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Is Oxford against students that...?

Is Oxford University against students that complete their A-Levels and go back to do another A-level they haven't studied previously in order to make up for one of the A-levels they may not have done so well in?
They're not against it in the sense they would reject your application just for doing it, but do be aware that Oxford like to see candidates perform well in all three A-levels to show they can cope well with the workload of university. Unless you have significant extenuating circumstances, doing another A-level this year won't help your application that much.
Reply 2
Avatar for rosalieee
rosalieee
OP
7
Original post by SarcAndSpark
They're not against it in the sense they would reject your application just for doing it, but do be aware that Oxford like to see candidates perform well in all three A-levels to show they can cope well with the workload of university. Unless you have significant extenuating circumstances, doing another A-level this year won't help your application that much.


Unfortunately, I had a computer science teacher for around less than half of the first year of my A-levels and the rest of the year no teacher, not even anyone supervising the class. At the very end of the year we had a teacher finally assigned to us but he isn't very helpful at all. We don't get given past papers, questions or homework from him.
Would this be considered as extenuating circumstances?
Original post by rosalieee
Unfortunately, I had a computer science teacher for around less than half of the first year of my A-levels and the rest of the year no teacher, not even anyone supervising the class. At the very end of the year we had a teacher finally assigned to us but he isn't very helpful at all. We don't get given past papers, questions or homework from him.
Would this be considered as extenuating circumstances?


You'd need to discuss your situation with an admissions tutor to see how they would view it.
Reply 4
Avatar for Doones
Doones
21
Original post by rosalieee
Is Oxford University against students that complete their A-Levels and go back to do another A-level they haven't studied previously in order to make up for one of the A-levels they may not have done so well in?


So you aren't resitting, you are doing a new A-level from scratch?
Reply 5
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rosalieee
OP
7
Original post by Doonesbury
So you aren't resitting, you are doing a new A-level from scratch?


So, I'm doing biology, English literature and computer science.
I'd keep Biology and English and then after I sat these set of A-levels I'd do another A-level that is not one of the ones previously mentioned.
Reply 6
Avatar for Doones
Doones
21
Original post by rosalieee
So, I'm doing biology, English literature and computer science.
I'd keep Biology and English and then after I sat these set of A-levels I'd do another A-level that is not one of the ones previously mentioned.


With a view to doing which course?

And what will your new A-level subject be?
Original post by rosalieee
So, I'm doing biology, English literature and computer science.
I'd keep Biology and English and then after I sat these set of A-levels I'd do another A-level that is not one of the ones previously mentioned.


This is a difficult one. If the school agrees with you and is prepared to state in a reference that continuity of CS teaching was disrupted, then it is fairly easy to take that information into account. Sometimes, however, there is a difference of opinion (or indeed a dispute) between a candidate and a school which puts a university in an impossible position since it cannot act as an arbitrator. On rare occasions, we have received direct communications from a UCAS referee providing additional commentary that he/she preferred not to state in a reference. In the past, we have taken this information at face value, giving the candidate the benefit of any doubt. We would stress, however, that this is highly unusual: we can recall only one or two instances over the past eight years.

We hope that you can get CS back on track and won't, therefore, need to worry about taking additional A-levels.

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