Doing an an extra a level in one year ? Any experience

[PossibleIm]

So DD suddenly says she regrets not doing chemistry and we have a year left ie she's in her second year of a levels now ,is it possible to catch up ?
If I got a tutor ,would it be possible thinking about experiments ? I don't know much about chemistry
She's very bright and works hard she got an 8 at gcse

I would not endanger her current a levels as adding a 4th one to be done double time will inevitably lower her grades on the other 3 a levels.

If she really wants to, she can take a gap year to do chemistry a level. You’d have to pay tuition to the 6th form, but it is super cheap.

We're moving this thread to our Secondary Education topic for the OP.

@SummerFeverVenice do you have any experience of it would it damage her chances to take a year out so chemistry ?

@DawnMumsnet thank you !

I'd say impossible. There are required practicals throughout the year, plus it's a massive step up from GCSE. You can ask, but I'd expect a no.

Why does she want to do A level chemistry? Is it to get into a specific course? Are there foundation years available?

If she needs the chemistry a level for a degree course she has her eye on, it would improve her chances. Her other a level grades wouldn’t expire. She would simply wait to apply to Uni until the gap year when she is doing chemistry a level. Unis are more likely to give unconditional offers to students who have final a level grades in hand than predicted.

More students than you think do this, many change their minds from age 16 to 18 and sixth forms are ok having 19/20 yr olds doing extra a levels during a gap year. Some students scrap their a levels entirely after one year and start over with a new set.

Foundation years are expensive. You pay the full uni tuition whack for them.

@SummerFeverVenice thank you !
She's predicted 3 A * but for biology she can't apply to the likes of UCL or imperial without chemistry for biology.

What does the school say? They will know if she is capable of it.

Chemistry is very challenging. I don't think many people would be capable of this. Realistically, she only has until about March to get through the content and then she'll have the Easter holidays to revise. It might be possible witb a tutor and assuming the school is happy to arrange tbr practicals. DC1 did 4 A-Levels, an EPQ, had several hobbies and a part time job. I reckon it might be just about possible for an extremely bright and motivated person.

Well it’s not always about the Uni but the degree course. I would imagine a biology degree at these two top Unis is heavily focussed on biochemistry or medicine.

If she has checked modules of those degree courses and still wants that biology stream, then getting the a level in chemistry to apply during a gap year is a good move.

But if she wants to do a different career within biology like environmental, or wildlife, or forestry or agriculture or marine biology - then she may find that another also top Uni has a better degree course that doesn’t require chemistry.

Chemistry is really difficult to do like this because of the content, i have known it work very well when like others have suggested, finish y13 with the existing A levels, then a gap year just with Chemistry and a part time job, those students have often gained A*s in the Chem, and got onto very competitive courses. The odd one who has tried to add into y13 it has been an unmitigated disaster with drops in grades all round.

That's not the case actually. Bio sciences BSc at UCL requires bio plus another science (inc maths). Same with Imperial – they both want bio plus one of chem, physics or maths.

What other A levels does she do now? She might be better off taking maths in a year rather than chem tbh as I would imagine the practicals issue would be avoided.

Would the school consider DD starting the first year of Chemistry A level now then doing a Yr14 to spread it over 2 years? She could also possibly do an EPQ too in the Yr14? Schools and sixth forms have funding for three years of post-16 study.
I know a couple of students who dropped an A level at the end of Yr12 and started a new one in Yr13 and then stayed on for an additional year.

You would need to speak to the school asap though as obviously they've just started teaching the A level course.

@clary I only mentioned chem as it's the one out of the three she's likely to try
She got an 8 in maths and chem plus father maths however she did get a really high 9 in physics but she doesn't want to try that. 🤔 She's really stuck as to what to do.

@Toomanyminifigs that's really interesting than you ! I will ask about that

Oh I see. I think there might be issues with chem in a year but two years as PPs suggest might work. So she just does biology and no other science?

ETA I mean obvs she doesn't only do bio A level - I meant is that the only science she does – and she has now realised she wants to take it further?

It’s perfectly possible to get uni offers to study bio with no other science A level (esp if one of her other ones is science-related like geog or psych) – some unis (inc plenty of high-ranking unis like Leeds and Manchester) don't need any second science, some will accept science-related, some will make a higher offer. Best not to be too stuck on one or two possible unis. Sometimes it's good to take a pragmatic view.

Although thinking about it - it's just occurred to me there may be an issue with timetabling for her ie could the school fit in the Chemistry alongside her 3 other subjects? If they can, that would seem to be the logical solution. It would also give her this year to decide if she really does want/need the Chemistry.

Fingers crossed! You must be very proud of your DD - she sounds a very hardworking, focused young person.

She's thinking about a year out now to do chemistry

Good point about conditional offer with a levels on the bag !

Great point about checking the actual modules etc.

DD took a gap year to do an additional A Level she needed for her chosen Uni course. She did it independently with some tuition support and took the practicals via Oxbridge learning, cost us around £3000 from memory.
She is a straight A student and did work hard but ended up with a D so went onto a Foundation at Uni. She has never had anything less than a B in an exam in her life!
Appareently for her chosen A Level (Bio) its largely exam technique and its not a great idea to try and do it the way she did. I dread to think what she would have got if she had tried to do it alongside other A Levels, and then there is the timetabling aspect of it

As above chemistry A level is a significant jump from GCSE, the need to do practicals complicates things even more. What other subjects is she currently doing @PossibleIm ? If any of them involve lots of essay writing then I would think it is definitely not possible to squeeze in another whole subject. Could the school even fit it into her current timetable - might be impossible if they only run one A level class for any of her subjects.
A year to do the additional A level alongside a part time job or some volunteering that might strengthen her application probably the way forward.

What A Levels is she currently doing?
I agree I would not jeopardise her existing A Levels by trying to cram chem into one year

I would advise her to pick a uni that doesn’t need the second science. What is so special about those 2?

Then spend some time this year doing year 12 chemistry (well her school allows her to sit in to some lessons?) so she is up to speed for her first year at uni.

I picked up a 4th A Level in year 13 but it was RS so much easier to do in a year. Chemistry would have a lot more work so the year out idea sounds good. There were a few in my 6th form who ended up choosing new A Levels in year 13 and doing an extra year there.

I'd research where she CAN do a Biology degree without Chemistry A level, and focus on getting the best possible grades for that.

What other A levels is she studying?