I first heard about Access to Leeds from a talk at my college. I spoke to my tutor about it and he helped me apply.
Before joining I thought the benefits were simply helping me get into university with lower grades, however I know now that it is much more than that – it helps you prepare for university life.
I came to both the launch event and the welcome event on campus. At these events I was given a lot of information about the module, the university and its services, student finance and funding. I also met friends that I speak to still now. The benefits of knowing someone before university made it feel much less daunting.
I found the study skills component useful to learn what skills I needed in university life such as referencing and critical reading.
For the academic assignment we were given five essay topics we could choose from. This fit around my A-level exams as I planned the essay during them and wrote it when I had finished.
I came into university after my exams to speak to my assigned tutor face to face for feedback. It was nice to actually speak to an academic at the university and it put me at ease as I had experience talking to an academic about my work before I came to university.
I am now an Access to Leeds ambassador. This is mainly due to how much I value the scheme in helping you both get into university and prepare for university life.
If you’re thinking of applying to Access to Leeds, my advice would be to just go for it, the workload isn't going to disrupt your studies and it is hugely beneficial when settling into university. You get to know the campus, the services offered by the university and to have a head start in things such as referencing.
My main advice would be to manage your time well while completing the module. Also, make the most of the help offered to you by your tutor when you’re working on the subject specific assignment and using the online library facilities.