Spending 4 years on A levels ?!

The first year, one you took no exams in wont count since there is no 'official' proof that you've done any formal study (ie exams). 2 years a levels are fine but since you'll be doing exams outside of that 2 year period you'll be classed as a 'resit student'.

So I don't think it will be detrimental at all! But just make sure you contact the universities to confirm it

Oh that sounds cool . You should be fine!

Although just a warning, be careful with exam centres! Some charge extortionate prices just to sit the exams... (especially science ISAs) I sat just one ISA outside of school and it cost me around the £300 mark.

AQA provide a list of centres who do exams, just make sure you have that all sorted too! Good luck for the exams!

I'm going to a Russell group university after practically failing my A levels and taking an Access course instead. If you work your ass off and get top grades, it won't matter if it took you a bit longer because you'll automatically be a cut above people who got lower grades.

OP: I would either resit the year or do another qualification. You will now need to boost your application for 2013, however, to balance out all of the resits. Get a part time job, do some volunteering, take part in extra curricular activities.

On what basis are you giving this advise? That taking twice as long as the majority of people to get basic A-level qualifications won't matter as you'll 'automatically be a cut above' others? I'm afraid you need a dose of real life. I imagine you're not a graduate yet or you'd realise how ridiculous 4 years of A-levels will look on a CV...

Please don't tell me about needing a "dose of real life". If you bothered to read my original comment, you would have seen that I have already achieved a great despite academic difficulties in the past. I think I made the basis of my advice clear - the fact that I am going to a Russel Group university after following a very non-traditional path. Because someone asked if it's possible to do that.

I was trying to explain to OP that getting 3As at A level will likely put you above anyone with less than, say, 3Bs - even if it takes 4 years.

(Also, I hope you don't make a habit of speaking to people in such a belittling way. You come across as quite rude.)

Apologies if I seemed abrupt, but frankly it's bad advise in my opinion. 4 years of A-levels looks bad on a CV, no way around that. It says to employers "I failed twice and then did well third time around". Depending on the career route you're aiming for that might not be a big deal, but for competitive grad schemes it's going to be a death blow. One also has to ask themselves if they are really cut out for university if they take 4 years to complete A-levels! Not to mention it's 2 years off your career, how much of a difference are those retakes really going to make?

Anyway, congrats on whatever university you got into, but I think on the whole the advise is bad. Someone with 4 years of A-levels is not a cut above the rest when it comes to the real world and getting a job, because in the real world everyone isn't treated fairly with cotton gloves. Four years of A-levels stands out on a CV big time and gives the employer a reason to bin it, and any reason does the trick these days. That said, it does depend what you want to do in the future, I'll concede that outside of competitive grad schemes employers might not be interested in A-levels so you might get away with leaving them off your CV and focusing on the degree.

Get the place you want, there is no point paying £9K for a place you don't really want
+ Then food/living expenses on top.

Apologies if I seemed abrupt, but frankly it's bad advise in my opinion. 4 years of A-levels looks bad on a CV, no way around that. It says to employers "I failed twice and then did well third time around". Depending on the career route you're aiming for that might not be a big deal, but for competitive grad schemes it's going to be a death blow. One also has to ask themselves if they are really cut out for university if they take 4 years to complete A-levels! Not to mention it's 2 years off your career, how much of a difference are those retakes really going to make?

Anyway, congrats on whatever university you got into, but I think on the whole the advise is bad. Someone with 4 years of A-levels is not a cut above the rest when it comes to the real world and getting a job, because in the real world everyone isn't treated fairly with cotton gloves. Four years of A-levels stands out on a CV big time and gives the employer a reason to bin it, and any reason does the trick these days. That said, it does depend what you want to do in the future, I'll concede that outside of competitive grad schemes employers might not be interested in A-levels so you might get away with leaving them off your CV and focusing on the degree.

Oh right am guessing you work in human resources... none of that is right and is so rigid. What about people who leave school then decide to come back or mature students then its not really third time round? What is wrong with 2 years off career? Hardly fair to bin someones CV who has had bad circumstances as surely that makes them stronger? They only care about degrees...

I largely agree with your first paragraph - OP has shot himself in the foot here. But he still ought to make the best out of a bad situation. If he thinks he can manage to get good A Levels in another year, and get into a better university or onto a better undergraduate course, then that's probably best for him. It's unlikely he will manage to get a job in whatever field he is hoping to join at this point. So he should try and do whatever he can.

As for the second paragraph... I do live in this "real world" of which you speak, and I can tell you that academic merit certainly isn't everything. More than that - A Levels aren't everything!

Is the OP either of those things? No. So why mention it?

Employers don't care less if you had a hard time of it, they want results. And they most certainly do not only care about degrees, most competitive graduate schemes have a UCAS requirement. Google "Times Top 100 Graduate Employers" and have a look at some of the requirements for those jobs if you want confirmation. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying that's the situation!

The difference between you and me my friend is that I've been through the process, graduated, looked for jobs and know what I'm talking about. With all due respect, you're an A-level student. You don't have a clue (yet)



Oh I totally agree. Nobody walks in to a good job because of their A-level results! It involves all your academic achievements (namely your degree), your competence, your aptitude etcetera. All I'm saying is it is very easy to knock yourself out of the process by having something like that on your CV. When employers receive 50 CVs per position the easiest response is to narrow them down no matter how small the faults, and that's exactly what they do!

i had to take a year off after year 11 due to illness [hospital for 2-3 months, lost 25kg in a couple months etc] but then i started a levels, and now i have to take a gap year after failing to meet my offer by 4UMS!!! lol

So technically i guess it's 4 years but 3 years doing A Levels, i feel like such a failure tbh, really depressed these days seriously

Can you give me a link as all I can find is a list but it sounds interesting?

If someone has a decent degree and crap a-levels they will do better than someone with good a levels and a not so good degree. I thought its not all about age though as people go back to do a-levels and younger people aren't getting as many jobs. It is very negative talk as am sure it wants to make people give up!

To the Times Top 100? Link only shows a list, you have to go to each companies website to see the requirements (or buy the book, universities often provide them to final years). You'll see that the majority have UCAS requirements and many won't consider retakes.

I agree, degree is more important than A-levels. But the fact is these days employers can afford to be picky, you need both! That said I'd rather have BBB in 2 years and a 2.1 degree than AAA in 4 years and a 2.1 degree.

To the Times Top 100? Link only shows a list, you have to go to each companies website to see the requirements (or buy the book, universities often provide them to final years). You'll see that the majority have UCAS requirements and many won't consider retakes.

I agree, degree is more important than A-levels. But the fact is these days employers can afford to be picky, you need both! That said I'd rather have BBB in 2 years and a 2.1 degree than AAA in 4 years and a 2.1 degree.

So you would say resisting is pointless?

I have an interesting thought, what about a masters degree?

Hi, resisting what is pointless? Slightly confused by the question.

Let me be clear, I'm not saying someone with bad A-levels or with 4 years of A-levels can't get a good job. People get good jobs from a wide variety of academic backgrounds. My point was that many employers do look at A-levels and will be less than impressed by someone taking twice the normal period of time to complete them. That doesn't mean you or anyone else can't get a good job! It just means it'll be more difficult. Absolutely don't give up, that'd be the worst thing to do! The comment I made was regarding advise stating that the OP should go ahead and do 4 years as it wouldn't matter afterwards. It will matter and it will limit opportunities and therefore I felt it was bad advise. But please don't take that to mean 'if you have less than perfect A-levels give up on getting a job' because that's totally incorrect, it just makes it tougher.

One thing I would like to mention to you and anyone else wondering about their career options, get experience and you'll increase your chances tenfold if not more. If you have the opportunity then grab a placement year or a summer internship, it'll help so much in differentiating you from the crowd when searching for graduate roles. I speak from experience, my placement year was the best decision I've made in my academic life. Things like experience can help employers overlook weak A-levels, although you'll still be limited in who you can apply for by the UCAS filters. Also for what it's worth, once you've got that all important first graduate job and kicked off your career you can drop A-levels from your CV and probably never need to mention them again



Depends on your field. In some areas I'm led to believe a masters is very useful (engineering for example? I'm no expert), but for the vast majority of graduate roles it simply isn't worth the time or effort. Doing a masters directly after a bachelors is often perceived as a weak choice as it generally means you either A) couldn't secure a role following your bachelors and therefore continued at university or B) didn't have any career direction following your bachelors and therefore continued at university.

There are very few roles where you actually need a masters to apply (I'm not sure I've even seen one), so I really wouldn't recommend doing one for the sake of it. You'd be far better spending the four years on a bachelors with an integrated placement year with a decent company from a careers prospective. Masters degrees are generally more useful a few years into your career if you want to take a new direction.