Would you encourage an A-level resit in these circs?

[Alevelquestions]

DD was predicted A star, A, B and her uni offer was AAB. She got A star, A star, C. Her first choice uni honoured her offer. The A stars were in humanities and her degree is in humanities. The C was in a science.

i am worried the C will look bad on her CV after uni and hold her back. I wonder if she should retake that A-level to try and boost it to a B. Do others think they would encourage a resit in these circumstances?

No, completely pointless. She is in to uni and that is what matters.

No, they're just a stepping stone onto the next thing, which she's been accepted for. No one will particularly care about her A levels once she has a degree.

As long as she has her place let her move on.

Wow no. Well done to her on her great grades and getting into her first choice uni. That's what matters. Why would you waste time and energy and money resitting an A level that I presume is not even needed going forward?

In fact worse than pointless because she would have to withdraw from the course that has let her in despite not meeting the grades, which if she applied to "grades in hand" would presumably reject her, and she has no guarantee that she would do better next time anyway.

Nope, once she has her degree no one will care about her A level results. Same way no one really cares about her GCSEs (apart from maybe maths and english) now she has A levels.

No.

Absolutely not.

Resits are tricky in terms of motivation.

She's got into uni.
Move on.

Nobody has asked about A levels after undergrad, not for work or postgrad

Possibly if she wants to do a Postgrad at Oxford or Cambridge, the C might hold her back

Is this a likely scenario?

Absolutely pointless retaking, it’s not going to make any difference whatsoever. She needs to go to Uni, focus on her course and enjoy herself, not waste time retaking an A Level, just to improve it by one grade step. Don’t really understand your logic in thinking that she should 🤷‍♀️

This is exactly the same as my son and retaking the C was never even considered. In fact we talked about what a good interview talking point the C would be - What happened, what's been learned from the experience etc.

someone who's got 2 As in one type of subject and a C in another, it's clear that they're very bright and able and that with a third humanity they would have no doubt got a third A/A*

No. She has her place at university, that's all that matters. Plus, I'd imagine resitting at this stage would be much harder as they're not in the A level bubble now, they've moved on. She could do it and get the same grade again, or more probably even lower. Celebrate your DDs success and plan for uni. Forget A levels now.

I did not do A-levels as I was educated in another country so that’s why I’m asking. DD keeps saying A star, A star, C actually looks better than AAB but I’m not sure whether that’s wishful thinking and I just know where I grew up a C on your transcript did not look good.

I agree with your daughter. A star is insanely hard to achieve. It's properly elite. The C is not seen as as big a gap from the B as an A star is from an A (if that makes sense?)

She can resit next summer alongside her degree? Assuming exams don't clash.

You'd have to report both exam results on a cv /application form.

She could get a student to tutor her if she isn't sure why she got that c.

It will rule her out of some competitive graduate schemes.

No!!

You say
"Congratulations, what an amazing achievement, let's go shopping for your Uni stuff!"

Yeh you need to park that attitude @Alevelquestions

Her grades are great and yes, for sure better than AAB (two up, one down). Esp as the high grades are more linked to her degree.

I agree the C (if even mentioned - dd mentions her first class degree not her Bs at A level) could be a talking point - how you move on, what you learned.

Thanks all. Really helpful unanimous advice.

to be clear I’ve been nothing but celebratory of DD’s results. She overcame a lot to get those grades and I’ve told her many times how proud I am. I’m asking here so I don’t voice any concerns out loud at home.

Once you have a degree, nobody remotely cares what your A level results were. Just move on....

Agree, A stars are exceptional and your DD has done an amazing job. The C isn't;t in the area she is specialising in. Sounds like a useful lesson to her is don't study that science.

Hope she loves university