Chose the wrong A Levels and failed some, help me decide what to do next?

I started my A Levels last September and chose English Literature, Economics, Maths and Physics, and while English and Economics I really enjoy and am quite confident I did well in my exams in I know I bombed my physics and maths exams. I've been doing well In class and it's not that I didn't understand the content I think I just panicked a lot and suck at exam technique for them and doubt I'll get an E in either of them.

The worst part is my sixth form kicks you out if you don't get four D's, even if I were to get three A's and a U they would kick me out even if I wanted to drop the subject I got a U in :/ It's seriously silly, but anyway I know I won't be getting the four D's I need to stay on.

Should I carry on privately studying English and Economics which I like, and maybe pick up a new A Level to complete in one or two years while possibly getting a job on the side? I would just end up going to Uni one or two years later than my mates? I think I might want to do Geography A Level, which I would have chosen anyway if my sixth form's option blocks were more flexible.

I'm really upset about this because I'm used to doing really well in my GCSE's (3 A's 6 A's and a C) so failing maths and physics is shocking and hurts me. I guess they're just not for me, but any advice or stories from people who've done similar things would really help me out, thank you.

Reply 1

moggington

13

Original post by ElSpakardo

I started my A Levels last September and chose English Literature, Economics, Maths and Physics, and while English and Economics I really enjoy and am quite confident I did well in my exams in I know I bombed my physics and maths exams. I've been doing well In class and it's not that I didn't understand the content I think I just panicked a lot and suck at exam technique for them and doubt I'll get an E in either of them.

The worst part is my sixth form kicks you out if you don't get four D's, even if I were to get three A's and a U they would kick me out even if I wanted to drop the subject I got a U in :/ It's seriously silly, but anyway I know I won't be getting the four D's I need to stay on.

Should I carry on privately studying English and Economics which I like, and maybe pick up a new A Level to complete in one or two years while possibly getting a job on the side? I would just end up going to Uni one or two years later than my mates? I think I might want to do Geography A Level, which I would have chosen anyway if my sixth form's option blocks were more flexible.

I'm really upset about this because I'm used to doing really well in my GCSE's (3 A's 6 A's and a C) so failing maths and physics is shocking and hurts me. I guess they're just not for me, but any advice or stories from people who've done similar things would really help me out, thank you.

I've encountered quite a few people (especially close friends) who've experienced the exact same thing, merging science subjects with non-science subjects and struggling to maintain the balance between them.

The best thing to do would be to discuss the matter with your Head of Sixth Form. If you discuss it as soon as your exams are over (presume AS must be finished now?) it shows that you're determined to stay, and that you're alerting them to the situation sooner rather than later which could potentially maximise your chances of retaining your place in the sixth form. See if your English and Economics teachers can put in a good word for you too.

Don't fear the worst yet, but be prepared to look into local colleges and other sixth forms if it doesn't work out.

The two options my best friends took were:

Friend 1: Stay in school for 3 years. She only managed to get a decent grade in one AS Level due to much the same situation and extenuating circumstances, so continued with History A2 this year but picked up AS Levels in Economics, GovPol and Philosophy.

Friend 2: Carried on with the 2 subject she was strongest at, and picked up an additional 2 AS subjects. This means that you can go to university in the same year as your friends, but you're quite limited in the universities that you can choose from (no Russell Groups, as far as I'm aware), mostly ones that give out points-based offers.

There's a few other options too. If you can afford it, some private sixth forms offer 1 year intensive A Level courses where you complete the entire A Level in a year, or you could move to another college and go down the 3 year route. Yes you'd end up going to university a year later than your mates, but it's pretty important that you get a decent set of A Levels too.

Reply 2

gideon123

15

hey im in the same situation as you..
i did politics, physics, economics and maths and in AS got BCDU respectively.
first of all i have been doing a lot of retakes this year (both economics units this year 1 and 2 are done!) and just try not to stress...how can u say that u have failed physics when unit 2 hasnt even happened yet?

Reply 3

ElSpakardo

OP

So I kind of forgot I had a TSR account... :eek:

Thanks for the advice moggington and gideon123, I decided to drop maths (E) and carry on Physics (C) Economics (B) and Eng Lit (A) with an aim to apply for foundation years in engineering / physics. I'm going to hopefully do a foundation year and if I like it study these subjects for a degree, if not I think I'll go for Economics.

Good luck with both of your studies!