Refused option to redo Year 12

[Kismet2010]

I have a 17 year old daughter who has been told today at 11am that she will not be allowed to redo AS level in Biology and Chemistry (starting Monday) as she got Grade U in her exams. She was devistated and we now have to find alternatives by Monday. She has always wanted to work with animals and needs biology and chemistry to do her university course. We had visits planned to universities and the next two years mapped out. We now have to visit the only college that is still enrolling tomorrow, who may let her do biology and chemistry, but she was hoping to continue to A2 in English and Economics. Do we stay on and do English and Economics and do chemistry and biology next year at college, or do we move to college now and start all A level courses again? No time to think. Any advice would be most welcome.

PixieOnaLeaf If DD2 is an exeception then so is DD1 and my nephew. DD1 got C's in 2 of her As's but then when she did A2's she got an A and my nephew got a B for his music Tech at As but has got an A star in his A2.
It's normal to drop a grade from GCSE to As but not from AS to A2

"If this also fails, she will do law."

I'm glad your DD is sorted out but I would strongly (and I mean VERY strongly) advise her and you to do some research before you make any more mistakes.

So, I'd strongly (again) advise you to look at what the entrance requirements are for law. Because those grades sound way off the mark to me.

''If this also fails, she will do law.''

Yeah cos thatd be the easy option???

What makes you or her think shes capable of that when shes getting U grades FGS

My ds has worked damn hard for the last year despite facing lots of hurdles- hes studied bloody hard and got 1 A and 3Bs on his As levels - so dont think thats the easy option.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I tried to be sympathetic and nice.

Law is a complete non starter for anyone having to retake to be honest.. it is extremely competitive and most (if not all) will have straight A or A* at A level!!

If A levels are going to be difficult for your DD (and with two Us, they obviously are) could she not go down the more vocational route.. get work experience in a vets, apply for vet nurse positions and go down that route? Uni isn't for anyone, and if she has failed to pass AS levels in 6th form where there is teacher support, she could well find it even harder in Uni where independent study is essential.

I'm sorry that sounds really negative..but having lived the system myself, working in it, and having just spent the summer fraught with worry over my own DD's A levels I know that the competition for University places is incredible now (my DD is going to read medicine, but she has insurance offers for biomedical science and they still wanted AAB) and the reality is that students have to work damned hard and get results...

As others have said, all your daughter's various degree plans sound unrealistic for anyone with AS grades as low as hers.

Does she have a personal tutor or the like, to give her some advice?

Woah! Nickschic! I am looking for friendly advice, not abuse!

Thank you everyone else for your practical and more friendly advice.

Without writing a long history which everyone would give up reading, my DD got 10 GCSE, none below a B and many A* including her sciences. She has simply found the transition to A Levels very difficult and has faced many 'hurdles' and wants a second chance, as she is capable of getting the grades. She knows the law degree is still out of reach, but I did not say specifically what she wanted to do in the law.

Anyway she has begged and pleeded and it looks like her teachers are willing to give her a second chance, even if Nickschic is not.

"hes doing history,law english language and psychology.

He wants to study law and is going to drop psychology."

You do know, don't you, that many law departments don't regard A Level terribly highly, seeing it at best as "just another A Level". Cambridge, Salford and Bristol are fairly explicit about it]], but it's reputed to be a wider-spread view. So if he wants to do Law A Level and will get a better grade than in something else, do it (although it's claimed that some institutions see it as a negative to do A Level Law at all, I don't think there's any real evidence that's true), but it's not like A Level Chemistry for people wanting to do Chemistry.

I understand where you're coming from, even if other members do not.

I'm assuming that by "falling back on law" you mean ANY law course, you all have to remind yourselves that there are various law degrees you can do an no you do not need 4 A*'s and to have no social life. I know many people who simply did college courses and are on business law courses so the world is not so morbid for your daughter.

Additionally, and I'll be encouraging, at least she's giving it a shot and a second chance, and assuming she's had the worst shock of her life she'll give it all she's got this time around. You've said she isn't going to college, which is obviously a good move. We must all remember that in order to get on AS courses they look at your GCSE Grades not anything else, which clearly your daughter did well in.

Although doing both sciences isn't the best idea, at least doing one and getting the minimum entry requirements for the course at least is a good idea, whether you do this via a home study course or not. Just ensure your daughter puts the work in and I don't see why you shouldn't believe in her.

Additionally I think Nickschic you're being out of order almost insulting Kismet and her daughter, who clearly has some ability. I know as well as anyone, being a sixth form student, that at times like these we need encouragement not whatever you're offering.

Your daughter should look at the partners scheme also, as this can help with entry requirements and gave me a load of hope when I was feeling down about my A-levels.

To clear up other mishaps, its unlikely to excel AS grades in A2 when you're doing core subjects, although its more likely with subjects such as Media, Applied subjects (science, ICT, business etc) and other non-core subjects. Common knowledge in my sixth form is to drop one grade or equal it if you work the same as you did the previous year. After all, how can it be logical for you to exceed grades when the modules are harder and higher demand as well as under increased pressure by parents expectations and uni conditional offers.

Additionally, uni's are as much looking for well-rounded people as they are top students. I know a few people who devote their lives to their A-levels but on asking what other things they do they cannot answer. Uni's are not just looking for A's in everything if the person can only comment on being in chess club in middle school for example. They are far more likely to take a B grade student on many courses if they can say they've been a member of the student council, play a sport to regional level, as well as being part of a school magazine etc. Often people who devote their lives to study cannot excel when they get sent off to uni where they have to do things for themselves and mix with people they don't usually mix with. So everyone with children applying to uni should bear this in mind. :)

No I found Kismets comments on 'falling back on law' quite insulting.

I was initially very sympathetic but having seen how hard my ds and his fellow students worked to get their results and knowing how hard it is to get uni places etc etc I think Kismets expectations are unrealistic.

Tokyonambu - Having already heard this,We were fortunate enough to speak with the senior law tutor at the uni he wants to go to and she saw no problems at all with him studying A level law and actually said with the results hes expected to get (based on these As results and gcse) that hes a v good chance of being accepted.
He has a lot of commitments beyond study and was lucky enough to work for a solicitor over the summer who actually said to him if he wanted to get his A levels he could then go and work alongside him for a while and either go to uni or Im sure he mentioned training on the job??

This thread seems to me to be all about unrealistic expectations set up by GCSEs being too easy.

I hear what you are saying about finding the transition between GCSE and AS levels hard, and it is hard, but able students cope with that. Unless there are substantial issues you haven't told us about (bereavement, bankruptcy, illness) then your facts seem to demonstrate that there is a clear issue of the pupil not having the ability to obtain the academic goals she is interested in pursuing.

And if I'm right about the ability thing, unless those expectations (yours and hers) are adjusted, you're setting her up for a whole new raft of disappointments in a year's time.

By the way, those grades are not going to enable her to study for a law degree. I have no idea what aspect of law you were considering, but the intake for paralegal work is now largely provided by highly qualified graduates who are unable to get training contracts. That's how competitive it is. So I'm presuming you're thinking about legal executive or legal secretary.

Please do the research for her further career aspirations and do the research in the light of the grades she is genuinely likely to obtain. So if she got a C and an E at AS she is realistically looking at not much more than a B and a D at A2. And she needs to do an A level from scratch in another subject, but looking at the B and D, it's not likely to be any higher.

I'd also look at getting some private tutoring for her, to help her over the hurdle.

To clear up the law side of things, both myself and DH have worked in the law for 22 years and therefore have easy access to advice, work experience and training. DD together with her colleagues won the finals of the Mock Trials in Edinburgh earlier this year, to show a more 'rounded' student as suggest by letitbe123.

I have since moved into education and now have access to tutors, upto date course materials and advice. Two days spent with a maths tutor got a GCSE D to a B. We will obviously make use of all the kind offers we have had of assistance over the coming year.

My only regret is that we did not obtain this assistance last year, as we thought DD was coping, but anyone having tried talking to a teenager will know how hard this is. I hope our expectations are realistic and things do improve.

My school would probably let your DD re-take her AS levels, although it might not fit with an A2 timetable in other subjects. I'm surprised though that given she got an A in both at GCSE, her target was so low (C). But I would be asking a lot of questions. I've not known a student go from A to U. Underperform, certainly, but not so much.

Oh well thats it then ....does she even need to do her A levels maybe she can just go straight into law.

No way does 2 days with even Pythagoras get a D to a B on GCSE.