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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

October A levels anyone?

356 replies

Skerryberry · 13/08/2020 20:44

With so many getting results they were disappointed with, are any DS/DD's choosing to take the October A levels ?

Are they taking all their A levels or just one or two?

How are they planning to motivate themselves with exams only 50 days away? DC has not opened a book since March... eek!

I may need some hand holding!!

OP posts:
NadiSel · 02/09/2020 23:00

Thanks for all the replies. During Clearing we did ring uni's to find out their position on sitting the exams in Oct. At that time she wanted to sit them as soon as possible. And most uni's said that Oct would be considered a first sitting. Now she has lost confidence so we sent emails to uni's today to find their position on Summer 21 exams. Some replied back to say Summer ones would be considered as a first sitting so no problems so long as she did not sit any in Oct 20. Once we had this then it was a case of seeing if she could get a place at a college that would allow her to complete the A levels in 1 year. So far nothing has come up. Collegea are full or they are for 2 year A level courses. There is an added complication by the fact that her Chemistry involved practicals and if she does a different exam board then I'm not sure the practicals will carry forward.

Thanks to the advice above we have a query now lodged with her school about whether she can redo Yr13 there - this would be the best option but I personally can't see it happening. We've also looked at online providers that allow you to do your A level at your own pace but they really look as if that is an excuse to take your money upfront and then give you some recorded lessons to watch (which clearly you can do at your own pace!) and aimed at getting a pass in the subject.

So all in all a horrendous day which I would not wish upon anyone. All made more difficult than it should be because her one knowlegeable port of call I.e her school has been closed since results day and only opened today because of induction for new pupils. How pupils are expected to sit an exam in 7 weeks after receiving results without having had any teaching since Mar is beyond me. Clearly if I had had the finances I would have paid for continuous tuition over the past 6 months but that was not an option. My dd was not sat idle tho as she was going through notes and past papers - but as the Oct date has loomed closer she has declared that there are certain topics she does not feel confident with and fears that rushing into Oct exams would harm her chances of applying for Medicine when a better option might be to take the year to do them next Summer. I hope it's a better day 2mro.Smile

Sorry for the long post!

kitnkaboodle · 03/09/2020 10:37

@NadiSel - so do the unis that she wants to go to for medicine DEFINITELY not accept resits?? Have they actually told you that still applies this year?? I think a lot of the rules and assumptions have gone out of the window this year, so it's always best to actually ask

kitnkaboodle · 03/09/2020 10:50

Also ... if she is motivated and has been studying through lockdown, you don't have to pay for a whole year's online tuition. There are plenty of private online tutors on the net who you can pay as and when for single lessons/blocks tailored just for you as and when you need them.
If she does decide to cram for next month, and finances are tight, there's a link up thread to a list of students who are willing to help the October candidates for free. Btw you do know, don't you, that the deadline for October exams is tomorrow???

WhatHaveIFound · 03/09/2020 11:10

DD will sit the exams for one of her subjects in October. It's the subject she's planning on studying at university and she was given a B by the school even though several practice papers she sat at school in Jan/Feb were marked as an A.

Despite not picking up textbook since March she has worked out a full revision timetable and has plenty of time to study around working. Personally I think this year out will do her the world of good.

NadiSel · 03/09/2020 16:46

@kitnkaboodle yep she has rung and emailed lots of uni’s and they have invariably said that Oct or Jun exams will not be considered resits. This is really good news as Medicine is notoriously snooty about resits! However the uni’s have said that if you do Oct exams and don’t get the grades and then do Summer ones, then those summer ones will be considered resits.

I’d love to post some of the replies from the uni’s on here as it takes a lawyer to decipher what they are saying 😫

She has enrolled for the Oct exams already. But should she find a college that she can attend to do both subjects in 1 year, then she will withdraw from the Oct exam. BTW her school has said that the Govt are picking up the fee for an Oct exam, but the pupil will need to fund a summer exam themselves.

kitnkaboodle · 03/09/2020 17:13

@NadiSel: Just a heads up - our school are saying that if DS withdraws from a subject that he's enrolled for and doesn't sit the October exam then we will have to pay £90 per subject. tbh I think that's fair enough. There's a slim chance that he might withdraw from one, but we felt that it was better to play safe at this stage and then lose the £90 further down the line if we have to

kitnkaboodle · 07/09/2020 14:38

Just wondering, purely out of curiosity, if anyone's (ex)school has come forward to offer any kind of tuition or revision sessions for next month's exams.

'Our' school made promising noises on results day, but nothing so far. I think the goodwill is probably there but in reality they are too busy with all the rest of the back-to-school. I don't hold out a lot of hope tbh.

noblecause · 07/09/2020 15:26

Same here. Nothing so far. Made loads of noises too and now nothing. I wonder whether many pulled out of exams once CAGs were reinstated. I imagine they are struggling with the new school year. It feels a bit odd - we are not quite part of school anymore but can't move on either.

Original poster
Skerryberry · 07/09/2020 18:06

DS now has his exam timetable and knows the room where his exams will be sat. These exams are coming round quick!

He has had no offer of support from school. They would not even lend him a text book. I found out last week that he has pre-release material for Physics so hopefully that will be sent on in good time.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 07/09/2020 22:17

@noblecause yes, I think initially they expected a lot of pupils to be resitting and now I definitely feel that we are a select few. I'd have thought schools had a moral responsibility to help our DS through their final exams, but I guess time has been too short. @skerryberry: what exam board is that for Physics? Do you mean there is some stuff they get sent in advance of the exam??

Original poster
Skerryberry · 08/09/2020 07:10

OCR B. When DS had his first lesson with a physics tutor last week, he mentioned that there is pre-release material that students get 3 weeks before the exam. Students are expected to answer questions on this material during one of their 3 papers. This was all news to me. Tutor said school should send this to DS.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 08/09/2020 07:57

@Skerryberry a quick look at DS's physics textbooks tell me that he's doing OCR A so maybe it doesn't apply. I will ask, though

Aweebawbee · 08/09/2020 09:18

I think for medicine, the summer 2021 exams are counted as resits. We were advised to ring around universities and ask if they would accept an application for next year using this year's UCAT results. It really is impossible to revise for A level at the same time as preparing for the entrance exams.

Aweebawbee · 08/09/2020 09:25

Out of interest, how many of you have had any success with appealing grades?

kitnkaboodle · 08/09/2020 09:43

We didn't appeal grades because they were pretty much as expected. DS usually does well in actual exams so he is just keen to try to improve his CAGs that way.

NadiSel · 10/09/2020 04:46

@kitnkaboodle absolutely no assistance from dd’s ex school whatsoever. We approached them but was told COVID has reduced ability to take on additional pupils, need to maintain spacing, blah blah. I can understand their reluctance - but what I can’t accept is the way that they have offered zero career advice on options for where she could study for Oct exams e.g adult evening colleges, or other 6th form colleges. I said above that this is also a failing of the Govt as well - they could have put up a helpline. I also recall over the summer hearing in the news that pupils would be given money for tuition - whatever came of that?!

@Aweebawbee we rang round uni’s for Medicine to ask about their position on Summer exams. They have all told us that if dd sits Summer 21 exam as the first exam, it is NOT counted as a resit. If she sat exam in Oct 20, didn’t get the grades and then sat again in Summer 21, then it would count as a resit. We did not ask about a carry forward for her UCAT. She is frantically trying to revise for that at the mo as she has that coming up in less than a month.

Original poster
Skerryberry · 10/09/2020 06:55

DS heard from his firm choice uni yesterday to say that they will not defer his offer. He was one grade below his UCAS offer in one subject.
This is not a top/RG university or an over subscribed course.

Some schools and universities have behaved appallingly and given no support during this awful time.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 10/09/2020 09:33

I told my DS in the summer that, despite the school's best intentions, we would probably be on our own preparing for these exams and also doing his whole UCAS application, and that's what we had to accept. Looks like I wasn't wrong.

Thank goodness for the internet where you can get support from others and share resources ....

@Skerryberry - that is bad news. I'm still not quite au fait with the admissions process. Does that mean that he will have to reapply from scratch this autumn?

Gymntonic · 10/09/2020 09:42

@Skerryberry that sounds harsh. And the fact that they kept him waiting suggests that in another year they'd have taken him.

noblecause · 10/09/2020 10:42

@kitnkaboodle DD and I had a similar conversation after the results. Had to tel her that she needs to put her energy into what she can control. At that point there was no trust in the govt with the u turns and even schools who are just trying to do what they can and are also struggling. The reality is that it is really tough for them to do this on their own and I hope in some way that the autumn exams will account for this - maybe lower grade boundaries?

rbsk12 · 10/09/2020 10:45

My son’s firm university has deferred his place if he gets the grade required in the Autumn exam - but that was after 4 weeks of constant ringing/emailing as they wouldn’t give a clear cut answer. He’s also one grade below. It was so stressful for him, what with revision and the uncertainty of getting an offer again as the uni is quite selective. Also the prospect of doing the LNAT again which he may have to do if Autumn exams don’t work out.

I agree @Skerryberry, that some of the universities have not been supportive or followed the spirit of Ofqual’s message to show this cohort some leniency.

noblecause · 14/09/2020 07:36

DD Is having some wobbles. It's very up and down and at times gets really overwhelmed with the amount of work to do. It then culminates in tears about why she is in this situation when others can move on with their life. I am finding it hard too. She has been pretty good recently focusing on what she can control and trying to stop her mind going down the it's unfair route. But I think tiredness is settling in and it's all difficult when she is self studying.

I can't say this to my friends whose DC are all heading off to uni and getting on with things. And for some reason my Facebook page is now popping friends suggestions for DC from DDs school - I think they have all updated their profiles with their new unis and suddenly it hit home. Sorry just needed to get it out to somebody.

Aweebawbee · 14/09/2020 08:10

*@allnoblecause *
I have so much sympathy for your DD (and you), it's heartbreaking. The only consolation is that this year might not be much fun at a lot of the universities. Hopefully by next year it will be sorted.

kitnkaboodle · 14/09/2020 13:23

@noblecause wobbles and tears here this morning as well Sad I think he's got it out of his system now - it probably needed to happen. I told him to do his best and try to get into a healthy routine for these last few weeks - eating and sleeping well and getting out a bit, too. This time next year I'm sure they'll all be setting out somewhere exciting too.
I guess the whole global pandemic thing doesn't help their mindsets either ...
Hopefully our DC can take the odd break now and then to get things in perspective. We are going to have a late afternoon BBQ here when his brother's back from school and just chill for a few hours (getting nice and hot here!).

rbsk12 · 14/09/2020 13:52

DS also looking a little burnt out here. He’s been working really hard but I’ve told him to go play football with a couple of his friends this afternoon. He was fretting about time away from revision Confused.

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