Missed Out on Uni Place – Advice on Resits, Gap Year & Moving Forward

[RainWarning]

Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some advice or perspective as we’re a bit lost at the moment.

My DS received his A-Level results, A, A, and B in History (A in their EPQ). Unfortunately, he missed his offer to study Law at a great university by one grade. Understandably, he’s devastated as this was a course and university he’d worked hard for.

He decided not to go through clearing for Law, and with his current grades, he wouldn't get into other universities like Warwick, Nottingham etc as they all need AAA. His original backup plan was to take a gap year and reapply for History, but with a B in History, that doesn’t seem viable for competitive courses either.

So now he’s taking a year out, but his confidence and motivation have taken a big knock, and we’re struggling to figure out the best next steps. Options we’ve considered:

Resitting History to try for an A and reapply for Law
Retake the LNAT - again no guarantee of sucess and don't find out your scores until after you've applied...
Taking a new A Level (though this would be as a private candidate, with little teaching support and we have no idea about the issue of predicted grades).
Looking into alternative courses he could access with his current grades.

One concern is the uncertainty and pressure of resits and whether universities would consider a new A-Level taken in one year. Another concern is whether it’s better to move forward with the grades he has and explore different subjects/courses that interest him, even if it's not Law.

We’re also trying to make the most of the gap year. He has been offered part-time work 2 days a week, remote by a relative but this won't get him out of the house. I'd like to encourage him to volunteer too but he’s feeling so low right now that it’s hard to help him see this year positively. Also if he wants Law he should probably be trying to get some Law related work experience.

If anyone has experience with resits, reapplying, or making the most of a gap year after disappointment, I’d really appreciate your insights. Has anyone's DC, or themselves, been in a similar situation and come out the other side?

Thank you in advance — any advice or ideas would be very welcome.

Read the thread. Its been discussed a lot already and I can't be arsed to repeat it for you.

@TizerorFizz explains it well. Read her posts.

Agree with this DD's bf ( also 18) is going to Exeter for law with AAB.

I did read the thread. My opinion is the same.

He arsed around , when he should have gone through clearing.

Waiting on a grade to be changed is no excuse. That happens to a lot of students.

I totay agree.

Snobbery is what is hurting him here

I think my contributions were helpful, yes. If you'd read the thread you'd have seen how much actual information I provided instead of chastising the OP / her son and other posters.

Go sleep it off.

Definitely wouldn’t resit don’t know anyone that improved their grade doing that.

I agree.
While he was there being ‘disappointed’ other students were taking the clearing places at decent universities .
Even if he retakes History there is not a guarantee that he will achieve the A grade he requires
Law is very competitive and the very successful students are those who are resilient , determined but also realistic

I would definitely look at apprenticeships. The employer pays for your degree (no debt) which you study part time, they give you one day a week study leave, you are paid a salary and gain experience as you are doing legal work whilst studying.

You end up with a degree but also loads of work experience and no debt. https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/law-apprenticeship-how-you-could-train-to-become-a-solicitor-for-free/

The hypocrisy!

You don't like that I chastised other posters, when you came on and chastised me.

There are still places available with ringing round e. ' Law with European Legal Systems' is still available at UEA...application deadline is 24th Sept. Places available are still listed on the UCAS website...agree with others that resits are generally a demoralising hiding to nothing.
Norwich is a fine city! UEA has a lovely campus and a ot going for it

Solicitor apprenticeships are very rare for school leavers - 140 got them in 23/24 stats.
But with his grades it’s definitely a possibility. My colleague’s dc got one in her gap year - they wanted to see evidence of juggling work and study.

Which is such as shame as actually, having done a law degree, it really was quite pointless. Everything I learnt could have been done as a professional qualification on top of work. It is the sort of qualification ripe for apprenticeship rather than degree just like accountancy.

The OP came here for advice and help, not criticism.

@BananaPeels I’m s solicitor with a law degree and really enjoyed it. My dc is going into yr2 law and at all the open days there were some really interesting optional modules. If you are doing the degree apprenticeship you just do the core subjects.
The rules are changing from 2026 to stop employers using apprenticeship funding levy for level 7 apprenticeships for people over 22, whether that translates to more jobs for younger ones remains to be seen. They tend to be in low paid hard to recruit areas eg girl I know is criminal.

Yes but enjoying something isn’t relevant though. Yes I agree that a law degree gives you more variation with options but that could absolutely be built into a modern, robust vocational qualification rather than do a 3 year degree which doesn’t even get you qualified. In the year 2025, a 5/6 year apprenticeship (or whatever you want to call it) covering work and study, maybe doing the first year all study to cover key core studies would be a better route for the majority of students. The law degrees are better reserved for those who want to go down the more academic side of law. After the apprenticeship students could go on to complete a masters if they so please.

but then I’m not a fan of degrees. I don’t think they are flexible enough for the modern world and teach the skills needed. They are just a tick box for many students when they could be building professional experience and students can learn whilst being paid.

@BananaPeels Degrees are a gateway qualification though. They prove you have a brain - probably. Dc who convert to law do 1 year of law. They probably aren’t academic lawyers but few are. We cannot restrict law degrees to academics. However there are too many law degrees and that’s the problem. Many bright dc are not doing law degrees so they do the conversion. They might go into commercial and all sorts of law and it would because the best are quick learners.

@TizerorFizzA-levels should prove you have a brain!
my view is based on my overwhelming view of the UK university system and how it isn’t fit for purpose. I personally would scrap and completely redo further education myself in a vein better suited to the modern world. But that’s just me.

but in the meantime I think a law conversion course is good way to go but it seems unfair to have to pay for an extra year’s study. That should be covered by the law firms.

@BananaPeels Very few professional jobs don’t require a degree these days. I don’t know what area of law you are but my DD has a MFL degree. It’s not used by her but young people at 18 would never be trained as barristers. They would simply be not earning anything for years so who pays for their learning? The self employed colleagues? Solicitors who do very basic work might get away with no prior high level learning but I think they would be doing very niche work from 18 and never get much choice of career. Law degree snd GDL allows this view of the legal professions to happen and maturity.

The best lawyer I’ve ever met went to Lancaster. Another lawyer I know rightly says; it’s not where you start but where you end up. Never rule anything out. The GDL / conversion course is the best start to life in law.

The Bar Standards board has approved Barrister apprenticeships @TizerorFizz but none actually available yet.
https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/resources/barrister-apprenticeship-standard-endorsed-by-bar-standards-board.html

@Cakeandusername Hmmm. I think there’s some doubt about these. The providers seem a bit ? Bound to be criminal!

These are the chambers involved
https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/compliance-and-regulation/barrister-apprenticeships-to-go-live-next-year

@Cakeandusername The 5 Chambers mentioned - 1 is in London. Clerksroom is direct access and the others are NE, Yorkshire and Birmingham. Frankly it’s low to 0 impact. CPS makes more sense.