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Are conditional offers through retaking 1 A-levels possible? urgent help please

Hi all,
Private intl student here who took CIE A Levels last O/N. I scored the following: Eng Lang (A*), Econ (A) and History (C). I'm going to apply to Politics and IR and the C is below entry requirements for my chosen univs.

I would like to ask for some urgent advice PLEASE 🙏. A teacher of mine said I should add in my personal statement and (her, in her reference) that I would retake just History this M/J in the hopes of getting conditional offers (on the condition of my retake grade being improved).

I have asked 2 counselling centers for advice in my country and literally neither mentioned this so is this true? They only said I should retake AND try applying next year but this is just impossible cause I am already running a year late and cause of other difficulties.

I would like to know:
1. If you can retake just 1 single Cambridge A2 subject for this Autumn intake? If yes/ is the process my teacher explained correct?
2. If conditional offers in this kind of case is heard of or if you know somebody who has gone through it? How big are the chances?
3. When my A2 results come out in August, how would I send it over to my univs (assuming that I might receive some conditional offers)?

For context, I got all A*s in my 8 IGCSEs, I am still working on my PS (yes, I am severely running late due to a tough home situation) and I also want to know if my extenuating circumstances (family circunstances, country's political situation, mental health issues) could lessen the poor impression of the C grade in my reference. I want to apply to Warwick and Bristol and they also offer a separate extenuating circumstances form so I am hoping to fill it out as well.

Please give a word of advice if you can! Very obviously, I am not well-versed w UCAS or the app process so if I am getting anything wrong, please correct me. Many thanks. 😭😭😭

Reply 1

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by petitemangue

1. If you can retake just 1 single Cambridge A2 subject for this Autumn intake? If yes/ is the process my teacher explained correct?

Original post by petitemangue

2. If conditional offers in this kind of case is heard of or if you know somebody who has gone through it? How big are the chances?

It's certainly possible to make an offer contingent on just a single retake. No one can tell you how likely you are to get an offer though.

Original post by petitemangue

3. When my A2 results come out in August, how would I send it over to my univs (assuming that I might receive some conditional offers)?

Either the exam centre communicates your result to UCAS, who pass it on to your choices automatically OR you or your school send confirmaiton of the result to your choices directly.

Reply 2

petitemangue

Original post by Admit-One

Yes, you should be able to register at either a school or exam centre just for the exam.

The process your teacher has advised is incorrect. You would need to list it as a pending qualification, not in your personal statement.

It's certainly possible to make an offer contingent on just a single retake. No one can tell you how likely you are to get an offer though.

Either the exam centre communicates your result to UCAS, who pass it on to your choices automatically OR you or your school send confirmaiton of the result to your choices directly.

Thank you so much! Could I also ask for some more advice?

Could I clarify that I would have to add both my original A2 grade as C as well as a pending new grade for the upcoming May/June series?

A few people has told me to ask my reference teacher to provide a predicted grade for my retake subject (history). However, she doesn't teach me this subject so is she allowed to provide one? If yes, how may she do so? If not, with my pending qualification sign with no predictrd grades would that throw things off? In that case, should I add smth in my personal statement or her, in her reference to explain things?

Is it possible to apply for scholarships while holding a conditional offer? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I just want to check if you are eligible to receive a scholarship w a conditional offer

I'm a bit confused how the UCAS reply deadline would work here. Is it correct that I would receive results from scholarship applications before the reply deadline?

I'm a private candidate so in the case of receiving a conditional offer, would the univ specify how to best send them my retake grade? Would I need to inquire with my exam centre separately (as they take so long to process inquiries) in prior?