DD wants to resit - regardless

One of my friends adds got BBB. Did a degree in law, the SQE and us now a v well paid qualified solicitor.
A levels are not for everyone.

Ds2 has flirted with the idea of law. Dh and I are both in the profession. He is predicted AAA but I suspect he will end up with ABB.

we’ve told him that even with all of our connections and the work experience we can get him etc. it’s something that might not be right for him with those grades. We’ve said he should only do it if he’s prepared to work really hard for A/AStar grades since otherwise there’s a good chance he’ll spend a lot of money and not get a training contract at the end of it.

I agree. I’m sorry and I know it’s not what people want to hear.

someone predicted ABB is potentially going to struggle in the legal profession of that’s what their teachers think they can get on a good day with luck on their side.

the legal profession does not take contextual issues into account. Universities on the other hand are struggling more than ever and many of them will broadly take whoever will cough up the fees.

I say this as someone who has been a solicitor for 30 years and really messed up one of my A Levels - and as someone who would have had a contextual offer nowadays as coming from an area with extremely low participation in higher education. It’s a brutal profession in many ways. You need a thick skin and to be capable of brushing off issues. You also need to be super bright to do well.

If she has a place to study law and makes the grades she could move forward and go to university. There is no point retaking exams that got her her place. No one cares later but a year out to perfect the grades would make employers hesitant to take her on. She made the grade but had to go back and perfect it wasting her time and that of others (the teachers, fellow students as she’d take up time from the teacher, parents supporting yet another year) . No employer is ok with time wasting.

Possibly your daughter is worried that most people studying law at an RG university will have all A* and A at A level and that she will struggle to keep up. Only about 18% of law graduates will get a training contract and the brutal truth is that these are probably not the ones who struggled to meet even a contextual offer.
Obviously you should encourage her and I hope that she does well, but she should also consider other options.

I too am worried about her MH, and Joe it isn't conducive to law. At some point opening post, you're going to have to grow a pair of bollocks and talk to her about this.

Hopefully results will be fine and it will all come out in the wash, but maybe leave it now then show her this thread if she starts up again after results. I am happy to chat if she wants to pm me.

Law is very competitive and yes a level grades do matter. But as pps have said getting top grades via “having another bash” at the exams without a good reason for retaking won’t impress.

Every time I've applied for a job I've had to put degrees but also A levels including grades. It's on the application forms.

That’s unusual and I’m not sure particularly healthy as proved by your dds “well I can just have another go” mentality

No state schools here would allow that thats it youre out if you want to resit you pay for a local crammar for a year which is a private school.

It might be different in Wales as education is devolved. (Is that the right word?) England you can only be funded once for a programme, so once you have completed it (sat exams) you don’t get funding for an extra year. It could also be the school is taking the hit and having a student unfunded, which is rare but not unheard off, especially if there are exceptional circumstances you don’t know off.

My advice stays the same, now is the time to look forward, not back. The wait between exams and results is really daunting and going to uni is a massive step, leaving your support networks of school, friends and family (if living away from home). It is not uncommon for students to catastrophise in this waiting period, as they have no control over their results anymore.

Offer reassurance and try to steer her to focusing on her exciting future.

It’s a tough career not an easy option. Her current attitude isn’t conducive to success in law. Dd also going this route.

Her and our view is she worked as hard as she could the exams were fair she had no extraordinary event so frankly the grades she gets will be what she deserves to get. Let the cards fall as they may. If she doesn’t get stellar grades she will apply for another subject. Law is now so insanely competitive that it’s probably not worth doing if you are not top tier as getting a TC would be a challenge as so many others would have those grades.

no - if she wants to go back to school, you are likely paying for a year of private school, if you can find one to take her

I think I’d be more worried about her attitude - she needs to realise that it doesn’t matter as long as you do good enough for the next stage. She won’t be perfect at uni or once she’s at work. As long as she gets in, resits are a waste of time.

Yes they can work it out from the dates

How is she going to pay for this extra year? Once she has 3 A Levels at whatever grades funding stops for FE.

Hi @Blushingm . I’m a partner who has run grad recruitment, and now at a large city firm. As pp have said if this is a story your daughter is telling herself to help with her worry about failure etc, fine. However I would strongly advise against retaking if she does not “need” to. Universities and recruitment teams will see it, she may not be able to rely on them anyway and she will need to explain them a grad scheme and TC interviews, and the explanation that she thought she could do slightly better will not be received as well as she seems to think, it looks a bit obsessive and like she lacks resilience or an ability to deal with the reality of a situation, none of which are useful in lawyers. To be clear if a big life event had caused her to crash and burn and she’d got over/past it that would be a great story, but incremental nibbling at slightly better grades when she is already at the top of the scale looks immature or like she cannot cope with mistakes.

I would encourage her to talk to the Uni advisory services and if possible the people on the access to law scheme she took part in to see if they can help her see past her perfectionism. May also we worth saying you can’t fund a retake year, she may be pissed now but if it gets her to move on sensibly may be better in the long run.

Also as pp say some work on resilience would be wise, law degrees and careers are more difficult and lonely that many think and she will drive herself to burn out or crashing out if she cannot work past things like this.

Good luck to her.

@Blushingm do you really want to pay for her to resit year 13. It won’t be free.

To be perfectly honest this attitude won't actually help her in uni, she is best working on it now

Exactly
A couple of DDs friends who did resits had to self fund. One got extra tuition and one just self taught but both had to find an external place to do the exams and pay for them.