AIBU to think that DD should resit her A-Levels?

[SpoonFed16]

My DD has just turned 20. She finished school with relatively good GCSEs. She did her AS year (at a Sixth Form) but failed... They wouldn't let her stay on. During her time at Sixth Form, she was physically assaulted (twice) the police were involved and the Sixth Form ended up kicking the girl out. DD never properly healed, so her grandma offered to pay for her to do them via a distance learning college (instead of starting at a new college, due to anxiety) and she took the AS exams, then the A2. She came out of it with 3 Cs... She seems very happy with this. She is currently taking a gap year, while she works part-time and volunteers. She doesn't have enough UCAS points for any 'good' universities. However, our local one doesn't require many (she has enough) and is going to the Open Day in January - she is hoping to go there. However, I think she should go back to a college and retake a couple of the A-Levels, or maybe do a foundation degree at one of the better universities. I'm not wrong to think that's the best thing, am I?

With CCC at A Level, she has exactly the same number as Plymouth is asking for for their Marine Biology with a Foundation Year course www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/bsc-marine-biology-with-foundation-year If I remember rightly, Plymouth is very highly regarded for marine biology - and it has the distinct advantage of being right by the coast. I suspect that doing a foundation year at university will be a rather more palatable option for her than retaking A Levels - and if she still wants to do marine biology, rather than having genuinely changed her mind to wanting to do criminology for reasons that aren't grade related, then doing a foundation year would be the way forward.

However, once she has been given all of the relevant information, you need to step back and let her decide. She's an adult, and will be the one living with the consequences (good or bad!) of the decisions that are made now, not you. Allowing her to make an informed decision for herself will mean that she is most likely to make the right decision for herself (FWIW, I work in higher education, and have seen the outcome of parents have forcing / heavily encouraging their offspring down a path that they didn't want for themselves on numerous occasions. The results are rarely pretty).

C grade at A level isn't an amazing grade but it's not bad

Interestingly Maths, biology and phychology are all subjects where a lot of DC are predicted higher grades than they get. Apparently physics is the worst but maths, biology and physchology are in the top 5 A levels where DC get grades less than they were predicted]]

Sorry - not that useful for the OP, I just think it's interesting to understand the bigger picture before condemning students who don't get 'stellar' results. IYSWIM

Well done to your daughter. One of my nephews also got a C in A level maths..worked his butt off..private school...AND had 5 hours personal tutoring a week for the entire year. Shows she is resilient and capable of independent learning, unlike many kids these days. And I really don't think the uni matters in the end. My niece is in her last year at a top uni..and struggled to even get a student placement. Whereas my other nephew who went to a downgrade uni..is already very successful. It takes far more than a few good grades and a Russel group name tag to do well, and it sounds like your daughter can do well wherever she goes. Good luck

A Levels in those subjects have changed as others have said. She'd have to start from scratch next September, with a view to taking them in 2019 aged 23/24.... She'd have to to them at an evening class and pay. So in my opinion she should stick with what she's got.

If she would really prefer Marine Bio then yes a foundation year (not a foundation degree - they're something else), otherwise let her choose. She may also not have the confidence to leave home right now, hence wanting to apply somewhere local. Please bear that in mind.

YABU to think you know what's best for your adult daughter better than she does. She is your child but she is also a person with her own life to live and your role is to support her choices, not make them for her.

FWIW I think you are wrong anyway. I think the best thing she can do is go to uni (if she wants to), focus on getting a good degree and recovering her confidence. And she is 20. If she wants to do so ething different in the future the option will still be there.

I have no a-levels at all, but got into uni around the same age as you daughter and now have a master's. I did a level one OU course and found that universities I applied to were very positive about it. I would suggest she talks to the admissions at the uni and asks them what her best options are. It maybe an OU course would be quicker and easier then doing a-levels as she would have to start from scratch due to syllabus changes.

In the end she is 20 though and it is up to her what route she chooses.

No, of course it's not unreasonable to have an opinion, and yes better grades may serve her better in the future, but she's not unreasonable to make her own decisions and if this is what she wants to do then you should support her. There is no reason she can't come out with a great degree by just going to uni now, and I also think she deserves a lot of credit for what she's achieved so far.

I agree with others that it massively depends. Since you mentioned anxiety if this is an ongoing issue she could consider the open university to do her degree. I had a friend who had some anxiety issues and didn't want to leave home, she did her degree via the OU while working part time. She then went on to do her masters at Cambridge (and got a distinction so was obviously well prepared for the course).

Unless she's likely to get three As and massively change the type of institution she's looking at, retakes probably aren't worth it for a few grades' improvement. If she calls up during clearing next year, she can get into a better uni than she's likely to get an offer for with those grades, if that makes sense.