Isn't it better to resit the year than do a foundation year?

foundation years aren't for people who failed their A level subjects. Most foundation years are for high achieving students who didn't do the right A level subject combination etc.
If you have bad a levels, depending on the Uni and the type foundation year, then you're better off resitting as you'll have limited options - especially if you actually did the correct A level subject mix for the degree you intended to apply for.

However, foundation years are good because you have a guaranteed place at uni, integrated in the uni course/life like everyone else. if you have good a levels and meet the requirements for a foundation year, then always go for the foundation year.
repeating the year is a waste of time, effort, reputation and standing. Universities dont value people who had to repeat their a levels because they didnt do well the first time.
Dont forget that if you do repeat the year and reapply the following year, you'll still be competing with applicants who have just finished their a levels first time with good results.
even if you got A*A*A*A after resitting your a levels a second time, its not impressive. Unis will be more likely to give a place to someone with AAB who didnt need to repeat and got the grades first time round.

What about me though?

I already repeated a year of a levels and still failed.
I was suffering from depression/anxiety since as early as gcse's, but only started to take it seriously later when it was distracting me so much from studying.

The thing is that I only went to counselling for it and didn't get an official diagnosis, I also told my tutor at college. But this is all I done about it?

Since my a levels are so terrible, I wanted to take a foundation year. However since i am worried about ucas points being a barrier to graduate jobs and and schemes, I thought about redoing my a levels. And also, if I got better results, I could hopefully have more choice in what course and where I would go to university. (I want to study psychology btw)

I'm even thinking of doing easier a levels this time so that I could get better grades. Last time I did maths and sciences, and struggled massively while suffering from depression.

I feel like I'm at a crossroads now and I am not sure what to do?

really dont know what to tell you.
Your first course of action is get officially diagnosed. anyone can profess having depression and anxiety and failing exams because of it. Without official diagnosis/proof you wont be entitled to any additional consideration. The fact that you've already repeated and still failed is going to be a big issue, i don't want to suger coat it for you.
Dont forget that there are numerous people with extreme depression, schizophrenia and other mental health disorders or extenuating circumstances (such as living in foster care, etc) who still managed to get good grades first time. you'll be competing with those people. and universities wont take someone who's failed twice seriously just because you claim to have depression and anxiety. Failing twice is a big indicator that you may not be able to cope in university.

did you take psychology A level? if you got a good grade in that particular subject then it may give you a chance if thats what you're applying for. but if you dont meet the entry requirements universities will only be so lenient, i'm sorry to say you wont have much chance of being considered even for a foundation year.

You may need to repeat your entire A levels. Some fast track colleges let you take both As and A2 in the same year, high intensive courses.
But that would be the third time you retook the year, universities will be very unlikely to consider you.

You may want to start asking yourself if university is the right choice for you. There are apprenticeships, evening courses etc.

Wouldn't it seem that one would be wasting £9k.

Same to do with a levels you need good grades to progress to good unis ceteris paribus.

But thanks for the reply, just wondering out of interest.

I would've thought so, yeah. Because you do foundation and those crap A levels follow you around for the rest of your life. I'd rather have to admit I retook a year and ended up with decent grades, than do a foundation year that costs me money AND still have rubbish A levels always.

What if you went ahead with the foundation year and then retake a levels after you graduate?

Good ucas are only needed for graduate schemes right?
Most employers wouldn't care about them (from what I've read) and they might only matter when you will study at postgrad level?

If you retake A levels after you graduate the certificates will show the later date and then employers/grad schemes will question what your initial grades were anyway, I would've thought. And I expect few people would have the motivation to resit A levels, I'm not happy with one of my A level grades and always planned to resit it during uni but then I graduated with a 2.1 in Law so I know I won't get around to it, because I have a degree now so why bother?

I would dispute that 'most employers won't care about them' tbh and would you want to go to uni knowing full well that you're automatically barred from a lot of graduate schemes? I would think most people going to uni would at least like to have that option at some stage rather than knowing you won't even pass the first hurdle.

Wow, I'm literally on the fence now as to whether I should take another gap year to sort my A levels out, or whether to not waste time and just go ahead with the foundation year?

I mean aren't grad schemes a small percentage of the graduate job market? But at the same time, I know it would be foolish to bar myself from grad schemes in the future.

It's just that I would hate to risk not going to my foundation year now, because I'm scared that I might not get into university next time?

Have any employers given you trouble for your about your a levels so far though, or are you going to study further?

I am only speaking from my own experience but personally I doubt you would have motivation after uni, especially if you get a first or a 2.1. Nobody has given me grief about my A levels because I got AAB so I do meet all the grad scheme requirements but I hate having a B SO much, yet because I've got a 2.1, I cba to retake it.

Some unis don't accept retakes, it depends what course you're going for etc. But for me personally if I were you I would retake the A levels now instead of doing a foundation year, I wouldn't like to have bad grades on my CV and if you come to apply for things like internships or a year in industry they will see those grades, I would hate that.

What you seem to be ignoring is that resitting a year of A levels immediately takes you out of the reckoning for a hell of a lot of Universities. There are a lot who see a candidate who has resat a year as an immediate rejection unless they have some major extenuating circumstances.

A foundation year on the other hand is something which can work in your favour. Even if you didn't do that well in your A levels and end up doing your foundation year at a University that isn't particularly good you will find that it is often possible to transfer to a different University after your foundation year and can end up somewhere much better than you otherwise would have done if you had resat your A levels.

welcome to the student room. Oxbridge or bust, am I right guys?

I would've thought so, yeah. Because you do foundation and those crap A levels follow you around for the rest of your life. I'd rather have to admit I retook a year and ended up with decent grades, than do a foundation year that costs me money AND still have rubbish A levels always.

If you retake A levels after you graduate the certificates will show the later date and then employers/grad schemes will question what your initial grades were anyway, I would've thought. And I expect few people would have the motivation to resit A levels, I'm not happy with one of my A level grades and always planned to resit it during uni but then I graduated with a 2.1 in Law so I know I won't get around to it, because I have a degree now so why bother?

I would dispute that 'most employers won't care about them' tbh and would you want to go to uni knowing full well that you're automatically barred from a lot of graduate schemes? I would think most people going to uni would at least like to have that option at some stage rather than knowing you won't even pass the first hurdle.

Resitting A levels is the better choice as you don't have to pay as much as you would at university, that is if your college doesn't make you pay fees. I resat my A levels, and improved and got 5 offers in a week so yes anything is possible and if i could turn the clocks i would not have considered a foundation degree unless it leads to a certain place in the undergrad degree.

Wow, I'm literally on the fence now as to whether I should take another gap year to sort my A levels out, or whether to not waste time and just go ahead with the foundation year?

I mean aren't grad schemes a small percentage of the graduate job market? But at the same time, I know it would be foolish to bar myself from grad schemes in the future.

It's just that I would hate to risk not going to my foundation year now, because I'm scared that I might not get into university next time?

Have any employers given you trouble for your about your a levels so far though, or are you going to study further?

I am only speaking from my own experience but personally I doubt you would have motivation after uni, especially if you get a first or a 2.1. Nobody has given me grief about my A levels because I got AAB so I do meet all the grad scheme requirements but I hate having a B SO much, yet because I've got a 2.1, I cba to retake it.

Some unis don't accept retakes, it depends what course you're going for etc. But for me personally if I were you I would retake the A levels now instead of doing a foundation year, I wouldn't like to have bad grades on my CV and if you come to apply for things like internships or a year in industry they will see those grades, I would hate that.

Not really, only think it would take you out of Cambridge possibly and all the early entrance courses.

One isn't going to get into a top 5 uni with retaking year, I would think that if one retook the year and got say a* a* a* a or whatever they would have a better chance of getting into oxford than someone who gets aabb at AS :shrug:

I know what a foundation year is and how they work, you don't need to explain them to me. Some of the science/engineering foundation years are for people who took the wrong A levels, but that is not the same as getting poor grades. Durham (which has the biggest foundation centre) in general won't admit students unless they've been outside of education for 3 years.

Not entirely true. When I spoke to Durham, they told me that in order to progress to Biomedical Sciences (foundation) I had to achieve AAA/AAB in my A Levels which were not science related. I was also told by them that they often welcome students who are taking unrelated subjects as they make up the majority of their foundation student body but the conditions are to achieve a similar result as would be expected in order to take the Yr 1 course, albeit maybe slightly lower grades but that is dependent on circumstances.

Take the gap year.

You will never know what happened with your a levels.

Well I can tell you for a fact that having spoken to the head of admissions for two different departments at both of the Universities I had studied at over the last five years, ranked approximately 12th and 18th in the league tables at the time I was there, I was told by both that an applicant who had resat a year of A levels would be rejected immediately unless they had a very good reason for having resat the year.

Now on to my personal opinion. I completely disagree with your example there. If I were looking at two applicants, one of whom had achieved AABB in their AS levels and one who achieved A*A*A*A after resitting their AS year I would go with the AABB candidate every single time. To me achieving 80% after one year is much more impressive than achieving 90% after two years of studying the same subject.