To despair? Please tell me positive stories of your DC whose A levels went horribly wrong.

[MargoLovebutter]

DS is going to tank his A levels. I’m not exaggerating or hedging my bets or anything like that. He is going to do really badly.

I’m struggling to understand how a boy who is academically able and hasn’t gone off the rails is going to do this badly but that’s another topic.

He needs 3 Bs for his uni course (biochemistry) and realisticly, he is looking at 1 B if he is lucky in music and there is a strong possibility that he won’t scrape Ds in two of his subjects: biology and chemistry! He is getting Es in all the practice papers and the teachers assure me they aren’t marking harshly.

He is despondent and I’m worrying myself into a small hole.

Please can I have some stories about DC who turned around from doing much worse than they were expected to.

Yes...my daughter. She didnt get the best grades so went to college and did the NC route then the HNC. Got the grades to go to Uni and is now a nurse. Best thing that happened cos she grew up!

Here to offer hope. Tanked mine due to illness (2 x E). went to Uni - got a 2.1 love abroad am now working for an international organisation and am on a very good salary.

I mention this because when I went to uni with middling grades I still struggled to understand what was expected of me, and this issue can go on dogging you if no-one ever explains what it is that specifically is required. A bit like someone telling you to tidy up but not showing you what the individual parts of tidying consist of. That is sort of how it felt to me, and I see that ds1 is the same. The most important thing as other posters have rightly said is to see this as an opportunity not a failure or a limitation of his prospects, but chance to learn how he wants to do things differently if at all.

I got a D and 2 Es at A level. Went on to do an HND and got a great job with a huge firm that normally only accepted degrees. Was there for 17 years on a very good salary before deciding to re-train.

I'll tell you mine. Refused to do sixth form. My Dad gave me £500 and told me to get out of the house and come back "when I'd come to my senses". Used the money to rent a room and set up a business. Sold business in early 90s and invested in property. Never needed a bloody A level or a degree. It's not everything in life.

Margo ds has been accepted to do Music with only Grade 7 in one instrument, taking grade 8 in a few weeks, grade 5 in another. Music A level is quite prestigious in its own right, cos there is the assumption of quite a lot of music theory/technically difficult stuff to get through it. He is doing a Music BA at a redbrick with 104 points, which is qutie easily gained with 3 a levels and a grade 8 in tariff points.

I tanked my GCSE’s and A Levels. Didn’t go a second of revision for any of them, I just wasn’t interested.

But I took a bit of time away from education, working and saving, then through clearing I got onto a course and got a 2:1 then did a MA.

I have a pretty good job now and feel it all turned out well in the end.

Me. 12 gcses all A to B. 3 D's at A level.
I worked for a couple years, went back to college in the evenings, got an A in AS level psychology. That was enough for a place studying psych at uni. Dropped out after 2nd year as i had my DD1. Finished at OU with a 2:1.
Now run my own successful business with 3 dcs.

I detested biology A level and got a D. After a few twists I ended up doing biomedical sciences. Best thing I never did. I learned I loved human biology.

Dd didn't do as well as she could have done in gcses and A levels. She was bullied and suffering from depression and anxiety. She also has Aspergers.

After her A levels she decided to do a more practical course at college and she's done really well. She's just completed her degree and has a job to go to in a related field.

Left school in year 12 because I hated it - got an office job and studied my professional qualification whilst working instead. Now I’m more employable than people with university qualifications (in my field at least!)

Worst case scenario he can re take a levels or do an access course at uni for the first year before starting his actual degree

Ds tanked his January AS exams in year 12, narrowly avoiding a fail in two. I wasn't surprised at all. He picked himself up, worked his butt off and improved his grades for resits in the June. A2s were OK. He got into his university of choice, and emerged from his BA with a First and the prize for the dissertation with the highest mark in his subject.

Currently doing his final project for his MA, and having the collywobbles, but he will get there.

Mine flunked a levels. Just finished a 2 year BTEC- 5 unconditional offers and 3 distinction with 2 starred . Could have gone to uni after 1st year as he scored so highly in 1st part of BTEC but stayed on to do the 2nd year.

My DS2 had 10 A* and A at gcse. Got terrible AS levels, repeated y12 at an independent school which dragged his AS grades up. His A level subjects were physics, biology and economics. He then still got terrible A levels C, D, D, but an A in general studies. He also has grade 8 in two instruments. I think the general studies plus music just about carried him on to his course which is very vocational - operating department practice - he was miles below the offer. He’s much happier now he is doing something more practical, is at the end of second year and currently on track for a first. Earning potential wise there are post graduate qualifications I hope might put him on track for a bit more of a reasonable salary. I’d definitely recommend at least looking at degrees related to specific NHS careers for a struggling biochemist who might want something a little less academically focussed.

I didn't flunk, but I my offer for my dream course was AAA. Insurance in a different subject was AAB. Opened my results envelope to find BBB sitting in there. Not a flunk, but too poor for me to get into what I wanted, too poor for me to be able to resit and get onto the course I wanted, and I was a bloody mess.

I phoned and begged my insurance, they let me in anyway (as well as a couple of other unis through clearing since I wasn't accepted at that point). I went and did my insurance course, got a 2i, and they were wonderful and really coached me on how to get into the job I really really wanted from the start. I got into a graduate course for what I wanted to do with no trouble at all, and won prizes for being at the top of my graduating year.

Let him to take a year to resit his A levels if he needs. Taking the pressure off for a bit and giving a bit more time to help things stick can work wonders. An extra year or two will make zero difference in the terms of a 40 year plus career and it'll potentially help him figure out what he'd actually like to do. He can use the time to work and get some money ready for a car or a holiday and get those grades he needs.

Wish I could add something positive but it's a different world we live in than 20 years ago. Can't just 'work your way up' and there's endless competition. See if he can retake the year. Biochemistry is not a walk in the park, so maybe rethink that choice if he's getting Es.

Many years ago now but I did get 3 Ds at ALevel (after 13 o'levels - yes it was that long ago). I took a year out but couldn't fa be redoing the exams (I probably should have though!).

I applied through clearing the next year and got a place to do computer science at a polytechnic. I hated it so 10 days into the term, I called a couple of university admissions offices. Kings College London told me they had places left on their Chemistry course. I met with the admissions tutor the next day as students were enroling that week. I ended up enrolling and for a 2:1

Apologies OP if this has already been said, but you should both remember that the university sector is a branch of industry like any other and they need to make money. They want to fill their courses. He might not get into his first choice but the institutions further down his list might well be interested.

That's what happened to my DD now 19. She knew she'd bombed one entire paper in Economics and ended up with a D. Her 5th choice uni contacted her because she'd shown an interest (although we hadn't visited because it's the other end of the country) She visited in late August; started in September and has just finished her first year having enjoyed it socially and work-wise. She told me the other day first year was easier than Y13!

All is definitely not lost..in their working lives a hiccup at 18 is nothing at all!

@moira123io You can most definitely work your way up - there’s always been lots of competition. OP wanted positive remarks, not false information!

@LookAtThatCritter in what field? retail? You can't walk into a lab and "work your way up" with straight Es against someone that got As and was actually accepted into the degree program. Planet dillusional.

@moira123io not delusional in the slightest I have already given suggestions for the DC about the education. You may need education to start in certain fields but you can work your way up pretty much everywhere. Maybe you just haven’t been able to!

@LookAtThatCritter I'll be sure to tell my husband, a chemical engineer, that he could have just 'worked his way up' insteading of studying. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers.. they all have news coming! To think all that money wasted.. we could have brought out fourth investment property much sooner

@moira123io and i’ll be sure to tell my husband who started his business from nothing with no education past GCSE’s that he should have gone to university instead to have bought our numerous investment properties... Now are you finished behaving like a 6 year old or are you going to grow up?

@LookAtThatCritter Tut tut. Name calling is very unbecoming. Let's hope all E-grade students have the dedication, ambition and 'luck' to start a successful business. Must be much easier than passing GCSEs! Who needs doctors anyway? Teachers and accountants are so overated, aren't they?