Sticky Situation. Advice Needed.

Okay, well here is the situation I have chosen 4 a-levels : Maths, Bio, Chem and History. Which Im home studying.

And i was supposed to take C1 , Chemistry Unit 1 ,Biology Unit 1 and History Unit 1 in january 2011. I'd started learning for these 4 exams in september but then the start of october i very fell ill and didn't recover till a week into december. So when i came back to doing my work I realised there isn't enough time to cover all the content i was supposed to. So i cancelled all my january exams but kept c1. The ones I cancelled im planning to do in june. So currently im revising for C1 and its going fine but then I thought to myself, wouldn't unis think why did he do only one exam in jan and even if i do well in C1 they might think "he was bound to do well since he only has ONE exam".

so my question here is : shall I postpone this one aswell, that way do all my AS exams in June (which some colleges do anyway) . And that way the unis won't ask much questions.

I think it looks a little weird to do C1 in jan and nothing else!(Also they might think its the easy way out).

Thanks

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 1

Antonton

Doubt it to be honest - I'm sitting my Core 1 and Law Unit 2 in January - only because my college is making sit my History, and Economics collectively in the summer.

Reply 2

hayheyley

Universities won't know from your UCAS form which exams you took in January and which in June. There's no point cancelling C1 now, good luck for Jan :smile:

Reply 3

supernova92

nooooooooooooooooooo

Some schools don't even enter applicants for the unit 1 exams in january, they have to do it in june.
You won't be disadvantaged. You're still doing it in the same year. Don't worry, you'll be fine :P

Reply 4

jayseanfan

Original post by hayheyley

Universities won't know from your UCAS form which exams you took in January and which in June. There's no point cancelling C1 now, good luck for Jan :smile:

"Universities won't know from your UCAS form which exams you took in January and which in June." - Are you sure about this?

Also When it comes to the june exams i might not do all the remaning AS exams since it will be too much, so il add them to the A2 exams in Jan 2012 and June 2012. This basically means for two or three subjects I wont have a AS level by the end of june 2011. Won't unis be like he only has one whole AS level.

Do you think they care about when you do certain units? Cause I dont want to have to explain why i done certain units at the time i did them.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 5

hayheyley

Original post by jayseanfan

There's nowhere to put on the UCAS form when you took each exam - I know this because I applied this year. The only way they could find out is if your referee mentions it, although I don't see why it would be included in a reference.

As for your second point, I believe 2012 entry is the first year candidates will have to declare their grades/UMS (I think it's the latter but I'm not 100% certain) for each module so the universities WILL know exactly which exams you have taken by September. I can't see it being a problem as you do have a legitimate reason for not taking them all within the normal time frame so perhaps you'd like to ask your referee to mention this? It's better to wait and see exactly what you're required to fill in on UCAS first.

Also, what you may like to do is put each of your ASs as 'pending' instead of the overall grade achieved and cash them in at the same time as your A2s - I don't know specifics on this as I'm applying through my school so they take care of that, but I know that they don't cash in AS results after the first year.

All in all, I can't see you being at a disadvantage because of this so do as many exams as you feel comfortable with in June (bearing in mind that you may have quite a few in Jan 2012, and taking exams earlier means more opportunity for retakes if they don't go to plan).

ETA: not sure how clearly I've explained this, so please ask if you don't understand! :smile:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

jayseanfan

Original post by hayheyley

Thanks for the response!!! VERY helpfull.

Errmm. Whats your view on: If i didn't do c1 this jan i.e. no exams this january. cause i just feel like its no point. And I honestly dont mind doing it later. I think this is how my exam stucture will go then. If i divide them equally between the remaning 3 exam sessions.

Jan 2011
-No exams

June 2011
1) C1
2) C2
3) S1
4) Bio 1
5) Chem 1
6) History 1

Jan 2012
1) C3
2) Bio 2
3) Chem 2
4) History 2
5) Bio 3

June 2012
1) C4
2) S2
3) Bio 4
4)Chem 3
5) Chem 4

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 7

Cinqueta

Original post by jayseanfan

Thanks for the response!!! VERY helpfull.

Errmm. What about if i didn't do c1 this jan i.e. no exams this january. cause i just feel like its no point. And I honestly dont mind doing it later. I think this is how my exam stucture will go then.

Jan 2011
-No exams

June 2011
-C1
-C2
-S1
-Bio 1
-Chem 1
-History 1

Jan 2012
-C3
-Bio 2
-Chem 2
-History 2
- Bio 3

June 2012
- C4
-S2
-Bio 4
-Chem 3
-Chem 4

You won't have any AS results to apply to university with. Have fun with getting rejected by anywhere decent.

Reply 8

hayheyley

Original post by jayseanfan

Thanks for the response!!! VERY helpfull.

Errmm. What about if i didn't do c1 this jan i.e. no exams this january. cause i just feel like its no point. And I honestly dont mind doing it later. I think this is how my exam stucture will go then.

Jan 2011
-No exams

June 2011
1) C1
2) C2
3) S1
4) Bio 1
5) Chem 1
6) History 1

Jan 2012
1) C3
2) Bio 2
3) Chem 2
4) History 2
5) Bio 3

June 2012
1) C4
2) S2
3) Bio 4
4)Chem 3
5) Chem 4

I would still advise you to do C1 in Jan because if it's your only exam, you can spend a lot of time for it and aim for a mark in the 90s. As C1 is the easiest maths exam, it would allow for a poorer mark in some of the harder modules whilst still enabling you to achieve an A. And you may find 3 maths exams in one exam period quite tough.

Obviously it's completely your decision though and if you feel you're better off waiting until June then do!

Reply 9

emmakh123

Original post by jayseanfan

June 2011
1) C1
2) C2
3) S1
4) Bio 1
5) Chem 1
6) History 1

Jan 2012
1) C3
2) Bio 2
3) Chem 2
4) History 2
5) Bio 3

June 2012
1) C4
2) S2
3) Bio 4
4)Chem 3
5) Chem 4

It would make much more sense to take C1, C2, S1, History 1, History 2, C3, C4, S2 - in June '11 so you would have A-Level Math and History AS to apply with then do Bio 1, B2 and Chem 1 in January '12 and B3, B4, C2, C3, C4 in June '12.

Then you've done 1 full A-Level and an AS in your first year (which will give you a somewhat decent appearance to Unis). And 2 full A-Levels in your second year.