What degree can I do with these grades?

Anyone know much about foundation courses at uni? Are they looked down on?

Depends what kind of course. There is a foundation degree, which is two years long and you can choose to take a third year to top it up to a BA in some places. Some people do sneer at them but in my experience they usually aren't easier, just more practical. Theres also the foundation year, which is probably better suited for you, which basically gets you up to speed with anything you feel you might be lacking for the degree course you want to do after your foundation year. For example my boyfriend is doing foundation engineering and they teach you all the maths and physics your required to know for an engineering degree. Some universities do courses that allow you to go straight onto a BA after your foundation year also.

Ok thanks. I did think of doing a foundation course but wasn't sure if employers looked down on it.

Ok thanks. I did think of doing a foundation course but wasn't sure if employers looked down on it.

Yeah Shelly_x was quite right there. Employers would not normally look down on the foundation course when deciding whether you would be suited to a particular role or not. This is because there might have been some extenuating circumstances that prevented you from achieving towards your potential ability.

Another positive thing about foundation courses is that they are much more practical & you will be fed with almost everything that you will come across when you start your undergraduate year.
Another good thing about it is that you can do this course at a fairly top university except for maybe the likes of Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, ICL & maybe Warwick. But I would advice you to take a good look at some top universities that offer this foundation course/s. It would be of benefit to you because by looking at the grades you might achieve in August, it seems that you will not be able to get into a top university at least top 20 or even 30 in some cases depending on your course. So it means your chance of getting into a Russell group or 1994 group is pretty much slim except if you want to do some mickey mouse courses like Fishery or something along that route.

However, there is a chance of going through clearing if your Firm and Insurance choice universities don't accept you. This way you can get into a fairly good university like Kent, Essex, Sussex, UEA e.t.c depending on how competitive your course will be afterall.

I would have to agree with the fellow TSRians who suggested that you should do a language degree. Afterall, it seems like that is where your strength lies. French would be the most suitable one or you could take a look at combined degrees say maybe French and business or something but the entry requirement would be slightly higher so maybe you should stick with French on its own.

I personally don't understand why you can't do a 3rd year if it will or could benefit you in the long run. You are much more likely to turn those Cs into As through retakes. The grade you are hoping to get which is ACC/BCC is 280/260 UCAS points respectively. Some employers would normally look through your application process and they normally expect at least 320 UCAS point (maybe not for your type of degree course). I could have gone to university last year but decided to get more UCAS points and resit some of my Cs and low Bs. I am now in my 3rd year & I will end up with 410 UCAS points if I achieve my predicted grades. But if you have a very strong reason not to spend another year in college then that is fine.

Just out of curiousity, have you even applied to any university/s for the academic year starting this September?

I know I could take a 3rd year and sit some more exams, but generally, I've heard unis will expect higher grades than if I hadn't resat (unless the course is unpopular) like they may want ABB rather than BBB etc. Also, I'm not sure I would be able to do better in the subjects I've taken. I know people will think that means I'm not cut out to go to uni, but my gcse grades show I'm capable of learning, and perhaps I'm better at being ok at most things than really good at everything, but I'm sure if I took a course that focused more on having a lot of work rather than studying something conceptually hard (like science). My coursework grades for both biology and chemistry are letting me down the most, as I find it difficult to grasp the meaning of the questions in the tasks set (I'm not good at answering unfamiliar out of context questions). My grades for chemistry and biology would otherwise be Bs. I don't think it's simply a case of working harder. I wish I had taken subjects such as history and geography as I think I would have been good at them now, seeing the type of work my friends do, but having gotten the same grades in most subjects at gcse I guess I didn't really know at the time what I was good at and what I wasn't so good at.
Thanks for your input.

Aww, I feel for you my friend.

You might have done much more better if you had picked up essay based subjects like you have suggested e.g. History, Geography, Politics e.t.c. But you can only pass these subjects only of you are good at writing tons of essays and won't feel the boredom. Most people that are good at science subjects such as Biology, maths, generally find essay based subjects hard. The same goes for some essay based students also.

What do you personally want to do at university by any chance now?

I'm not too sure on what I want to study to be honest. Pretty much anything that will get me a decent job (which seems unlikely with my grades).

I'm not too sure on what I want to study to be honest. Pretty much anything that will get me a decent job (which seems unlikely with my grades).

ACC or BCC are perfectly fine A level grades to have and better than a lot of other people will have, you have a lot more university options than you seem to think. Have you spoken to your teachers and had a look at UCAS for some options?

Remember, a lot of people on TSR are applying to the likes of Oxbridge and certainly are not representative of the general A level population. Similarly, its the internet. Not all of what these people are saying about their grades is true.

I understand. Are you planning to apply to Uni nxt year or something?

Thanks. I've not even started to look at prospectuses yet, as I'm too scared to see how high the entry requirements for most uni courses are. On the whole though, I've heard employers prefer graduates from better unis even if the course isn't great over a graduate from a 'better' course at a lower ranked uni. Do you know to what extent this is true (if at all)?

I'm thinking of applying later this year, but I might take another year out to think of what I want to do / get a job for a while as it looks like most unis will be charging the 9k a year, plus I don't want to rush into studying something I'll be unhappy doing.