A2 advice from school - does this make sense?

[RubyLennox]

DS has suffered an unexpected setback at AS. After gaining 11 A*/A grades at GCSE he won a sixth form maths subject scholarship to an independent school and has been studying maths, further maths, economics, physics and German , with his sights set on applying to a top University (hopefully Oxbridge, Warwick or LSE) to study economics next year. Sadly, despite encouraging subject reports, a 97% score in his mock exam and a correspondingly high grade predicted by his teachers, he has only achieved a C for AS economics ? a real blow which he can?t really understand as he worked hard and felt confident he?d done well in the June exams.

He got A grades for maths and physics and a B for German, which he hadn't really been enjoying and had already decided to drop next year. He has asked advice from the school?s careers advisor, and is baffled and rather upset to be advised that because Universities don?t actually require students to study economics at A level for admission to degree courses, he should consider dropping the subject now and continuing German to A2 instead to ?maximise his potential grades?.

Does this make sense in any way? I understand of course that many sixth forms don?t offer economics as an option, but as DS's school does offer it and he has taken the subject as far as AS with sufficient enthusiasm to apply to study it at University, won?t it look really strange if he chooses to drop it now? Apart from anything else he?s really quite miserable at the idea of giving up the subject he loves and struggling on to A2 with one he?s lost interest in.

Personally I?m utterly confused by the whole thing; AS levels are new territory to me and I?m not really sure how far the subjects chosen and grades achieved at this stage will impact on DS?s chance of getting the University offer he?s hoping for. Can anyone advise?

[Lottiedoubtie]

I agree dropping it at this point will look odd on his UCAS form.

Have you applied for the papers back/a remark?

[goingmadinthecountry]

Don't know but will be watching with interest - dd wants to drop a subject she did OK in while carrying on with one she did badly in...... Oh for the heady days of dd1 a couple of years ago who did well in everything.

Ds1 gcses on Thurs - he's about as dyslexic as you can get so not a clue how that will go!

[RandomMess]

I was going to also say have you asked to have it remarked?

[RubyLennox]

We haven't had a chance yet to ask about a remark. Personally I was very surprised that the careers advisor hadn't at least suggested this as an option. I think DS really needs to speak direct to his economics subject teachers, but one has now left the school and it hasn't been possible to contact the other since the results came out last Thursday.

[RubyLennox]

We haven't had a chance yet to ask about a remark. Personally I was very surprised that the careers advisor hadn't at least suggested this as an option. I think DS really needs to speak direct to his economics subject teachers, but one has now left the school and it hasn't been possible to contact the other since the results came out last Thursday.

[mysteryfairy]

My DS's school have advised that the deadline for priority remarks is Friday (not sure if this is theirs or the exam boards) and if your DS wants to apply to Oxbridge you need a priority remark to ensure results are back in time to make a decision before October 15th so I think you need to pursue this option urgently now.

[Lottiedoubtie]

I agree, you need a priority remark and to have the paper back for going through.

If he wants LSE or Oxbridge it either needs to be a mistake or he needs to retake.

I wouldn't have said either university are an option with a C at AS. That said, I imagine the school are advocating not cashing it in? And therefore not declaring it to UCAS?

AAB with the others is very good, but he will need to be prepared ( and able) to push that B in German up to an A for Oxbridge.

[prettydaisies]

I think he could try ringing up school or going in today to speak to someone else (staff will be in sorting out GCSE results).
At DD's school they have a specific teacher who sorts out Oxbridge applicants and she spoke to him first and then to the head of the department where her results were a bit dodgy.
Also at DD's school they ask for any papers back where the results seem completely wrong, but above posters are correct, the deadline is this Friday. Does he know how the rest of his class got on?

[mysteryfairy]

In his first 3 subjects - maths, further maths, physics he already has A, A, A. Will the B in German count against him as I thought they had to consider first 3 to avoid discriminating against candidates from institutions that only allow them to do 3?

[Trix2323]

If your son wants to study economics at university, then the grades that he has for the two maths A-levels are going to interest the university more than the grade in AS economics.

Having said that, a subject that also demonstrates an aptitude for writing is useful. Presumably he has A or A* for GCSE English and history? That is also relevant.

The AS papers in economics consist of a series of multi-choice questions, where there is a single right answer and at least one "distractor". I can see that even someone who has a good understanding of the subject after the AS course could get several questions wrong and therefore a low mark. A re-mark would let you know where he lost marks.

Economics admissions tutors in top places look at the student's grade profile relative to their school. If everyone else at the school does four A2s, then he would need to do four.

I don't see that it would be good to do A2 German if he doesn't enjoy it, unless you can arrange to send him to stay with German-speaking family for at least three weeks over the course of next year. In that case his German would improve greatly and the A2 would be easy for him.

That he got the scholarship to another school will look good on his application. My suggestion would be to let him do the subject that he enjoys the most.

It sounds as though he has a lot going for him and that he will most likely be able to get in to a really good university for economics.

[TenToWine]

I would go for a remark. A friend's son went up by aout 16 marks in economics as a result of a remark, alhough he did have to go to appeal (the original remark was only 1 mark higher). The original marker and first remarker appear to have penalised him for including too much detail in his answer as compared to the sample answer, or for making the correct points but in a different order from the sample.

[RubyLennox]

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful. Hopefully by the time I get home from work DS will have managed to speak to his economics teacher about whether to apply for a remark. I must admit I?d assumed that the Friday deadline for ?priority? remarking applied to A2 candidates; does the same urgency apply to AS? After all, it's not as though AS students are dependent on getting the grades right now to confirm their offers for entry to University next month.

Prettydaisies, you make a significant point about finding out how the rest of DS?s class have fared; I have been urging him to establish this. Unfortunately they?re nearly all boarders, so he is reliant on social media to compare notes with friends (and you know what teenage boys can be like when it comes to meaningful communication!); but so far the feedback suggests that DS is not the only one to fall short of his predicted grade.

Lottiedoubtie, you mention ?not cashing in? the AS ? do you mean that it is possible (and advisable) for a student to simply not mention a subject on their UCAS application rather than admit to having achieved anything less than a B? This is where I begin to lose the plot - oh for the simpler days of my own youth, when I took three A levels and went to a good University on the strength of BCC! However, I'm glad to see that my understanding that maths and further maths count separately appears to be correct, so he's actually taken five subjects at AS and hopefully the B in German won't be too much of a stumbling block. It still seems strange and sad to me that ?playing the system? should involve the poor lad in having to consider giving up the subject he enjoys so much!

Trix2323 your advice is very reassuring, I guess we'll just have to hope that the University admissions tutors will see beyond the 'blip' of DS's C grade in what is after all just one exam, and take his otherwise excellent all-round academic record into account!

[creamteas]

If your DS was not applying to Oxbridge, then you could probably get away with dropping economics. You could have waited till Dec to put in your application and then just said in your PS that he missed the subject and it was dropping at A2 that convinced him that it was right for his degree. But this is not really plausible work with an October deadline.

So he probably needs to carry on with economics and drop German. There will be lots of other applicants who need to resit their AS, and the good maths results and physics should be enough to get some good offers.

[Auntfini]

There is a big jump from AS to A2 German and if he doesn't like it now, I'd advise dropping it. Having said that, a B at AS is very good, and universities like language A levels

[Lottiedoubtie]

Yes I do mean don't cash it in, don't pick up the qualification and don't declare it ever existed.

Particularly with the 4 other strong subjects in his profile.

I missread the numbers earlier, and I'd agree with dropping German if he doesn't enjoy it as that still leaves him with Three. (And I'd consider cashing in the German).

[RubyLennox]

Lottiedoubtie, I must admit that I still find the concept of ?cashing in? to be counter-intuitive. DS worked hard for his AS levels, and surely a B in German isn?t something to be ashamed of, especially in these times when the language is in demand and so few students take any MFL this far!

I?m also a bit confused by re-sits; if I?ve understood correctly, this year?s AS students won?t have the opportunity to re-sit AS exams in January ? so presumably if they are taking a subject on to A2 and hoping for an improved grade next summer, there would be little point in re-taking the AS level exam at the same time?

Anyway, thankfully DS has now managed to speak to his economics teacher and sort his options out a bit more clearly. Overall his year group did less well than hoped, and several students got much lower grades than predicted. The teacher has suggested that DS should get a copy of his script back, so that they can look at this and decide whether to apply for a re-mark (the deadline for which is apparently 10 September, and not tomorrow!). But if the worst comes to the worst and they find that DS simply mucked up on the day, then the teacher has reassured him that the school will still support his UCAS application with a predicted final A2 grade more in line with his ?A* potential?, and that they will also explain the mitigating circumstances (staffing difficulties have involved two mid-year changes of teacher for DS?s economics set, which the school admit may have contributed to the overall underperformance at AS level).

Most importantly, DS seems happier now in the knowledge that he can carry on with his choice of A2 subjects. Next time I see that careers advisor, I might have a few words to say?

[mysteryfairy]

The deadline for a priority remark is definitely tomorrow and we were warned that an ordinary remark might not come back in time to allow for any reflection, tweaks to PS etc before the oxbridge deadline, so unless finding the cost (£50 ish) is a big issue I really think you should go for a priority remark. If he has decided Oxbridge is a lost cause now there is much less urgency as you have until December.

My DS is at an independent school and the advice from them and on TSR is that you must declare all module results whether cashed in or not. When you submit the form you do declare you have included all module results, although apparently there is some ambiguity elsewhere in the UCAS guidelines about results that have not been cashed in.

The reason for resitting AS modules is that they contribute to your overall grade so unless he improves his results by resitting the AS modules will drag down his A level grade however he does at A2.

I would get your DS to email some admissions tutors to ask their advice on his results and what he should do next. I'm pretty certain if you had an AS Level grade C in most subjects - history, English Literature, maths etc you would be out of the running for those degrees courses at the top universities without very convincing mitigation - but Economics is obviously slightly different as the A level isn't actually required for the course. If he is thinking Oxford you could always pick on Cambridge admissions tutors so that no-one he might apply to remembers him.