Help, I got 2 U&#x27;s after my first year in sixth form what can I do?

Original post by SDavis98

Hi everyone,

I just finished my first year of sixth form and I collected my AS results today. I was disappointed but I knew it was coming, after all I did no revision and outside work the whole year for my AS but now I suppose I am reaping the consequences.

I am very upset and disappointed in my failure and I honestly want to turn it around next year and redo my AS levels. Can anyone let me know how I go about talking to my sixth form for retaking AS levels and does anyone know whether they will not let me back into sixth form??? A bit of extra information, I am also taking business btec level 3 so I have to finish it this year, does this mean I am gonna be at my sixth form another year no matter what or can they still decline me. The ungraded grades were in Chemistry AS and Maths AS.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you all got great results!

A little extra info: I got 9 B's at GCSE and I did no revision or work outside of school, I don't know whether this will help you build a picture of my situation.

Nobody on the internet can tell you whether your school will or will not reject you after your results :wink:

Every school is different. However if they DID reject you, rest assured there would be a lot of alternatives for you to continue your A levels at. Regarding how to approach your school, I would go for the approach of admitting directly that you didn't pull your weight and were irresponsible. Tell them how sorry you are and try to convince them that the disappointment has really brought home the consequences to you and that you are determined to do better during the next year. It could be more pursuasive if you mentioned any career or University ambitions you have and the exact grades you'd need to meet them and describe the goals you're setting for yourself. If they can see that you're setting long term goals and devising a sensible strategy for getting there they'd probably be more inclined to give you a second chance.

Reply 3

German123

21

This entirely depends on your sixthform but since you have shown no dedication to begin with, i highly doubt it.

How about changing your subjects entirely, maybe your sixthform will let you do that.

@SDavis98

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

I think it's very likely that your sixth form will allow you to continue on to year 13, and I can't really see them kicking you out. :tongue:

The best thing is just to say what you told us: I'm disappointed in my results, I think I can do better at A2, and I think resitting some AS modules would help me get a good grade at A-level.

Thanks, I'll be honest I am happy with redoing this year and staying at sixth form for a third year but will they let me or is it most likely they will turn me down? I am looking to redo the year of Chemistry, continue business, start AS History and maybe retake Maths. Any advice, should I drop chemistry and maths seeing as I bombed in them so badly?

Thanks for replying.

Reply 5

Carnationlilyrose

18

Original post by SDavis98

Hi everyone,

I just finished my first year of sixth form and I collected my AS results today. I was disappointed but I knew it was coming, after all I did no revision and outside work the whole year for my AS but now I suppose I am reaping the consequences.

I am very upset and disappointed in my failure and I honestly want to turn it around next year and redo my AS levels. Can anyone let me know how I go about talking to my sixth form for retaking AS levels and does anyone know whether they will not let me back into sixth form??? A bit of extra information, I am also taking business btec level 3 so I have to finish it this year, does this mean I am gonna be at my sixth form another year no matter what or can they still decline me. The ungraded grades were in Chemistry AS and Maths AS.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you all got great results!

A little extra info: I got 9 B's at GCSE and I did no revision or work outside of school, I don't know whether this will help you build a picture of my situation.

I'm afraid that it's up to your college whether or not it will allow you to return as it is up to the college's own policy on the matter. They may not be happy at taking you back with Us and you can only get details of your options from them. If it is their policy not to take you, there is little you can do about that and you might be better advised to look to starting for a fresh start at another college.

Reply 6

OP

Original post by Craghyrax

Nobody on the internet can tell you whether your school will or will not reject you after your results :wink:

Every school is different. However if they DID reject you, rest assured there would be a lot of alternatives for you to continue your A levels at. Regarding how to approach your school, I would go for the approach of admitting directly that you didn't pull your weight and were irresponsible. Tell them how sorry you are and try to convince them that the disappointment has really brought home the consequences to you and that you are determined to do better during the next year. It could be more pursuasive if you mentioned any career or University ambitions you have and the exact grades you'd need to meet them and describe the goals you're setting for yourself. If they can see that you're setting long term goals and devising a sensible strategy for getting there they'd probably be more inclined to give you a second chance.

Thanks for the reply I always go for the honest approach in life I find it is the best way although I'm hoping on this occasion they don't laugh in my face, I have never been a lover of school but I have always done work set within school and I have never had anything bad on my record. The head of my sixth form is my chemistry teacher too, is that a bad thing or a good thing?

Reply 7

Hype en Ecosse

20

Original post by SDavis98

Thanks, I'll be honest I am happy with redoing this year and staying at sixth form for a third year but will they let me or is it most likely they will turn me down? I am looking to redo the year of Chemistry, continue business, start AS History and maybe retake Maths. Any advice, should I drop chemistry and maths seeing as I bombed in them so badly?

Thanks for replying.

That's something you'll have to discuss with them tbh - it's entirely internal and different schools would have different reactions. Perhaps the best option is to resit the entire year, or perhaps the best option is to resit AS modules during A2.

I think for the subjects, the best thing is asking why you failed. Is it because you found chemistry and maths really difficult and just didn't have any aptitude for the subjects? Or is it because you didn't work to your potential and failed yourself? That's something only you can answer!

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Carnationlilyrose

I'm afraid that it's up to your college whether or not it will allow you to return as it is up to the college's own policy on the matter. They may not be happy at taking you back with Us and you can only get details of your options from them. If it is their policy not to take you, there is little you can do about that and you might be better advised to look to starting for a fresh start at another college.

Okay thanks for that I am gonna contact them and find out. Thanks for replying.

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

That's something you'll have to discuss with them tbh - it's entirely internal and different schools would have different reactions. Perhaps the best option is to resit the entire year, or perhaps the best option is to resit AS modules during A2.

I think for the subjects, the best thing is asking why you failed. Is it because you found chemistry and maths really difficult and just didn't have any aptitude for the subjects? Or is it because you didn't work to your potential and failed yourself? That's something only you can answer!

I know it is because I didn't do enough work outside of school, I didn't think it was a necessity, tbh I actually got b and c grades in chemistry throughout the year but maths I struggled with the entirety of the year.

I have always been lazy with school but now I want to change it more than anything, I would hate to not be able to go to university after seeing my sister finish her first year this year at uni.

Thanks for replying

Reply 10

Hype en Ecosse

20

Original post by SDavis98

I know it is because I didn't do enough work outside of school, I didn't think it was a necessity, tbh I actually got b and c grades in chemistry throughout the year but maths I struggled with the entirety of the year.

I have always been lazy with school but now I want to change it more than anything, I would hate to not be able to go to university after seeing my sister finish her first year this year at uni.

Thanks for replying

Then it sounds like continuing with chemistry is a good idea for you, if you still want to do the subject that is. Maths you might have to think twice about!

Glad that you've got that drive now, if a bit late :wink:

Best of luck next year!

Reply 11

Original post by SDavis98

Thanks for the reply I always go for the honest approach in life I find it is the best way although I'm hoping on this occasion they don't laugh in my face, I have never been a lover of school but I have always done work set within school and I have never had anything bad on my record.

Good luck

The head of my sixth form is my chemistry teacher too, is that a bad thing or a good thing?

What Hype en Ecosse said :p:

Reply 12

HornDirndlFest

3

Original post by Craghyrax

Nobody on the internet can tell you whether your school will or will not reject you after your results :wink:

Every school is different. However if they DID reject you, rest assured there would be a lot of alternatives for you to continue your A levels at. Regarding how to approach your school, I would go for the approach of admitting directly that you didn't pull your weight and were irresponsible. Tell them how sorry you are and try to convince them that the disappointment has really brought home the consequences to you and that you are determined to do better during the next year. It could be more pursuasive if you mentioned any career or University ambitions you have and the exact grades you'd need to meet them and describe the goals you're setting for yourself. If they can see that you're setting long term goals and devising a sensible strategy for getting there they'd probably be more inclined to give you a second chance.

I'm going in tomorrow to ask the head of 6th form if I could register there as an external candidate to redo A levels. I've been having a bit of disagreement with my mother about it, who says that I would not be capable of doing it without lessons or tuition. Although from too real personal experience I can say absolutely that I felt no benefit what's so ever which couldn't also be got from the resources which we were given. Naturally they say that the fact that I failed everything wasn't due to this, and of course I accept that it was my fault entirely in that I could have altered it, but that doesn't mean that they should force me to do what I consider to be a time wasting and to be honest very depressing thing in having lessons, which I'm sure would be more expensive than only attending a hall for exams (I looked at correspondence courses and they would be far to expensive ridiculously considering) .

Do you have any advice on this? What questions should I ask or what reasons should I give? I expect it will be far more difficult to convince any other exam centres to allow me to do this. Nobody is answering my new thread. As to my family I don't have a single ally :bawling:

(apart from my grandpa who has no power over me and is slightly dubious I think, despite clearly understanding what I mean. He was a teacher Ironically, though did correspondence A levels for next to nothing, when you could learn and do an exam in 3 months. How I wish to God it was like that now :moon:

)

Reply 13

stressedfordays

9

i got worse results than you did and im sure they wont take me back.But my predicted grades didnt mention what i got and some of my marks are in the wrong grade boundaries. its soo annoying and im not sure whether i should talk to them about it and get a remark or just ignore and start afresh :confused:

Reply 14

OP

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

Then it sounds like continuing with chemistry is a good idea for you, if you still want to do the subject that is. Maths you might have to think twice about!

Glad that you've got that drive now, if a bit late :wink:

Best of luck next year!

Thanks for your comments they have been noted thankfully, do you think they will be harsh on me considering If I admit to have been lazy and not worked as hard as I could and that I didn't realise a levels were that big a step up from GCSE?

Reply 15

MattyT123

So I've got an E in my As psychology I was predicted a B but got an E im alright with this I'll just resit however In PY1 I scored a low score of 29 and consequently got a U and I know a lot of other intelligent people who's grade suffered on PY1 and on PY2 I got what I would've thought to be a highish score of 65 and that's a D . I really can't understand where I went wrong and I felt confident enough that I'd get a D overall . My other grades were a B in English and a B in history which are two subjects that are regarded widely as harder subjects . If anyone has taken this exam in the past or have had the same problem as me please comment . It was also interesting to look back on the 2013 grade boundaries where 29 would've got me a D and 65 an A.

Reply 16

OP

Original post by stressedfordays

i got worse results than you did and im sure they wont take me back.But my predicted grades didnt mention what i got and some of my marks are in the wrong grade boundaries. its soo annoying and im not sure whether i should talk to them about it and get a remark or just ignore and start afresh :confused:

Well with whatever option you choose I hope you achieve what you want in life good luck :d

Reply 17

Original post by HornDirndlFest

I'm going in tomorrow to ask the head of 6th form if I could register there as an external candidate to redo A levels. I've been having a bit of disagreement with my mother about it, who says that I would not be capable of doing it without lessons or tuition. Although from too real personal experience I can say absolutely that I felt no benefit what's so ever which couldn't also be got from the resources which we were given. Naturally they say that the fact that I failed everything wasn't due to this, and of course I accept that it was my fault entirely in that I could have altered it, but that doesn't mean that they should force me to do what I consider to be a time wasting and to be honest very depressing thing in having lessons, which I'm sure would be more expensive than only attending a hall for exams (I looked at correspondence courses and they would be far to expensive ridiculously considering) .

Do you have any advice on this? What questions should I ask or what reasons should I give? I expect it will be far more difficult to convince any other exam centres to allow me to do this.

Well it depends really. If you don't mind personal questions, how old are you and who is going to be covering the costs of redoing your A levels? If its your Mum then I guess you might be forced to listen to her. But if you're an adult (or nearly an adult) and you know what you're capable of and why you did badly, then I'd stick to your guns and go with what you know about yourself. Parents are often overly conservative because they are anxious about their children taking risks. But personally I have to say I completely disagree with your mother regarding the necessity of classes and tuition for successful completion of A levels. I completed high school via distance learning with next to no teaching or support from tutors. It was really just me, my books and then the exam centre. However that's me. It worked for me because I'm a very disciplined, motivated and hard working person. And I also have a lot of interest in academic topics so that meant that I was motivated to read around my school subjects a lot and could retain that information well. I definitely think that anybody who has enough motivation, discipline and confidence can excel learning independently. But not knowing you from Adam, I have no idea whether you possess those traits and that determination. So that's really up to you to judge. I do see a lot of parents and teachers pushing school students in the wrong direction, so my advice would be have an honest look at yourself, do your research. Perhaps have a look at the text books for those subjects and try and judge how much work it actually is... and if you feel that its how you want to proceed, then go for it :smile:

Nobody is answering my new thread. As to my family I don't have a single ally :bawling:

(apart from my grandpa who has no power over me and is slightly dubious I think, despite clearly understanding what I mean.

In fairness today is the busiest day of the year on this website, and you had already had some replies. The priority is replying to people who have had no responses to their questions at all today :p:

I'm pretty sure that in time you thread would get answered :smile:

Some of your questions don't really need answering NOW, e.g. in contrast to University applicants who are having to frantically scramble for University places in Clearing today :p:

Reply 18

stressedfordays

9

Original post by SDavis98

Well with whatever option you choose I hope you achieve what you want in life good luck :d

thanks

Reply 19