Only two A levels - what choices?

[iclaudius]

My DD left school early after disastrous AS year and lots of icky behaviour

She is now 18 already but planning to do two A levels ( maths and either chemistry or physics) by distance learning

Does anyone know if further education will be an option for her? She has no idea what she wants to do still so is willing to be guided.. Or is there something healthcare ish she could go into

She has very good gcses

Thanks

[VikkiiKawaii]

You'll probably want to add another a-level on top of that. I don't think further education will be an option without as you just won't have the UCAS points without/a lot of uni's want three a-levels.

[schoolchauffeur]

Depends on what she wants to do. My DD is in a similar position having dropped an A Level subject early in Year 13 due to stress/anxiety, She will leave school with 2 AS levels and 2 A Levels and if she gets her predicted grades she could actually get in to several courses with only 2 full A levels. For example University of West of England requires 300 UCAS points which my DD will have with a mix of AS and A2 and some other things like Grade 8 Speech and Drama exam etc
She is planning on taking a third A level next year via distance learning to widen her options though- need to check that the uni you want to apply to doesn't mind having A2s over more than one sitting though.

[iclaudius]

Thanks very much for that!
She has no idea and never has - I don't see that changing for her in the near future
I am worried about her going to university to be frank just due to the fact that she didn't thrive at school

Maybe an apprenticeship etc might be better

[alreadytaken]

has she tried a sixth form college? The atmosphere can be quite different to school and she could possibly do a health care related course if she wished.

[NewFerry]

Slightly different scenario, my neighbours daughter left school after her AS exams, and moved to the local FE college where she is just completing a 2 year healthcare BTEC. She has also qualified as a phlebotomist, and will be starting a paramedic science degree in October.

I think it would definitely be worthwhile your dd looking at what courses are offered by your local colleges. I think that under 19s qualify for free education, and I'm sure they could advise your dd re whether she would qualify for free or subsidied 2nd year fees. She could still take an A level alongside a btec if she wanted.

[mumeeee]

I agree with NewFerry. DD3 is just finishing a BTECH Extended Diploma in IT and is set to go to Bolton University in September to do HND Computing, which she can top up to a degree later if she wants to, She is 21 and has learning difficulties but has done well with The BTECH and although slightly behind where her sisters were she is getting there.

[creamteas]

What is best probably depends on why the year was disastrous! Was it trying to cope with the standards of AS or social things. The advice would be different really.

If the struggle was with the level of work, then a switch to BTEC might be helpful. If it was social, then repeating A levels sounds right.

I would also suggest an FE or sixth form college would offer support. Distance Learning is very hard to do, and she might benefit from a change of scene.

Do you live near a uni? It is really common now for students to stay at home, so if it is coping independently you are worried about, then that might be an option.

[BlueStringPudding]

IBM has a good apprenticeship scheme, with the following pre-requisites:

"To be eligible to apply, you must have at least 8 GCSE?s at grade C or above including Maths and English, and at least 2 A-levels at grade C or above, or the equivalent:
BTEC National Certification at DM (Double Merit) or above
BTEC National Diploma at MPP (Merit, Pass, Pass) or above"

www-05.ibm.com/employment/uk/school-leavers/apprentice/

[BlueStringPudding]

Sorry, link again here -

www-05.ibm.com/employment/uk/school-leavers/apprentice/

[iclaudius]

Blue string I think that looks about perfect! I am coming round to thinking fe might not actually be for her

Cream tea dd was always lazy but got 14 gcses all A* and A grade at gcse and was taking maths further maths physics and chemistry a level but rebelled ( says she didn't) and got ddee at AS - her actual MATLS were equally bizarre as she actually got high Bs and low Es in the same subject different days....

[iclaudius]

New ferry I like the idea but dd is 19 in October so a lot of stuff is already ruled out

[alreadytaken]

If she's interested in health there is an NHS jobs website here www.jobs.nhs.uk/ Search on below 20,000 and you'll find entry level jobs that might take her with good GSCEs. That might motivate her to study later.

[alreadytaken]

sorry below 20,000 salary. You can put a town or county in the place search.

[iclaudius]

Thanks already taken
Half her problem is that her expectations are still high she doesn't seem to understand what she's done

I was showing her some apprenticeships and she turned her nose up at 16 k

[creamteas]

If she is already over 18, what about trying the OU rather than distance learning A levels? The OU courses are designed for distance learning, so could be a better option.

BTW many unis except OU modules instead of A levels, so if she wanted to switch later on, this should be possible as well.

[iclaudius]

Cream teas very good idea thank you . I was thinking that Ou modules require a levels but then I remembered that ds did one during his a level year so there must be provision for non a level students .

[ShadeofViolet]

The other problem with distance learning is that you have to find an exam centre yourself, and this can be tricky.

[iclaudius]

Yes shade that will be a nightmare especially with her living abroad

[alreadytaken]

chemistry and physics have practical exams so would be very difficult to do by distance learning if she's living abroad. Her school might let her use them as an exam centre.

Living abroad shoud help her grow up.

[iclaudius]

Good thinking already - gah why can't it be easy

[Isthiscorrect]

Mot international schools are exam centers. Also the Brtish Council normally act as exam centers. It's worth checking out for sure.

[iclaudius]

Is this correct thanks for that I had no idea - would certainly help if they were as Paris will have both. Would make the whole process much easier