Self teaching A Levels

Unfortunately there are no relevant ACCESS courses for what I want to do nor are they particularly valued by certain universities I want to apply for, I'd like to do A levels as they very much are but I can't afford the fees certain distance learning courses demand.

After a lot of lurking I've seen a lot of threads on this forum about students self teaching A levels and apparently it's just a matter of booking the exams, getting the right books and putting in a lot of time (especially if you want to do them in one year like me). Unfortunately though I'm still a bit confused and have some questions those threads did not answer

How do I go about actually booking the exams? I've looked around on the AQA website and am fine with the prices and everything but I can't for the life of me find a way to actually BOOK the things, it seems like something that would be easy to find and it's probably staring me in the face like an idiot.

Considering the changes to the A Level system would I only need to do an A2 or is an AS still required before I can sit the A2? You have to do both, but you can do both together if you are able.

What about the issue of predicted grades and references? You will need to find someone to give you an academic reference. As far as I am aware, you predict your own and they put it into the reference section, but this hasn't ever cropped up for me, so I'm not sure.

Because of the above would I have to rely entirely on clearing? I don't mind as a lot of the Economics courses at universities I wanted to go to (QMUL, SOAS, RHUL, City in that order) were available for it this year but it feels like a huge risk. No reason why you shouldn't apply like anyone else as far as I know.

And just are general advice; what are some good subjects to do in this situation? Maths is essential, economics would be nice and I have studied Sociology and Psychology at level 3 before so I feel I would be at a good advantage in that area.

Also has anyone done this themselves? Any more advice you can give? It would be nice to have a bit of a guide so I can get right on to things.

Hi,

I can't offer any advice on what you've asked but have you thought about a personal tutor? if nothing more they maybe able to give you advice on learning and booking the exams?

Can't comment on much of this (I'm a teacher, so it goes without saying that I don't come into contact with self-teaching students!) but you will have to call around your local schools and colleges to find somewhere that will accept you as a private candidate. Ask to speak to the exams officer.

I haven't sat A levels as a private candidate, but when I home-educated my son, I arranged one of his GCSEs at a private college in Southampton, and the others at an exam centre in Bristol. You book the exams through the examination centre, not through the exam board. Both centres we used were very helpful through the whole process. He sat a mock GCSE at the Bristol one a couple of weeks before the exam, and they gave us useful feedback. It might worth contacting them for advice. This is their website: http://www.3atutors.co.uk/

You may find local schools/colleges are cheaper than private centres, but many are reluctant to accommodate external candidates.

I'm currently studying A-levels through a distance learning company. If you have coursework on the course you want to study, you need to get this authenticated as your own work before sending for marking - this is why I chose a distance learning company as I'd have no idea how to get this done myself.

If you just have exams then it's much more straightforward. AQA have a list of private exam centres and you ring up and enquire. I was very lucky as a local school on the list agreed to have me with no additional fee - it was extremely easy to sort out.

Regarding changes to A Levels, I haven't heard anything about AS Levels being abolished? So I think the answer to that is that you still need to do an AS and then an A2.

I'm applying to Uni this year and I have no predicted grades, however I do have a full A Level and an AS (in addition to studying an AS and two A2s this year.) So I'm hoping this will be adequate. If you do a year of AS and then apply going into A2s then this may help as they will probably base it on AS grades - I'm not sure what the case is if you do them in a year, however.

Hope this helps!

Access teaches you skills you don't learn in A Level though. The study skills you have learned will be valued by the universities, and the fact that you are prepared to put in the extra year(s) to get A levels demonstrates your commitment to the course you are interested in. I think it's worth putting both on your application.

Three A levels is a big commitment for sure, but if they cover the same subjects you did in Access, you will have a good head start.

Unfortunately there are no relevant ACCESS courses for what I want to do nor are they particularly valued by certain universities I want to apply for, I'd like to do A levels as they very much are but I can't afford the fees certain distance learning courses demand.

After a lot of lurking I've seen a lot of threads on this forum about students self teaching A levels and apparently it's just a matter of booking the exams, getting the right books and putting in a lot of time (especially if you want to do them in one year like me). Unfortunately though I'm still a bit confused and have some questions those threads did not answer

How do I go about actually booking the exams? I've looked around on the AQA website and am fine with the prices and everything but I can't for the life of me find a way to actually BOOK the things, it seems like something that would be easy to find and it's probably staring me in the face like an idiot.

Considering the changes to the A Level system would I only need to do an A2 or is an AS still required before I can sit the A2?

What about the issue of predicted grades and references?

Because of the above would I have to rely entirely on clearing? I don't mind as a lot of the Economics courses at universities I wanted to go to (QMUL, SOAS, RHUL, City in that order) were available for it this year but it feels like a huge risk.

And just are general advice; what are some good subjects to do in this situation? Maths is essential, economics would be nice and I have studied Sociology and Psychology at level 3 before so I feel I would be at a good advantage in that area.

Also has anyone done this themselves? Any more advice you can give? It would be nice to have a bit of a guide so I can get right on to things.

Regarding your confusion with AS/A2. The gov are on about introducing the AS as a standalone qualification but not currently. Should you sit your A-Level in either summers of 2014/15 you will have to do both AS and A2 modules to get the full A-Level. You can sit all of these exams in one year of you so wish but you can't miss out the AS, because you won't get an A-Level, and also because you often need to grounding of AS to pursue A2, or at least make it easier. I'm doing my A2's this summer if you've any questions. I'm doing maths, geography and French all on AQA!


Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi, I self-taught through my A-Levels. I landed offers from Cambridge, UCL, Warwick and Bristol and I'll be starting my BSc in Economics at LSE later this month.

With maths, you need two resources: the Edexcel textbooks written by Keith Pledger, and examsolutions. I taught myself Maths and Further Maths this way and averaged 98% and 99% in them respectively. I found that teaching myself gave me an advantage over my counterparts at sixth form. I was able to truly understand what was going on while most students would just nod their heads at what the teacher would dictate without any proper understanding. They could carry out the various processes but when it came to questions that really tested understanding, they'd fail.

I did economics as well. Youtube and the revision guides totally suffice - make sure you examine the mark schemes and examiners' reports in detail, though. Can't comment on Psychology and Sociology.

I did my exams at my old school but I did ring up some local schools to see if I could sit my exams there and they all said yes, as long as they were doing the exams. Just make sure you register EARLY. One of the schools I rang were going to charge me £300+ in late fees so make sure you get that sorted early.

If you need any more help, let me know. But trust me, self-studying puts you at an advantage, you should have nothing to worry about and all the info you need is available on line.

Regarding your confusion with AS/A2. The gov are on about introducing the AS as a standalone qualification but not currently. Should you sit your A-Level in either summers of 2014/15 you will have to do both AS and A2 modules to get the full A-Level. You can sit all of these exams in one year of you so wish but you can't miss out the AS, because you won't get an A-Level, and also because you often need to grounding of AS to pursue A2, or at least make it easier. I'm doing my A2's this summer if you've any questions. I'm doing maths, geography and French all on AQA!


Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi, I self-taught through my A-Levels. I landed offers from Cambridge, UCL, Warwick and Bristol and I'll be starting my BSc in Economics at LSE later this month.

With maths, you need two resources: the Edexcel textbooks written by Keith Pledger, and examsolutions. I taught myself Maths and Further Maths this way and averaged 98% and 99% in them respectively. I found that teaching myself gave me an advantage over my counterparts at sixth form. I was able to truly understand what was going on while most students would just nod their heads at what the teacher would dictate without any proper understanding. They could carry out the various processes but when it came to questions that really tested understanding, they'd fail.

I did economics as well. Youtube and the revision guides totally suffice - make sure you examine the mark schemes and examiners' reports in detail, though. Can't comment on Psychology and Sociology.

I did my exams at my old school but I did ring up some local schools to see if I could sit my exams there and they all said yes, as long as they were doing the exams. Just make sure you register EARLY. One of the schools I rang were going to charge me £300+ in late fees so make sure you get that sorted early.

If you need any more help, let me know. But trust me, self-studying puts you at an advantage, you should have nothing to worry about and all the info you need is available on line.

Ah ok so I'll definitely need to do AS to get an overall A Level grade, I thought as much.

That's amazing, did you do it all in one year? How did you manage to get offers from all those unis? I would love to go to LSE but considering my situation and the fact I only got average GCSE's with a B in Maths (my secondary school was really bad, failed ofsted and went into special measures) I figured I might as well not even bother.

I've decided to drop psychology for economics as a lot of the topics I covered in access aren't on the aqa exams and I figure economics would increase my chances even if it's not a requirement.

I self-taught A levels (Bio, Pysch and Geog) and got 3 A grades (pre-A*) so it's perfectly possible, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! I agree with another poster who said that it actually helps you really understand the material, because you have to work everything out for yourself. Have you thought about the Open University? It doesn't have entry requirements for the majority of its courses.

Ah ok so I'll definitely need to do AS to get an overall A Level grade, I thought as much.



That's amazing, did you do it all in one year? Well, two years, AS and A2. How did you manage to get offers from all those unis? Grades, first and foremost. But also, because I wasn't wasting so much time at school, I was able to win some academic competitions, enhance my extra-currics - plus, unis are avidly looking for students with the drive to self-teach successfully, uni is all about independent education: you'll spend maybe 10 hours a week in lectures, the rest is all you. Showing them you're capable of that already makes you a far stronger candidate than someone who's achieved the same grades coming out of a private school where things are a lot more spoon-fed (not to say private schoolers don't work hard, of course)I would love to go to LSE but considering my situation and the fact I only got average GCSE's with a B in Maths (my secondary school was really bad, failed ofsted and went into special measures) I figured I might as well not even bother. Sounds like extenuating circumstances? LSE definitely take this into account so do bother if you get sufficient grades.

I've decided to drop psychology for economics as a lot of the topics I covered in access aren't on the aqa exams and I figure economics would increase my chances even if it's not a requirement. I agree. It will help you write your Personal Statement, too, which is a significant part of your application.

Answers are in bold.

Thanks a lot for the advice, I was definitely going to drive home the whole "independent study" thing in my personal statement because I know unis love that. I guess there's an advantage in doing your AS and A2 separately in that you can show universities how well you're doing via your AS results, unfortunately I won't have the ability to do that and my academic skills may be judged purely on my GCSE (though I'll make sure to mention the whole ofsted thing in my statement) and sub-par access results.

If I have a spot left over I might just attempt it anyway, worth a try I guess. The one I'm really shooting for however is QMUL so while it would be amazing to go to LSE it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't get an offer.

It all sounds like a lot of work. Why didn't you just enrol on a course with a foundation year, or study the foundation year with one of the top Universities subsidiaries? This normally guarantees a place onto the full degree with that University as long as you score x percentage in the foundation year.