Hi,
I am 21 years old and living in Greater London. From around 2009 to 2011 I undertook my GCSEs: my grades for the most part were Bs, with one or two Cs, and an A in German.
From 2011 to 2013 I studied for my A levels in Religious Studies (Philosophy & Theology), English Literature and German (took Drama but failed that at AS level). I achieved C grades for both Religious Studies and English Literature at A and, sadly, a D grade for German.
I have autism and Asperger's syndrome, so found that my struggles during my A level studies were primarily due to my failure to anticipate the leap from GCSE to A level, and were also due, in part, to my disorganised nature (which I attribute to the two conditions mentioned above) and my struggle to process large amounts of information (which can sometimes be a struggle for those on the spectrum). In hindsight, after my GCSEs, perhaps also owing to both conditions, I had relatively little life experience and found it difficult to socialise with others, so it has taken quite a few years for me to come out of my shell, so to speak.
Anyway, from 2013 to 2015 I studied towards the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production at my local FE college, where I achieved D*D*D*. In school, I was quite the creative individual, so this course helped me expand on my creative abilities.
Now I am undertaking an apprenticeship in web development, which is supposed to last a year. I am on track to achieve high grades and attain the following diplomas: BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in ICT Systems and Principles, BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Professional Competence for IT and Telecoms Professionals, and the Edexel Functional Skills in ICT Level 2 (as the training provider did not acknowledge my GCSE in ICT).
I have definitely matured a lot, and although I have experienced many difficulties in adjusting to a working environment - especially when I have been thrown into the "deep end", as my boss likes to put it - I have gotten a much better sense of my strengths and weaknesses.
However, that being said, I would like to return to my studies after my apprenticeship draws to a close, and have entertained the idea of self-studying towards an A level in Maths and maybe sitting the exams at a local centre. I think I may chosen the wrong A-levels the first time round (my school didn't have a particularly impressive selection of A-level subjects to choose from, in retrospect, with certain A-level subjects such as Law ultimately being scrapped as there was only one teacher delivering the course, and the A-level Law course had poor intake from students), so would like to self study towards an A level in Maths as I have been considering studying CompSci at university, and an A level in Maths seems to be a prerequisite for most.
Please let me know what you think, whether enrolling as a private candidate and studying from home (I am motivated enough) can be done on the cheap (as I don't want to study in an FE environment again) and, for when I decide to apply for CompSci undergraduate degree courses at some of the top providers, how they will regard attaining an additional A level some years after completing my original A level studies.