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.

It’s the method of assessment that is different, not the depth of understanding.
Some courses are more suited to vocational, BTEC teaching, too, of course. I always think it’s weird that Medicine, with all its hands-on, clinical application, isn’t a BTEC!

She will have just sat her AS mocks. These aren't "actual" exams, just practice.

You can sit AS exams still (for most subjects), and some schools enforce it (they cost the school extra money). She will get a grade and certificate for them if the school have chosen to pay for all students to sit them formally. The school however might not have in which case she would not be getting a grade and certificate. If she is sitting the exams formally, the results will come mid-August.

At the end of the two years she will sit her A2s. These will test her on the whole 2 years of content and overwrite her AS results. Her AS results (if she has sat them) will not contribute to this at all. These are what she will need for uni, etc.

I really wouldn't recommend her teaching herself. If she could have done it she already would have (as she did for GCSE). It's also quite a nightmare sorting things like the science practicals.

She needs to study as hard as she can now, and see how she does in the next set of exams. What does she want to do? Would she be happy graduating with Ds or does she want Bs or higher. If she only manages to get up to D knowledge at AS level she is unlikely to then get Bs or As in A2 level as whilst the AS levels no longer contribute to the grade, all the A2 topics learnt build upon the knowledge from AS level.

As for the dropping down to 2 A-levels, does she want to go to uni? As this will be tricky with only 2

My advice would be:
-Study hard now and see what she gets
-If she gets Es or lower resit the year
-If she gets D's and does NOT want to go to uni or grade dependent apprenticeship then continue to A2s
-If she gets D's and DOES want to go to uni or grade dependent apprenticeship then resist
-Sorry if this seems harsh but you also need to get more involved with her education, it's very uncommon for a parent to not know about the exams their child is sitting

You can definitely get into medicine with a btec alongside a levels.

Are those the grades from the winter exams? They are notoriously harder to do well in - the majority of my year failed when I did my AS levels but most achieved several grades higher in the summer exams. I got an E in the winter exams, C in the summer ones. I always felt examiners were more forgiving in the summer exams though not sure how accurate that is.

But the ones who get through A levels in 2 years are also often ones who haven’t had “no problems”. Many will have gad problems. They will also be the students who will have completed past paper after past paper, not left the school site during study periods, turned down fun times with friends to prioritise study… students who demonstrated a fierce determination, intrinsic motivation and self discipline. But they will have had problems, too - your DD doesn’t control the market share here!
Oxbridge is good at finding these students who overcome hardship to still demonstrate academic excellence. They are also excellent at offering specialist support to students from non-fee paying schools - I would have thought you would have been aware of this.
You are starting to come across as spiteful and resentful of a selection process that is sensible and reasonable.

You are starting to come across as spiteful and resentful of a selection process that is sensible and reasonable

😂

My dss is a lecturer at Cambridge.

AS exams still exits in Wales - they are 40% of the final A-level

In England I think they do exist but are an entirely separate qualification and are not much done for that reason.

What I would do is see how she does in the -what I assume were mocks and quietly research option to discuss with her after the exams.

Look at nearby colleges and see about level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma or re-starting A-levels there.

DD1 in wales did sit AS levels - and didn't do as well as hoped - she dropped one subject as she was taking 4 and Welsh bac so that was fine - and is retaking another - we had to pay for her to re-sit the exam. The college did put on extra lessons.

We look at tutor - couldn't end find one - but £40 an hour was going rate. Best we could find in end was https://uplearn.co.uk/#subjects while not the same board does seem to have helped. This was one subject - three and I think perhaps you need to look at if A-levels are the right choice.

You can! From Oxford’s medicine entry requirements page:
BTEC LEVEL 3 EXTENDED DIPLOMA
our requirements for an applicant taking BTEC qualifications would typically be:

• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Applied Science (to include units in Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry)
• BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Applied Science (to include units in Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry) plus 1 A-level
• BTEC Level 3 Foundation Diploma in Applied Science (to include units in Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry) plus 2 A-levels (one of which must be Biology, Physics or Mathematics)
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate or Subsidiary Diploma in Applied Science plus 2 A-levels (one of which must be Chemistry)

We also accept applications from candidates with 2 A-levels in Chemistry and another science (Biology, Physics, Mathematics, or Further Mathematics) plus a BTEC Level 3 qualification in another subject. Applicants will be required to achieve grades of D*DD or the equivalent. We do not accept BTEC qualifications of any level in Health & Social Care or Sport & Exercise Science in place of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics.

Well somewhat ironically then - its actually Cambridge that doesn't accept BTEC (other than on foundation courses), not Oxford..

The difficulty is finding a local college which offers those specific btec modules

Did he write your posts on this thread? Otherwise I’m not sure how his position is relevant to your angry posts?

I think we can safely assume that the OP's DD is not considering an Oxbridge application at this time anyway and stop derailing the thread.. (myself included)

Oh God, it really is. It’s the same everywhere. A friend of mine considered moving house to access a higher engineering diploma at Silverstone UTC for her DS.

If she does want to do university there's many more than Oxbridge.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4810852-university-for-middling-achievers

We had to re-think for DD1 and actually via UCAS found some universities on that thread mentioned - also look at less popular slightly more obscure courses.

Yeah we struggled

The problem is that most state colleges think of btecs as the easier option so don't offer the harder modules

It’s more than just getting terminology wrong though isn’t it? Flunking exams and not getting the grades to progress to the next year is very different from getting some low grades in mock exams.

It’s remarkable that a parent can not know if their child is sitting actual exams or not. Surely exam dates are shared by the school and surely a 16 year old knows when their actual exams are?

Funnily enough last week we had a friend visit, bloke we met at Uni. He was in my year although he was two years older. Why? He'd flunked his 'O' levels (would be GCSEs now) and ended up doing bricklaying at college.
He decided this was not what he wanted, took himself back to do A Levels, got into Oxford, now has a doctorate and a happy successful life abroad somewhere sunny!

Tell DD we all screw up - learning how to tackle this problem and work her way out will be, in itself, as valuable an education as whatever she takes exams in, if not more so in the long run.

So I'm with the PPs who say find a sixth form college or something and start the two years over again there.

But first she needs to sit down and think - not easy when you're mid teens - and work out WHY she wasn't doing what all her classmates are, i.e. some actual work.
Why has she been ignoring the marks and feedback all year? What else is going on? (The move may have affected her more than you all thought, is one possibility).
Is there a grandparent or aunt she could talk to?
Sorry OP, but if this is the first you know about it - I'm not sure you'd be best placed to that person she discusses it with. Your strengths no doubt lie elsewhere - the important thing is to support her plan when it emerges. TBH this shock may make her into a hard working, well prepared person for the rest of her life, so it may be the making of her!

The school might not let your DD drop to 2 A levels, OP, but they might allow her to do 2 and an AS?
Re-doing the year is a nice little luxury that will only be offered once, probably - something to consider seriously if the school is offering that?
She’s had the shock of knowing the levels of commitment that are now required so if she’s not interested in re-starting then there’s at least part of your answer, perhaps - she doesn’t want to do A levels.
Or maybe just not maths, Chemistry and economics? Does anything else interest her? How is she with essays and reading? My local comprehensive offers law, psychology, sociology, film…

Yes, I agree, and it does indicate a problem if mum and daughter are so confused. It's not about the terminology, it's about the process.

It depends on why she did so badly: was it too difficult or did she not apply herself?

i got almost straight As at a level and ended up with very poor a levels. I was bright enough but cocky, disorganised, immature and didn’t apply myself at all.

if it’s just too much to handle maybe apprenticeships are the way to go.

Straight As at GCSE I meant!

I dropped out of college months before my final exams and left with 3 C's at AS level. did various jobs for 5 years and used the time to get to know myself and the world around me

at 24 I went back to college to do an access to higher education course. there were a range of people there - some around 18/19, some in their 40s, some were even studying to go into medicine. I got the qualifications I needed and ended up studying psychology at one of the top unis in the country

this isn't a humble brag, but a message to your daughter to let her know that there are many paths to her future, and she should march to the beat of her own drum. right now these exams will feel like the most important things ever, reassure her that it's not the end of the world!

I've just look at our local college and it only does 8 level 3 Btecs - and none in science.

So yes it would be an issue - they could travel to nearby cities that may do them but that wouldn't be ideal.

Another comment to say she's chosen some of the hardest A levels. I got an A with minimal effort in GCSE Chemistry but A level Chemistry almost broke me. I almost dropped it after my AS Levels (which were a thing in my time) after I got Es and Us in all the practice papers. By some miracle, I ended up scraping a C in AS Chemistry and carried on with it to eventually get a B in the A Level. However, this was at the detriment to my other subjects (predicted As and got Bs because I spent all my time on Chemistry).

If she's struggled with being taught AS Chemistry, there is no way she will be able to teach herself - plus she would need to do the practicals.

If she is not interested in uni, I would say restart sixth form at the beginning with less demanding subjects - there's no point putting yourself through chemistry and maths unless you really have to.

Agh it's done bold instead of showing the asterisks
Should say: A star at GCSE and predicted A star at a level