The Student Room Group

A level retakes

Hi I am super anxious about my a level exams. Worst case scenario I don’t get the grades I need, to retake the exam do you have to do redo year 13 or can you do the exam privately so you don’t have to go school again?
Reply 1
Original post by Js1223
Hi I am super anxious about my a level exams. Worst case scenario I don’t get the grades I need, to retake the exam do you have to do redo year 13 or can you do the exam privately so you don’t have to go school again?


I’m in the same situation.. I think you can just retake the exam later maybe. I doubt they will make u resit the whole year.
Original post by Js1223
Hi I am super anxious about my a level exams. Worst case scenario I don’t get the grades I need, to retake the exam do you have to do redo year 13 or can you do the exam privately so you don’t have to go school again?


I got told if you retake you dont sit the classes, you just do the exam
Reply 3
Original post by Squiggles1238
I got told if you retake you dont sit the classes, you just do the exam


But there are people who resit the whole year so I am confused on what the procedure is. I heard that to do it privately without the school you have to pay and do all the paperwork/admin stuff on your own.
Litch in the same position. I’m gonna sit the exams but I’m sure I won’t get the grades I’m capable of. From what I’ve researched already you can resit year 13 if your school/college allows you to do so. Or you can apply as a private candidate but then you are responsible for applying to sit the exams. I think the deadline is 6 months before the exam dates (something like that). You can also go to an independent college but they are stupidly pricey but help with exam practice. If a private candidate you can revise independently for the year or do online lessons, either way you have to pay for the exams.

I’m still doing research but this is what I’ve got so far hope it helps x
Original post by Michelle Qcute
Litch in the same position. I’m gonna sit the exams but I’m sure I won’t get the grades I’m capable of. From what I’ve researched already you can resit year 13 if your school/college allows you to do so. Or you can apply as a private candidate but then you are responsible for applying to sit the exams. I think the deadline is 6 months before the exam dates (something like that). You can also go to an independent college but they are stupidly pricey but help with exam practice. If a private candidate you can revise independently for the year or do online lessons, either way you have to pay for the exams.

I’m still doing research but this is what I’ve got so far hope it helps x

Really good summary

If you pass the 3 A levels but don't get the grades you want then the school/college isn't funded for a repeat year of study. If you fail or don't sit the exams some funding is available for your repeat year. For these funding reasons many schools won't take students back to repeat year 13.

If you are going to pay to be a private candidate, try your old school/college first. If they accept you it's likely to be the cheapest option. Lots of schools don't take independent private candidates but will help out former students. Good news may be that you can carry forward practical results etc so don't need to repeat things like practical endorsements for science A levels.
Reply 6
Original post by Michelle Qcute
Litch in the same position. I’m gonna sit the exams but I’m sure I won’t get the grades I’m capable of. From what I’ve researched already you can resit year 13 if your school/college allows you to do so. Or you can apply as a private candidate but then you are responsible for applying to sit the exams. I think the deadline is 6 months before the exam dates (something like that). You can also go to an independent college but they are stupidly pricey but help with exam practice. If a private candidate you can revise independently for the year or do online lessons, either way you have to pay for the exams.

I’m still doing research but this is what I’ve got so far hope it helps x


Original post by gdunne42
Really good summary

If you pass the 3 A levels but don't get the grades you want then the school/college isn't funded for a repeat year of study. If you fail or don't sit the exams some funding is available for your repeat year. For these funding reasons many schools won't take students back to repeat year 13.

If you are going to pay to be a private candidate, try your old school/college first. If they accept you it's likely to be the cheapest option. Lots of schools don't take independent private candidates but will help out former students. Good news may be that you can carry forward practical results etc so don't need to repeat things like practical endorsements for science A levels.


Yes thanks for this reply.
I just don’t want to go back to school because I hate my sixth form experience… I would much rather be a private candidate and study independently even if I had to pay. Hopefully I won’t have to be in this situation though as the whole thing just sounds complicated and a set back. Also do you know anything about how this would effect your already received university offer? Would you have to defer to the next year or reapply. Thanks
hi :smile:

i’m a resit private candidate and luckily my school allowed me to resit my exams there, they don’t usually take private external candidates however they made an exception as i was a sixth form student. I don’t attend any lessons or go to the school, it’s just self studying at home.
Reply 8
Original post by aliaa03
hi :smile:

i’m a resit private candidate and luckily my school allowed me to resit my exams there, they don’t usually take private external candidates however they made an exception as i was a sixth form student. I don’t attend any lessons or go to the school, it’s just self studying at home.


So did the school pay for your exam admission and let you sit the exam with others or did you do all the paperwork and pay on your own and then just go to the school and ask to sit the exam in there?
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by Js1223
So did the school pay for your exam admission and let you sit the exam with others or did you do all the paperwork and pay on your own?

no i had to pay the fees myself, there wasn’t really a lot of paperwork it was just 1 page to sign and write the subjects you wanted to sit.
Reply 10
Original post by aliaa03
no i had to pay the fees myself, there wasn’t really a lot of paperwork it was just 1 page to sign and write the subjects you wanted to sit.


Oh so you just pay and sign the page then go to the school and ask to sit the exam there. Where do you go if they don’t accept you? Sorry for all the questions lol
Original post by Js1223
Oh so you just pay and sign the page then go to the school and ask to sit the exam there. Where do you go if they don’t accept you? Sorry for all the questions lol

don’t worry ! if they didn’t accept you i would just ask them if they knew any schools in the area that did accept private candidates, or try googling a centre around your area
Original post by aliaa03
no i had to pay the fees myself, there wasn’t really a lot of paperwork it was just 1 page to sign and write the subjects you wanted to sit.

Hello, I was wondering how much fee did you pay since I think I want to resit my alevels next year and I found that they say that doing at a school is much cheaper than doing it at an exam centre
Thank you!

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