Take our quiz to find out what your revision personality is! >>

Need extra UCAS points

Hey, I'm from Wales and I've just failed my physics AS level and may need to drop it. Is it possible for me to get an extra A level now on the side of my A2 levels? Or is there any other way of getting the amount of UCAS points equivalent to a whole A level grade?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Tann132

You can study A Levels privately (either self study or online). Alternatively, you can do an extra A Level in your gap year.
if possible, I would try to see if you can stay at your existing college for an extra year to do an extra A Level. If not, you would likely need to find an adult college local to yourself that would accept anyone over the age of 18.

For other qualifications, you can be looking at Access which tend to accept people aged 19+. The problem is that a majority of the courses would be held in the UK, so depending how close you are to the border, you might be able to find an adult college local to yourself. The other alternative is to do the course online.
With Access courses you would need to be careful that there are adequate credits for the required subjects of the degree that you intend to do. 15 credits is the equivalent of an A Level, so if you're looking for an Access course that would meet the entry requirements of say an engineering degree, you would likely need 15 credits in physics and 15 in maths to meet the requirements of A Level Physics and A Level Maths.
Also note that not all universities accept Access courses. Even if they do, they might not accept Access for all of their courses.

If neither of the above look appealing, then you would be hardpressed to find a uni of your choice that offer foundation years for students who have 2 A Levels (if you're originally doing 3).

I don't know which subjects you're doing nor what degree you intend to do (or even what your career aspirations are), so it's difficult to say.