Mature students in higher education: III. Approaches to studying in access students

An investigation was carried out on approaches to learning among students completing Access courses at nine colleges of further education. The factor structure of their responses to a short form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory was qualitatively different from that obtained in a previous investigation of conventional university students. These results suggest that Access courses might inculcate an educational culture that is inconsistent with the dominant culture within mainstream higher education.