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Repeating year 12

I wanted to ask whether I should repeat year 12 or not. I started year 12 doing an extended diploma BTEC in Engineering and A-level maths (equivelent to 4 a-levels) as originally my mind was fixed on becoming an engineer. But after a few months of the BTEC I really have started to hate engineering and feel like it isn't the correct career choice for me(mainly because of how much practical/physical work there is)(im not that good or enjoy the physical type of work) Now I have the option to switch to A-levels next academic year so I would be 17 when I start the A levels and I am thinking of doing A-level Biology,Chemistry and Maths or Geography. haven't decided yet if maths or geography is better.

Please Help is this a stupid choice, should I just stick to Engineering. And will repeating the year with different subjects affect or discourage me getting into University. I spoke with Newcastle Uni on the phone, which is local and they said if you repeat year 12 with different subjects then it won't discourage you for any of the courses. Is this the same for all Universities?

Also, if i switch to the A-levels Maths,Chemistry and Biology what are my career options with them. I was thinking Dentistry or Medicine but they are extremely competitive and hard to get into so I am worried that I won't get the space. I know salary shoudn't be what I look at but whatever job I do I hope to earn a decent comfortable salary.

Reply 1

atiyya03

Hi,
So I think you should look into different career paths that your able to get into with your current combination. Not sure about what scope the btec engineering allows you to go but the maths a level does broaden the potential career paths. However, if you hate the qualifications especially the idea of continuing it for year 13 then I would consider repeating with your changed subjects.

Also, when applying to uni after you repeat year 12 it does not affect your university application at all for any university. You are still going to take only 2 years to complete the qualification like most others doing a levels. Since you haven't done any exams too, you may not even need to mention this year on your ucas application. However, I'm not sure how the maths a level would be considered if you were to repeat the year again so I'd say contact universities directly for this.

The combination of a levels you mentioned you would repeat with opens you to alot of different career paths so I don't think you need to worry too much about that at the moment. My advice is to get some work experience over the summer in different fields e.g medicine, dentistry etc. This would help you see how the actual work environment is and whether you would enjoy the career.

Some other career options are; computer science, finance, maths and alot more. I think ucas has a career finder tool you can search through.

Good luck

Reply 2

Louisthom

I think you'll have a lot more choice if you choose Maths rather than Geography.