Poor A level grades but good RG unconditional offer

[Peverellshire]

If very poor grades but previously stellar academic profile & by a some miracle an RG accepts a DC, is there a downside to very poor A level grades on CV re: future employment?

The poor A level grades, unfortunately a good reason, which RG are aware of & have been kept it loop. Probably reason for generous offer.

IF a DC goes on to get a 2:1 or higher in degree, will it matter? They don’t want to retake as they’ve had enough but could it harm career prospects? Had Oxbridge offer & school scholar for context. Thank you.

Imagine they’ll want to progress to Masters.

I don’t think it will matter at all. For a Masters they want 2:1 or higher normally, they don’t care about A level results. I certainly wouldn’t be encouraging a retake of them, just move forward.

A lot of people will say no one looks at A levels after degree. At my place we do and we only take people post Master’s. We would likely interview anyway if degree and MSc were good and good application. But it would help to have a note to say why A levels were poor if that can be provided succinctly and factually.

But no I would suggest resits.

Sorry would not suggest resits.

I don't include my A Level grades on my CV. Just the college name, dates and 'A Levels in Maths, Law and Psychology'. I've never been asked to expand further.

Thank you. Hugely helpful & surely not totally uncommon?

This frequently comes up! Some but not all "graduate scheme" employers (mainly it seems in law/finance/computing) look at A-level grades, and others don't. Similarly, some but not all have blind applications where you don't put down which uni you attended.

A warning that these threads often turn into slanging matches on the theme of "I can't believe that employer X does/doesn't do Y." In short, it depends on potential career.

Some grad schemes will ask for specific A-levels.

Some jobs may potentially use them as a tie breaker between two similar candidates. Some unis may use them in a similar way for masters etc.

IME, the more work history you have, the less your A-levels matter- but obviously in some cases getting that work history may be trickier with poor A-levels.

However, resitting is also a risk if a uni have let you in. A lot of resitters don't really improve by huge amounts, and there's a risk that next year the uni wouldn't make you an offer (having seen your achieved grades on UCAS). I'd probably take the place!

Depends on the longer plan. For some postgrads like Law it might be an obstacle but not generally, a good degree will trump it.

It is worth bearing in mind that graduate schemes that do require disclosure of A level grades as part of the application process often also provide a section (or email contact) to explain contextual info regarding specific exam performance.This does not mean poor grades are disregarded and the process can still be highly automated and hands-off but at least allows for some nuance.

At the end of the day those schemes pushing grads through professional exams want comfort and evidence that recruits can cope with that aspect, otherwise their investment is potentially wasted if employees must leave only part qualified after a year or two. Obviously consistent performance at undergrad and post grad stage will help cancel out any earlier issues.

There's definitely no need to retake.
They can move forward and focus on getting a good degree now.

It would matter for city law possibly other prestigious graduate schemes. Other than that I can’t see it being an issue.

A level grades will not matter at university or beyond.

I have a vague memory that some companies perhaps require AAB at a minimum?

It is not true to say they don’t matter for all
jobs. Dc might be perfectly ok and retaking is surely a step too far.

Some unis weight GCSEs. Others don’t. Some employers weight A levels. Some don’t. Some unis want all A levels taken at the same time. Others don’t. Ditto employers. So you just get a job that suits your profile. Plus most grad schemes don’t went your vague cv. They tend to ask their own questions. So it could be asked on the form. Teachers might well be asked. Others might just want degree and post degree qualifications.

It’s probably the case that highly sought after employers like to see high attainment throughout but again, not all, and other Dc tick other boxes that are also valued.

I think A level results matter less once you have a degree, especially if there is a clear reason why grades then were not good. I wouldn’t sweat it, worst case scenario is that in the future if your child desperately wants to do a particular job who need good A level as well as degree results she can always resist them then?

No one really wants resits post degree.

Hi, OP -

As you can see the message is mixed. Writing as a STEM academic I will only say that in STEM I think this is less of an issue. Thus although Computer Science, for example, is extremely competitive, I am surprised that @PhotoDad - whom I respect enormously - mentioned it as a field where ALs may matter. I would really expect a good degree and possibly an MSc to mitigate any AL performance whatsoever.

And for PG study only the UG record will matter.

As a general principle, the stronger the UG record, the deeper employers are willing to consider that earlier mishaps may have been down to mitigating circumstances

It’ll be fine

Many would never look and those that would you just add a note.

I would never retake unless no choice, it can really do your head in.

We're the 'previously stellar' grades teacher assessed by any chance?
Yes, in Competitive jobs are A levels are often viewed as quite important because they are more standardised than degrees

This was me. There was a reason. After I got my degree my A level results were less important. So far (30 years later) they haven’t held me back.

Although for some jobs, they're likely to look at A Levels as well...... it's a gamble.

If your DD has a good uni place and course now, will she definitely get that offer again? If not, isn't it quite a risk?

Work experience, internships and other such contact and experience building efforts are more important. Your dc would be better off making sure they work on their CV before and at university. ALs matter when all a student has done is their degree, partied and maybe worked in a coffee shop at the weekends.

The students who have participated in university life, especially working for the university, volunteering for university schemes, or taking part in extracurriculars, or held leadership positions in societies or sports, as well as managing summer and term-time employment or internships, or volunteering outside of university, will not need to do more than list their ALs. For example, our university has paid roles in widening participation and paid roles where students are working with professional services and academics on new and/or student-facing projects and programmes, and every Faculty has student year reps who volunteer to sit on boards and attend meetings with academics to represent student voices. We also have lots of societies and volunteering programmes as well as extracurricular academic and non-academic projects taking place all year round. All of this builds experience, confidence, maturity and, most importantly for young grads, CVs, meaning ALs fade in importance.

It’s a bit like my UGs who become obsessed with getting a first: I always say that having a 2:1 and rich and meaningful experiences will be better for those planning on entering graduate employment. If you have to sacrifice everything to gain your first - no volunteering, no leadership, no societies/sports - but just sit in a library all year, then the first isn’t worth it. (Although a first + no experience is, of course, better than a 2:1 + just partied/drank and got into debt for 3 years!).

This. I've never been asked my a'level grades, only my university grade.