University advice - rights and adjustments

tashacogz

I missed my schooling due to being in hospital. I have decided I would like to go to university to study Biomedical Science. To prepare for this I am doing 2 years of open university and taking functional skills exams. 
However on contacting my two local universitys I'm feeling discouraged. 
Due to my health I need a part time course and although that will be hard to manage I feel I can. However after explaining this to both universitys they have told me I can only do it full time. Can courses be adjusted for people like me that need less hours? 

Adrian_Scope

Hi @tashacogz and welcome to the community. I'm going to tag in our disabled student adviser, @melaniethorley as she might be able to shed some light on this for you.

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @tashacogz, sorry to hear you have been disheartening by institutions so far. Have you had a look at the Open University? They have a wide range of courses and can be done flexibly to suit your needs.

Here is some information about the support for disabled students.

tashacogz

Hi! I've signed up for Open university and start in October in order to meet brick unis entry requirements but it seems that may be useless. I need to go to a physical university so that I can do the practical work to get the qualification I desire 

Ails

Hi @tashacogz and welcome to the Community.  It's nice to meet you.  I hope that @melaniethorley can be of some help to you.  Good luck with your university course.  Please let us know how everything goes.  All the best. 

emmarenshaw

Welcome to the community @tashacogz I hope everything goes well. Keep us posted.

forgoodnesssake

Short answer: yes they can, but it may depend a bit on the course and a LOT on the attitude within the university.  My son is doing a 3 year maths BSC over 6 years...not part time as such, but cos it takes him much longer to do work so he is doing half the modules each year.  We know another similarly disabled student doing the same thing at another Uni, completely different course.  Both Unis are Russell group btw

melaniethorley

Good morning everybody. You should be able to complete biomedicine with the OU. It would be over 6 years part-time but you would need to undertake some residential weeks for the practicals. You can have support in the labs if required. I worked in disability support for the OU for 12 years. The week long residentials are very tiring but you can prepare yourself by not having much planned in the weeks leading up to practicals.

I would also suggest you start using assistive technology to make your studying easier. We recommend MyStudyBar, which is free and can be put onto a USB stick for easy transportation. You can find more info here: https://www.eduapps.org/

Hope this helps

tashacogz

Hi melanie thankyou so much for replying! Do you know which course this would be? Im currently signed up for combined stem to start in october and was going to pick subjects most similar to biomed as i couldnt find a biomed course. Will this effect job prospects? 

melaniethorley

Hey again. I have just checked, the OU  has 20 science degrees available. It depends what sort of work you are hoping to pursue. There are alternatives to the OU. You cold do as one of the other members suggested - part time over 6 years. This is also doable for science. It is also doable in three years if you can manage the workload. Most people  think university students are in classes Monday to Friday 9 -5.This is only a reality for education and nursing students. Most undergraduates are in for 3 days across 38 weeks - much more manageable. Hope this helps and many employers value OU students as it shows they are dedicated and motivated. 

Chloe_Alumni

Glad you managed to find something @tashacogz! I hope @melaniethorley is able to tell you where they have this course.