[RA23]

I'm a retake student and I'm currently awaiting my A2 results in History, English and Geography and awaiting my results nervously. I was predicted to achieve ABB/AAB but I think I will end up with BBC/BCC or even worse as I panicked during my Geography exams and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with a U.

Before I started my A-levels I wasn't sure whether to pursue a career in Science or go with a career in arts/humanities/social sciences. My GCSE's were rubbish:

A*- RS
A- History
A- Eng Lit
A- Citizenship
B- Eng Lang
B- Geography
B- Science
C- Additional Science
C- Mathematics



This was mostly because I hated my school which is a inner-city comprehensive and never ever felt like I received any advice and never I wafelt comfortable there but I suppose that doesn't matter as I was an idiot at 16 and I could've clearly got better grades.

I chose humanities A-levels as I received better GCSE results in them than the Sciences and applied to university to study Law and even took part in Pathways to Law and did work experience at law firms but I'm stuck what do now and I am considering these options:

1) Study Law at a lower university through clearing but I guess there is no point as I will never get a TC with crap A-levels.

2) Study History/Politics/IR at any university through clearing and graduate. I am quite confident that I'll manage a 2:1 but I'm not sure what I'll do afterwards.


3) Do a Science Foundation Year and then hopefully do a degree in Biomedical Science, Pharmacy or any other scientific field.

4) Work. I would hate to do this as despite my bad grades I don't want to leave education.


I know this is a massive mess but I'm the first person in my family to go to university and since my parents lack knowledge about the education system I would really appreciate some advice on here.

[miss.brightside]

Could be an option to study (for example) History and then do a Law conversion course?

[MathematicsKiller]

1 or 2.

[Selym95]

Best thing is to make your decision on results day when you know your grades. If you end up with ABB or even BBC there are still lots of degrees you can get into, and certainly pathways into careers that do not necessarily require degrees, for example, there are even pathways into Law and Accountancy that do not require degrees, instead they allow on-the-job training and testing as you progress. I suggest you do research into these types of things and generally research what is available to set up a career for yourself

[snailsareslimy]

My GCSE's were pretty much the same as you (except I got 1 more B).
Thank you for degrading them

[hannah60000]

I second the law conversion route.
Also as a Pathways student myself I heard that if you mention pathways in your PS and apply to one of the partner uni's the offers are slightly lowered ABB/AAB so you could also contact your partner uni for advise

FYI your GCSE are not crap results are next week stay positive but do research into other possible routes.

Good Luck!!

[britash]

Law conversion is your best bet.
Your GCSE's are decent and you've probably not done as badly as once thought! x

[lilyobz]

(Original post by snailsareslimy)
My GCSE's were pretty much the same as you (except I got 1 more B).
Thank you for degrading them

I dont know why but this made me laugh soo hard, i think its the smiley face.

[tammie123]

Your grades aren't that bad. Infact they're quite good in my opinion.

[gonnabesomething]

Just wait for your A-level results. Things are so fickle with A-levels, you really can't assess how well you've done until you have the results slip in your hand. Also, don't go and do a law degree if you don't feel it'll lead to what you want; aka a Training Contract. Many people go to lower ranked unis and set their heart on Law with ABB, until they come to the application stage and realise there are no firms that want ABB (and the few that do are massively oversubscribed). Do do a Law degree at Uni if you are genuinely interested in studying law; just be open to other careers paths as you most likely won't get a TC with BBC/BCC at A-level.

From the options you've listed I think you should spend the next week having a good think about what you want to do. The graduate market is very tough at the moment and it looks like it will remain that way for the short to medium term. Think about it. Seriously. Yes, you may go to uni, you may get a 2:1, but what's the point of going if you haven't got a clear path. From you're GCSE and A-level results/predictions I think it's evident that you're better at writing and researching than the sciences. I think you should stick to humanities/arts as clearly they're your strengths.

You need to think about the UCAS Tariff requirement for many graduate schemes. Many will be beyond you if you get BCC. However, I do know that in accountancy, as long as you aren't into the big4 and high starting salaries, some of the smaller firms are happy to train you and you will compete the ACA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales. - Perhaps you're interested in accountancy? You could be looking at £20,000 for your training contract and then £40,000 start when you become ACA qualified. This is the route I'm looking to take. So I have a reason for doing my degree as well as a path I wish to follow rather than many airheads who go to uni, do a random degree and hope to get picked up by an Investment Bank or a big technology firm and have a nice £25,000 starting salary.

A final reminder is that you can consider school leaver schemes. They often pay well and give you qualifications whilst you gain practical experience. These are becoming increasingly popular and it isn't a bad choice if the sector you wish to join offers them - i.e. Law - not sure if you can become a qualified Solicitor from potential qualifications, but I'm sure you can find out Sorry to ramble on about accountancy, but many firms offers school leavers' schemes.

Whilst you want to be the first from your family to go to uni, don't feel pressurised into doing so. Don't be one of those students who go for the party or to put off decision making for three years. I'd honestly feel if you sit down for a week and have a good think, whilst it may not confirm what you wish to do, you'll be better placed to decide what to do when you get your grades. At least this way, if you do get BCC you won't be a random money spinner for a clearing uni - they don't care what you do when you leave their university, all they care about is the tuition money that keeps them running. At the end of the day, they're businesses, and once you leave, you'll be the one looking for a job with your XYZ degree in the ABC sector, not them. Talk to a career advisor or friends.

All I can say is play to your strengths, have a serious think with yourself about what you want to do, where you want to be in 5 or 6 years and then embark on a path to achieve that goal. It's no good listing several areas and asking some random people what you should do with your life It's your life, take hold of it.

Good luck and I hope you come to a reasoned judgement, and please don't pick something random in clearing without having first thought about it. P.S also waiting for results and am prepared for whatever may happen

[snailsareslimy]

(Original post by lilyobz)
I dont know why but this made me laugh soo hard, i think its the smiley face.

Haha!

[Jay99]

Wait for your results before you start worrying. No matter what you do now nothing will change the outcome until you get your grades.

[KatieSouter]

I know how you feel about geography A Level


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[RA23]

(Original post by gonnabesomething)
Just wait for your A-level results. Things are so fickle with A-levels, you really can't assess how well you've done until you have the results slip in your hand. Also, don't go and do a law degree if you don't feel it'll lead to what you want; aka a Training Contract. Many people go to lower ranked unis and set their heart on Law with ABB, until they come to the application stage and realise there are no firms that want ABB (and the few that do are massively oversubscribed). Do do a Law degree at Uni if you are genuinely interested in studying law; just be open to other careers paths as you most likely won't get a TC with BBC/BCC at A-level.

From the options you've listed I think you should spend the next week having a good think about what you want to do. The graduate market is very tough at the moment and it looks like it will remain that way for the short to medium term. Think about it. Seriously. Yes, you may go to uni, you may get a 2:1, but what's the point of going if you haven't got a clear path. From you're GCSE and A-level results/predictions I think it's evident that you're better at writing and researching than the sciences. I think you should stick to humanities/arts as clearly they're your strengths.

You need to think about the UCAS Tariff requirement for many graduate schemes. Many will be beyond you if you get BCC. However, I do know that in accountancy, as long as you aren't into the big4 and high starting salaries, some of the smaller firms are happy to train you and you will compete the ACA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales. - Perhaps you're interested in accountancy? You could be looking at £20,000 for your training contract and then £40,000 start when you become ACA qualified. This is the route I'm looking to take. So I have a reason for doing my degree as well as a path I wish to follow rather than many airheads who go to uni, do a random degree and hope to get picked up by an Investment Bank or a big technology firm and have a nice £25,000 starting salary.

A final reminder is that you can consider school leaver schemes. They often pay well and give you qualifications whilst you gain practical experience. These are becoming increasingly popular and it isn't a bad choice if the sector you wish to join offers them - i.e. Law - not sure if you can become a qualified Solicitor from potential qualifications, but I'm sure you can find out Sorry to ramble on about accountancy, but many firms offers school leavers' schemes.

Whilst you want to be the first from your family to go to uni, don't feel pressurised into doing so. Don't be one of those students who go for the party or to put off decision making for three years. I'd honestly feel if you sit down for a week and have a good think, whilst it may not confirm what you wish to do, you'll be better placed to decide what to do when you get your grades. At least this way, if you do get BCC you won't be a random money spinner for a clearing uni - they don't care what you do when you leave their university, all they care about is the tuition money that keeps them running. At the end of the day, they're businesses, and once you leave, you'll be the one looking for a job with your XYZ degree in the ABC sector, not them. Talk to a career advisor or friends.

All I can say is play to your strengths, have a serious think with yourself about what you want to do, where you want to be in 5 or 6 years and then embark on a path to achieve that goal. It's no good listing several areas and asking some random people what you should do with your life It's your life, take hold of it.

Good luck and I hope you come to a reasoned judgement, and please don't pick something random in clearing without having first thought about it. P.S also waiting for results and am prepared for whatever may happen

Thank You for the great advice. I have to make a massive decision now and and it feels like I'll make the wrong decision. I really hope to be ready when the results come out.

I spoken to the careers advisor at school but I seem to know more than he did. The level of advice given to me was shocking. I had to tell him about Pathways and LNAT.

[RA23]

(Original post by KatieSouter)
I know how you feel about geography A Level


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

I did OCR and the Skills paper was a nightmare. I went through all the past papers and I still feel I messed up my exam.

[KatieSouter]

(Original post by RA23)
I did OCR and the Skills paper was a nightmare. I went through all the past papers and I still feel I messed up my exam.

I did AQA and I found the GEOG3 paper impossible




This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[u0b2]

Relax playboy. You do what you want to do.
But A-levels are of mad importance, when you apply for jobs they ask grass like did you get 320 ucas points, if you put no then boom your application will be rejected ASAP.

I feel your pain.
This is what I would do. You can apply for a foundation degree in actuarial science at City University.

(Original post by RA23)
I'm a retake student and I'm currently awaiting my A2 results in History, English and Geography and awaiting my results nervously. I was predicted to achieve ABB/AAB but I think I will end up with BBC/BCC or even worse as I panicked during my Geography exams and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up with a U.

Before I started my A-levels I wasn't sure whether to pursue a career in Science or go with a career in arts/humanities/social sciences. My GCSE's were rubbish:

A*- RS
A- History
A- Eng Lit
A- Citizenship
B- Eng Lang
B- Geography
B- Science
C- Additional Science
C- Mathematics



This was mostly because I hated my school which is a inner-city comprehensive and never ever felt like I received any advice and never I wafelt comfortable there but I suppose that doesn't matter as I was an idiot at 16 and I could've clearly got better grades.

I chose humanities A-levels as I received better GCSE results in them than the Sciences and applied to university to study Law and even took part in Pathways to Law and did work experience at law firms but I'm stuck what do now and I am considering these options:

1) Study Law at a lower university through clearing but I guess there is no point as I will never get a TC with crap A-levels.

2) Study History/Politics/IR at any university through clearing and graduate. I am quite confident that I'll manage a 2:1 but I'm not sure what I'll do afterwards.


3) Do a Science Foundation Year and then hopefully do a degree in Biomedical Science, Pharmacy or any other scientific field.

4) Work. I would hate to do this as despite my bad grades I don't want to leave education.


I know this is a massive mess but I'm the first person in my family to go to university and since my parents lack knowledge about the education system I would really appreciate some advice on here.

[RA23]

I have ended up with BCD. I'm terribly upset but I have a few places in clearing and the best seems to be studying the LLB at Birkbeck which I don't mind and hopefully getting some work experience during the day will hopefully cover up for the A-levels.

[PeteyM]

Hey that's a great offer, take it, enjoy your time at Uni. Get some work/volunteering/sport/societies time in too and have fun.
You may think completely differently by the end of your 3 years in any case. I think too many people on this forum seem to be trying to map out their whole lives at 17/18 when we've got so much still to do, learn and time to change our minds.

[Podcaster]

(Original post by snailsareslimy)
My GCSE's were pretty much the same as you (except I got 1 more B).
Thank you for degrading them

Lol exactly my thoughts (I got 1 more B too lol)

I will have you know 'captain perfection' that with those "rubbish" GCSEs I got into Imperial and UCL and maybe King's (dunno yet). Don't blame your school or your GCSES. I went to a ghetto inner city comp too, I got the exact same grades too, You flopped your A levels, I got A*AA and got into top unis. you gotta do it yourself and not blame others when you flop.