Leaving the UK
Are you trans in England/Wales and want to leave, but emigration requirements are strict?
Getting into healthcare could be your ticket off this awful island, and the best part is the UK government will literally pay you to do it.
A few requirements would have to be met to get onto your desired course
- Qualifications: a set amount of GCSE's at grade 4 minimum and science related A levels at the required grades for entry
- Determination
This guide should hopefully help you achieve whatever you need to get onto the career ladder and out of the UK. If you have all the necessary qualifications, you can skip most of this.
GCSEs
If you lack GCSE's at the required level, pick the most crucial ones and consider your options for retaking them, Such as retaking them as a private candidate at an exam centre, or at an online/in person college.
More in depth information can be found here: How to sit GCSEs as a private candidate.
A list of exam centres can be found here: List of exam centres
A large variety of online resources related to GCSE's can be found on youtube and other sites.
A Levels/ Equivalent
If you don't have the required A levels for healthcare, my recommended course of action would be enrolling on an access course related to your chosen subject. Alternatively, you could also retake them as a private candidate at an exam centre, or at an online/in person college Sit A levels as a private candidate.. Access is objectively the better option financially. >b4 foundation years. Not worth it unless you have no other option, it puts you in needless debt.
Access to HE
These courses are suited for adults 19+ and are 9 months long, meaning you'll get to university by next September. (If you are, say 18 and not 19, contact the people running your local access course directly and explain your situation. Depending on the tutors running the course 9/10 they'll let you on anyway. ) If you are over 19, you will have to take out an advanced learner loan. The good thing about this loan is that it gets written off once you have completed university. Meaning you won't have to pay it back .Look for health courses such as "Access to HE healthcare professions"
how to apply for-college in the uk.
Applying for student finance
If you have picked the access course or need funding you will either need to self fund or go through SFE/SFW Student finance Wales: Student finance wales. Student finance in wales. Student finance England: Student finance england. Student finance in england.
University/Degree apprenticeship
University To apply to University you will have to apply through UCAS. This can be a pain in the arse if you don't have your previous exam certificates, i will include a section below for that. For the application, you will need all of your previous grades, as UCAS will cross reference with exam boards and previous schools, and they will mark you for fraud if they find anything inconsistent. Your university will only look at your highest grades, so don't worry. You will need a personal statement, if you're with a college they will likely help you write it.
My personal advice is to go to your target University's Online personal statement writing session if they have one. They will have sign ups on the website most likely. Be warned, certain Universities have different things they look for. Some Universities do values based recruitment, which means if you tailor your personal statement in a certain way you'll likely be rejected by other Universities. https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/how-to-apply-independent-applicant. https://www.ucas.com/.
Degree apprenticeships. If you cannot afford to go to university even with student finance + bursaries, a degree apprenticeship might be for you. You can get into many roles via degree apprenticeship, including nursing, occupational therapy, radiography etc. You will graduate debt free and will be paid for your time, the only draw back is that you may take an extra year to complete your training depending on the course. Keep an eye out for open roles on https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/search/.
Acquiring previous grades
Acquiring previous grades If you don't have all of your certificates, applying can be a pain in the arse, especially if they have been lost. To apply through UCAS you only need the name of the certificates, the month achieved and the grade you achieved, meaning you won't have to re-order certificates (which are expensive as fuck by the way).If your grades were achieved past 2012 (england) 2014 (wales) and (2015) Northern ireland, you can request a copy of your personal learning record. Request PLR by email. You will need two identification documents for this.
You can also contact your school to find your previous exam boards; from there you can apply for a Certified Statement of Results How to. Don't waste your time emailing your school unless they're known for fast responses, call them up or turn up in person to get results.
What you can get for choosing a healthcare degree:
The nhs learning support fund pays students 5000gbp a year, with students in niche degrees such as diagnostic/therapeutic radiography getting 6000gbp yearly. You can spend this money however you wish and you won't need to pay it back. NHS learning support fund. If you come from a low income household or have children, you can apply for other bursaries.Scholarships,grants and bursaries.
Disclaimers
re-entering education may or may not mess with any benefits you are on, such as universal credit, I was kicked off universal credit when i applied for an advanced learner loan. I'm not sure how it would apply to other benefits, it would likely depend and i'm not experienced in navigating the benefits system. I have not adapted this guide to scotland and northern ireland as scotland has a different education system, i would appreciate it if a scottish person would adapt this guide, i have not adapted this guide to NI as northern irish people are able almost always able to obtain irish citizenship
I'm unsure whether this guide would work for those with certain disabilities, as far as i'm aware people with certain impairments (such as being fully deaf) are able to study but may face difficulties with the immigration process in some countries.
Adapt and distribute this guide in any way you want, just keep the information relevant