Advice on number of A levels for Uni, please

[bigboned]

Ds has sat an A level a year early and achieved a B. His school does not do AS levels. He was sitting 3 other subjects but wants to give up 1 - he hates it. How will uni admissions view the fact he has done 1 A level early, and now only sitting 2 with no AS levels. School advice is to speak to admissions tutors but he has no idea what he wants to study. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

[chemenger]

Some universities require three A levels passed at one sitting, ie in the same year. I think the idea is to show that the student will be able to cope with a full study load at university. Although getting one A level early is impressive it is obviously easier to get good grades in the other two if you are only doing two thirds of a full load (less if you consider that quite a few people do four in one sitting). Asking admissions people at the universities he would be considering is well worth while.

[bigboned]

Thanks very much Chemenger - appreciate your advice

[pinkrose123]

My DS got B C D in his A Levels last year. This wasn't enough for his first or second choices to study biology, although he could have gone through clearing. He decided to take a gap year and the school let him attend some lessons so he could retake certain modules. He got B B D this year, so still not enough for his first choice, but he had put down a more realistic insurance choice so he's in.

He had offers from all five of his choices last year and again this year. I was very surprised this year bearing in mind that it was obvious from his UCAS application he was resitting (one of the offers was from Bristol which his head of sixth form was surprised by).

Some of his friends failed their AS year and were allowed to start again the following year - they have therefore spent three years in sixth form. They have all been offered university places this year.

His school does AS levels, they start by taking four AS and then normally, but not always, drop to three A levels in the second year. The AS grade for the subject that is dropped does count towards UCAS tariff points which is always handy.

As chemenger says it's worth asking the admissions departments at the universities he is interested in, I would guess it very much depends on what he wants to study and where he wants to go.

[bigboned]

Thanks pinkrose. School does AS and A2 together in year 13. The problem with admissions is that he doesn't really know yet what subject he wants to do. But I have emailed several to ask if it is necessary to sit 3 A levels in one go.

[Roisin]

It really does depend on the uni and the course and how selective they are. generally if the early one is Maths, the general expectation for selective courses is that you'd do Further Maths plus two others in yr13.

But definitely the right tack to check direct with admissions tutors.

[ErrolTheDragon]

It'll probably depend what his A levels are too - are they all 'facilitating' subjects?

[bigboned]

Admissions tutors all really helpful - despite not being entirely sure about subject to be studied. Most don't require all 3 A levels to be sat at the same time. First one was Music, not Maths. Thanks for replies