Disappointed with A levels. What are the options?

[lovemyboyz247]

If a teen got 3 D’s for his A levels and wants to retake just two of them, is it worth it?

I know the grades are not the best, but I strongly feel that there are other options to consider rather than retakes and of course there is no guarantee that the grades will go up and they will still have the one D for the subject they don’t retake.

Do others agree with me or am I missing something here?

I think retaking two sounds really sensible.

Yes I think so too and I will share this with him. I have shared some of the comments from here with him and he said I've gone from having just you to having a whole community of parents who want to help me. He was actually crying.

He has barely had one parent in the last few months because his dad beat his mum up and this has totally derailed his mum. He has spent the past three months trying to support his mum and her other children (his younger siblings) and he is finally trying to do something to help him.

I'm so proud of him and so thankful to the Mumsnet community

Bless him. I think he sounds like a lovely young man and I hope it works out for him.

Perhaps find somewhere quiet and calm to revise not at home

Thank you so much for your support.

Yes, I'm considering allowing him to work from my house or even part funding his plans to attend a private college in person to give him the best chance to get to where he wants to be.

Although I have to look at my own financial situation to see if this is something I can do before my offer to him

What was the third subject? What does he need for the apprenticeship?

After much discussion (sometimes heated) he's decided to retake his two A levels and said he will fully focus on them without the headache of trying to learn a completely new subject.

I think that is probably the most sensible option at this stage for him. He said even if he doesn't pass with top marks, he will hopefully still be in a better position than he is at the moment.

He's going to use distant learning platforms and the books he already has to help him.

Now I just need to carry on supporting my friend and her younger ones and hopefully her teen can now concentrate on helping himself to get on track.

Thank you to everyone for their advice.

@lovemyboyz247 the home education community can be really useful for information please ensure if he’s going it alone that he has to book and pay for his exams himself - A’Levels are expensive- and those with coursework need separate validation. Ensure he’s confirmed those arrangements early on or his old college are booking him in for the exams as distance learning courses normally don’t book the exams. There are many face book groups they can help with support and information I hope he does well.

I do think this is a wiser choice than taking on something new independently as well. I hope it works out for him. Whatever he gets next year, encourage him to look around at options and Clearing if needed and to ring them.

My son didn't get the grades he wanted for his first choice integrated masters course at a very good university this year but they still took him despite being down a grade in all three A levels and didn't even drop him down to the BSc. Same happened to my nephew. So I think looking at clearing may be a good option this year as there doesn't seem to be the same pressure on places there usually is.

My nephew retook two A levels after not doing well enough last year using Uplearn
https://uplearn.co.uk/
They say they give you your money back if you don't get an A!