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Chemistry retake vs personal pride

Hi guys, any help or advice anyone can give to me will be of a real help as I want to know people's views as I'm quite confused right now !!!!!

I'm on a gap year and sat my A levels in August 2014. I was successful at gaining a place for my chosen course but then stupidly messed up my Chemistry exams.

I gained straight A*s at GCSE and straight As at AS, and at A2 I did four subjects, getting an A in Bio and 1 UMS off an A in Chemistry ( I needed an A :frown: )

I obviously want to re-sit Chemistry because I was so close and so was thinking of doing Unit 1 and 2 ( the AS units) just because I need one more mark.

With Biology, I was 10 raw marks off an A*.

Its January so time is precious now so I definitely want to re-sit Chemistry but I'm not sure whether to focus on Chemistry and aim potentially for an A* and thus take unit 1,2,4 and 5 or do I also retake unit 4 and 5 biology to try and get that A*.

The main reason for attempting Biology is my personal pride because I can feel I can do it, but then I really want to turn the B in Chemistry into an A and don't want to lose my chance to get that A because next year i'll be in uni.

A lot of my Chemistry errors were careless but then some because I found the questions tricky and wasn't as confident on the AS stuff which I had to remember . No excuses, it was my fault anyways.

PLEASE GIVE ME ADVICE AND I THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME IN ANY WAY YOU CAN SERIOUSLY :frown:
I'd only do what I needed certainly for future career advancement. Time is precious now and you can't let personal pride eat it up!

(You can just be like me, I am still telling everyone I was 8 raw marks off an A* for English Language and I took those exams years ago!)
Reply 2
Original post by X_cheerio_girl_X92
I'd only do what I needed certainly for future career advancement. Time is precious now and you can't let personal pride eat it up!

(You can just be like me, I am still telling everyone I was 8 raw marks off an A* for English Language and I took those exams years ago!)



The thing is, having an A* in bio could be good for future career advancement like healthcare sector/ biomedical research..?
Have a think about your UMS for both subjects and the individual results you got last time round.

For the A* you'd need an average of 90% across three A2 modules as well as 480 UMS in total.

As you said you achieved straight A's at AS, I'm assuming you had at least 80% all of your subjects, including Biology and Chemistry. This would lead me to think that you only really need to be focusing on Unit 4 and Unit 5 for both Biology and Chemistry - I'm not sure that you even need to resit your AS modules, unless you feel you'll particularly struggle to gain better marks in the A2 modules. This is because all you need to do is score 80% in A2 as well as get top marks in the A2 exams to get the A*'s. Even if you're only aiming for an A in Chemistry, doing those 2 would probably get you there.

Also figure out whether you need to redo any ISA/EMP exams to bump up your grade.

Edit: I think the rule of getting A* described above applies to all exam boards, but I only know for sure for AQA.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by neverstop
The thing is, having an A* in bio could be good for future career advancement like healthcare sector/ biomedical research..?


True, but the OP says their reasoning for the Bio retake is personal pride rather than it being a necessity for getting in. I'd be urging a resit if an A* would given them an advantaged for their chosen career path.

They'll be much more likely to get than 1 extra UMS needed to get A in chem without taking Biology and aiming for 10 raw from that too!
Reply 5
Original post by SeanFM
Have a think about your UMS for both subjects and the individual results you got last time round.

For the A* you'd need an average of 90% across three A2 modules as well as 480 UMS in total.

As you said you achieved straight A's at AS, I'm assuming you had at least 80% all of your subjects, including Biology and Chemistry. This would lead me to think that you only really need to be focusing on Unit 4 and Unit 5 for both Biology and Chemistry - I'm not sure that you even need to resit your AS modules, unless you feel you'll particularly struggle to gain better marks in the A2 modules. This is because all you need to do is score 80% in A2 as well as get top marks in the A2 exams to get the A*'s. Even if you're only aiming for an A in Chemistry, doing those 2 would probably get you there.

Also figure out whether you need to redo any ISA/EMP exams to bump up your grade.

Edit: I think the rule of getting A* described above applies to all exam boards, but I only know for sure for AQA.


Thanks and yeah rule of A* does apply to all exam boards, for me it's edexcel. I was only going to do the AS for Chemistry because unit 4 and 5 chemistry are much harder and so yeah as you said I feel I may struggle. But then if I just focus on Chem and no bio, maybe that'll be better and I can get an A* in Chem maybe?
Reply 6
Original post by X_cheerio_girl_X92
True, but the OP says their reasoning for the Bio retake is personal pride rather than it being a necessity for getting in. I'd be urging a resit if an A* would given them an advantaged for their chosen career path.

They'll be much more likely to get than 1 extra UMS needed to get A in chem without taking Biology and aiming for 10 raw from that too!


You have a point , ugh I don't know what to do . I don't even have my biology scripts to see if my errors were learning ones or just difficulty of the exam
Original post by neverstop
You have a point , ugh I don't know what to do . I don't even have my biology scripts to see if my errors were learning ones or just difficulty of the exam


I have a personal pride story I'll share with you too. I took my AS levels June 09 (6 years ago :eek: I be old)

I achieved so much better than my mediocre pool of GCSEs (4A, 4B, 2C) with AAAB. I was all set to go on to study the three I got As in at A2. Trouble was, I also had an eating disorder. I took the decision to have a year out and go back then to finish A2. After looking at courses, I saw that my chosen university would let me in with 2 A levels providing they were both B grades. I only took what I needed to take, and got in (exceeded my offer by getting AA, woo!). But now my degree is finished, I looked back and thought- I wanted to finish that third AS too. 3 A-levels was seen as 'the standard' and I didn't want to be without, to be that idiot that only took two.

I am doing it now (sitting exams June 2015), and I am so glad I didn't do it back when it wasn't need, wasn't important, and would have probably hindered my other 2 subject grades. I'll achieve what I want to fulfil my personal pride, but I won't let personal pride hinder my progression to the next step in education.

Don't be cruel on yourself with no real reason. Plus, the cost of script return (if you can still get them) is a b*tch :biggrin:
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by neverstop
Thanks and yeah rule of A* does apply to all exam boards, for me it's edexcel. I was only going to do the AS for Chemistry because unit 4 and 5 chemistry are much harder and so yeah as you said I feel I may struggle. But then if I just focus on Chem and no bio, maybe that'll be better and I can get an A* in Chem maybe?


Fair enough. I think that sticking to just chemistry would be the safer option, and just focusing on A2 Bio/Chem would be the riskiest one.
Reply 9
Original post by SeanFM
Fair enough. I think that sticking to just chemistry would be the safer option, and just focusing on A2 Bio/Chem would be the riskiest one.



Yeah, I think i'm going to analyse the risks. That's a good way to look at it actually.
Reply 10
Original post by X_cheerio_girl_X92
I have a personal pride story I'll share with you too. I took my AS levels June 09 (6 years ago :eek: I be old)

I achieved so much better than my mediocre pool of GCSEs (4A, 4B, 2C) with AAAB. I was all set to go on to study the three I got As in at A2. Trouble was, I also had an eating disorder. I took the decision to have a year out and go back then to finish A2. After looking at courses, I saw that my chosen university would let me in with 2 A levels providing they were both B grades. I only took what I needed to take, and got in (exceeded my offer by getting AA, woo!). But now my degree is finished, I looked back and thought- I wanted to finish that third AS too. 3 A-levels was seen as 'the standard' and I didn't want to be without, to be that idiot that only took two.

I am doing it now (sitting exams June 2015), and I am so glad I didn't do it back when it wasn't need, wasn't important, and would have probably hindered my other 2 subject grades. I'll achieve what I want to fulfil my personal pride, but I won't let personal pride hinder my progression to the next step in education.

Don't be cruel on yourself with no real reason. Plus, the cost of script return (if you can still get them) is a b*tch :biggrin:


Wow, that's pretty impressive and shows a lot of dedication. I don't think I could see myself wanting to revise for A level Biology in three years time or so lol. But yeah you made a very good point, thanks so much !

Hopefully the eating disorder was treated in the same positive manner in which you succeeded doing that 3rd A level !
Original post by neverstop
Hi guys, any help or advice anyone can give to me will be of a real help as I want to know people's views as I'm quite confused right now !!!!!

I'm on a gap year and sat my A levels in August 2014. I was successful at gaining a place for my chosen course but then stupidly messed up my Chemistry exams.

I gained straight A*s at GCSE and straight As at AS, and at A2 I did four subjects, getting an A in Bio and 1 UMS off an A in Chemistry ( I needed an A :frown: )

I obviously want to re-sit Chemistry because I was so close and so was thinking of doing Unit 1 and 2 ( the AS units) just because I need one more mark.

With Biology, I was 10 raw marks off an A*.

Its January so time is precious now so I definitely want to re-sit Chemistry but I'm not sure whether to focus on Chemistry and aim potentially for an A* and thus take unit 1,2,4 and 5 or do I also retake unit 4 and 5 biology to try and get that A*.

The main reason for attempting Biology is my personal pride because I can feel I can do it, but then I really want to turn the B in Chemistry into an A and don't want to lose my chance to get that A because next year i'll be in uni.

A lot of my Chemistry errors were careless but then some because I found the questions tricky and wasn't as confident on the AS stuff which I had to remember . No excuses, it was my fault anyways.

PLEASE GIVE ME ADVICE AND I THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME IN ANY WAY YOU CAN SERIOUSLY :frown:


Since it's only 1 UMS, would it be too late to ask for a re-mark?
Reply 12
Original post by Degirl267
Since it's only 1 UMS, would it be too late to ask for a re-mark?



yeah they have deadlines which ended in like september

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