Fastrack explained
Fastrack is an intensive preparation programme, designed to prepare you for Higher Education. The programme is suitable for applicants to Edge Hill University who do not have the required qualifications to enter degree level study.
Fastrack is validated at level 3, which means the programme is the same level of study as A Levels. The course will prepare you in terms of both subject knowledge and the academic skills required to study in higher education.
Students are required to complete all aspects of Fastrack before they can progress on to a relevant degree programme at the University. Students are also required to demonstrate an aptitude for study at degree level.
Some subject areas will have other conditions of progression which will also need to be met. Further details of which can be found below:
The taught element of the programme lasts for seven weeks. The start date is Monday 30 October 2023.
Please note, there may be course preparation tasks for you to complete depending on your choice of degree progression. If tasks are allocated, you will be contacted about these directly.
The programme finishes on Friday 8 December 2023.
Edge Hill welcomes students with additional learning needs and disabilities and has a range of services to support them:
The SpLD Support Team offers tailored and specialised services for students with Specific Learning Difficulties Including:
- Informal assessments and Diagnostic assessments
- Guidance in applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
- Tailored learning and study skills support packages
- Access technology advice and guidance
- Confidential advice.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01695 584372 or by emailing [email protected].
Student Services Inclusion Team provide information, guidance and support to applicants and students, including those with disabilities and additional needs and we work closely with academic and support staff across the University.
We encourage disabled applicants to make contact as soon as possible to ensure that support is in place at the start of your university course. We provide a friendly and professional service and applicants and students can discuss individual requirements in complete confidence.
Our highly experienced team are here to advise you on:
- Disclosure and Confidentiality
- Your move to university
- Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and eligibility
- Learning Facilitators
- Reasonable adjustments
- Exam modifications and alternative assessments
- Adapted rooms on campus
- Rights and Responsibilities
If you are unsure about whether this information applies to you or whether you would benefit from the support we offer, please make contact as soon as possible by calling us on 01695 584190 or by emailing [email protected].
UCAS is the University and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK and is the service most applicants to higher education use to apply. However, Fastrack students are slightly different and your current circumstances will determine what you need to do now.
- In applying for the fastrack programme you have also applied for a degree. If you have applied directly for Fastrack you do not need to worry about UCAS at this stage. We will process an application on your behalf once you have completed the Fastrack programme.
- If you have applied through UCAS and have received fastrack as a condition of your offer please do not forget to accept this offer through UCAS.
Your timetable will include two sessions per day Monday to Friday, from 10am to 12pm and 1pm to 3pm. However, you will also be required to complete aspects of study outside of these hours.
The Fastrack programme consists of two different modules. The first is the subject area and this will be relevant, or similar, to the subject you wish to progress onto for your degree. This will form 1/3 of the programme. See the information tab ‘What subject will I study?’ below for details.
The second module will be focused on developing your academic skills. This looks at areas such as essay writing in higher education, time management, planning and preparation, group work and presentation skills.
The Fastrack Programme is designed to build your knowledge and skills to a level sufficient to study on a degree programme.
Where possible the subject you study on Fastrack will have a close link to the degree that you are going to progress onto but may not match it exactly. E.g. students progressing on to any of the Allied Health Programmes will study a generic Health Pathway.
All Pathways are subject to enough students being recruited to form a viable cohort. When this does not happen your application may be moved to the nearest possible alternative subject. However, this should still allow you to progress onto your chosen degree.
Your attendance will be monitored and you will be required to show an excellent level of commitment to the programme. Timetabled sessions will be compulsory unless previously agreed.
In having been offered a place on the Fastrack programme you are now classed as holding a conditional offer for a degree at Edge Hill University. This degree will depend on the pathway you have been interviewed for.
Some pathways such as Health, Teaching, Nursing and ODP will already have a degree pathway stipulated, and changes can only be made through a formal request. Other subject areas offer some flexibility as to which degrees you can progress on to. You will be asked towards the end of Fastrack to stipulate which degree you want.
The progression criteria for each pathway can be found on our course information page.
Please be aware that if your progression on to your degree requires you have GCSEs this requirement will still need to be met unless the UK government advises otherwise.