Is there any point in resitting modules with an A at AS level?

I keep reading that people with As at AS are resitting to get better UMS. Is there any point in this? Because aren't I right in saying that if you already have an A at AS, then as long as you average 90% in your A2 modules, then you can get the A*. Resitting the AS module doesn't help in any way? Could someone clarify this, or correct me if I'm wrong!

x

Reply 1

sophierebekah

Depends where you want to go. If its an Oxbridge situation it might be worth it, but anywhere else it is literally pointless.

Reply 2

Kay94

Yeah but if you're going to Oxbridge, the first chance for a resit is Jan. By the time you resit you would have already been interviewed and offered/rejected a place surely?

Reply 3

ChoYunEL

It also depends how confident you are with your A2 exams.

I resat D1 at 71
Core 1 at 80
boosted them to 97 and 95

So glad I did, as I got a low UMS in Core 4 which just scrapped the A
and in Further Maths, the D1 helped get the C

Reply 4

JayTeeKay

Original post by Kay94

It depends on two things: what grades you need to make your offer and how much you exceeded that target by.
AS modules are comparatively easier than the A2 modules, so as long as you put the work in before the exam, you should be able to secure more UMS marks. The exception here is if you scored higher than you believed you could achieve or if there's not much scope for improvement: if you are predicted/expecting a B and score 85%, you probably wont get higher the second time round. Similarly, it's not really worth resitting a 94% module, because you can only gain 6 more points and the chances of that are small (even the brightest people inevitably make mistakes on exams).
If you need an A in that subject at A2 for uni, it might be worth resitting an A-graded module if you only secured an A by a few points -my friend last year was on an A in physics by only two UMS, having scored low As (80% - 83%) in his modules. In a case like this, it's worth a resit, because there's enough room to improve (even when factoring in the mistakes) and you'll likely not fare much better at A2 and resitting the easier AS modules would be worthwhile to give you a cushion in case you messed up a module.

It's not always necessary mind. I resat modules that I didn't need to (got A*s in the subjects I resat modules in) and my results would have been the same whether I resat them or not. It does however give you a large confidence boost knowing that you can walk into your final exam, score a U on the paper and walk away knowing that you'll still average an A and get into uni. Talk to your subject tutor about it, but it's your call really.