DS struggling with 1 A Level

[UserAtLargeAgain]

Year 13 DS is really struggling (as in, got U on Year 12 exams, not seeming to have made much progress despite revision and tutoring over the summer).

I'm wondering if he might be better to drop it, but that will only leave him with 2 A Levels and I'm not sure if that is allowed? Or useful for future opportunities?

Can anyone advise on what his options might be?

If it helps my youngest son got A* at GCSE Maths but an E at AS level. He was shocked. We got him
A tutor over summer break for 8 hours a week and he focused well and he sat the first 2 modules again at same the as Year 13 exams. Then he got an A and a B for first 2 modules but you guessed it got a D and U for units 3 and 4. He ended up back with tutor over summer again the sat in January and ended up with a Math A level grade B overall. It took a lot of effort but he said he learned more in 8 hours a week with tutor than over 6 week summer break than 8 hours a week with teacher 36 weeks. In extra year he worked in supermarket part time to save for uni. He did not struggle at uni which was our big concern. It does not harm people to take an additional year as studying and we thought son matured in extra year too.

digital.ucas.com/coursedisplay/results/providers?searchTerm=Computer%20science%20foundation%20year&destination=Undergraduate&distanceFromPostcode=&studyYear=2022&sort=MostRelevant

I would second the diploma (3 A level equivalent) suggested by a pp.
Foundation courses can be really hard to get into if you've done the 'right' subjects but didn't get the grades - they would be more likely geared to someone who did arts/humanities A levels and now want to do computing. Or a mature student who didn't do A levels at all.

@UserAtLargeAgain His paper is mostly blank. He said he looked at the questions and didn't have a clue what to do

The way Ds was taught was that if they didn't get the question correct they had the mark scheme open so they could see the step by step process as to what they needed to do. Once they worked through that then it can just be a case of practising that particular method on other examples until it sticks. There are many websites that offer examples broken down into each category like www.physicsandmathstutor.com/maths-revision/solutionbanks/ and on the same site www.physicsandmathstutor.com/maths-revision/a-level-edexcel/ which is the how to do section.

@Lovemusic33 the above website may help your DD with maths. Ds said lots of his classmates found this a really good site. There are also lots of YouTube videos explaining concepts etc that show how to do it. Once you know how to do it it can just be a case of practising it so when it comes up she will know how to tackle it.

Ds did peer teaching and found that lower than hoped for grades knocked the confidence of very able maths students. Maths is a hard A level so to come out with a C grade is really something. She needs to identify what she needs to work on. Every paper starts off with zero marks, you gain marks, never lose them. Resit the paper she got the C on at home, literally one question at a time with the mark scheme open.

My son got an A * at GCSE Maths years before Covid and still struggled at A level Maths. He had 2 hours tutoring every week and during half term he had 3 hours tutoring each day from Monday to Friday. He found the topic they did at school hard and could not get his head around it. In the end my DH day him down and worked through the mechanics topic which he did get and could do. They did not do Mechanics at school. He got an E at AS level which came as a huge shock to him because he had not had to work too hard at Maths before that. In Year 11 he resat core 1, core 2 and stats as well as his Year 13 topics. In the end he got a B. Without Mechanics it would have been a C. Your son will have missed much Maths learning because of Covid. Last year teachers gave assessment grades. As you know grade inflation went through the roof as teachers were generous. In 2 years time when he sits A level it is unlikely there will be teachers assessment again. If he is struggling this early into his course then he needs to swap quickly. Can he pick up a BTech? If so there is a large coursework component that he can do and keep on top of every week. That way he could focus all his energy on other 2 A levels at exam time. Universities accept 2 X A level + 1 BTEC. My dd did this and went on to get a First in Business Administration.