Another one bombed A levels

Sorry yellow..- by way of explanation... I was from Scotland... did my A levels at evening school after leaving home and getting a job at 16 - to get away from my interfering parents who thought they knew what was best for me......

got a first in Maths when they wanted something entirely different involving secretarial college.....

"kids" (sorry, but at 17 I was earning more than my dad, and living in a flatshare) need to decide what they want and be supported... not have it decided for them or delivered on a plate..

Oh. I thought you meant A2 and not AS.

In that case, keep on at him, talk, and try and make him see sense

op. What does your son want to do?

I have mixed thoughts about what MadeOfStarDust says.

Hello Op.

I am going to go against what most people are advising, but am speaking from experience.

This was my son last year and he is finally getting himself together now.
I talked to him to try and make him see the significance in gaining a good education, but it fell on deaf ears.
Your son needs to do whatever he is going to do, without much input from parents. He is his own person at this age and needs to work it out for himself. The longer you are involved the longer it will take him to decide where he is going, and this might be in completely the opposite direction to what you feel he should be doing.
I know its hard and I have been there, but its up to him now. FWIW when I did give up on pushing ds2 he had found a job in an hour and is doing well in it now, its only a call centre, but he's happy for now.

I thought he was 17 about to be 18.
Having had a reread, the op means AS levels not A levels. Different matter entirely.

Mine struggled with Maths for a term at the start of AS levels. Didnt realise that he wasnt going to be spoon fed any more.
He caught up just about, but reckons he dropped a grade at his A Levels at 18, because of it.
And it mattered too. As he needed the higher grade to get to the Uni course he wanted.
Fortuneately, he had done welll at his interview for Uni, and he was 2nd on the waiting list for a place. So we had an anxious day and a half wait for 2 people to drop out of his 50 place course.
He soared on the course, so everything fine now.

yellow - it is more common than you think, as islets has said the jump from GCSE to A levels is huge and quite often students struggle with the work they need to put in/exam technique/reading around the subject etc compared to GCSE

I am a private science tutor and have helped many students who failed or scored low grades for AS. the jump from GCSE to A-level is massive, especially for sciences. it can be quite a shock, but it doesn't necessarily mean the student isn't cut out for A-levels. I'd definitely ask for papers back to see where they have gone wrong. Just to give a some reassurance, I've helped people move from E grades to A grades on resitting. Quite often it is exam technique that is the problem, rather than ability. Hope this helps!

He is 17.... sorry, but if my mum had got so involved she wanted to see my actual papers and "have a coherent plan" , I would have blown my nut and left...

17/18 is about learning to study for what you want.... if what others want is not important to you , you laze about and flunk...

you need to help him work out what is important to him and stand back.....

my sons college would not let him re do the year he failed but he registered at another college and started again, i think transition to sixth form college is hard for some children, they have so much freedom and have to be self motivated.

Something is odd here.
A straight A student does not turn into a failing all A levels student in 2 years.

Just to be clear do you mean A levels or AS levels because at 17most students would have just done AS levels?
Do you know why they won't let him redo y12? It!s not that unusual for this to happen although I'd be asking why no one warned him/you he was heading for failure.
If it is AS levels then I would think repeating y12 , even at a different college would be the best option.

Does he have any idea of what he may want to do? Has he expressed any interest in any vocational college courses?

I would be inclined to at least have a look at the college website and see what courses are available. You may be too late as enrolment is this week for people who have already been offered places. Any spare places are left to open enrolment at the very start of September. Do you have any other colleges near by that although not a simple to get to or as close can offer more choice.

I have no experience of this but imagine he will need to do a course that he at least feels something for to reignite some enthusiasm as I expect he has either lost complete interest or/and has a loss of confidence.

I know I have looked at my local college courses (am an oldie mum of teens) because I have not been able to find a job since we moved here for DHs job. I have found full time course at mt local college (10 miles away) but am now also considering supplementing it with a part time evening course at another college 12 miles the other way. My full time course btw is actually only 15 hours - so I know I will have time to cope with an evening class and the extra homework. This may be a way for him to "retake" some A levels along side a full time vocational course should he so choose.

You need to get moving fast where college is concerned and get him on any reserve lists asap.

Good luck.

Many colleges allow students who have failed A levels to retake a year, so it is unusual that his college is not. Are they a particularly high achieving academic college which is worried about league table positions?

I would look into other local colleges. I don't know if this is financially an option for you, but many private sixth form colleges have a high success rate, particularly with students who have failed and are retaking.

I think getting the papers back would definitely be a good move, so he can see exactly where he has gone wrong. It would also be useful to show these to a teacher or private tutor. There may be gaps in his knowledge, or he may be not answering questions fully to the standard expected at A level.

You may also want to look into some private tuition, and to do this through the whole year, not just a couple of months before the exams when it is too late. Most colleges require students to be fairly self sufficient and independent, and if he have not developed skills such as independent study and note taking, a tutor may be able to help him with keeping on top of the course.

Have you spoken to his teachers? Were they surprised? It is often useful to ask for papers back so you can avoid making the same technique mistakes in the future.