Extended A-Levels: Reapplication Prospects?

Say I had performed particularly poorly in A-Level exams this summer, and decided to not cash in my grades and take a couple of retakes in January; how would universities receive me upon reapplication in view of the fact that I had taken 2.5 years to complete my A-Levels? This would then be combined with something worthwhile and Gapyear-ish.

I can't sight any extenuating circumstances which are provable - they're just circumstances that arose at the time which affected my performance considerably during the exam period. However, they're the sort of circumstances which sound like someone looking for an excuse, so it'd be difficult to get a UCAS reference describing any of this at particular length and it probably wouldn’t be viewed particularly credibly if it were.

I hold a place at a respected university with an offer of AAB. By my estimations I'll get something in the region of BCC. Now this isn't a reactionary idea along the lines of “OMFG I peed up my A-Levels!!!111”, and then go on to get AAA or something.

I suspect a few of you will react along the lines of "get over yourself, go through clearing, it's not like they're terrible grades or anything", and that's a fair enough comment - I just want other options so need an opinion about this. I want A-Level grades that accurately represent my abilities, and to be perfectly objective something more along the lines of my predicted grades do that, as apposed to what I’m likely to get.

On my reapplication I’d want to try and get offers from universities on a similar mantle to where I have a place now (i.e. Imperial, UCL, York, Nottingham, etc). So basically my question is (after all that rambling), would I stand any chance of getting offers from these places? Any experiences?

Yay for succinctness.

Reply 1

lou p lou

i dunno whether my friend was just lucky but she did this for medicine, she'd missed her As by only a few marks so took about 3 modules in january (at a different college) and ended up with her 4As and 4 unconditional offers for medicine (she'd had offers from 2 of them the first time round)

it probably depends how competitive your course is, how much effort you make to improve and how much they want you (like i assume my friend had amazing interviews)

lou xxx

Reply 2

fivebyfive

Most Uni's would respect the fact that you have been determined enough to go back and retake A levels. It shows that you don't quit when something is not easy. If you retook exams in Jan you would also be free to get some work experience for the rest of the year (and some money!). This would strengthen your application and you could also get some life experience.

Reply 3

kellywood_5

I don't think anyone can really answer this unless they've experienced it themselves, but maybe you could try contacting the kind of universities you're interested in and asking their views on resit candidates. If you do this before the results come out, it'll save you from wasting the chance to go to uni next year through your insurance place or clearing if they all say you'd be unlikely to get in. If, however, they say you'd have a reasonable chance, you can make sure you really want to reapply and then start planning how to make the most of your gap year.

Reply 4

luce20

Speaking from experience ( I did A levels, got crap grades due to various problems, took a year out, started a btec in textiles, which I should have finished by now but re-doing the second year due to problems resurfacing!!!), I am applying to uni again come this september. The responce from speaking to admissions tutors have been great! They have encouraged me to apply still and don't flutter an eyelid at how long its taken me to get to this point in my life. Im not applying to the places that you are (obviously as I'm now going down the arty route), but generally its looked on favourably as it shows decidation and commitment to your studies and the course you are applying for.