DD messed up AS levels. Advice needed.

[Cakeonthefloor]

My daughter did really well in her gcses (8s and 9s). She moved to a new school to do chemistry, maths and economics a-levels. She has struggled to motivate herself to study and has got 3 Es in her AS. She has a retake in a few weeks as she needs D grades to continue to A-level. She doesn't know what to do. She could repeat the year, leave with an AS level and teach herself the final A-level year and take the exam at a college. She could drop an a-level and concentrate on 2 and try and get a nhs or police apprenticeship. She could switch subjects but they were her favourites. She could try and get an apprenticeship but she needs a-levels for any she is interested in. She has asked me to post this as she is desperate for advice or similar stories. Thanks for reading.

Your daughter is clearly bright and talented if she was able to get 8s and 9s at GCSE. I wouldn’t be attempting maths A level unless I had an easy 9, and worked my butt off from the outset for A level, because once you start slipping it’s difficult to recover. If these subjects aren’t for her (and that’s a possibility given she has clearly disengaged) it might be better for her to go to college and take 3 subjects she really wants to do - or even a BTec or T levels. It would also help if she had some idea of what kind of career she’d like so she can ‘work back’ and get started on what she’d have to do to achieve it. And tell her not to worry - this is a good age to explore options and experiment with learning to find what works for her. It’s much harder when you’re 42 and have three kids and a mortgage.

Sixth form teacher here. These will be internal progress tests so not AS exams for which the results would be issued on results’ day in August. That said, it is common practice for schools and colleges to insist on a certain grade in A Levels progress tests after the first year. It may seem unfair but in truth if the student isn’t coping after one year it is highly unlikely they will manage better after two. Would 3 Es at A Level be worth it for your daughter? I think it unlikely that this will lead to university entrance in many subjects but worth checking with UCAS.

Perhaps your daughter would manage better with different A levels? The three you mention are notoriously difficult and quite often, unfortunately, GCSE results are not very helpful in indicating how well a student will do at A Level. I know that is hard to hear for many students after such an achievement but A levels do suit certain learners better than others.

If I were your daughter I would spend some time thinking carefully about what she actually wants to do in the future; if she needs this specific set of A Levels for a future career perhaps she may be best advised trying to find a local sixth form college who may well be willing to take her on (possibly restarting first year or possibly straight into second year). However, I would suggest she question whether she really needs the specific subjects she has chosen or whether there may be others she would cope better with. I wouldn’t really factor in what she ‘did well at at GCSE’ if it was anywhere 7 and up. She may well do better at the A Level of the same subject if she is motivated. Motivation at A Level is the key to success.

I think you can be fairly certain that she didn't teach herself her GCSEs and isn't capable of teaching herself A Levels, given her mock results. It sounds like she has moved to a school with higher expectations of independence and resilience, alongside the expectation of self-study in Sixth Form.
If she wants to turn it around, you both need to start being realistic about her natural capabilities, versus how much she'll have to work her arse off to catch up. She can't just disengage because other kids in her class are clever - this inevitable in the subjects she's chosen.
I'd be asking for a meeting with the Head of Sixth form to help hash out a plan for her study over the last half term and the summer, to make up as much ground as possible before A Level starts. Regular assessment tasks to keep track of exactly where she is throughout the year.

Also, please inform yourselves - you should not both be under the impression that she has received AS results.

Funding is an issue if trying to retake a third year. A levels are two year courses, not modular. It sounds like she got Es on her mocks based on one year's tuition, you need to establish if this was the full content or just subjects she has been taught to date. With Stem subjects the content builds so struggling at this stage based on topics to date, when they may not revisit the fundamentals, is not positive for the rest of the course. Self teaching is not really viable if she has yet to grasp the basics and does Chemistry not include practicals?

On the other hand, if she has a chance to resit to achieve higher, the obvious answer is to work VERY hard to achieve the D or above and perhaps work in the background on motivation - why does she want to do this? What’s the goal? I think having that in mind will help with motivation.

I think the first thing you need to do is figure out exactly what's happened - has she done badly in actual qualification exams or in mocks? There's a huge difference.

If someone's going to mess up, then mocks are the place to do it, so they can find out and make changes so they don't mess up the real thing.

If you and she don't understand what exams she has, when they are, how they count towards her qualifications, etc then she won't be able to make informed choices. You and she both need to increase your level of engagement with the school and the curriculum requirements for her subjects.

My daughter at the end of the 2 year A level (Biology, Chemistry and Music) did not get the grades she needed for the course she wanted but was offered a place on a Foundation Year STEM course in the 'City' branch of the same uni which caters more for work based courses, overseas students, mature students rather than young post A Level. We didn't even know this course existed till contacted by the univesity but it proved a godsend. She completed the course, literally crossed the road to the other branch and went on to do the course she originally applied for (Bio-Medical Science) and got a first. She is now working in a medical laboratory and loving it. Maybe this route is something your daughter might look at.

Tbh, they are three passes in very hard subjects. If she can even get those up to a C she'd be eligible for a foundation year somewhere or a minor uni (of which some are really good despite ehat mumsnet says!). If you can afford a tutor that would help. Reading between the lines she seems to have a thing about teaching herself or having to teach herself. Why?

If she’s only done year 12, talk to the school and maybe restart? However, she needs to be very motivated to study these subjects. The gap is huge between gcse and a level. She need to be prepared to put her life “on hold” for a couple of years to do this. Also make sure her Iron levels are IK. My daughters first year almost got derailed because of undiagnosed anemia.

One thing to factor in is that based on what you’ve said, she’s gone from combined science at gcse to chemistry: at my DC school only the lowest achieving students do combined science and they would certainly not be able to then do a single science at A level. Many of the students at her new school may have done Chem gcse which will put them at an instant advantage to her. But with an 8 and a 9 in maths she sounds bright enough to catch up over summer with a tutor

If she's not capable of passing an AS it is delusional to think she would have the knowledge/motivation to teach herself the A Level

I find it very odd you don't even know what exams she has taken. My DD is doing 3 A Levels with AQA and there is only one set of exams at the end of Year 13. I know exactly what she is taking and when.

Another encouragement story (although I am almost 50 so I did A Levels in 1992).

I am a very senior lawyer. I earn circa £300k a year working part time (from home in my PJs when Im not in court).

I got excellent GCSEs - almost all As but one B. I then crashed and burned in my A levels and for my actual A levels I ended up with a D and an E in my worst two subjects, one of which was maths (although two As in my other two).

This isn't the end of the world. She can turn it around. There are other routes and other settings. I'd personally be moving to an FE college and starting again afresh in September (possibly with different subjects since those ones are tough and she will probably have a bit of a mental block about them now).

She can do this.

She hasn't failed AS exams, but certainly under preformed in mocks. I've had many who got E or D at the end of yr12 who went on to get C or B at A level. Needs a lot of work though .

She won't have her As level results yet though, she'd only be sitting the exams now so how does she know she's failed? If she wants to go to uni and wants to do something in the subjects she's chosen the obvious thing is to repeat the entire year. I know a few people who did this and they have gone on to be very successful, one is a consultant in the NHS another is the deputy principle funnily at the college he failed at. Sometimes people just don't apply themselves at a-level I think if you've done so well at gcse which you can do very well at on minimal revision there a bit of a shock when winging it doesn't get you 3 x A*s. She needs to decide what her long term goal is or at least ish have an idea, personally I wouldn't want it to look like I just flunked, but it'll be less important if she's doing an apprenticeship that will take you straight from gcse. It's not the end of the world repeating the year either so long as her college allows it obviously.

It’s not.

All over 16 years have at least 4 years of funding. If they need for they can apply for a bursary for the 4th year. If they claim Pip they automatically get the bursary. Most people get it, but pip guarantees it.

They have 3 years without claiming bursary.

People talk such a lot of rot on here sometimes.

Dds school said they let pupils repeat a year on merit. State comp.

I’ve not read all the replies, but does she want to go to university? If so, can she not look into an “access to HE” course? They are offered all over the UK, both in-person and distance learning. I’m nearly 30 and I’m doing a distance learning one myself now as I want to go to university next year.

I left school to go straight to work. No AS or a levels under my belt. I’ve been fine doing the work I’ve wanted to up until this point, however I want a complete career change therefore pursuing a degree. Access to HE is accepted by a lot of universities, as long as she gains enough points/passes etc doing it. Maybe she can tap into something she actually enjoys/has an interest in therefore being more motivated to learn

I'd resit and see what the result is. If this is a shock then I don't think school have been on top of things and I'd be tempted to start afresh elsewhere rather than fighting to continue where she is if they don't want her. Online schooling would be an option for some A-levels (schools like Kings Interhigh or equivalent)
Does she struggle with concentration in school? I self taught while others were revising after I'd spent the year day dreaming in class (ADHD) but thankfully I do my best learning under pressure! Maybe a short period of intense study will significantly bring her grades up.
At the end of the day there are lots of options so please reassure her it's not the end of the world and not worth a mental health nosedive.

I don’t understand why she would have to leave with just AS levels, worst case can she not just retake the first year and do everything a year later? You get 3 years of FE funding, so there’s no reason why she can’t just do an extra year if required, I know lots of people who had to do this.

I agree with this. You’ll have to get very involved and knowledge about her studies. Both my husband and I have and we currently have two children doing A levels. It’s not easy for us either.

Do bear in mind though that A Levels are really really hard and a very heavy workload. In many cases more difficult than first year undergraduate courses. Many schools also insist on EPQ or Core Maths to accompany them too. It seems to be the case nowadays that kids start them without really assessing whether they're the right qualification for them. A Levels almost broke highly academic DS1 at times over the two years - particularly at NEA deadline time.

DN instead took a BTEC. It was a risky decision coming from a top academically selective independent where the expectation was that he would stay on a sixth form and do A levels. He's now off to a Russell Group University in September to do his first choice course. He's had a great two years learning about something which is his passion, with work spread out, assessments being carried out in various different ways and far less pressure than if he'd been forced to pick 3 academic subjects to continue with at A Level.

I'm currently trying to encourage DS2 (about to start Year 12 in September) to consider it.