"Plan B" - resitting an AS level after year 2 of a levels

[ThisPerkySloth2]

hello

how do retakes of A levels work, does it cost money, does it take a full year or is there a retake in the autumn?

DD is taking AS level RE this year which is her second year of A levels (did sociology at AS level last year but got an E then swopped to RE this year).

how do universities view retakes? Or don't they care as long as eventually get the required grades.

thanks

How the retakes work depend a little on the school but what you’re describing isn’t really a retake, it’s just sitting her A Levels over three years. It will take the full year, because she still has a full year of study in her RE exam. You need to ask school what she’ll be doing with the rest of her timetable. It shouldn’t cost you anything.

Unis typically wouldn’t mind your scenario - the only issue would be with the most competitive unis for the most competitive courses e.g. medicine

Yes agree, what you are describing is not a retake. But is the student only studying one subject or are there two others in the mix that they started last year?

Universities typically look for full A levels rather than AS levels, so they would be best to do another year to continue with the full A level in RE. If that is the only A level course they are studying, is there a reason (such as SEN, ND)? What are they hoping to study at uni and where?

An access course might work for them as well.

@clary thanks for the reply. so DD is has been doing a level politics and english lang/lit over the two years so final exam soon. but she did sociology last year as an AS, didn't get a great grade and so swopped to RE this year as an AS. so if passes that would be two A levels and 2 AS Levels?

DD wants to go to Keele to do Politics and International Relations and would rather "repeat" / "retake" or whatever the appropriate action is to get the grades needed.

its very touch and go regards her getting decent grades (purely down to her focus) across the board except politics which is predicted a B - she loves politics and I am hoping she gets enough to go to uni and do what she loves as she is better academically at what she loves.

thanks for the info, we therefore need to have a more in-depth look into what the options are - once we know whats what after results day!

Has she already applied? It looks like Keele ask for 3 a levels so I’m assuming she’s taking a gap year? She should contact admissions to see if they will accept 3 A levels not sat at the same time, and if so organise taking another a level privately next year.

Otherwise it looks like they offer foundation degrees which would be an alternative path and they may accept her with 2 a levels 2 as levels.

She should contact admissions to explore her options and decide what to do from there. It may be that Keele, or university in general, is not the right choice for her.

@PinkFrogss hi thank you for that information, i feel extremely ignorant on all this, she has had an offer and i am only assuming it was based on the 2 A levels and 2 AS Levels but this all needs double checking. will look into the things you have raised!

I would prefer her to not have a gap year, a foundation year may be an option but she's down for 4 year course as it is.

thanks

She needs to check that offer asap. The typical offer they’ve listed on the website for her course is BBC (3 a levels). It’s possible they’ve offered outside of this but I’d be surprised if they’d take 2 alevels and 2 AS levels instead (especially with one at E). Although then again I can’t see why they’d have made an offer otherwise unless there was an error with her application.

Yes I agree with @PinkFrogss it seems unlikely that they have made her an offer on the basis of 2 x A levels and 2 x AS levels. Though if that's what she said she was doing then maybe it's correct. I would check asap.

What is the offer? It must specify grade X in Y A level - so does it say AS level?

Where abouts are you? AS levels are not taught in many schools now (Wales is an exception) so unis are more interested in A levels or full level 3 equivalents. Some prefer exams taken in one sitting.

You need her to log into her UCAS account and see what her offer specifies especially considering she dropped the AS because of the E grade. I know locally to me the sixth form has them do 4 A level subjects in year 12 and they carry on with 3 in year 13. One subject is only ever an AS. I think they believe it gives them an edge with the 3 1/2 A levels part. That is unusual though. Unis state 3 A levels grades or further down rankings they ask for points.

Looking at website typical A level offer for Keele PIR is BBC

@PinkFrogss , @clary, @MiffyMiffedOff and @LIZS thank you all for the replies

Yes as you've said the website says the 3 A levels requirement. so I rang the admissions office at Keele yesterday and they advised the first thing they look at is the A levels but then can look at UCAS points so she may still make it if collectively gets the points.

we are in the Midlands UK and the college definitely does ASs and i believe she discussed the subject change with her tutor. I am assuming (hopefully correctly) that the college advised her correctly when she discussed doing the RE AS level as they know she wants to go Uni.

Keele Admissions definitely did not indicate it was impossible if had a combination of A levels and AS levels. they also mentioned the option of a foundation year.

I will definitely take a look at the actual offer and see what it actually says.

thanks

This needs to be something your daughter does OP, she should be the one ringing admissions and checking her offer.

She can find the UCAS points calculator here: https://www.ucas.com/applying/you-apply/what-and-where-study/entry-requirements/calculate-your-ucas-tariff-points

I’m afraid the AS level at grade E won’t go very far. It’s worth 6 points while A level grade B is worth 40

I agree it is unusual for schools to offer AS levels, mostly bc they no longer lead anywhere or (as I thought) count towards a degree; but I guess if the uni will look at UCAS points then they will count.

But you can still take AS; I have assessed students in it in the last few years. Mostly HE tho or private candidates for other reasons.

@PinkFrogss probably but I was curious so I rang, Keele said clearly they do consider UCAS points after looking at the three a level grades, DD assures me she has discussed all with her tutor before changing ASs and she definitely has an offer. And her sixth form college definitely does ASs as DD is doing an AS.

guess all will become clear in august!!!!

Doesn’t your DD want to know now tho? Surely a call to admissions at Keele would resolve this? If the uni is happy to accept UCAS points then will she have enough with her PGs?

Waiting to August to find out is a recipe for disaster, what if she’s wrong and there’s been an error with her application?

She absolutely needs to check her offer, so she has time to plan her next steps.

If it’s touch and go if she’ll get decent grades apart from politics at a B I don’t understand how she will have enough UCAS points between her other a level and AS level to make up the difference in points, unless they’ve way under offered from the entry requirements on their website.

BBC is 112 points. She has 6 points so needs another 106. A B in politics A level would give her another 40 points, so that’s still 66 points needed. A C in her second A level (which you’re expecting to be lower than the B in politics) would be 32 points. She cannot make up the remaining points with an AS level as even an A doesn’t get enough points.

What is her insurance offer?

Our school offers AS entry for students who are at risk of not achieving the full A Level - this is still fairly common. Many unis accept UCAS points and it would be a good idea for her to look for a few more unis she might be interested in and their entry requirements in case she needs to go through clearing. Has she got any ucas points from anything else eg EPQ or Core Maths, as this may be counted?

thank you @petproject , @PinkFrogss and @clary for all those very valid points albeit my post was about A level retakes.

We will in due course deal with any potential erroneous offers - albeit offers have been made to DD - unless of course DD / College lied or Keele and the second choice uni are incapable of following their own rules!

Again - DD has an offer from Keele. They even let her apply for accommodation. She had an invitation for a more focused course based visit to the Uni.

As I said we will see what happens come results day. I'm off to learn about the clearing process to see for myself whats what.

Cheers

What are the conditions of her offer from Keele?

There are a couple of issues here, the uni application and the retakes. I’d be amazed if her college would let her resit year 13, though she could take the a2 exam next summer-without tuition. However, she could take the full eleven as a private candidate and self study. I’d also be amazed if keele offered on 2 a levels and 2 as. I think you need to see the offer in black and white.

I don't think the Op wants to tell us what the DD's Keele offer is and tbf that's her choice for sure.

I still don't understand how this is a query about retakes rather than about how ASs add up to a uni offer but anyway. The OP has had some great advice here about what her DD should do so hopefully she will look at that. Best of luck to her.