3rd year top up continued

Following on from my previous post about proceeding onto the third year:

I have spoken to a tutor who teaches the third year top up who explained to me what the syllabus would be like on the third year. There is very little focus on skills development and more emphasis on preparing for work in the creative industry. This will include several essays, work experience and an in depth thesis on the area of design that i would like to focus on.

From my perspective my main weakness at the minute is my lack of skills. I am able to use all the required software to a level where i can produce professional quality work but i am still not at the level i would like.
 I also, as an adult student, find it quite difficult sitting down and writing large essays. I have found that it has become a lot harder than when i was originally at college nearly 10 years ago so this could also be a reason that i forego the level 3 top up.
 One last issue i have with the course here at Newcastle college is that it is focused on preparing for work. I have worked in many areas and environments since i left school and believe that this would possibly be a waste of time for me. I do not believe i can afford the cost of another year at college due to these reasons.

 In the end i have decided not to progress onto level 3 and will look into setting myself up as a freelance graphic designer. This does depend on how i feel at the end of the year but at the minute i am looking forward to the challenge and believe i could manage to get work.

Progressing into third year

As i am only doing a foundation degree course i need to decide whether to move onto a top up year.
My main option was to continue onto the top up course here at Newcastle college.
 To do this i would need to apply before the 14th of this month.

There are other options. I could top up to a full Ba at another university in the area like Northumbria or Sunderland or move further afield to somewhere like Leeds.

There are problems with this however. Moving to another University would mean that i would have to get to know the staff and students which could take a lot of time, time which would ideally be spent progressing on the course.

After speaking to other students on my course it has also became apparent that Universities may ask me to resit the second year before i would be able to proceed to the third year.
 As i am already in the second year at the same level i have decided that this is a deal breaker. I cannot afford to pay for the same year twice.

I will talk to tutors here who teach in the third year and see if this is the best option for me.