Thanks
I genuinely believe that if I can do it (as a generally non-academic student, in subjects I wasn't suited to) literally anyone else can, if they put in the right amount of effort!
I resat one exam for each of my subjects, because I wanted to ensure I got As but also not heap on too much effort. I did pretty well in A2 with the exception of my Unit 5 Biology exam which I got a B in. That's why I'm glad that I did a resit in that subject - I wouldn't have gotten an A if I hadn't.
I did English and Maths (A*s) and Biology (A). For English I resat just the exam (went from 60% to 85%), Maths I resat C2 (70UMS to 97UMS) and Biology I resat Unit 2 (went from around 65% to full UMS!). Honestly I would recommend resitting at least one exam from each of your C subjects because it kind of insures you into getting your A, just incase you don't do as well as you hoped in your A2 exams. Plus the AS exams feel like an absolute breeze after doing Y13 twice!
I begged my way into resitting the year at my sixth form. I think this was definitely the right decision for me because it was a really scary Grammar school where if you missed one lesson you got called out on it. I just needed the discipline and to be prevented from slacking off as I used to
. Plus, having hardly any friends left at school, I was effectively forced into studying in the library during my frees and lunchtimes! I think it depends entirely one your subjects, for example, with subjects that basically depend on memory & memorising mark schemes (like Biology) I don't think I gained much from attending lessons as I only really learned stuff when going over past paper questions for each topic and using short questions and answers tailored to the specification (let me know if you do AQA, I can send you heaps of helpful material that my teachers made!). However, with English Lit, I definitely gained a lot from having my essays marked and returned to me, and having topics explained to me, as well as exam technique. Same goes for Maths, my teachers' help was amazing when explaining concepts (although if you're doing Maths from home I highly recommend examsolutions.net).
Resitting Y13 was probably the most emotionally taxing year of my life, as my confidence was non-existent and all of my friends left for uni. But now I can honestly say it was the best decision I've ever made and I'm so glad I did it. I now feel like I can handle anything life throws at me! Best of luck, can't wait to see you posting next August with your amazing results!