generally in the UK, a library card gives membership to an entire counties libraries -- and it can be obtained from another one. If not, then the library service will wither find it or buy it.
And of course, there will be a lot of books generally on a subject - non-study books, to jest read for the sake of it. To pass an exam well, it's not remembering facts is isolation, but being able to think about those facts and compare or contrast them. So if one year you went to Spain for a holiday, and another year Germany, then you can think up a list of memories about each place -- but you also have the ability to think along the lines of -- why was one better than another -- which would you say was the richest of the two and based on what evidence?
Because this is the kind of thinking required in an exam -- then information or understanding entered into your mind from any source is useful. Don't underestimate an experience, like going to a museum or listening to a talk on the subject, a conversation with a very knowledgeable person, watching a documentary etc.
a GREAT INVENTION OF RECENT TIME IS, OF COURSE, THE Internet -- EVEN BEARING IN MIND THAT IT CAN BE AS FULL OF UNRELIABLE INFORMATION AS RELIABLE.
One great development is the advent of podcasting. *yes*, there's all sorts of mindless drivel posted as various podcasts,jsut like listening to most radio stations, but there are also some gems out there for the independent student.
You could look in directories like www.podcastalley.com or www.podcastpickle.com.
Also, most popular search engines have the ability to search only for audio files. So at Google you go to the main page, but clich the [INSERT: HOW TO AUDIO SEARCH ON GOOGLE].
Always check the credentials of the person speaking. The Internet is full of unqualified , non-academic opinion.
The best place for academic podcasts by far, are the university websites. All universities have lectures on various subjects every day -- and very often these are recorded as MP3 files and put in the Internet for free. They're primarily intended for students studying at the university, but there's absolutely nothing whatsoever to stop you downloading and listening to them. The big universities, like Harvard etc, often host the world's leading academics on a subject and the mp3 FILES are just sitting there waiting for you. There are academics who are into podcasting and everywhere put up their archive for students who might have missed a class -- and their archive actually contains an entire degree course, which you can listen to while driving, wasting time on public transport, waiting in a line or soaking in the bath.
Often these lectures have powerpoint slides or other visuals to go with them.
Study Techniques
Of course, at some point\, you're going to have to write things down and take notes. It would be great if the mind could instantly memorise everything it came across. In stead of going to university for sex years to get a master's degree, people could just sit and watch a four month long video master documentary , and know everything there is to know about a subject.
Forgetting Curve
No one can remember every single thing that they ever experienced. If it were possible, then we could remember what we ate exactly 167 days ago. The brain is constantly monitoring the information that comes in and decides which is significant for later recall. If you're walking down the street and a great big dog jumps out from someone's garden and sinks their teeth into you, you won't be in a hurry to forget that it was a house halfway down the street, with a big rose bush and it was a doberman type dog. Even ten years later you'd pretty much remember the details.
But even a week after the incident, you'd likely be hard pressed to recall which day of the week it occurred on.
To your brain, if it was a Tuesday, Wednesday or leap year pancake day isn't deemed imprudent. What matters is that a great big dog sank its teeth into you and you're an indelible memory of where it lives.
Some things are easier to remember than others. If you're studying a syllabus, then you'll naturally find some things more interesting than others, or will be able to find an interesting source of information, like a museum exhibit or podcast. Even so, there will still be a forgetting curve.
But there are things which can be done to reverse this and deliberately make a memory permanent, and that is to deliberately recall it --- and this is what study and note-taking are all about.
You learn something, i.e. a new piece of information, and then write down a brief note to remind you of it. If it's something very significant, such as where the dog lives which permanently scared you, then you don't need the note. But when studying for an exam, you're going to understand a lot of new pieces of information which the brain isn't going to deem important -- and thus the forgetting curve sets in and the memory starts to fade.
Most fading occurs withing three days of having learnt something new. But by reviewing notes within that period, you actually strengthen the memory. When you review it -- you don't need to take anywhere near as much time as you used initially to understand the information -- you just look at the notes once until that 'aha, has!', there's a new, brief 're=comprehension' of what has been previously learnt.
After a few spaced repetitions, say one after three days , one after a week, then bi-monthly, a master revise before an exam, and the memory should be pretty much permanent.
Research into the forgetting curve shows that the strength of the memory can depend on:
Difficulty of the material
Try and find an 'easier' (better written and designed) book
Representation
Don't stick to reading alone, find diagrams, podcasts etc.
Physiological factors
Eat well, sleep well.
Habits of Studying
Although the whole endeavour of independent study will hopefully be fun and regarding, it _is_ still a serious endeavour and you'll need to have some kind of a study plan and time set aside. Not too long, around two hours maximum, with half-hourly breaks of about five minutes.
This general book can't go into all the techniques of study which can be useful to the independent (or any) student, but hopefully by outlining some -- you'll be inspired to get more information from dedicated books.
A Bit More About Memory
Some useful things to know about memory
The distinctiveness of what is being learnt has a large effect on recall. So a well written book , with lots of pictures, diagrams, colour, well laid out etc. is much easier to work from
There are different kind of memory. Declarative memory requires that you consciously recall information i.e. what you learn for an exam -- as opposed to procedural memory, which is based on motor skills (often) and you just remember when you need to eg. riding a bike.
Declarative memory is further divided into episodic i.e. linked to a time and place, autobiographical (about you) and semantic i.e. facts.
There's voluntary and involuntary memory.
Two pieces of useful research for any student. One is the Zeigarnik effect. This means that it's easier to remember an interrupted task Rather than something learnt all in one go. No idea why. Maybe the brain has more time to organise itself when there's a break? IT all translates into, 'Don't study for too long!'.
The other thing is that increased oxygen to the brain improves its performance; get out and exercise!
Mnemonics
In A level exams, examiners don't take marks away, but they do add them for each relevant piece of information you quote or study you can mention. This means that it can be useful to memorise certain things, such as the authors of significant studies, brief biographies of significant contributors to a subject, certain years etc.
Of course, you can turn study into an awful chore by memorising too much, but studying the syllabus very closely, you can be very selective to be able to memorise just a few bread ?atations, quotes, names of significant people, and this can easily be enough to change a B grade to an A grade.
I'm sure you can find your won examples -- but say you are studying for a religious studies A level, for example. You see that the syllabus covers medial ethics, environmentalism, business ethics and abortion. Now, looking into the Old Testament you might be able to find one short, two sentence passage which is broadly about stewardship i.e. The God of the Old Testament giving dominion of the world to humans and responsibility of looking after it. If you memorise that quote and the book and verse number - there's a fair chance you'll get to use it in an argument you make in an exam.
So if you look at your subject syllabus -- and find some broad ranfing things that relate to it, i.e. a sociology study the findings of which could have implications over many different areas of the syllabus, memorise the year and name of the author -- and do this for the whole syllabus. After not too long, with relatively little memorised information, you should have a mental list of citations which you'll be able to use no matter which parts of the syllabus comes up in an exam.
Remember, examiners don't take marks away, only add them.
This is what mnemonics is useful for. Obviously, we can't cover the full range of mnemonic techniques in this book -- or any, but there's certainly a plethora of useful volumes in your library, the use of which will definitely pay dividends on the day your grades are awarded.
Speed Reading
This is another skill we can only touch on here, but the potential dividends paid to an independent student for mastering this art are well worth a day in the library finding books.
Regardless of how many podcasts you can find or museums you can attend, studying for any significant exam is going to take a fair bit of reading, the efficiency of which can be greatly expediated by learning to speed read.
Even if your reading skills are good and you cover texts pretty past -- there's room for improvement in pretty much all of us. Briefly ,some techniques of speedreading include:
Hold a finger or pen under the words as you read them, then speed it up so that you're following the finger and reading faster than the words can be comprehended, then slow it back down to withing the levels of comprehension so that once more what is being read can be understood, then speed it up again, then down -- this will eventually train the brain to speed up its comprehension of words..
Also, running a finger across the words stops you going back and reviewing or rereading hard to understand text.
Reading's always faster if you briefly 'skim' the text to get an overview of the material -- and then formulate a list of questions that you want answered by the material and consider those questions while reading the text and looking for the answer. Remember, the brain is constantly monitoring incoming information to decide what is and isn't important for long-term encoding. By having formulated a list of questions that go need answered by the text - you will naturally not get involved\/skim past irrelevant material.
Another way to speed up reading is to quell sub-vocalisation. Many (most?) people mentally repeat each word as they read it, which actually slows reading down as the part of the brain which is responsible for the sound of the word, i.e. the auditory part of the brain, is much slower then the part of the brain which actually understands it. Therefore, the habit of sub-vocalisation while reading, is just tat, a habit, and a bas one at what, but one that can be unlearnt.
One way , for example, is to hum a tune while reading and this occupies the auditory part of the brain while reading -- and will speed everything up.
Yet one more technique - while reading, pretend that the reason you are reading the text it to give a speech, for which you have to prepare powerpoint slides. Each slide can only have a diagram and about five pieces of information on it, , and so you're mentally constructing the slides while the text is being read -- so moment-to-moment thinking is constantly translated into VISUAL pictures - NOT AUDIO - and visual thinking is much faster. While reading and making the slides, you'll disregard the superfluous info. Again, you'll go quicker because you're looking for answers to questions or text to put on your 'slides'.
A highlighter pen can be useful, on an initial read through to pick out the necessary from the superfluous, especially if you're using the SQS3R method, that means you:
Survey the text
Formulate the questions
Read the text
Highlight the answers
Also, try and be emotional about what you are reading. Imaging debating the author while reading -- and the authors counter-debates.
The first reading of the text is a scan - to formulate your questions. Ski, come up with a list of headings. And from the headings, come up with the questions.
The second highlights the answers and you make the slides.
On the third reading, the slides are mentally presented to you while reading -- and this further implants the memory as permanent.
All study methods have a final review part -- and this one ends with a slick presentation of mental slides, which is best as it uses the faster visual centres of the brain.
Note-taking
Remember, you take notes while learning new things for later re-recall, briefly 're-firing' that understanding to help solidify the knowledge.
Many people use a 'sentence' method of taking notes i.e. basically write down each thing you're understood as a sentence, but that is only one way out of a whole assortment of methods. Some people are even professional note-takers.
Cornell notes
With this method, the piece of paper is divided, with a column on the left, main space on the right and a section at the bottom.
Main notes go into the biggest section on the right.
Questions are formulated oh the left and a summery/conclusion goes at the bottom.
Charting
This is taking notes in a table with rows and columns -- good for facts and relationships.
Outlining
Is using grouped headings
Mind-mapping
Here information is stored in a radial diagram of keywords in a colourful diagram The 'rules' are:
Start in the centre
Use at least three colours
Use key words
Print words
All lines are connected
Central lines are thicker
Lines are the same length as the word
Use emphasis
Use radial hierarchy.
You can also take notes in your own diagrams on plain paper.
Revising
This generally means to revise your notes, i.e. to reread the brief notes and 're-comprehend' the previous mental 'ah-hah!' understanding you had when originally learning the material.
This is the main way to revise, but not the only way.
You can think of a topic you've learnt, and just free associate all you can about it.
You can visualise yourself getting not something. Say you've studied history, imaging being there at key times/events. Now you're turning semantic memory into autobiographic memory. Yes, it's true - your mind can't tell the difference between a real and an imagined event.
Each time you recall a piece of information or knowledge, you strengthen it in your mind. So making flashcards can be useful. So rereading notes is good, as is explaining what you learnt to a friend or debating it (good practice for coming up with arguments for exams). You can imagine debating it with someone famous involved in the subject.
Who said that study has to be boring?
[JOINMESASGEB OARDS ANDSA WRITE ESSAYS FOR THEM ETC]
FINANCE
Every year, the British state spends [UK Spending*] on education, [insert amount spend], not because of altruism or socialism or Buddhist loving kindness -- but as a common sense investment. Educated people earn more, pay more tax, are more likely to have private health insurance and git ill less, they're more likely to have insurance when they go abroad and so not cost so much to the foreign office, they're more likely to work abroad and bring foreign wealth home -- the list goes on.
There's a common misconception that grants or free education are but distant memories, and while it's true that the day of uniform grants for all are indeed gone, no matter who you are you'll almost certainly be be able to receive government subside for your education. Why shouldn't you? You're undertaking an endeavour which means that statistically you're going to end up costing the government far less than you would have otherwise -- and will pay them far more tax to boot.
Firstly, as a UK citizen, almost any course that you're interested in and which leads to a recognised qualification (on the NQF) will be subsidised at source. Now, you might think that all the courses you ever look at are expensive -- but keep looking and see how much it costs for an overseas or non-UK student. The difference is the amount of subsidy the government puts in to encourage you to take the course.
This subside (at source) is the minimum that all UK citizens will receive. If you want to go into full time education -- then, obviously, there's even more help available. Once, there were blanket grants, basically all the fees were paid for and you'd also receive money to live on.
This was replaced by a new system-- which consists of either a loan, (about which although not as good as a grant, is still the sweetest loan deal you're ever going to get) or grants -- this depends on your household income (how much everyone in your household earns together) and not your savings.
Full Time Funding
Funding is given by central government, but not directly. They allocate the money for funding every year to the education department of your local authority -- widely referred to as your 'local education authority', although technically lea's don't exist anymore.
[INSET: LOCAL AUTHORUTY AND LEA TOWNHALLS CONTACT NUMBERS.]
Any application for student finance is now centralised via a single form called a PN1, for the first year that you apply. If you want to carry on for a second year, then it's considered 'continuing finance', and you full in form [INSERT CONTINUING FINANCE FIORM NUMBER]
You keep on applying for new finance for up to six years CHECK or when a degree is issued, which ever is sooner.
Remember, this is HE funding, Not FE funding. FE is what you've completed to be able to commence HE.
Remember also that to go to a UK university full time, there's a centralised admissions service at UCAS [INSERT UCCAS LINK], so there, you fill in which further education qualifications that you've obtained, which translates into points in their system, then find which courses you want, apply (there's a fee of about fifteen pounds per application CHECK). Hopefully you;'ll be accepted onto one or more courses, and you choose one before applying for finance.
The exception to this is if you're going straight onto an access course [DOES ACCESS HAVE IT'S OWN UCAS NUMBER OR DO YOU APPLY DIRECT AT THE INSTUTUTION?]
[NEED TO SAY ABOUT PN1, CONSIDERING IF YOU'RE INDEPENDENT OR DEPENDENT].
Another exception is studying at the Open University, which has it's own application procedure.
The point here is that you get accepted on whatever course you want first, then get the finance, then accept the course formally, then start, study, pass and become the happy, rich, affluent, insured, healthy and glowing individual that both I and the UK government want you to be and which it is your spiritual duty to become.
You can apply online or get the forms from the local council. It's the norm to apply once accepted for a course, but before starting, although an application may be accepted up to nine months after a course has actually started.
There are also a number of bursaries available, which you don't pay back, and the centralised application form PN1 also automatically will check the availability for this.
The amount you can borrow is around three and a half thousand pounds per year You repay beginning at the end of the course when your earnings are above fifteen thousand pounds per annum. If you earn less than then no payments have to be made. Loans are written off after twenty years or when you reach age sixty five, which ever is sooner. Considering that funding can be applied for as long as the applicant is sixty or less on the day the course begins, it could be a very sweet deal indeed for someone nearing retirement age!
GRANTS
The system of student grant funding, i.e. non-repayable money, isn't dead === it's not given as a blanket to all. Now it's means=tested.
If you're only applying for the student loan for tuition costs, then it's available to all, regardless of the amount you earn or any savings you have. So in other words, if they do choose, there's six years of finance available to any UK citizen/resident who want to take it. The only difference is if they'll give it to you or lend it to you.
Of course, if they give it to you, what the government actually means it that they'll give it with one hand and take it with another.
If your household income, i.e. the money earned collectively by all the people who live with you (as a household -- rather than as strangers who share the same living space (even though that's how some families feel))is below a certain amount [insert max council spending for help/loan] then a certain amount of the loan will be as a grant, not a loan. For every pound they give you as a grant, they'll take away a pound from the loan. So, on a low income, or with no income, you might find that you get the full grant to live on -- but no tuition cost loan. Obviously, you're still better off this way because the loan doesn't have to be paid back.
Part Time Finance
This is granted along the same essential principles as full time finance - except it's far smaller amount [insert part time maximum] [part time definition]
Also, distance courses are considered part time regardless of how much actual study time will be involved. But you *can* get finance for these courses, which *can* lead to a degree.
*
*******************
*
Benefits
There's extra help again for the unemployed or people on benefits. If you are claiming jobseekers allowance,then you're allowed to study [insert how long can study] hours a week before it affects your benefits -- and so a distance course can also be considered part time.
worktrain - includes volunteering
www.newdeal.gov.uk
Benefits might be able to be claimed during distance learning.
Travellers
Discrimination is illegal
[INSERT 25+ NEW DEAL FROM PRINTS]***** INSERTED ****
FUNDING
Of course, there are going to be some costs. Independent study is by far the cheapest, although if you're considering this routue becasue of lack of money, there can be some options to actually get on courses.
25+ New Deal.
The government has various schemes and ideas for people on benefits. If you're claiming job seekers allowance, you're only allowed to study for sixteen hours a week. The idea is that while the tax payer is supporting you, you are looking for full time work and are available for such.
But two things to bear in mind. When you've been unemployed for a certain period of time and claimed job seekers allowance, you'll be called for a new deal interview. It's after eighteen months for the over twenty fives. I think a shorter period for younger people. During the interview, the person dealing with you has to try and find you a job, but if it becomes apparant that it's lack of qualifications which are the problem, then you may be offered formal coursed leading to the qualifications discussed here.
The other important point is that home study or independent study IS ALLOWED, because it's not considered to be getting in the way of looking for work. So, not only are your examination costs for free (just show evidence of being on benefits to the exam centre), but if you can get funding elsewhere to pay for a home study course, then you can declare it and it shouldn't count against any benefits you are recieving (check with the citizen's advice first though).
Student Loans
Many people, by definition, thinking of independent study, may be either debt averse or unable to obtain credit through tradtional means to pay for a course or living costs. But student loans are actually different from ordinary bank loans and don't hang over you in the same way. Basically, the main advantage is that you only pay them off when you are earning a lot of money, well, quite a bit, after the course. If you don't have a job, or a well paid one, you don't have to start paying. Also, the government pays the interest over the rate of inflation, so in real terms, the amount borrowed never increases. Main features are:
They are awarded from the Students Loan Company
They pay for course and living costs
Any amount still owed aged 65 is cancelled.
You only repay them when you are earning more than 15,000 Sterling pa. at the rate of 9% of your earnings.
Linked to inflation, you never pay back more than you borrowed.
Apply from your local Education Authority
If you apply for course costs and not living expenses, then they are non means tested, meaning you don't have to prove how much money you do or don't have.
There are deadlines for applying according to when your course starts, so some future planning or early contact is a good idea.
Studying part time you may have to attend the course for two weeks, then get the college to complete the paperwork and submit it to the local education authority yourself.
The main point is that you can apply for home study courses, which can be exensive, including the Open University. So as a 'non-attending' student, the system can support you all the way to graduate (degree holding) status.
There's also something call the Access To Learning Fund. When you find the course you want, you apply for a loan, and then ask the provider about any burseries or scholarships you might be entitled to. If you apply for all this and then, down the line, are thinking of giving up the course because the money is running out, you can apply to this fund, which would probably be done via the provider also.
There are no loans after degree level (post graduate training). If you need this funding, then the options are:
Research Councils such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Medical Research Council offer grants and studentships
institutions such as the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Academy offer awards
some government departments offer funding for postgraduate studies in a specific area, for example research into town planning
your local education authority might fund you for a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)
charities and charitable trusts such as the Wellcome Trust provide support for medical research
The exception to all this is if you're trying to get into state teaching, in which case, there is post graduate funding available, ask your lea.
http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk/
General funding site that helps you find finance, project earnings and borrow the right amount, provided by the hot courses website.
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/default.htm
Research council Uk
They provide various funding for postgraduate work, in all subjects, and are definitely work a look to the presently graduating.
http://www.prospects.ac.uk
Site with a fair amount of information for new graduates, but best for finding courses.
www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport
The Department for Education and Skills
Information on applying for student loans and application forms are here also.
www.slc.co.uk
Student Support info Line 0800 7319133
Plus 6000 pounds in bursary on post good teaching course for secondary school, including English.
If you are from England and wish to contact the Student Finance Direct Customer Support Office:
tel: 08456 077 577
MINICOM 0845 604 4434
(open mon - fri from 8.00am to 8.00pm and between 9.00am and 5.30pm on sat - sun, local call rates apply).
or go to:
http://www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk
Try EGAS also.
******* END FUND PRINT INFO
[INSERT OTHER BENEFITS]
OTHER FUNDING
[INSERT
ACCDESS TO LEARNING
CDL
& RESEARCH GRANTS FROM PRINTS]
CATS
[INSERT CATS INFO -- PRINTS AND WIKI]
UK Residency
IF you apply for finance or a course, then you'll notice that a big deal is made concerning if you're a UK resident or not. If you were born in the UK and have the right to live here. This is fair enough. Remember, the government puts all this money into education not altruistically, but as an investment which they intend to make back, not just in the form of repaid student loans (which they actually lose money on) but also over a lifetime of higher earnings for the well-qualified.
There are a lot of people who are technically UK citizens but who don't have a particularly strong link to the UK. What the government doesn't want to do is give large amounts of money to these people who then never spend time in the UK and never pay tax here; it's nothing personal, just logical mathematics.
So what exactly is a UK resident? Loosely, it's someone with the right to live in this country and who's lived here for the past three years.
So what if you've lived here for the past three years, but last year had five months backpacking?
Generally that doesn't count because you maintained links to this country and didn't go abroad for a 'settled purpose.l
However -- a lot of people don't have a permanent address in the UK, and a lot of people spend long periods abroad. Exactly when does the UK state consider you a non-resident? You could say, 'When they've finished squeezing all the tax out of you they can; but that would be very cynical.
There rules aren't particularly clearly stated anywhere because -- basically, it hasn't been decided. No where in English tax legislation is it clearly defined exactly who is and who isn't a UK resident. The Inland Revenue use the previous rulings of the courts as their guidelines.
Obviously this book can't give definite advice to a specific individual position but the guidelines are as follows.
Domicile of origin and choice
Domicile means where you have the basic right to live. Most people have a domicile of birth, i.e., they live in the country they were born in and that is where they have the right to live.
But you can also have an adopted domicile, i.e. gain the right to live in a country.
And there's a domicile of dependency. That is if a person who's dependent on you (or vice-versa) gains a new right to live somewhere because you do or by marrying you. It's 'dependent' because, even if they have more money than you -- their domicile depends on yours.
The word resident means where you actually live, in the physical world in your physical body, as opposed to where you have the legal right to live. If you have a house and live in it, then you're 'resident' there. If you have a house and go away for a long time but always intend on coming back and don't buy another house in a new place, then you're 'ordinarily resident'.
You're just as resident in the place you physically live in, regardless of whether you own it or rent it. What counts is where you keep your physical body in the physical world.
Some Guidelines
If you stay away continuously for three years, then you're not resident.
If you stay in the UK for 183 days or more within any one tax year, then you're definitely resident -- but only 'ordinary' days out. If you're only in the UK because of the death of a relative for example, then those days don't count. Neither do half-days when you enter to leave the UK
If you're in the UK for less than 183 'ordinary' days -- then all the ordinary days you've spent in the UK are totalled up, and if the average overt the past four years is 91 days or more, then you're resident and ordinarily resident.
It's not black and white though (is anything?). It counts if you 'go abroad for a settled purpose', i.e. a 'fixed object or intention in which you are going to b e engaged for an extended period of time'.
Days in the UK have to be on a 'continual basis, any departures only for holidays'.
Also, while away, if you 'intend making regular visits to the UK and then carry out those visits', clear intention counts.
If you live a life which means that your residency status is borderline -- then you might find the Inland Revenue requiring a HRT from you -- no, not hormone replacement therapy, worse, Habitual Residency Test. Not a nice experience -- I can say this with authority having been through one. A piece of advice I can give i8s - they ask a lot of questions about what kind of contacts you kept with this country, did you stay in touch with friends, if so, who are they? Did you remain a member of any UK clubs, are you still registered with a UK doctor etc. For the decade I personally lived abroad, I basically kept no ties -- a lesson I've learnt and a mistake I won't make again!
If you want to apply for finance or a course you can get a lot of information from the Inland Revenue booklet??? IR20 before applying.
ONLINE EDUCATION
Once accepted onto a university course, regardless of the level, then the study plan and method is pretty much laid out. Independent education has served its purpose in getting you into JE and the skills of self-reliance and self-motivation will stand you in good stead.
However, if you want to continue with a non-attendance course,t hen this is also possible. Although full time funding or grants are ruled out, you can still get the course paid forby up to 100% as apart-time student.
Many universities run online programmes alongside their attendance based ones. Some starting points are[INSERT DEGREE PROGRAMS ONLINE]
OPEN UNIVERSITY AND MODULAR DEGREES
[INSERT OPEN UNIVERSITY INFO]
---
Some info
200.000 students. 2M have in past. 80% working.
BT, RBOS etc. put staff on course
credit-transfer@open.ac.uk - to ask about CATS
Written permission needed if studying elsewhere
20.000 need financial help. Four types, fees, expenses, childcare and disabilities as well as if into financial diff. while studying.
15.700 - 26.180 help threshold, plus income support, HB, council tax benefit, income based JSA or New Deal Allowance.
Plus 30 point award if not attract government funding.
250 for books 250 for computer
If 'move' must pay more for overseas fee.
Overseas distributors of materials mean could be there.
One in Singapore.
The OU is roughly the same as any university bar two important exceptions.
1 -- there are no entry requirements
2 -- The available funding is the same as for any online/distance course, but rather than giving form PN1 to your lea, they handle the application themselves.
You enroll and receive your study material. Courses start throughout the year. Throughout the course, there are a number of TMA's (tutor marked assignments. CMA, computer marked assignments and ECA end of course assessments, which may require attending an exam at a centre near you. It can be possible to sit the exams abroad for an extra fee of just under two hundred pounds. So it's possible to spent fairly long periods abroad. A few courses are held 100% online, using 'First Class' conferencing system, which is software that sites on your computer and connects to the OU server and you download lessons, upload questions and converse with other students.
Modular Degrees
The OU method of studying for a degree or other JE qualification is modular. That means that all the courses are self-contained are are worth a number of points. When you've studied enough courses you add up the points and exchange them for a certificate, diploma or degree. Points from each course can only be used once for a diploma -- but you can use those same points to count towards a degree. So a certificate and or diploma can either stay as qualifications in their own right, or b e milestones on the path to a degree.
Most year long courses are worth 60 points, and you're allowed to study up to 120 points in any year, though 60 is recommended in the first year to get you used to undergraduate study.
A degree needs 300 points, and 360 for an honours degree. Courses are divided into a beginning, intermediate or advanced level, or level 1,2 and three. "For the degree, roughly , 60 points can be a level one course, but then you have to have gained a certain amount of points at certain levels. This is fair enough, or people could obtain degrees by only studying introductory courses.
A diploma only takes around half as many points as a degree -- and a certificate is generally 60 points, meaning it's still gained after the first year and still confers letters after your name (weheee!). These first year courses, as well as teaching the subject, generally also teach the study skills you will require.
If you want a 'named' degree e.g. a bcs in psychology, then certain courses are specified. So fr example, at level two, there will be a choice of two or three psychology courses to choose from.
If you end up with enough points from the courses for a degree but they're not in linked subjects, you can cash them in for an 'open' degree, with or without honours. This degree will then list the courses you passed to obtain it, although a named degree doesn't. Open degrees are popular with mature learner who missed out on popular education because rather than having broad ranging GCSE's and A levels showing a breath of study, the degree itself can show this.
However, if you want to fo on and do a masters, then that has to be in a named subject with required courses from all levels in the named subject. If you ended up with an open degree and then wanted a masters, then you'd basically have to start from scratch.
A last word about the modular system. Once you have a degree, named or not, state funding ceases, so there is some advantage to leaving points 'uncashed' until the money runs out.
Computers
A lot of time is spent online doing a degree. Although this could theoretically be done in cybercafes, you will need the computer at other times, and likely you'll have to use the universities own software, so you'll probably end up buying one. There's a non-repayable grant of up to two hundred and fifty pounds available\, and you can ask when applying for the course.
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DON'T FORGET THE NEW DIPLOMA IDEAS IN 2010 OR WHATEVER.