Home Education and benefits issue....

StrongWork

pipkin71 wrote: »

Universities have accepted children without paper qualifications - nothing to do with needing good luck, they have accepted them based on their own merits.

I'd be interested to know which courses (and at which universities) individuals have been accepted without formal qualifications.

Oldernotwiser

bestpud wrote: »

Yes and HE children often have the opportunity to gather vocational experience they would not have time for in school.

For example, a HE student who wanted to do vet science may have had varied experience of helping out on farms, in zoos, a dog shelter... It all shows commitment and knowledge of what the job entails.

Unfortunately that'll be no good if they don't get the superlative grades that you need to do Veterinary Science - it's more competitive than Medicine.

seven-day-weekend

My husband and I were both accepted at a former Polytechnic without formal qualifications as mature students in the late 70s/early 80s .

He studied Environmental Science and I studied Humanities with a Geography major.

I do not know if students of the 'normal' age would be admitted without formal qualifications for academic courses. However I do know a young person who was admitted without formal qualifications at another former Polytechnic to study Animation and Illustration.

Oldernotwiser

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I do not know if students of the 'normal' age would be admitted without formal qualifications for academic courses. However I do know a young person who was admitted without formal qualifications at another former Polytechnic to study Animation and Illustration.

Art/Design students can be admitted on the strength of their portfolios; it doesn't work like that for academic subjects.

I do wonder whether this thread should now be moved to DT; it's come a long way since it started.

bestpud

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Unfortunately that'll be no good if they don't get the superlative grades that you need to do Veterinary Science - it's more competitive than Medicine.

I agree someone will not get onto a vet course without any evidence of their academic ability.

I was thinking more of GCSEs when I said that, as I know of someone who had no GCSEs but did do A levels at 6th form and was offered a place on a veterinary course. They did have lots of experience working with animals and could show a strong commitment.

As for your other point, I was wondering earlier why this thread is still here!

AliBambee

I wasn't going to add any more to this because every time I 'open my mouth' someone seems to jump down it!

But I was surprised to see all the additional posts added after I 'signed off' and felt I needed to respond to some of them.

I went back and looked at my OP and yes, I was asking for help, but the crux of my post was about asking if people had any ideas about the kind of work my daughter might be able to do in her circumstances. As has been pointed out, if she works externally she may get childcare, but what on earth is the point of the Government paying for childcare when she could be at home, or wherever they choose to do the education that day, teaching them?

I realise that HE is her and the boys' choice, but it is the lack of support in this area that I find difficult to fathom. Although the Government gives people the option to do this - for whatever reason - there is no structure in place for support - and I mean support, NOT policing.

I should not have, and do not need to defend her right to teach the boys at home should she wish, or our right to support her in it. Whatever others think of that is their own prerogative. Everyone has the right to do what they feel is the best course in life for themselves and their children.

I have said that they get plenty of association with others, both young and old and are very sociable young lads.

If my negative experience of school was that embedded then I would never have sent my own children to school. I never spoke much of my own schooldays to them, so they were not influenced by any negativity on my part, but sadly ended up inheriting their own negative view, due to their own negative experience of their state education journey. Although beautiful now, my daughter was - in her words - geeky, at school and became a constant object of derision. Our son, guileless and gentle was also subject to a constant every day dripping tap persecution, and both my children have low-self esteem and depression issues as a result.

I wish I had had the strength of character and the energy back then to get them out of school and teach them myself! I hate what it did to them. Is it any wonder I have a negative attitude to the education system?

This is purely based on my own experiences. It ruined me, and it ruined my children. Why would any of us want to subject our precious grandchildren to that same possible risk? What others do is up to them. If you choose to send your child to school that is your prerogative. That is your risk. HE is ours.

Tomorrow, she is bringing the boys and their schoolwork here, and we are going to do some brainstorming based on some of the interesting and helpful ideas that have been posted. Hopefully between us we can come up with a few options for her. I am not sure whether this situation gives her the option of being able to do a part-time training course in something, but we will investigate that too. As far as the boys' schooling is concerned, I will have them one or two days a week, and some retired close friends are going to have the boys a couple of mornings a week for maths and stuff (fishing I believe has been suggested as possible lessons in the Summer!) if they are well enough, so that will help too.

School is like driving lessons. They are only as good as the teacher. But what that teacher does is to teach you how to pass your test. It is not until you are alone in that car with no further guidance that you really start to learn how to drive.

Education is not about how many pieces of paper you have, or what you did to get them. It is about what you can do with the knowledge you have learned. It is about building on the knowledge you have learned. Knowledge is nothing if it is shut in a cupboard. A teacher can give you enough information to pass an exam - but it is what you do with the information that will build your life and character. Millions of people out there have never taken an exam or passed a test, yet they are clever, skilled, beautiful people. You don't have to go to school to learn. Life is education. If you want to know the answer you will find it. You don't need a piece of paper to show you how to learn.

Pieces of paper, although sadly a prerequisite of our modern world, are merely an opinion. One person, or a body, deciding what another will know. Throughout the centuries, what has driven our industrial, scientific and academic achievements was not pieces of paper, but curiosity, enthusiasm, natural intelligence, encouragement, purpose, persistence, initiative and determination. These are the qualities that our children need to be infused with, whether through the education system or through us as parents. You don't need pieces of paper to nurture those things - just a good dose of them yourself. The information is out there - shedloads of it. If you can show the kids how to find it, that's the only true qualification a teacher needs.

As I said before, I am very grateful for all the helpful and positive suggestions.

PS. You are absolutely right, I did spell catarrh (arrgh!) wrong - good job I got it right in my spelling test!

Tehya

StrongWork wrote: »

I'd be interested to know which courses (and at which universities) individuals have been accepted without formal qualifications.

Oh I can answer that, I completed a degree (gaining a first) in computer science with Anglia University a couple of years ago. As an adult learner there are plenty of universities who interview those potential students without paper qualifications. So yes it's more than possible to go to straight to higher Ed without the need for either GCSEs or A Levels.

tooldle

Most Universities will admit on the basis of "age and experience". I have never meet an 18 year old who has been able to enter under this criteria. Experience needs to be extensive and a minimum age of 25 often mentioned, although this is not set as such in the regs.
There are of course access course, for those without qualifications but this is not direct entry as such. The access course first needs to be passed and a place then offered.

Sooetie

Hi
Look up Education Otherwise which is the leading organisation for home schooling

I haven't read all the posts but some seem quite cruel.

I have one son home educated and the other is quite happy at school.
I work part time and can fit it round home education and both of my sons.
Yes I am on tax credits but have no help from my ex husband.

Some of us don't choose the situation we are in but do our best regardless!

If the original poster wants any more info plz contact me

pipkin71

viktory wrote: »

You and bestpud are missing my point. I have not cast any aspersions on HE (not on this thread anyway). I was defending state education which is apparently the worst possible way a child can be taught (according to the OP).

I agree with you that state education is not the worst possible way a child can be taught, for some children.

The way I see it is that, for some, a school based education is better for them, and for others a different approach - home education, for example, is better for them.

As parents, it is down to us to find what works best for our children and follow a path that will give them every opportunity to flourish.