UK Level 3 qualifications

January 26, 2021 11:20 PM

I have no qualifications and live in the UK. My job now requires a Level 3 qualification. What's the easiest and cheapest UK Level 3 qualification I can get?

I've had a non-teaching job in the education sector in the UK for several years, but my title and job description are being revised and my JD now apparently lists a Level 3 qualification as 'essential' rather than desired.

I'm good at my job, but don't have any qualifications. I'm a smart person who was in a bunch of programs for gifted children (for kids in the 98th percentile) in primary school but crashed and burned in formal education due to crippling ADHD. My ADHD wasn't diagnosed until I was 40 years old and I'm not 'out' at work. I've made various attempts at further education as an adult but it's excruciating and, well, functionally impossible for me.

Evidently, my job does not require a Level 3 qualification as I don't have one and am successfully doing it. But I'm worried that if there's an organisational restructuring at some point (not unlikely) that requires to me reapply for my own job, I won't get it due to this requirement.

So, I guess I need to think about getting a Level 3 qualification. It's going to be hard and horrible and I may not succeed.

What Level 3 qualification can I do in the UK, preferably online, that is relatively inexpensive and not that hard?

My strengths/interests include: creative writing, literature, cultural studies, film, counselling/psychology, the arts in general. I'm crap at Maths.

If you can tell me what institutions I should be looking at, even better. I'm based in London. Thank you!

posted by anonymous to Education (13 answers total)

Looks like there is some government funding that could help you from April? https://www.gov.uk/government/news/adults-to-gain-new-skills-on-400-free-courses
posted by coffee_monster at 12:26 AM on January 27, 2021

In terms of what you are interested in, I think you need to decide between arts/culture and counselling/psychology. I can't speak to the latter, but the former is going to need you to attend classes (either online or in person), read a fair amount off your own back, and produce essays/creative work.

In terms of Level 3 qualifications you are looking at a BTEC in creative writing, or film or English or media or a combination thereof. It will depend what your local 6th form college will offer and where you can physically get to/attend. I would use what is local to you as the metric for deciding. I don't know much about ADHD and I am assuming that attending timetabled classes will be better than completing online modules in your own time. I may be wrong.

However, I would consider doing a Level 4 qualification—a Higher Education Certificate. Typically this will be three 20 credit modules at a university. Reason being you'll get a bit more choice and variety and probably be learning with people closer to your age/ability. In terms of admissions, you would have to point to the accomplishments in your working life, which seem ample. Again, assuming you want to attend physical classes, contact local universities to find out what is offered. In London, the go to for adult education used to be Birkbeck as they offer evening classes, but I would really check what universities are near to you.
posted by einekleine at 12:32 AM on January 27, 2021

I had a look at the official list of level threes, good to cross reference in case you do have any of them already. Level 3 qualifications are:

A level
access to higher education diploma
advanced apprenticeship
applied general
AS level
international Baccalaureate diploma
level 3 award
level 3 certificate
level 3 diploma
level 3 ESOL
level 3 national certificate
level 3 national diploma
level 3 NVQ
music grades 6, 7 and 8
tech level

- CPCAB offers a variety of 3/4 counselling courses.

- Birkbeck is great but as a London university very expensive - in this day and age most other institutions are offering remote/flexible options.
posted by socky_puppy at 12:40 AM on January 27, 2021

I hope you find a course that is worthwhile. And I want to encourage you to make use of any supports your course-provider offers. Be 'out' about the ADHD as some modifications might be able to be made. Go in with the idea of using every avenue of support available to help you get through. Good luck!
posted by Thella at 12:47 AM on January 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

I am an adult with ADHD who like you was "gifted," but could not complete a standard education. I later tried out various distance learning courses and found the biggest issue I had was the pace of the courses. Many forced you to conform to a very slow pace, and I lost interest quickly and bailed.

I don't have a course to recommend to you, but what I would advise is to ensure the course you take has no examinable components, real world classes or other timetables which constrain you. Courses that sent out all the materials at the start and allowed you to work at your own pace remotely suited me best, as I was able to speed read the textbooks and pull out the info I needed to complete the assignments. This is especially useful if you are not interested and only grudgingly taking the course, as I was. I know a lot of OU courses are like this, but IIRC their courses start at level 4.

As Thella says you will qualify for all sorts of support. It is worthwhile being upfront about the ADHD for the purposes of this. Good luck.
posted by mani at 2:02 AM on January 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

Not answering the question, but I would be surprised if any education job person specification in the UK doesn't add the caveat "or equivalent experience". If it doesn't, and you have a union rep, it might be worth talking to them about the wording.

Answering the question slightly more - you could do A level English literature, or A level film. I would get in touch with FE colleges or sixth forms and talk to them about what they could offer. Pretty much all teaching is going to be online at the moment anyway. But given what you say about having found previous adult ed excruciating, I really would try pushing back on the wording first.
posted by paduasoy at 3:55 AM on January 27, 2021

Firstly, if you have worked in the area for a while, it will be likely that any re-advertisement will say something like 'level 3 qualification or equivalent experience'. This is usually required by HR and unions, and so may help give you peace of mind. This is especially likely in a educational setting but of course you will know your organisation best. Are they supportive of you training? Would they support you to start a longer set of qualifications if you wanted to? If so, it may be worth asking what they support rather than just taking a level 3 course? Apologies if you have already ruled this out.

Also, I am assuming you mean level 3 courses in England? elsewhere, education options will vary. I am suggesting OU courses below, but if you are in Scotland the costs will be different or free.

If you were interested in gaining further education overall, the Open University provides free Access courses if you fit the following criteria:

Can you study an Access module for free?
In order to qualify you must:

be resident in England
be registered on a qualification
have a household income of less than £25,000 (or receive qualifying benefits)
have not completed one year or more on any full-time undergraduate programme at FHEQ Level 4 or above, or completed 30 credits or more of OU study


The OU access course does not lead to a qualification, but it shows you are willing to learn and it avoids having to pick something like an A-level, which may be harder to find, and may not suit your preferences. I know a few people who have taken the access courses in the arts and really rave about them. There are lots of other options at the OU as well as degrees which are worth looking into. For example, 'discovering the arts and humanities' which is at FHEQ 4 (level 4).

A full list is here.

If you did want to do a creative writing qualification, I have done the Open University A215 course and it was very good (entirely remote). Leads to a FHEQ level 5 and 60 course credits, so is at a higher level than your criteria. However, I found it well-organised and the online systems to be good. I generally studied 2 or 3 evenings a week and wrote then too. They do recommend that you have done an OU level 1 course first - such as the 'discovering the arts and humanities' one I linked above.

Are there any NVQs or similar linked to your job or for volunteer opportunities? I volunteer for a jury/hearingsystem in my city and found out after training that we received a qualification similar to NVQ level 3/4. Most volunteer websites allow you to search by qualification.

Advice on further education colleges above not my wheelhouse, but sound good!
posted by sedimentary_deer at 4:23 AM on January 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

Looking at socky poppy's list, there are some thing s that are 1 yr and some 2 yr, so we'll assume you want a single year thing at best. I think the other distinction to make it whether you do formal training (like an AS level) or do something that works around your job. The latter may be easier/require less effort. Things like NVQs & BTECs may lend themselves better to this and perhaps offer a chance to get your employer to pony up to build your portfolio?

If you want to look at more formal stuff like AS levels then consider searching for pass rates for different exam boards and seeing which have the highest rates as well as beubg something you could get enthusiastic about, I would stay away from languages with this indicator, put picking topics that interest you with high pass rates may make for easier learning. Here's one exam boards pass rates.
posted by biffa at 5:01 AM on January 27, 2021

Here's an interesting L3 NVQ for £199. It's a 3 month course but you have 12 months to complete it and it is online. "Knowledge of the subject you wish to teach/deliver" could be knitting or auto repair, it doesn't have to be PHP or cultural studies.
posted by DarlingBri at 5:23 AM on January 27, 2021 [1 favorite]

I need to know if it’s *anything* at Level 3 or if it’s the other thing I see often which is “something at Level 3 equivalent to 2 or more A-Levels” which is annoyingly tougher.
posted by lokta at 6:59 AM on January 27, 2021

Here for example is a course that loosely claims to be 'Level 3' which is very short and very cheap (and I think terrible!), which you could def make enquiries about to see if it's a real-real Level 3 qualification that your job would accept — if indeed you do need one, I'm hoping that the 'or experience' applies, as it really should.
posted by lokta at 7:08 AM on January 27, 2021

Ooh First Aid at Work! I will note that when you're looking on sites like Reed you'll want to make sure the price of the exam is included in the price you're paying.

I've got a couple of A-Levels, some OU credits and some random other quals and I do recommend the slightly-bullshit-Level-3 route if you do have to do one, unless your ADHD is like mine in that if the course is stupefying your brain melts and won't co-operate.
posted by lokta at 7:19 AM on January 27, 2021

I think that level 3 first aid is not a level 3 qualification but the third level of first aid courses they offer, unfortunately.

I had a couple of friends do A level photography (for fun!) as an evening course many years ago - I think they did it in a year. I believe it was all coursework, no exams. If a single A level is sufficient, that might be an option. May require finding a sufficiently decent camera, though.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 6:52 PM on January 28, 2021