Subject: Future Eduacation

I am in a current predicament. I have now finally made up my mind what i want to do in the future , Which involves going back to college or whatever. I want to be a ICT Technician which basically involves 3 courses GCSE ICT, AS Level ICT, Then the technician course. Well i already have my 5 GCSE'S in ICT what i got when i was at school. I recently applied for sixth form at my former school to do the AS level ICT. I already previously went to sixth form when i first left school to study a level 2 BTEC Diploma in business, then left to go to college to study plumbing. I didn't enjoy plumbing as i though i would. So this has took up all my government free training as i am 19 in august and then have to pay for my education :( I need to send a letter to the head at 6th from as i don't think they know my current position. What i can gather from 6th from i need to pick more than one class! which then would take up all my days of being able to work part time to pay for the courses. My college unfortunately doesn't cover AS Level ICT, which then means i have no way of paying my education fee's at 6th form as i can't work part time. Where does this leave me? Do this mean i have to study something like this at uni, Which then i would need a student loan. I can't seem to get the info i need as there is no one to help or contact. The websites just pull dead ends. Anyone with experience in these situations or who could advise me, I would be much grateful. Its now i finally know what i want to do its harder to get to than i wish for. Also finding part time work is the first essential before applying, so you have a capitol to pay the fee's. Then the courses are held every September which then i will miss this September, which then i will have to wait another year until the next course openings. So i either have to work full time and hope my employer will cut down hours or work part time for a year and earn not as much :(

Thanks hope it makes sense

I can scarily relate to your education background; i left school with pretty reasonable GCSE's (7 A-C's), went to college to study what is called an AVCE (Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education) in ICT. It was a 2-year course and was equal to 2 A-levels. I completely bummed that after 6 months and...i wont bore you with the rest. Well, OK, i will a little bit...I ended up going back to college a couple of years later to try A-levels when i was 19 and found i really liked Accountancy. Did OK at that and then was too old to follow that up at college as ias 20 and the course i wanted to take cost over a £1000!

I have a couple of questions; what GCSE's do you currently have? This will determine at what level you can enter an ICT course (i have a friend who didn't have any decent GCSE's and took the Intermediate course for a year which then gives you the opportinity to do the AVCE.

Have you tried asking at your old 6th form and college to see if there are any other schools or colleges that do these courses? I think i had 3 different places i could have done my course all within 3 miles of each other? Do you live in Norwich or in the sticks?

The other choice you have i guess is to get a job where your employer will pay for the course NVQ style...which means you might go to college once or twice a week or do the rest of the training on the job.

edit: i have just talked about an ICT course; which is a full-time course that i took with A-level Maths. Obviously you could look at doing A-level ICT but you'd need another 3 A-levels to go with that to make it full-time. I notice you say you are 19 in August...i was 19 when i first started my A-levels, and they were free. Are you run by another government?
(edited)

I have a couple of questions; what GCSE's do you currently have? This will determine at what level you can enter an ICT course (i have a friend who didn't have any decent GCSE's and took the Intermediate course for a year which then gives you the opportinity to do the AVCE.

Not to good i flunked most courses. I got the equivalent to 5 C's in ICT, Every other subject's i got a d as i didn't do any coursework.(biggest mistake ever) Started off in the top sets of every class i was in then went downhill.

Have you tried asking at your old 6th form and college to see if there are any other schools or colleges that do these courses? I think i had 3 different places i could have done my course all within 3 miles of each other? Do you live in Norwich or in the sticks?

Thats my next process, Sent the letter to the head of sixth from earlier today. About 3miles from Norwich so not that bad.

The other choice you have i guess is to get a job where your employer will pay for the course NVQ style...which means you might go to college once or twice a week or do the rest of the training on the job.

The hardest option. Just finding a ICT based company to employ you and pay for education.

edit: i have just talked about an ICT course; which is a full-time course that i took with A-level Maths. Obviously you could look at doing A-level ICT but you'd need another 3 A-levels to go with that to make it full-time. I notice you say you are 19 in August...i was 19 when i first started my A-levels, and they were free. Are you run by another government?

Yeah its 19 then you pay! not sure how you managed it?

Perhaps i was 18 when the course started...just had a look on my college website and it was because they branded everything 16:19.

Anyway, i'm very confused at how you managed to get 5 GCSE's equal to C level in ICT. They can't all have been ICT?

My ex-girlfriend got something called EMA money, which is basically something like £40 a week grant if your parents don't earn much money (they did, she just wangled it). Don't think that'll help your funding though. Have you discussed with your 6th form/college about financial obstacles? There are other options available that they normally explain to you if you ask.

Do you know how much the course is? Could you parents pay and then get a grant to pay some of it back?

Not sure there's much i can help with until you do a bit more research.