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.

And sorry, I see he is putting the effort in - my apologies for assuming.

DH got C,D,E in 2002. He now works in Nuclear power as a engineer.

Results don’t mean a huge amount.

Me. I screwed up my A levels and just scraped in to my "reserve" poly (as it was then). Having to tell my parents who'd sacrificed an awful lot to send me to private school was a massive wake up call. My failure was down to complacency (I was very academically able but lazy) and discovering boys...

I ended up with a first, then did an MA and then a PhD. Then I went to law school and became a barrister. There is definitely a life after bad A levels!

@Onceuponatime21 it was oddly a careers advisor whom the university sent me to see when they were planning to kick me out... They wanted me to think about what I was going to do that didn't require a degree.... He was fab, asked me about my interests outside of studying and what had drawn me to the subject...put the two together and suggested I might want to look into making natural history films! It was a lightbulb moment, it felt like a total fit. I researched it, found that I stood a significantly better chance of getting into the field with a degree and that spurred me on (plus explaining to ever patient patents would have been hard) Went to the board of studies and begged and pleaded then did 18 months catching up before finals....

I failed all mine. Did various jobs for a few years then went and did a degree in my late 20s. I worked in my profession for 12 years and am now a lecturer completing my MSc as a second career academic.

I tanked my leaving cert (equivalent to a levels). Looking back, I was a bright kid who had a fear of failure and who didn't really get that it's not about natural giftedness at stuff for most people, it's about familiarity and repetition. Also I was pretty lazy / last minute by nature.

I repeated my exams the following year, did well, went off to uni where I came out with a first, having learned by then how I worked best. I've got a good job now, all is well.

He'll need to repeat his exams, but he has every chance of being completely fine.

Please don't despair (easier said than done), my DH was crap at exams- bright, but his brain is wired in a much less conventional way... V. Creative- he now has a very successful media company, and me- at the age of 40, have in the last few months secured the job of my dreams... long road, but worth hanging in there... I guess just let him know that you will always be his biggest fan. That's what my parents did and then my husband, and it payed off...

@hettie oh that's fab... how awesome for him to have been your lightbulb !!

I hated school. Sat my GCSEs despite not attending for most of the year, and got all A*/A. I left without A Levels because I was convinced it was education I hated, not just my school. I'd probably have done fairly well at an FE college where I was treated like an adult at that point, but it wasn't an option for me.

I worked a few low-paid jobs, did volunteer work abroad, and eventually settled into working with children with SEN, which I was passionate about.

I started a degree at almost 30, got a high first and am on track for a distinction in my MA. School doesn't suit everyone. A Levels certainly don't. It's not the end of the world.

Nephew 3 flunked A levels. Left doing Saturday shop job full time. Had inspirational moment and decided to train as a plumber at college. Got an apprenticeship in a medium sized building firm, learned loads on the job. Has also done electrical qualifications at college (firm gave day release).

Did all hours overtime as much as he could, saved saved saved. 5 years later, having saved enough to pay his way for a few months and buy a van & some more equipment and is just setting up on his own as a handyman/plumber/electrician. Target market the grey £ as lives on the south coast, plenty of retirees who recommend to friends.
Is only 3 months in and has a pretty much 6 or 7 dayfull working weeks planned for a couple of months ahead with jobs like replacing baths with walk in shower etc (he can do tiling too). Has not advertised once, it's all word of mouth. It helps he is such a likeable well spoken chap.
He's also upgraded a flat he bought as a do-er upper via a 2 bed terrace to a very nice 1930s style semi all as do-er uppers, I think no mortgage or very minimal mortgage. So is doing FAR better than his friends who went to Uni and are still in first jobs afterwards and not home owners. Plans to expand as a franchise or take on an apprentice perhaps. Parents were intially disappointed as they thought he'd be an engineer but they can't really say anything now!

My partner slept through one of his A level exams and ended up with just 2 A levels. He still went to his uni of choice but on a course with lower entry requirements. Got a First, stayed for a Masters and a got a distinction. Several years later he’s about to start a PhD.

My brother failed his A levels, went to do a BTEC instead and has recently graduated from uni with a First.

My bf.
She wept the day she got her A Levels
Went to a totally different university (then a poly) to do a slightly different course at which she excelled.
She has a PhD and has had a fantastic career.

If he's keen on his original subject, or something allied, and would hate to resit, then get him to look at universities that have Foundation Years. He could specialise sooner than by staying in 6th form/college, and where I teach, our FY students tend to do very well as they have had an extra year to adjust to the university environment by the time they do their finals.

The downside is of course the cost...

I did (really) badly at Alevels!!! Got into a lovely, but not 'Russell group' uni by clearing. 20 years on and I'm in an academic job, have a degree, masters, PhD, several qualifications in between and a long publishing record!

I still have dreams though, about re-taking my A-levels (yes, really!) and passing them all with A's!!! Maybe I will one day! ;)

I completely screwed up my a levels (got 2 cs and a d, never did my coursework for my 4th one so got an E that I never cashed in despite getting an A in the exams). Went to an ex poly. Then quit because I was homesick. Then went on a merchant navy officer course (still kind of regret quitting that) but quit when I got a bit overwhelmed my first time at sea. Then went back to the uni in my home town as a mature student - purely on blagging in an interview. Then switched courses and finally stuck with something long enough to get a degree.

I was perfectly capable of getting jobs and things when I tried (SAHM now and much happier lol. Yeah work ethic isn’t my strong point...).

University isn't the be all and end all. I got a 'D' in English, 'E' in History and 'U' in Sociology, so I failed miserably. Ended up going to university still through clearing - English Language at Portsmouth Uni. Hated every minute of it, didn't know what on earth I really wanted to do. Parents worried I would be a bum for the rest of my life. I did have a few years where I worked in different jobs - retail, care work, barmaid, waitress etc. Still life experiences, still making money and contributing just searching for myself really. Wasn't until I was 22 I got working in the NHS as a healthcare assistant, took all the training opportunities given and I'm now a manager of an administrative team, working towards become a HR advisor. Okay not the the most amazing job in the world but I earn a lot more than some of my university buddies and even my husband that has a degree. I think experience counts for a lot more these days. Best of luck to him!

I royally ballsed my A levels up (actually dropped out and never took the exams). Then as a mature student did an access course, got a distinction and a scholarship to a top 5 uni, and graduated with a first.

I now do some A level tutoring and I’ve got to say I’m really shocked at how bloody hard A levels are (never turned up to college regularly enough to fully appreciate this in my yoof). Compared to an access course or degree (where at least some of the assessments are essays, and exams are taken after each unit), there’s a bloody lot of stuff to have to remember over a long time! I really don’t think I’d do very well if I had to sit A levels as my brain just doesn’t work like that. Might be the same for your ds?

I failed my A levels. I needed a B in chemistry to get onto my science course, I got a U.
When I phoned my first choice Uni on results day, they offered me a place on their Foundation course.
I took it. I passed the foundation year. Moved up to my chosen degree course. Got my BSc 3 years later. I then went on to get an MSc, with distinction, from a top 3 Uni in the country. And have since studied some more.
I now have a silly number of letters after my name!
Failed A levels are not the end of anything, they are something or nothing, it doesn't matter, you just need to keep moving forwards and upwards.

My OH got a D, E and a U at A level. Went to Uni through clearing and did a degree with a year in industry. Got a 2:1 and a job with the company he did his year out with. Worked his way up through various jobs and now has a job he enjoys, earns a ton, travels lots but can also work pretty flexibly. It needn’t be the end of the world.

ZOMBIE THREAD!

Don't panic - I left school with hardly any O levels and didn't do any A levels (in the 80's). When I was 28 I went to college in the evening, did computer programming then decided to do a degree in it. I took a Foundation year in electronic engineering at uni then went on to do a degree in Computer Science and got a first. I've since done an MSc and MBA and earn 6 figs.

Suggestions that may help:
Look at degrees in biochemistry that have foundation years at the same uni, then if he does get the right grades it's easier to get on the degree course, if not he does a foundation year first. See here tinyurl.com/y6hbr6bn

Has he got the right A level books to work from/revise from (subject, level, exam board and up to date)
Has he got access to past papers to do the questions/get answers from?
Have you considered a private tutor to help him?
Does he know how to revise? Which is a skill in itself.
Is the problem he gets distracted? (e.g. gaming) or does he struggle with the content or just look at the books and not work, or doesn't have study skills yet - that should help solve the problem if it can be identified.