Prospective students, listen up!
Bath University is not only an amazing place to study (I may be slightly biased!) but more importantly is completely inclusive of everyone! When applying, I was already aware that Bath offered additional support to students from under-represented groups, however…I was given an awesome opportunity before I’d even got to uni!
Months before results day, I joined a programme run by the University - Access to Bath - which basically prepared me for my first year at university! I had the opportunity to go through the course at my own pace, interact with other prospective students in the comments and complete my own assessments.
I watched various useful videos from students across all different years about all aspects of uni life - freshers, budgeting, societies, sports, classes, making friends, being kind to yourself! It was a win-win. I was prepared for going to uni but also was able to reduce my entry requirements by a grade if I passed the test at the end!
A levels are so stressful, especially during a pandemic, so I cannot explain my relief as I was uncertain about my final grades. Bath was already supporting me and providing extra reassurance that going to uni, even whilst still in a pandemic, was definitely achievable!
What I haven’t mentioned (deliberately) is how I joined the programme. The answer is simple. I live in an area where people are less likely to go on to higher education, therefore they offered me Access to Bath to give me the best possible chance of getting into, and succeeding at uni! I did not apply for this course, everything was done behind the scenes. The University had my details, contacted me and got me started on the programme. There is no shame or judgement in this process, in fact for me, I felt lucky to be given an extra opportunity!
I did feel more confident about getting to uni (even though I didn’t need the grade reduction in the end) and felt valued by both staff and students. They were basically doing all that they could to give me the opportunity to go to Bath and the support and guidance have not stopped since!
I am the first in my family to ever go to uni, I live in an area with a low rate of people going onto higher education and am most certainly not from a wealthy family - but none of that matters at the University of Bath. I feel incredibly lucky!
My key message here is no matter your background, Bath University has belief in all of us. To any of you applying to uni this upcoming academic year, or those researching early to set clear goals for your future, if your choice is to come here, Bath will do everything in their power to help you achieve that!
Now it's time to refresh for year 2!