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How bad is missing the first week of A-Level??

I am starting my a-levels in September but I'm going on holiday late August so I will miss six days of school. How much work will I miss? And how long will it take me to catch up? :confused:

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Reply 1

InadequateJusticex

If by A levels you mean AS, then no it's not that bad. For the first week you really just settle into class and don't do anything too heavy so it's nothing to worry about.

Reply 2

Dalek1099

Original post by grant-m-s

I am starting my a-levels in September but I'm going on holiday late August so I will miss six days of school. How much work will I miss? And how long will it take me to catch up? :confused:

It must be a longer holiday,if your missing college because college starts in September-at my college,the 1st week is mainly introductory and if you are in the 2nd year,you don't even have to go for the 1st week.

Reply 3

16dan2life

Don't worry the first week will just be an introduction

Reply 4

Koralyn

In my experience, the first week of sixth form consisted of lots of course introduction stuff; mainly the handing out of textbooks, faffing around giving out specifications and asking the teachers questions.

The amount of work you'll miss will probably be minimal. Just go and ask your teachers about the work that you missed when you get back from holiday, and you should be able to catch up in no time.

Good luck! :smile:

Reply 5

milkytea

As long as you spend some extra time catching up, I don't think it will be a problem for you at all. A close friend of mine missed almost a month of college in the first autumn and he still managed to get As and Bs, pretty sure it made no difference to him. You will probably need to work your arse off for the first week or two you're there, though.

Reply 6

SleepySheep

You will miss people introducing themselves. That's it. Nothing important whatsoever happens in the first week.

Reply 7

SleepySheep

Original post by milkytea

You will probably need to work your arse off for the first week or two you're there, though.

Can't work out if half of the responses on here are serious. Why would you need to work your arse off?

Reply 8

Niki_girl

Original post by grant-m-s

I am starting my a-levels in September but I'm going on holiday late August so I will miss six days of school. How much work will I miss? And how long will it take me to catch up? :confused:

It depends entirely on the person, but I'm guessing, by your concern, that you will catch up before the "real" work starts. Simply ask to be sent/ given all of the work from your individual teachers, and ask your friends in that lesson to help.

I missed the first term (September - January) of one of my AS levels (changed my mind) and still managed to get an A by May, albeit with a crazy amount of work!

Reply 9

milkytea

Original post by SleepySheep

Can't work out if half of the responses on here are serious. Why would you need to work your arse off?

Well at my college we actually did work in the first week. The first lesson was usually just introduction, but after that we were doing course content. I guess at other colleges it may be different.

Reply 10

iSoftie

Come on man don't worry about something that is going to occur and have a minimal impact on you in 1-2 months time!

All you have to do is a wee bit of catching up!

Reply 11

Tomcrease

You'll be lucky to miss the awkward ice breakers! However I wouldn't imagine you will miss much, I think I missed my first 5 physics AS lessons and still came out well with minimal catch up work.

Reply 12

JessicaUk

Original post by IndyJK9

Pretty bad. I suggest when you get back, you dedicate yourself to catching up as quickly as possible and not just think "I'll pick it up".

Even the first week at university is not that bad, as others have said, just a case of settling in and knowing where you need to be the first week.

Although I do admire your dedication though :-) xxx

Reply 13

Trottoir

I'd advise strongly against it. I had a bad illness at the start of AS and I missed a week of college, and it was absolutely horrible to have to catch up with everything. The work was so much harder, and i just missed all the basic stuff. AS is such a big step from GCSE.

Reply 14

IndyJK9

Original post by JessicaUk

I figured better to scare someone into working than let them think it'll be fine :smile:

Reply 15

IndyJK9

I figured better to scare someone into working than let them think it'll be fine, just in case :smile:

Can't do any harm.

Reply 16

grant-m-s

Thanks everyone for the replies by what I read it shouldn't be too hard to catch up, for those who weren't sure it is the start of AS and the school goes back on the first Tuesday in September but I won't be there till the following Wednesday.

Reply 17

rhw

If people at my college wish to change subjects from what they initially chose to something else, they need to attend atleast 3 lessons (1 week's worth, 90mins each) of the initial subject before making that decision.

You'll be fine.

Reply 18

username225218

In terms of missing the introductions with your teachers, I would say it isn't ideal - you will turn up a week in, and they won't know who you are (assuming you're going to have different teachers). When I started 6th Form, those who didn't turn up for the whole of the first week were assumed to have dropped the class. You might be best sending in a note saying that you won't be there if you know who to contact, so that they know you are still in the class.

As far as course content, we did cover actual material, but one week of material shouldn't be too difficult to catch up with. It will be an introduction to the material, so you should be fine on that account. I attended the first four days of Year 12 before missing the next 6 weeks through illness. I was sent work by some teachers, not by others, and was caught up quickly enough. It shouldn't put you at a major disadvantage, just make sure to get hold of the work you missed - or at least find out what they covered so you can look over it yourself.