2023-2024

Stories like mine show the true power and ability of the DistanceLearningCentre.com in determining not only someone's intellect, self-esteem, and capability but also the trajectory of their future. - Isaac Parry

As someone who dropped out of college at 17 and went straight into employment, I believed that any opportunity I had for education had been squandered. After years of abusing my body by working in various manual handling roles, I decided enough was enough. I re-evaluated my career path and applied for an apprenticeship at 23. After successfully receiving a job offer, I discovered there was a conditional requirement: I needed to acquire at least 112 UCAS points to start the Public Health Practitioner Degree at the University of the West of England (UWE) in September 2024.

This presented a significant challenge for me. After conducting some research, I enrolled in the Access to Higher Education Allied Health Professions course with  DistanceLearningCentre.com in November 2023. After meeting with my first tutor and completing the Individual Learning Plan (ILP), it became clear that I had to complete all 12 assessment units within a 9-month time frame to meet the June application deadline for my degree.

At first, I felt out of my depth. As someone who only held GCSE qualifications, I felt like I had jumped straight into the deep end. However, with the support and guidance of my tutors, I began to understand what was required to meet the mark schemes for each unit. After a few trials and errors and thoroughly reading the materials provided, I finally managed to get into the swing of academic research, writing, and referencing.  I also found the PDF materials and TAQ exercises provided by  DistanceLearningCentre.com extremely helpful as they gave me the right knowledge and direction to begin each assessment.

I remember my first unit in Psychology - Interpersonal Communication - and how anxious I was about passing the assessment, considering I had never attempted a level 3 qualification before. However, to my surprise, I was awarded a distinction for this piece of work. I thought I must have been lucky this once, but then I received another distinction for my next unit, Defining, Classifying, and Treating Disorders. From then on, I started to believe in myself and my abilities.

I often worked tirelessly on evenings and weekends, sacrificing my time to meet the June deadline. I won't lie, there were moments I felt the pressure and thought about giving up and packing it all in. However, I’m so glad I didn’t. Every unit of work I submitted was marked with a distinction grade, showing just how much hard work and perseverance really do pay off. By the skin of my teeth, I managed to finish all my units by the June deadline, allowing me to successfully apply to UWE, where I received a conditional offer.

Stories like mine show the true power and ability of the DistanceLearningCentre.com in determining not only someone's intellect, self-esteem, and capability but also the trajectory of their future. Without them, I would never have been given the chance to prove to myself, my employer, and my chosen university that I am capable of higher education.

For anyone with similar beginnings to mine who believes all hope is lost, think again. DistanceLearningCentre.com will give you everything you need to pursue your ambitions and reach goals you never thought attainable. All that is required of you is to put in the effort!

Thank you again to DistanceLearningCentre.com and both of my amazing tutors for all the time and effort they have invested in me. They are both assets to the company, and I will be forever grateful.

I honestly would never have imagined that I would get full distinctions or even have made it this far and I’m so glad - Prudence Patrick

Moving to a new country was a big deal for me and I certainly did not want to just start university with no clue whatsoever about anything. I wanted to get into university but did not know the route to take, and I also could not start a foundation degree at university because moving to a new country, it was basically my life starting afresh with a lot already going on and it costed a lot. A family friend of mine recommended DistanceLearningCenter.com to me and I was very skeptical about it because it wasn’t something I had heard of or was familiar with.

As I did my research what first caught my attention was the range of courses, flexibility, its affordability and the break down of cost. During this course not only has my confidence in independent learning and interaction with people improved drastically, but my time management skills as well, with the help of my tutors and the structure of the course. I was able to plan my self accordingly and as a result, complete moderation on time. My attention to detail which is very important in essays and even school work as a whole also continued to improve with the help of the detailed feedback and constant guidance from my tutors. The flexibility of this course suited working full time, and helped me to adapt to a whole new way of living in a new part of the world. 

I honestly would never have imagined that I would get full distinctions or even have made it this far and I’m so glad; I thank God, my parents, and tutors for making this possible for me because not only am I going to my dream university to begin this new phase of my life, but I am also going as an individual who has adapted to the system of learning here and improved generally as a person. This course is perfect for someone with a lot of responsibilities who also isn’t sure about what to do concerning higher education because DistanceLearningCenter.com gives guidance from start to finish, suiting any lifestyle, and the best part is that it can also be done in any part of the world!

This past year has been amazing and I can’t wait to crack on with my degree - Tara Williams

Wow – was all I could say when I realised the DistanceLearningCentre.com team had helped me gain full distinctions in my access course studying Biology and Physics.

If anyone had told a 16yr old me, let alone 2 years ago, that I would be achieving straight Distinctions in Physics let alone Biology I would have laughed at them, even going into his course I only needed 15 Distinction credits in Biology and so that was really my goal to begin with.

As a mature student of 45yrs of age with no A-levels (I did an art and design GNVQ!), I had been out of academic study for just under 30 years. Despite having completed multiple sports massage qualifications these would not have prepared me for degree level study.  I was advised by a university to look at doing either access science or a-level human biology to gain the human biology/science required for access to a Physiotherapy degree.

Finding the DistanceLearningCentre.com and studying the Access Science, Allied Health Professions pathway has been a fundamental part of my acceptance to study Physiotherapy at the University of the West of England and has given me the confidence to fly through interviews and gain acceptances at each of the 3 original applications I made.  

The support provided by the tutors and staff has been exceptional alongside the setup of the course materials, the layout of the units and the way in which it guides you through the whole course process. I have felt fully prepared at every stage of the UCAS application process, attending open days and interviewing with universities, gaining the grades I needed and much more.

The tutoring and staff support has enabled me to gain full Distinctions for my course. The guidance not only through the materials but with planning and organising the unit structure and setting achievable goals to reach the crucial targets, enabling me to complete all the units in good time.

I have completed this course with Distinction despite many of life’s setbacks when you run your own business, home, family farm, team of competition horses and generally have a very busy hectic lifestyle. Trying to squeeze in an access diploma course into this busy lifestyle seemed absolute madness but the structure and tutoring allows you to find your path, time scale and goals that work for you with the support you need when you need it most at hand.

The support through the online and Facebook forums have been superb and it is so encouraging to see so many people from various different backgrounds able to follow their dreams, whether it has been to answer a question myself or offer support to someone struggling by way of encouragement. Just having the resource available means that no one is ever alone and other like-minded people are there to back you up at all times.

Thank you all, this past year has been amazing and I can’t wait to crack on with my degree.

I would be happy to recommend DLC to any would-be students - John Green

The out break of COVID made me rethink my direction, being a medic. I ended up working overseas in a refugee camp. My C&G in family and community care is 30 years out of date. DistanceLearningCentre.com gave me the opportunity to restart where I left off, but at my own pace. 

In 2015 I had done a basic Psychology & Counselling in house course, but it was not until draw down of British forces Germany that I had just completed my HNC in warehouse management. Bam COVID comes along and I end up working in a social workers roll in refugees camps. This time I want to finish my education and DistanceLearningCentre.com was the right stepping stone. Now am looking at online course being overseas.

I think many a person turned to online education with COVID, being on the front line employed overseas. I did not get the chance to study, till last year where I had completed my Access to HE Diploma for Counselling and Psychology course. I Received very good feedback and the tutor had excellent pointers, when I went off track. I would be happy to recommend DistanceLearningCentre.com to any would-be students. Being 50 plus I am looking at doing more courses online.

didn’t for one minute feel unsupported or isolated as they were always available and flexible in fitting in a last minute tutorial - Karen Humphrey

Until recently I worked in HR, where I witnessed the dramatic increase in people suffering with mental illness, particularly since the pandemic. This, and having felt the impact of mental illness on my own family, seeing the number of friends who lived under it’s shadow, and media reports on the numbers awaiting treatment for mental illness, lead to my decision to change career. Ultimately I want to work in a support role, with young adults, as this is a group that notoriously “falls through the net”. Studying for the Access to HE Diploma in Counselling and Psychology with DistanceLearningCentre.com seemed the logical first step. After discussing my options with my tutor, I decided to apply for BSC Psychology courses, for 2024 entrance. This meant that I had to achieve good results in every module, in just 5 months, as I did not start the course until January 2024. Although intense, my tutor's support and encouragement helped me to achieve my goal, and I completed the course at the end of May 2024, with predicted distinctions in all assessed modules. The independent learning plan was an invaluable tool in keeping me on track.

I have really enjoyed the Access to Counselling & Psychology course as it is so well structured. As a mature student, I found the initial ungraded units helpful in revisiting skills I have not needed to use in a long time. Skills such as maths and scientific essay writing, not to mention referencing! It was really helpful to practice these skills without the pressure of grading.

The module in writing applications and personal statements was really helpful, in that it gave  guidance for university research, and tips and a structure for my personal statement. Starting with the counselling modules made for a good foundation, and helped build my confidence before tackling the more challenging psychology modules. All modules were structured in a way that made for easy navigation and enjoyable learning. The SAQs helped build confidence, and the feedback from these was really helpful in the TAQs. The course highlight for me was having the opportunity to design and implement my own piece of research, a skill that will stand me in good stead during my psychology degree. Although it took me a couple of weeks to get my head around “Turn it in”, my tutor was very patient and I soon got the hang of it. My tutor, was amazing, supportive, knowledgeable and responsive. Although it was just me and a laptop I didn’t for one minute feel unsupported or isolated as they were always available and flexible in fitting in a last minute tutorial.

Thanks to DistanceLearningCentre.com, I was accepted by my first choice university, and it looks like I will be starting a degree in Developmental Psychology at the University of East Anglia, in September 2024. What started as an interest in psychology has turned into a true passion and hopefully the start of a new career.