Dd has failed one of her AS level's.

[Bakewellheart]

Hi, my Dd has just rang to say she has passed two of her as levels but she is really disappointed with an E in Sociology.
Luckily, her tutor has said she will be allowed to continue on to next years Sociology course still, which is good news.
I'm just concerned as to whether she'll be able to bring her grade up to a pass next year, especially as I presume the work will be much more difficult.
I'm extremely proud of all the work she's already put in to her studies but would welcome advice as to whether my Dd should choose a different course?

An E is a pass, albeit the lowest. A change at end of Y12 would be very problematic.

Which board is this with? Edexcel make exam papers available for the school to view online, but I think all the boards allow a copy of the paper to be obtained? Might help to go over exactly where she fell down this time and hence what she really needs to work on for the A level.

Is this an unreformed A level? In which case is she allowed to retake some/all of this year's papers?

Or a reformed A level? In which case this year's stuff 'won't count'.

My suggestion is also to get hold of copies of the papers and to really understand what has gone wrong and how to do things differently. Is she takes the same approach next year she is likely to get the same results.

Sorry for replying late, realised after that E is a pass, and with extra hard work I think dd will be able to get a grade she's happy with.
The exam board is AQA so will try and.find out what dd needs to focus on more.
Also, I don't think her grades contribute to next years results.

If the other two A levels are good we would usually recommend that the student continue with the ALevel with the subject teachers recommendation. The reason being is that AS levels are no longer worth half an A level so if the student where to ‘cash the AS and pick up anotherAS (effectivelybtheir 4th choice subject) they would have to do much better in the second AS than they would if they had taken the original subject through to an A2 level.
Many Y12’s do much worse than they expected in their AS levels and (in bright students) it usually works as a wake up call that they can’t drift through A Levels like perhaps they did at GCSE level. They knuckle down and bring their grade up. You know your child OP are they the child who just hasn’t worked hard enough or have they tried hard and are going to struggle next year. Sorry if my writing is a bit muddled I’m feeding the baby

Just seen that you’ve said that her results don’t count for next year which means she’s on the new Alevels - was her whole class entered for AS levels? Lots of schools on the new A levels still enter some students for AS levels because they suspect that the student will not continue through to the next year (usually because of ability)

It depends on what she wants to do.

Does she need a good grade for a specific uni or carreer?

I failed my a levels due to reasons beyond my control at the time and although it would have been awful if it stopped me from doing the degree I wanted it hasn't atopped me from getting an amazing career that's well paid, secure and enjoyable.

It's not all doom

georgie

Dd got a B in Media studies and C in history also.
Tbh, dd would be the first to admit that, although she did put a fair bit of revision in (around 2 hours per day), she really only did this for about two months before her exams.
I agree with you that she's had a bit of a wake up call, and she's said she realises that she needs to be revising as she goes along.
I do believe the College entered every one into the same exam, can't ask dd as she's out.

spring machine

She's not really sure exactly what she wants to do at the moment.

She’s got strong results in her other two subjects well done to her - my gut going on experience is that she will be fine if she knuckles down and does treat this as a serious wake up call that you can’t cruise through A Levels like you might have been able to cruise through GCSE’s - we’ll done to her and good luck for the future (she’ll be fine)

I think she did cruise quite easily through her GCSE'S and its dawned on her that A levels are so much more difficult, so more effort required on the revision front.
I'm sure she'll be fine too, thanks georgie

I hate to break it to her (and you) but 2 hours a day is not a fiar bit of revision. The kids I know all put in 7-8 hours a day in the run up to exams.

If she really was doing that little work then just by putting in the hours should help to raise her grades.

"The kids I know all put in 7-8 hours a day in the run up to exams."

I don't think DD did that much because she has problems with fatigue. I think her revision averaged at about 4 - 5 hours a day. She ended up with AAA, so I can't complain.

That's great Lonicera especially if she suffers from fatigue. I assume the school knew and she was entitled to rest breaks. It can be so debilitating.

bakewell

Ds1 got an E in one of his AS levels (two actually but he dropped one like a shitty stick) and a D and C in the other two

He was allowed to continue with his E and he eventually got an A

So if she really puts some effort in she could still get a good grade

Good luck to her

lonicera

That's fantastic

Dd has chronic fatigue and she was only managing an hour or two of revision a day for her GCSE

What adjustments can be made for children with chronic fatigue? It strikes me as massively unfair.

Not just unfair in the revision build up - throughout the course. It affects everything.

DS was doing 12-14 hour days in the 6-week period up to his exams. He was being a bit irrational I think but he really wanted to do as well as he could do.

thesea

None for the exams in dds case...she got rest breaks but she couldn't take them as she was too tired

I did ask the invigilators to nudge her if she fell asleep

We did ask for special consideration when marking but as far as i know that only comes in to force if they do badly compared to their predicted grades...i could be wrong on that one though

We did ask for special consideration when marking but as far as i know that only comes in to force if they do badly compared to their predicted grades...i could be wrong on that one though

I assume you mean that the Exams Officer applied to the exam boards?

The JCQ rules with regard to Special consideration are
www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/access-arrangements-and-special-consideration/regulations-and-guidance/a-guide-to-the-special-consideration-process-2017-2018

I don't think that the exam boards know what a candidate's predicted grades are. As far as I can see from the JCQ document, if the reason for the request meets the criteria, an additional percentages added to the marks according to the 'tariff' given

are. As far as I can see from the JCQ document, if the reason for the request meets the criteria, an additional percentages added to the marks according to the 'tariff' given

Thanks for posting that...i have seen the document before but i dont think it shows the tariffs

Ive skim read it again and I can't see it

Its probably better that i dont know to be honest

She did well and i dont want to take that away

(But goodness im curious...and it would probably make ds1 feel better )

This is interesting

Sorry OP ive derailed accidentally

I hadnt realised that i wasnt on the gcse board any more

Apologies

Chapter 3, page 6. And yes, 5% is the maximum.

Yeah found it now marching

Thanks for your help