At the age of 17 years old, I had finished the year 11 at my secondary school in Birmingham and passed my General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) academic qualifications in the English Language and English Literature, Mathematics, and one GCSE in Science. It was a good thing that I got a grade B in the English Language and English Literature, a grade C in Mathematics, and a grade B in Science. All those marks were equivalent to a GCE O level and are regarded as passing marks by universities.
Hence, I decided in not going through the Year 12 and 13 or the Sixth form levels and start applying for a university in the city. I thought that all the coursework, laboratory experiments and examinations that I had to undergo to pass GCSE qualifications were difficult enough for me. However, my parents said that I was not yet prepared for the university level and they decided to enroll me in a Preparation for Higher Education (PHE) course at a university in Birmingham.
My parents said that the PHE course would make me better prepared for university level education and my GCSE marks would qualify me to take the course. Moreover, they said that they would not finance my plans to take up an education degree at the university unless I took the PHE course. So I had no choice and took the PHE course, which has a duration of one year. I am now in the last three months of my PHE course and I have to admit that my parents were right when they said that course would prepare me for taking up a university degree.
