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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Poor As results

19 replies

Shazy123 · 27/08/2013 22:31

my ds had poor As results last week. D in Bio, D in Chem, E Phys and 'U' in maths. ds hasn't spoken to any teachers yet but is thinking that it's not possible to carry on with the Physics or Maths. We think that it's probably better to concentrate now on the Chem and Bio and do re-sits in those to try and get decent grades. Ds was also doing the bacc which is equivalent to an A grade ( I think most uni's accept the bacc). I should also mention that ds was very ill when he did the As exams and was given a medical certificate that should have been sent off with the exam papers but no adjustment was made to the As marks. Do you think ds has a chance of applying for uni with only 2 A levels and the Bacc??

OP posts:

antimatter · 27/08/2013 23:20

does he want to (or has to) repeat that year again?

Rummikub · 27/08/2013 23:21

Is it a full baccalaureate?

Original poster

Shazy123 · 27/08/2013 23:26

he will be re-sitting some of the modules in January.

OP posts:

Original poster

Shazy123 · 27/08/2013 23:27

The baccalaureate is full and equivalent to an A grade at A level if he passes.

OP posts:

BlackMogul · 27/08/2013 23:37

A levels AND the international bacc? Surely not???? This means he is taking two curricula. He must be very stressed. He probably just needs to do the bacc which is 6 subjects anyway. Unis accept this but not so keen for subjects where a concentration of science, maths, or languages is required. Can you not find out why the school has this policy? Did you not look into all of this when he started 6 th form? Everyone we know has done one or the other and there is absolutely no advantage in doing both! No Uni ever asks for both so if it is the 6 subject int bacc then this is sufficient. Unis post the points tally they require for int bacc in their entry requirement data for each course. They also give the A level grades required. They do not expect both!!!

OttilieKnackered · 27/08/2013 23:40

Sorry to tell you, but he won't be retaking in January. January retake are banned now.

Rummikub · 27/08/2013 23:41

Is it a welsh baccalaureate of international baccalaureate?

Rummikub · 27/08/2013 23:42

Sorry is it welsh or international baccalaureate?

Rummikub · 27/08/2013 23:44

Oh just found something called an AQA baccalaureate! They are all treated differently by universities.

BlackMogul · 27/08/2013 23:45

The int bacc is not equivalent to one A grade at A level. What you describe is not a full bacc. The bacc gives points per subject depending whether you sit higher or standard exams. There are 6 subjects studied and all six are not worth one A level at A grade. If 6 subjects are studied at higher it is possible to get 42 points. Most unis will ask for 3 A levels at a specified grade OR the international bacc expressed as a points score for all six subjects (eg 34). Perhaps you need to clarify exactly what he is studying so you know how to proceed.

WorrySighWorrySigh · 28/08/2013 07:19

Shazy123 - in a similar situation as DD had disappointing AS results.

Does your DS think that the results reflect his genuine ability in the subjects?

How did he do in early modules? One of the things my DD struggled with was the 'vocabulary' of the sciences which is very rigid.

Resits are in July in parallel with A2 exams. It is possible to turn this around but it does take a huge amount of work.

RegainingUnconsciousness · 28/08/2013 07:30

Hi OP, I posted some science links here if you're interested. Might help your DS keep up.

WorrySighWorrySigh · 28/08/2013 08:39

If your DS needs access to past papers (question practice is the order of the day) then these are available from exam board websites. Let me know if you need help to find them.

Dont panic, this isnt the end of the world. It has been a huge (and necessary) boot up the bum for my DD. The step up from GCSE to A level is huge. Not just in terms of academic level but also in study approach. Independent learning is a major feature at A level.

Twiddlebum · 28/08/2013 08:59

What does he want to do at uni? I did maths chem biol and after the first year exams failed miserably at chem so redid the year as AS level. Overall I only got 9 UCSAS (E, C, E) points and needed 12 for my course. They took me anyway.that was 10 years ago.... I now earn nearly 40k as a scientist so all is not lost.

Original poster

Shazy123 · 28/08/2013 18:49

He is doing the Welsh bacc and universities accept this as the 3rd A level. He is re-sitting modules in January, it will be the last chance to re-sit ever in January! He was doing Chem, Bio, Phys and Maths A level along with the Bacc - his head was in a mess I think. I wish he'd only taken 3 A levels and the bacc, but we can't turn the clock back now, just hope for the best that the re-sits will be better. He did quite well in the January 2013 modules, it was the summer ones he did really bad in, but as I said he was very ill! Thank you Twiddlebum for the comments - makes me feel a little better!

OP posts:

webwiz · 28/08/2013 20:09

January resits have now stopped and there will be no chance of resitting till May/June alongside all the A2 papers.

I think because your DS was ill I would be looking at him retaking the year so that he can get the results he deserves.

Rummikub · 28/08/2013 20:40

Hi, some uni's will consider him with 2 good a2 s plus welsh bacc. It will vary depending on where and what he wants to study.

What is he thinking of studying at uni?

SlowlorisIncognito · 28/08/2013 21:05

I think retaking the year might be the better option. It is very hard to improve AS grades by more than 1-2 grades, even with resits. It will be even harder now given that all resits will have to be done in June.

The main problem for his university applications will be his predicted grades. Most universities will be reluctant to accept predictions of more than the AS grade +1- so a prediction of CC plus the welsh bacc. This means he's not a very strong candidate. His reference can explain that he had extenuating circumstances, so this may help a bit, but overall, his application is not going to be that strong.

If you and he genuinely believe he can improve his results drastically, he can obviously use adjustment, or reapply during a gap year after he has his full A level results. If he doesn't do as well, he will probably have to do retakes of his A levels during a gap year and reapply.

If the school are happy for him to go ahead with retakes and taking A2 exams then I suppose he doesn't have much to lose by trying. However, he needs to have a plan B if he can't get into the universities he wants with his grades, or if his A2 grades are also poor.

Original poster

Shazy123 · 28/08/2013 22:48

I've been told (not by the school) that in England - retakes are not possible until next June, but the last re-takes in Wales are in January, so I'm hoping this is true so that he can then concentrate on his A2 after Jan. Thanks for all your replies.

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