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Bad AS results to great A2/A-levels results - success stories?

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so all my maths edexcel grades are as follows S1- 87ums
D1 - 89UMS
C1 - 80UMS
C2 - 85UMS
C3(JUNE 2013) - 91UMS
C4(JUNE 2013) - 97UMS

so my teacher didnt predict me an A* for maths as my AS grades were ****ty according to the head of maths teacher. sadly i couldnt apply to LSE and all them other unis because he was an arse, so i smashed c3/c4 got an A* and kept asking him what grade i got. then that bastard tried acting all happy for me.
I went from ADD to AAB in French, History and English Lit.

It was hard work. But it was more to do with me actually teaching myself the syllabus in History and English rather than trusting my teacher as I had done in year 12 xD
Original post by fresasychocolate
Yes, definitely! You shouldn't be deterred by the thought of retaking the year! :smile:



Thanks for the advice x :smile:
Original post by nukethemaly
During my AS year I got DDDE in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Maths. I was really lazy during my AS year and hardly put in any effort or attended lessons. Those results were a big wake up call. I started working harder, retook almost all my AS modules along with my A2, and I got my results back yesterday. I got A*A*AA in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

SO YOUR LIFE ISN'T OVER! You can still get the grades, you just need to be willing and hard-working.


Congragulations :smile:
Original post by nukethemaly
During my AS year I got DDDE in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Maths. I was really lazy during my AS year and hardly put in any effort or attended lessons. Those results were a big wake up call. I started working harder, retook almost all my AS modules along with my A2, and I got my results back yesterday. I got A*A*AA in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

SO YOUR LIFE ISN'T OVER! You can still get the grades, you just need to be willing and hard-working.


Im in a simialar position, however I did do work. I think it may be more my method that is flawed. Would you mind telling me how you revised & tips & techniques? It would be appreciated

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Lazy in as. Turned aabb into AAA at a2. The as were All above 500/600 ums. And I narrowly missed A*A*A by 4ums. Not fussdd though. Got into Manchester medical school :smile:
Failed my January Maths exams. Came out with a B at the end of my A2's

Not my best A-level, but the one I was proudest of!
Well this isn't as great as others but I went from CDUU in AS to BBC in A2, dropping one of the Us in Maths. So basically going from CDU to BBC and now I'm going to Lincoln!

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I went from ABB at AS to A*A*A at A2 in history, english lit and religious studies respectively. It required an immense amount of hard work and it forced me to abandon my social life lol, but at the end of the day I'm over the moon that my late nights at school, sleepless nights and constant breakdowns paid off!!! WOOOOO
Reply 169
Original post by ItsJustMe17
With BCEE what did your teachers predict you?

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One E was in Biology and the other in General studies. I dropped both and got predicted AAB. Teachers at my school usually predicted one grade above what you got at AS.
BCCE in Maths, Chemistry, Economics, and Computing respectively. Dropped Computing. Achieved AAC in Maths, Chemistry, and Economics. It was hard work, because I'm not naturally smart. I told my teachers to predict me AAB and my Maths and Chemistry teacher were reluctant at first, especially my Chemistry teacher. Im glad to say that I didn't let them down and I was right making them predicting me those grades. I did not have to negotiate with my economics teacher for my predicted grade and unfortunately it was the only subject that I didnt meet my predicted grade. I managed to get offers from the likes of UCL, Warwick, KCL and Manchester. Just work hard.
This has made me feel better. I achieved BBCC. One C being 6ums off a bit with no work whatsoever. I'm nervous about taking loads of exams next summer as I want to get ABB. I was thinking of retaking 2 so I'd have 7 overall. I found 7 a struggle this year though. Anyway, I need to Forget about it and enjoy the holiday I am about to go on, and I'm afraid my grades might ruin it.

Thanks for all the motivational stories!


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Reply 172
Just got my AS results back and I did horribly, I got BBCC yet I worked incredibly hard. I came out of my chemistry exams pretty chuffed as I knew everything on that paper but came out with a C, which makes absolutely no sense to me as before in class with minimal revision, id get a C. So I'm just baffled by it. Plus with my philosophy I also got a C and my teacher is quite shocked too because I am such a hard worker and in class tests and mocks was seeing A's. Is it possible that there was an error in marking? Because I just can't understand what went wrong. If it was English I would understand as there is never a straightforward right answer to it, but Chem and philosophy are straightforward wrong or right answers. was so keen on having AABB
Original post by Rahman96
Hi I got a C for history at AS. With there being no more January re-sits is it still possible for me to get an A overall? Thanks.


Definitely! I only resat one of my history AS modules (got a D originally). I resat it and got a very high B. In the other module I got a mid B first time round, which I decided to keep. I then worked really hard at A2 history and ended up with A* in my c/w (not as hard as it seems, just follow the mark scheme as much as possible) and a good A in the exam. I ended up with 330 ums, so really you could get a good A in the c/w and still manage an overall A.

So it would help if one of your AS modules wasn't too bad as it means you'll have one exam less to resit. Otherwise make sure you start revision early if you're going to have to resit both modules. Good luck :smile:
Reply 174
I got DDE, so without retakes what would be the highest i'll be able to achieve at the end of A2?

Shall i retake year 12 because there's no january exams... which may mean all my AS and A2 exams will be cramped together!
Reply 175
Original post by Hanifab
I got DDE, so without retakes what would be the highest i'll be able to achieve at the end of A2?

Shall i retake year 12 because there's no january exams... which may mean all my AS and A2 exams will be cramped together!


Well it depends I guess but I'm pretty sure you can push those D's up to a B :smile:
Original post by Chezsa
Well it depends I guess but I'm pretty sure you can push those D's up to a B :smile:


What about Cs to As?
Reply 177
Received my AS results this year and got AABC
A History, Biology
B Chemistry
C Maths

Really disappointed with Maths as I was as close as 1 UMS to a B, but I am dropping it and will submit for remarks. Really want to apply to do History at universities such as Bristol, Warwick, Leeds and maybe even UCL. Hoping my C in Maths won't disadvantage my application too much :frown:. I'm predicted A*AA for next year.. with the A* being in History.

Come to a massive realisation about how much hard work A levels require! Ready to work my socks off for A2 year, waaaah.
Original post by Mikeortolan
I took History, Politics, Law and English Lit. At AS I achieved CCDU, just finished A2 and achieved ABB and got into my firm (Surrey). I took a lot of resits and worked much harder during yeah 13. During AS i also had a part-time job, so I was constantly on verge of dying from exhaustion, I quit and managed to work a lot harder... So quit your job and lock yourself in your room for weeks when it come to revision :biggrin:


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Hey mate. I've just received similar AS's to yours, but what I really wanted to ask was how did you manage your teachers to predict you ABB, and get an offer from Surrey? The main problem I'm looking at is poor predicted grades and therefore not being able to get an offer, because of my poor results, even though I think I can achieve good A2 results.
Thanks.
Original post by im so academic
What about Cs to As?

Cs to As are doable. Have you done your AS exams this year?

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