[luminouslime]

Hey there,

I'm generally a good candidate - 9A*s 1A at GCSE. I'm doing my AS levels at the moment and generally they're going okay. However, Physics (PH1 - WJEC) was a nightmare for me. I walked in having had no sleep and no food. This combined with a hard paper caused me to have a nervous breakdown in the exam. I sat there contemplating whether or not to tear up my paper. In the end I didn't, but I didn't do as well as I had hoped, probably not even close.

The goal is to study Law at Oxford - my AS-levels are Maths Physics Economics and History of Art. I have PH2 (40% of the total grade this Friday), but in the worst case scenario, if I had to resit PH1, would that affect my application?

Please note I go to a private school and as far as I know they don't cash in our grades this year - although I may be wrong.

Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Festina lente]

If your school don't cash in your grades, will Oxford know anyway? I thought you only had to put down AS-levels on your UCAS form if you had cashed them - and Oxford don't have an equivalent of Cambridge's SAQ for extra info.
Even if you do have to put it down on your UCAS form, people have definitely got interviews without having straight As at AS level (provided that they are predicted at least equal to the standard offer at A2 of course) - and for subjects like law which have an admissions test, you've got that in the mix as well.
Try not to stress, everyone has bad days.

[luminouslime]

I think they will know now - from everything I've read it seems as if as of this year, you must declare resits. This could be very bad news. I think I've messed up my life. 1 exam can make such a huge difference.

[fluteflute]

My understanding of your situation is very similar to what Festina lente said.

• If your school haven't cashed anything in, you won't put any grades on your UCAS form, and therefore Oxford won't know anything about your Physics result.
• If they have cashed in, your situation isn't quite as good. But plenty of people get offers without straight A grades at AS. Strong performance in the LNAT and other parts of your application (interview!) mean you could still get an offer.

[Festina lente]

(Original post by luminouslime)
I think they will know now - from everything I've read it seems as if as of this year, you must declare resits. This could be very bad news. I think I've messed up my life. 1 exam can make such a huge difference.

You honestly don't have to be perfect to get into Oxford - and anyway you don't know how you have actually done yet.
Talk to your exams officer and see what the position is for your school on certification and UCAS. If it comes out badly, does have to be declared and you are worried, ask your referee to consider explaining that the below-par module was unusual in the context of your work over the year; but most importantly move on and focus on your A2s/LNAT preparation/personal statement.

[The Mr Z]

(Original post by luminouslime)
Hey there,

I'm generally a good candidate - 9A*s 1A at GCSE. I'm doing my AS levels at the moment and generally they're going okay. However, Physics (PH1 - WJEC) was a nightmare for me. I walked in having had no sleep and no food. This combined with a hard paper caused me to have a nervous breakdown in the exam. I sat there contemplating whether or not to tear up my paper. In the end I didn't, but I didn't do as well as I had hoped, probably not even close.

The goal is to study Law at Oxford - my AS-levels are Maths Physics Economics and History of Art. I have PH2 (40% of the total grade this Friday), but in the worst case scenario, if I had to resit PH1, would that affect my application?

Please note I go to a private school and as far as I know they don't cash in our grades this year - although I may be wrong.

Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

A single resit should not be a problem. Oxbridge tend to look down on taking several resits as it indicates the candidate is not as good as their grades make out, but a single resit (especially if you can get anyone to sign off on the extenuating circumstances) shouldn't affect your chances.

[IlexBlue]

(Original post by luminouslime)
I think they will know now - from everything I've read it seems as if as of this year, you must declare resits. This could be very bad news. I think I've messed up my life. 1 exam can make such a huge difference.

"I've messed up my life"?

God, Oxbridge brats drive me up the bloody wall.

[Fallen]

(Original post by IlexBlue)
"I've messed up my life"?

God, Oxbridge brats drive me up the bloody wall.

Firstly, "brat" doesn't even apply here.

Secondly, it is not ridiculous for someone who is passionate about trying to get into Oxford to be upset if they think they have seriously reduced their chances. Now, we both know that a single bad exam does not spoil one's ambitions, but there is a lot of rubbish out there about UCAS/Oxbridge admissions, so it is not totally unreasonable for OP to be worried.

Are you really being driven up the wall, or do you just typing out angry messages behind your keyboard..?

Oh and OP, it should be fine. I had a load of resits Oxford never knew about because my school doesn't cash the grades in.

[emmaaa88]

Don't worry OP. I got a C in my Philosophy AS level as I got an E on one paper somehow. I was certain it would mean I'd get rejected on the spot, I thought about not applying to Oxford because it would mean certain failure, but in the end I did it anyway - telling them I'd resit it - and I got an offer for Politics Philosophy and Economics.

[Jack Dolan]

I got a C in one of my summer modules and subsequently got an interview and an offer. If it's just one slip up then it won't hinder you.

[luminouslime]

Thanks for all of those comforting comments. I've now had PH2 (the second physics module)- that went quite a lot better than the first exam, I've got my fingers crossed now.

[Bruno]

(Original post by luminouslime)
Thanks for all of those comforting comments. I've now had PH2 (the second physics module)- that went quite a lot better than the first exam, I've got my fingers crossed now.

I've actually done exactly the same thing as you. I messed up my Maths Mechanics AS module on Thursday after failing to sleep the night before. All my other exams went really well so I'm just going to retake in January, take a gap year (which I was thinking of anyway), and apply a year later. Good luck with your application!

[luminouslime]

Hey, just found out that my school does not cash in our AS grades until after A2 - can someone with up-to-date information tell me what this means please.

[The Mr Z]

(Original post by luminouslime)
Hey, just found out that my school does not cash in our AS grades until after A2 - can someone with up-to-date information tell me what this means please.

This means your results are not certificated until after A2. It allows you to take resits next year to improve your AS grade.

From Oxford's point of view, it makes no difference.

[luminouslime]

Hey, thanks for that. Just to clarify, when you say it makes no difference, do you mean Oxford have no way of knowing?

[Oxymoroner]

(Original post by luminouslime)
Hey, thanks for that. Just to clarify, when you say it makes no difference, do you mean Oxford have no way of knowing?

I'm no expert, but I've been told that you don't have to write it down; they'll see the grade you get and how on earth would you know whether you're going to resit.
I'm sure your head of careers will know the best technique.

For instance, I may get a very low UMS with an A, and retake it to push the UMS up and help me with my A2s, but they'll not know that I'm retaking to get a higher UMS; all they see is an "A" on the sheet and assume I'm not.

So don't worry, you'll be fine with resits.

[pi=3]

[canŵio]

(Original post by luminouslime)
Hey, just found out that my school does not cash in our AS grades until after A2 - can someone with up-to-date information tell me what this means please.

my school didn't cash in AS grades either, it means you don't have to declare your AS grades on your UCAS application. I got awful grades at AS (purely my own fault, I did no work) and then got into all the unis I applied to because I didn't have to declare them!

in terms of oxford's view on things, they say they want all a-levels taken in one year - so that only applies to year 13 because they won't know your AS results. so you can retake modules next year if you like and they won't even know.
i got into york which says they don't want resits!

[luminouslime]

Ah okay, but am I right in saying if they wanted to find out whether you had done resits, they could do?

[fluteflute]

(Original post by luminouslime)
Ah okay, but am I right in saying if they wanted to find out whether you had done resits, they could do?

No.