Is my future doomed?

Hi,

I fell short in my GCSE results and I face rejection from not just my sixth form, but potentially further education in general. What is depressing is the fact that I know a lot of information and that I am more than capable of consolidating and understanding complex material but because of a few grades, I may have to repeat the year; this is pretty much the worse case scenario and I really want to avoid it. I want to pursue a career in Biochemistry but my Further Additional Grade was a D.

I'm having a meeting with my head of sixth form tomorrow. Do you think I have a chance? Is there a possibility he will be flexible? I am really tense right now. Thank you for reading.

Reply 1

Pinkberry_y

Retake all your GCSEs

Reply 2

JL124251

Sorry to hear that, unfortunately we can not read much into the situation as we don't actually know what you got and what the sixth form expected you to get.

Reply 3

Nerdcubed

Original post by JL124251

Sorry to hear that, unfortunately we can not read much into the situation as we don't actually know what you got and what the sixth form expected you to get.

Further Additional Science which was a D, English was a D, History was a B, Maths was a B, Radio Production was equivalent to a B grade, RE was an F and everything else was a C. My target grades were an A for everything besides English which was a B and Maths which was an A*.

Reply 4

JL124251

Original post by Nerdcubed

wow that did not end well! (I can speak from personal experience so don't go jumping down my throat on that! :smile:

was predicted a B in As French and ended up with an E! :frown:

well its not too bad just not what you were expecting! :frown:

so what was the sixth form asking for?

Reply 5

Nerdcubed

Original post by JL124251

wow that did not end well! (I can speak from personal experience so don't go jumping down my throat on that! :smile:

was predicted a B in As French and ended up with an E! :frown:

well its not too bad just not what you were expecting! :frown:

so what was the sixth form asking for?

The sciences and Maths are a B, I believe, and Further Maths is an A. Do you think they'll be willing to be flexible if maybe I give examples of when I've done well at these subjects?

Reply 6

JL124251

is it a natural progression sixth form? like you just go to the same school have the same teachers?

Reply 7

Locyce

Original post by Nerdcubed

The sciences and Maths are a B, I believe, and Further Maths is an A. Do you think they'll be willing to be flexible if maybe I give examples of when I've done well at these subjects?

Possibly, but that may take some constant check from teachers as well as a definite resit of the entire GCSE year (meaning you may be refused and referred to a college, rather than a sixth form, as you may be doing 3 years in stead of 2). However, I wish you all the best, and hopefully, he will be flexible

Reply 8

JL124251

Original post by Nerdcubed

The sciences and Maths are a B, I believe, and Further Maths is an A. Do you think they'll be willing to be flexible if maybe I give examples of when I've done well at these subjects?

also do you need further maths??? I know it is very very hard! and how far of Bs were you in the sciences?

Reply 9

Rosie_xxxoo

I have a question which is that I got In my AQA HIGHER SCA1HP and SCA2HP 223 in total so how many marks is that and how many do I need for a C? And I got 77 marks for the first paper which is (128 UMS) and 91 marks for the second paper which is 160 UMS but that adds up round 297? Why does it say 223?

Reply 10

Starlight2000

I totally understand what your going through. I did quite well overall.. but I was predicted at least a B in Bio and unfortunately got a C ( the exams were quite a shock to me but my controlled assessment let me down the most or I could've got my predicted- my teacher was so unfair with our class and he couldn't give me one more mark that could have changed my CA grade to a B, I got a B in b1,2,3 and a C in B4,5,6 so if I got a B in the CA there was a chance of getting a B overall :frown:

Also, I was so confident with French and was predicted a B but again my CAs let me down and I shockingly got a U in the listening exam ( I got a B in the reading exam) I got an overall D - the only subject I failed and not even expecting to
You'll have to retake English but you could you could talk to the head of 6th form- he might let you if you have a proper reason for not meeting your predicted grades, that definitely affected you. Good luck

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

Nerdcubed

Yep, the sixth form is connected with the secondary school and it is more-or-less the same teachers. To answer the question about the sciences, I do not know the individual grades but overall it was listed as a D.

Reply 12

RachaelBee

Even if you don't get to where you want to be this year, you are far from doomed. You could re-sit GCSEs at college; my friend recently sat her GCSE science which she studied alongside another science course. There are non-traditional study routes open to you; at A level I flunked massively (CDDu), did a foundation year at uni last year and this year I got into KCL but my work experience contributed to this. Would getting relevant work experience and just re-taking the necessary GCSEs be an option and then taking A levels a little later than planned? I worked in a biochemistry and haematology lab for a few years before I actually started A levels.

Reply 13

Nerdcubed

Original post by RachaelBee

I could probably take my GCSEs a little later but I did a little digging on the internet just now and I found this:

"Your subjects should include 2 `hard sciences' - Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Maths.
You must have a grade A in one of - Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Maths.If your grades are AAB or higher we will accept Geography, Psychology, Environmental Studies or PE in place of one of the hard sciences."

The school has given me an offer of Maths, Geography and Computing which would allow me to fall into this category and take a degree in Biomedicine. However, from your experience, would you say that an A-Level in Biology/chemistry would be pretty important in getting enough knowledge to get this degree? If my meeting with the head of sixth form does not enable me to take Biology and Chemistry, would you perhaps recommend learning them on the side while I do my other 3 A-Levels?

Reply 14

RachaelBee

Original post by Nerdcubed

Congratulations on the offer! :smile:

I didn't study A level Chemistry, which was fine for a lot of Biomedical Science courses, but I'm not sure it would be for Biochemistry; it depends which route you go down and which of the 2 you want to study. A lot of courses did specify A level Biology and I think I'd have struggled without it or my foundation year to bridge the gap between GCSE and degree. I'd definitely contact the admissions offices of universities you'd potentially be interested in, explain your situation and ask if they'd be okay options because it could potentially put you at a disadvantage if there are better candidates who studied Biology/Chemistry/ and show a passion for the subject. Alternatively, you could stick to those subjects and look into doing a foundation year which is aimed at people who have A levels but didn't do as well or who don't have the right subjects. Greenwich and QMUL both offer them and I'm sure other places do, and having done one I can say I'm a huge advocate of them!