18 yr old failed A-level, looks like he’s going to coast for another year

[Prudence1]

My son failed an A-level which he needed for uni, and his conditional offers were withdrawn. He has taken it badly. Whilst sad for him, I suspected he was going to do poorly as he didn’t work hard enough. (I didn’t tell him that.)
He’s insisting on repeating, and I’m willing to support his decision but I think he needs to make some changes so we’re not back here again next year. He has a part time job - 3 shifts a week which he might be able to increase - but he’s going to have a lot of spare time. If I let him he’ll spend it sleeping. I’ve suggested taking up a new hobby, volunteering, learning a new skill so that he feels he’s making something of this coming year, and not just repeating. But he thinks I’m being daft. Any suggestions for extra curriculars? Or new house rules? I can already sense the resentment building because he has been “on holiday”
since June and I’m worried he thinks this is the easy route for another year.
btw there’s just the 2 of us. He’s a lovely young man but a bit of a sloth.

We have had disappointing A level results in our house and the plan is now to do a Foundation year rather than resit. I thought they had worked hard - but results don’t reflect that. Student is fed up of the subjects now and I am not sure resits will yield sufficiently improved grades - so we are just moving forwards with the Foundation to see how that goes. Everyone is different though.

What everyone else said - if he got a U, what good will a resit actually do? Did he attend classes at all?

I think he’s sounds a very sensible young man in that he is willing to do another year to get the grade he wants to go to Uni , alongside working .. a mini gap year .. Let him breathe out a bit - You’re obviously close. He’ll knuckle down to his new routine in September - just have faith in him to make his own choices ❤️

Do an extra A level at the same time?

I’m sorry that your son is disappointed but all is not lost for your son starting university this year. Have you tried going through clearing to find your son a place doing the course he wants to do but at a different university? I work in higher education and across the sector, universities have lowered their ucas tariff requirements in order to fill places. Or another option, as another poster said, is to consider starting on a foundation year which is basically a year 0 for his degree. This would allow him to get onto a course with lower tariff points. There’s still lots of options for him to go to university this year which he will probably find more purposeful than repeating his A-Levels, which can be demoralising when all your friends have moved on and there’s always the risk that his results dont improve next year.

I don't quite understand how this is going to work.
I would be asking the college why his struggles weren't picked up at the end of the first year of study. Were you made aware of him falling behind/being unsuitable for the course? When I worked in sixth forms if a student sat a mock at the end of year 12 and came out with a U the sixth form leader would meet with the student to discuss whether they should continue to year 13 with that course, restart sixth form again with new options or come up with an intensive plan. So I am not sure how you got to results day with your son failing in a subject he needed for university. Either he has ignored advice he has been given that this subject isn't for him or just taken it for granted he would be accepted whatever and not worked hard enough to meet his target.

Based on this, is college likely to take him back to do the same course again if they have already failed?
Some are mentioning fast track, but for A level I am not sure what they are referring to as the exams can only be sat in May/June. There isn't another entry point. So would he be studying a two year course in one year (so double physics for example)? A condition of entry for funding is also often that they study 3 subjects, so maybe the resit would count as two if they twist it, but what would the next be? I imagine he would be at college full time.

Like many others have said, I would be speaking to the college about career advice for foundation degrees or potentially access courses rather than an A level resit.

It's good that he's going to a tutor and looking at enrolling on a specific course. I did something similar years ago when I messed up A levels, and went from two Es to two As. But if he's doing on fast track course, it might be worth looking into doing two. Alternatively, can he look at any sort of voluntary work or similar that is connected to the course he wants to do - it would help his future employability?

I've not really got any advice OP but just as a worse of encouragement, I was literally saying to my husband yesterday I think kids going straight to uni after a levels is a bad idea for some. I think this year will be great for him, he's realising the consequences of his actions in real life, he will mature loads, he'll earn/save some money. I'd also suggest travelling (obviously just when there is gaps/holidays), learning to cook (if he doesn't already). Whilst I'd be frustrated in your shoes I'd also be a bit relieved, it's an easy age to repeat a year, lots of kids start uni at 19 not 18 (gap years, resits, changing courses) and its a good lesson for him to learn whilst he's still at home with you for moral and financial support. I suspect he feels awful, and will feel worse when friends head off to their next steps, so a mix of positivity, love and structure I imagine. You also get another year with him before he heads off into the big wide world, is there anything you'd like to do together (a holiday, an activity etc)

Did he do an epq or core maths? If not worth him doing one of these too as can bump his subject up a grade

He needs more of a career plan generally so should be looking for work experience or better still getting a non graduate job in his chosen sector. He can leverage that when at uni.

He should also use the year to broaden his experience generally. I agree though you soups warn him you want to discuss the coming year and that needs to cover a shift to him doing at least 50/50 at home, work and how he is going to make this more like a gap year but with a plan I.e. career related work experience and gaining skills he may not have yet. You can make it fun and optimistic, but it can't be optional. I also think it is probably a series of chats rather than getting agreement immediately.

I think he needs to pay for a tutor out of his wages. We only paid £20 a week for DSS to have GCSE maths tutoring for an hour a week (2 years ago) He was originally predicted a 3, he got a 6 in the exam so money very well spent. If your DS is open to it, he should pay for a few hours a week and he could potentially get the grade he needs.

Thank you so much for all the responses. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to do so, and the different perspectives 🙏.

I failed my A levels but went off to college and did a 2 year BTec HND to get me into uni. The system has probably changed since then but there may be a modern equivalent.

A couple of random suggestions:

• Join the Explorers division of Scouts and do Duke of Edinburgh awards.
• FutureLearn is the free arm of the Open University and they do lots of short courses in all sorts of subjects. You don't need any qualifications to participate.

Also - very important - failing your A levels is not the end of the world. 18 is very young to be committing to the next 50 years of your life, and IMO too much pressure for a lot of kids. I failed my As but 40 years on I have 4 degrees and have had a very successful career change - not something I would have imagined when I received my A level results.

My son had disappointing but not unexpected grades. He’s very upbeat though. Has picked himself up, organising a resit for one, taking an extra a level in a subject that interests him and has a part time job.
He categorically doesn’t want university but wants to apply for apprenticeships, so the resit and extra a level will facilitate this in a year’s time.
I am very proud of how resilient he is. All is not lost at 18 years old!!

I think he should be upping his working hours and saving as much as possible for when he does start uni.

@HonestOpalHelper Just one on narrow point, the "N" grade disappeared at least a dozen years ago!

I think the last thing he should be doing is quitting his job, as suggested by previous posters. If as is looking likely, university is not for him or he will struggle with academia, then he would be better looking at getting a job instead and his current part time job might lead to something better, or will ay least give him something on his CV to show he has some work experience and hasn't sat about all year.

Has he tried going through clearing? It’s worth a try?

Obviously he needs to spend any spare time revising :/ 3 shifts at work, revision then some time for rest / socialising sounds ok to me! I wouldn’t want to lean something else on top of studying it would be overwhelming! Might be worth getting him a tutor too?