How the Access to HE course works and what to expect

The Access to Higher Education Diploma consists of a number of units covering topics relevant to the diploma title. To achieve the diploma you are required to demonstrate that you have the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding of each topic through various forms of assessment. The assessments are typically essays, reports, presentations, examinations, practicals, etc.; however, the types of assessments used vary by course. Our course is entirely online, so assessments tend to be essays, reports and long answer questions.

Our Access to HE course guides you through each unit in two parts, the learning phase and the assessment phase:

Learning Phase

In the Learning Phase, you are provided with a Unit Guide (PDF document) and Interactive Learning Activities. The unit guide introduces the key information explains the core concepts of the unit and the Interactive Learning Activities help you develop a sound understanding of this material. The Interactive Learning Activities are web-based and involve answering questions and videos designed to foster understanding of the materials; they are designed based on educational principles that show that learning is more effective when activities are focussed on developing skills and knowledge, provide sufficient challenge and are followed by immediate feedback.

Your tutor is available with one to one support during this process.

To progress from the learning phase for a unit, you need to obtain a high enough score to demonstrate a sound understanding and readiness for the assessment. Once you have demonstrated a good grasp of the topic, the system will automatically make your assessment ready for release.

Flexible Deadline Setting

One of the advantages of studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma online with Academy Online Learning is that you set personal deadlines instead of being bound by the dates set for a whole class. Typical deadlines are:

• 3 credit units - 2 weeks
• 6 credit units - 4 weeks
• 9 credit units - 6 weeks

To set your deadline, you click a link on your page that says "Ready for assignment?" and tick a box to confirm you agree to the deadline. You are then able to download the assignment brief and progress with your studies. If you're not going to have time to work on an assignment straight away, you can wait until you know you have the time to spare—It's only when you've agreed to the deadline that the assignment appears and you're bound by it.

Assessment Phase

Once you've agreed to the deadline, the assignment brief will become available for you to download and you can start working on it. Once it's complete you can submit it for marking by your tutor.

Your tutor will mark your assignment and provide you with your grade and detailed feedback on what you have done well and what you can do to improve your work in future assignments. The first few units you do are "ungraded units", this means that although they have to be achieved for you to complete the diploma, no official grades are given. This means we can use these units at the start of the course to develop your writing skills and provide you with feedback on how you would have done if it were a graded unit, alongside the important advice on how you can further develop your writing.