Please Help: Can you apply to uni without AS results?

Any offers you get would be conditional, so you'd have to prove to the unis that you can achieve those grades before they would accept you. This might work in your favour - unis will know they don't have to accept you if you don't achieve your predictions.

It might help if you do some mock AS exams - your referee can then write what grades you achieved there in your reference. Mocks aren't amazing as they're easy to cheat on, but they might be better than nothing.

Thanks for posting a reply. So does this mean I can apply to top universities without my AS grades? Do you think this would mostly work against me or it would be the same more or less for anyone who has applied with AS grades? I'm unsure as to who to choose for my reference as well since I've been self-taught and homeschooled since my IGCSEs. I did get A*'s, A's and a B for them despite being self-taught but I'm also afraid of how my application would look like without any AS grades to prove my prediction as I had sat for AS Economics and Geography last year and got a D in them. I have since then obviously improved as I do get As in my mock exams but I'm just afraid of how it may all appear to universities. Should I use the teachers who marked my mock exams as my referee? They never taught me, but they do know me as a student and marked my exam papers for me.

If you're interested in any specific unis it would be a good idea to ask them about their preferences. In general, you can definitely apply - but some unis are fussier than others. If you ask before applying then you'll find out before wasting a choice. But you do have to remember that if they say yes it's "yes, we will consider you" and not "yes, you will definitely get a place", so you could still be rejected even so.

Do you have any tutors? If so, they would be the best referee as they're teaching you now. If not, a recent teacher would be a good choice. If someone has just marked exams they might not know enough about you, but you will know more about your circumstances than me. Once you have chosen a referee you should ask them, and if possible have an actual conversation rather than just a quick "will you write me a reference?" "yes" interaction. You need to know what kind of things they feel comfortable saying - they might not want to show you the finished reference (they don't have to, but some will and some won't) but even if not you should be able to discuss a few topics that they'll be covering.

Remember that your reference has to be the same length as your personal statement - 47 lines or 4000 characters. You want to choose someone who can fill most of that with positive things.

If you can't choose one then potentially you could have two or more contributors. It's still only one reference, so it would be in one person's name, but if they can talk with another tutor or send emails then they may be willing to include other opinions. They can write things like "Fred's biology teacher says he always contributes in class" to make it clear this isn't their personal experience if necessary.

You should also ask your referee to include a brief paragraph about your personal circumstances, to make it clear why you haven't got the "standard" admissions profile. You're obviously self teaching, which needs to be mentioned as that shows personal qualities (good ones, like motivation) - and they can also discuss why you didn't do AS levels (assuming you have a good reason, and not just "I entered for them but missed the bus".

It's Friday, so I'm already on my second bottle of wine and don't know if this made any sense

(EDIT: I actually meant glass but don't care)

Thank you very much for your reply - Yes it did make sense and was very helpful despite the glass of wine

The reason I didn't sit for my AS levels was because I had been diagnosed with severe depression. I've got a very unsupportive family to put it in the nicest way possible. My mother is wealthy however she cut me off financially and I have been tutoring other people to save up enough money to pay for tutors to mark my exam papers, save enough money to register for the exams etc. I also come from Bangladesh so it is tough to get my hands on resources and I was actually the only one to be registering for A-level Geography and History. However because of my depression I was in no state to sit for my exams. I can't really say those things in my personal statement or have my referee mention it can I? I fear that they might think I wouldn't be a worthy prospective student because what if they question my mental health and about relapsing back into that state and everything?

But on the other hand I feel as though if I mention all of that, they could see how I have to juggle with an emotionally abusive family, work multiple jobs JUST so I can pay for my education and I haven't given up still and am determined to get into uni.

I only have one tutor for math. My GCSE results weren't like everyone else's though I got:

English - A*
Maths - D
Economics - A
Accounting - A*
Business Studies - A
Commerce - A

I know they're pretty easy subjects as well but like I have said I was self-taught, I had covered all these subjects in less than 3 months and sat for the exams at 16.
And now on top of that I won't have any AS exams to show in my application. But I do have all these circumstances that are indeed what made everything worse. Like right now I have a math tutor to prove that if I has a tutor to help me out at GCSE math I would probably have gotten an A*. Because on my mocks I'm getting full marks.

So I suppose my question is should I mention all those circumstances on my personal statement and ask my referee to do so as well? And even if I do would my application still be considered weak compared to others that have applied or would they take them into account?

P.S should I have the psychologist who has diagnosed me to write something on my reference or something? Is any way I can strengthen my application? Do you think I should even apply now? I would really like to go to university September 2016.

Your referee can say those kind of things. As you have been diagnosed, you should be having some kind of treatment, and your referee can allude to that - they don't need to say exactly what, but they can you're seeing a doctor or whatever. Your psychologist can't write anything directly, but can speak to your referee who can write things on their behalf, or could write a letter to the referee/unis explaining the situation. Unis know that some students have difficulties, so even if you are relapsing at the point you go there will be support for you (you may also qualify for Disabled Students' Allowance, which can provide stuff (eg dictaphone or note taker) to help).

You may still need to resit your GCSE in maths. Unfortunately, it's one of the few subjects that unis care about. They may be willing to accept an alternative, like the certificate of numeracy which may be easier for you to achieve - it's provided free by Learn Direct, and you sit the tests when you are ready rather than there being one specific exam time.

Your personal statement is the place to write about why you're motivated for the course. You're very limited for characters, so if you explain things like you have done here you'd have no room for anything else! You need to talk about why you love the subject, and persuade unis that you're passionate about study. You can briefly mention your extenuating circumstances if you must, but you need to spend 70% of the statement talking about the subject.