A Level resits in one year - London

[Fridayschild]

DS2 got A level grades (CCD) in 2023 lower than forecast (BBC) - he has dyslexia and dyspraxia but also should have worked harder I think. He got into uni on clearing, said he was pleased with it but has failed 5/8 modules in the first year and turns out to have struggled with the course, living on his own etc. Again, it would be fair to say he could have helped himself/made better use of the support services at uni a bit more than he did but we are where we are.
He says he’d rather retake his A levels to boost the grades and go to a better uni, than go back and repeat his 5 modules next year. Has anyone got any experience of the London colleges which teach one year A level courses?

More urgently, I would suggest that he contacts the universities he thinks would be 'better' than the one he is at, to ask how they would regard an application withe such an educational history detailed in it. It won't just be a case of making an application with just the new A level predictions / achieved grades mentioned. He will need to state his whole history.

Why does he think that his situation will be improved by his intended course of action? Does he think that being forced to 'cram' a two year course-worth of work into one year will teach him better study skills for university? Failing more than half of one's first year modules at one university really doesn't bode well for passing everything at another one requiring higher grades for entry in the first place.

An oft-repeated (on Mumsnet, anyway) criticism of 'inferior' universities often having higher student satisfaction scores than 'better' ones is that of course weaker students are less happy at the latter, because they dont get the level of hand-holding that students do at the former. Not something i necessarily go with personality, but a bit of a bummer for your DS if his plan works and it turns out to be true.

Thanks for your very valid comments - appreciated. An extra two years of maturity might well make quite a lot of difference to him personally and the “better” university would still not, IMO, be one so prestigious that the resits would show anything other than resilience and determination to pursue this course of study. Better, for DS2, might well mean somewhere a bit closer to home.
The uni he went to has offered support and continue to do so. I don’t fault them at all.

@MarchingFrogs these comments were helpful to DS2 as well. Thank you again

Absolutely no point retaking A levels at this stage

Look into transferring to a different uni

He might feel better retaking his modules because at least it will all be familiar to him and current uni know what support is required