Has anyone got into good uni's by retaking year 13?

I don't think I'm going to do well in my exams... if I get all E's and U's if I retake and get all A* 's in my gap year will good universities like Exeter or Warwick consider me? Say if I apply via adjustment or clearing?

Hi, I'm currently taking a semi gap year (Retaking some A level exams but definitely going to uni this year) and I've entered this year with BDE (Well, BDEE). I applied to find different unis for some foundation courses but got rejected by all but two: UEA for undergrad Chemistry (no foundation year) and Birmingham undergrad Chemistry (foundation year)

Although, I think the reason why I've got an offer from the UEA is because I literally live down the road from it so I wouldn't need any student accommodation. But if you retake and get all A*s, I can see the top 3-5 unis maybe rejecting you (Cambridge almost certainly would reject you) but I can imagine Exeter and Warwick considering you if you got all A*s. But you'll have to look up each Uni's policies regarding adjustment and clearing because I know that you can't get into Cambridge via clearing or adjustment. Best of luck

Well a friend of mine who did IB HL Maths and got a 4, then stayed on after getting her IB diploma proper for a "year 14" to "retake" A-level Maths and AS Further Maths got As in both then went on to Exeter for Renewable Energy.

So, it's certainly possible but it depends somewhat on which A-levels you're retaking, and which degree programme(s) you're applying to. That said I doubt Warwick would consider it for STEM/quantitative subjects as they have so many applicants to choose from for those in the first instance already.

Did she get good grades in her other subjects though? I don't know if I will be able to redo the heat in my school and will probably have to do the exams privately... which means I might not get a predicted grade

Also I take Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I did AS maths last year and got a U so I decided to fast track A2 Bio (biggest regret), so next year aim hoping to just retake maths, chem and Physics...

She had pretty good marks all around other than HL Maths (which was the older version and harder than the current HL Maths).

I might suggest considering a change of direction, given you're taking all STEM subjects and struggling with them. You may find social sciences or humanities (or even arts) align to your strengths better?

If we knew why you chose these subjects and what your longer term hopes are we might be able to offer some more pointed advice.

In general though, you can retake but you if you're retaking in a single year without any predicted grades you may need to take a gap year after and apply then when you have your grades. But I would urge you to reflect on your subject choices as it seems to be an area of difficulty for you, and isn't going to get any easier when you get to uni.

Hi, there's this youtuber who retook year 13 and got really good grades and got accepted into Cambridge. The channel's name is Ibz Mo if you want to look it up. He has more videos on his experience and what he did, so you could maybe try to contact him or just find one of his videos that may be informative

I'm on a gap year and I retook 3 exams units during this time, I got offers from Liverpool, UEA, notthingam and Birmingham. I dont think unis really care as long as you end up with the grades Are you planning on redoing the whole year or taking a gap year and resitting certain units? If it's the latter

Thank you. Yeah I definitely don't want anything to do with science anymore. I want to study Economics at university and the only reason why I chose science was because of the job perspective haha. Tbh, I was always good at humanities without trying, got all A's for GCSE by revising night before/day of. And I took a literacy assessment or something like that as well at school and I was in the top 10% for 18-23 year olds. Do you know if unis knew that I'd have a better chance? T_T

I don't think I am terrible at science as I understand everything in lesson but I forget it in exams and I've made so many mistakes this year in terms of poor revision. I think I can get a C in chem and maybe a D in Physics but no way a good grade in Bio. I might have to look at foundation courses as well but all I've seen so far is offers for mature applicants and international student.... It's just annoying cuz it's purely my fault lol and I feel stupid. People who were at the same level as me are getting offers from UCL and LSE and I've just screwed my life over.

Can I ask why you're wanting to study Economics at Uni? To get a place you will almost certainly have to get at least a B in A level Maths, and they will likely appreciate you having other Business/Science qualifications to go with it. I would seriously think about what you really want to do at University and why, and then look at the entry requirements for those courses for the Universities you want to apply to. Look into some Humanities/English courses and see if something takes your fancy - there's a huge variety of courses out there and each University will teach the same course (e.g. English Literature) in a completely different way, focusing on different aspects. Whichever course you look at you have to look at the entry requirements (usually AAB/ABB minimum for top Unis). If you do not at least meet the entry requirements you will not get an offer, simple as that, but if you do meet the requirements you then need a good personal statement to back you up.

In answer to your original question, yes it is absolutely possible to retake and get a place at a good Uni. I finished my A-levels with AAC and got multiple offers from good Unis, but the Uni I really wanted (Nottingham) needed ABB. Usually they would have let me in but they were massively over-subscribed and so I re-took one exam the next year and finished with AAB. I got multiple offers from good Unis again and started at Nottingham that year. Many people I know retook a couple of exams in 'year 14', or redid year 12 with completely new AS levels. If not, there's always the option of going to Uni as a mature student (even 21 is 'mature' and it'll often help your chances that you've got a few years of life and job experience.

Hi there, congrats on getting into Nottingham!!
I actually decided upon economics because I took it for a few months during AS and always got really good grades in the assessments. But then I dropped it a few months before exams because I didn't think I needed it and just wanted to focus on my 3 AS exams... Which I flopped anyway (got UDD). I really enjoyed the content though. Also, I like the job prospects because I want to work at an international company and have options to travel and get paid well (I'm not sure a humanities degree would offer that). I was worried about the maths aspect and will probably retake maths next year.... I don't know if I was ever good at maths. I got a B at GCsE and wasn't allowed to do it for A level. However we had this assessment at the beginning of a level (when I took use of maths) that tested everyone taking maths further maths and use of maths and I managed to get 3 marks off of full marks!! So they let me take it. I always good like 1 mark off of full marks on tests but when it came to the real exam I started slacking and did barely any questions for revision. So I don't actually know if I even had potential.

Also I did consider Law but no good uni will accept me cuz it's so competitive like medicine and apparently it's really hard to get jobs as a law graduate... idk.

Thanks for you advice!

Wow that's great!! Congrats!! Just wondering if you don't mind me asking what grades did you get the first time doing and what course have you applied for? Good luck on results day!!

This gives me hope but I am going to have to retake every exam because of the new A levels