The Student Room Group

Poor Results information and discussion for A level students.

With A-Level results due out in the coming weeks, hopefully many of you will achieve everything that you're hoping for. However, we understand that for some of you, your results will fall short of your expectations and this thread is to allow you to find advice on what to do now and get support from others who understand your position.

For discussion of the remark and resit procedures, please use the dedicated threads:



For those who have just finished AS levels:

Firstly, congratulations! You’re now half way through your A levels. However, if you did not get the results you wanted for your ASs then fear not; you have another year left to bring some module grades up, which can have a large affect on your overall AS grade in many cases. If you would like more information on retakes, then please read the resits information thread. If you, however, find out that you have either failed some or all of your subjects, then a good option is to retake the AS year again. This will put you in an advantageous position as you usually understand information better if it is taught a second time. If you decide that this is a good option for you, then speak to your Head of Sixth Form or your Head of Further Education after results day and discuss the option with them. Also, some sixth forms and colleges require you to gain a certain grade in each subject. If you miss some of these by a few UMS, you may be considered to continue to A2. However if you are not near the grade boundary or you failed to score high enough to achieve a grade in the subject, you will either have to drop the subject or retake the AS again. If you find yourself in this position, you are best off discussing your personal situation with your tutor or you Head of sixth form or Head of Further Education to weigh out the best options for you to consider.

After results day, many students who have taken 4 AS subjects tend to choose to drop one of their subjects and carry 3 subjects over to A2. This is very common and it is usually the best option for most students as the increase in intensity of the A2 courses can make taking 4 subjects at A2 difficult. The majority of university courses only require 3 subjects taken at A2 and if the offer is given in UCAS points, then the AS grade can also count towards that. The subject that is dropped is usually the one which is either disliked the most, or the one that the student has achieved the lowest grade in. If you would like to do this after you have received your results, speak to your Head of Sixth Form or Head of Further Education at your school or college. The usual procedure is to fill out a form so your subject teacher or department has a hard copy to say you have dropped the subject.

If you have any other questions regarding any of the information given in this section, or regarding anything else regarding poor results after the AS year, please post your question or query below.


For those who have just finished A2 levels:

Again, congratulations of getting through your A levels! But if they did not go as well as you may have planned, don’t worry! There are other options available to you; you can do a few retakes of some modules if you only just missed your offers for your next stage in life (again, please read the resits information thread for more information on this), you can retake your A2 year again if you missed your offer and where resits will not benefit you, or you can enter Clearing to find another course at a different university, the same course at a different university, or a different course at the same university as your firm or insurance choices. If you would like to read users' experiences on retaking A levels in the 3rd year, have a look at the Experiences of resitting A levels wiki page .

Doing retakes after your A2 year does require you to take a gap year. If you are only doing a few module retakes and are likely to complete then before the summer season results in 2011 then there are ways to can make use of your time such as travelling, finding some work experience, volunteer work or finding a job to save money for university. If you would like some more information or advice on a gap year, please view or make a thread in the Gap Year forum .

If you go into Clearing and choose to find a course with it, the TSR Wiki guide to Clearing has all of the information you need to know about Clearing, including a Clearing contacts directory where you will be able to get the details of every university in Great Britain. If you do find yourself in Clearing on results day, make sure you have a list of your module results, some credit on your phone, internet access, contact details for your firm and insurance choices as well as a list of contact details for other universities (or a way of easily attaining them if required) and a copy of The Independent newspaper, as this the only place you will find the full Clearing list.

If you are in the opposite situation and did better than expected, you may be able to apply for Adjustment. Details and facts about Adjustment and applying for Adjustment are found here .

Another option if you have gained sufficient grades or UCAS points to apply would be to take a foundation degree in a subject which is related to the course you would like to study at university. Check the Clearing list on results day to see if there are any available.

Don’t forget that the Open University also offers a wide range of degrees for you to study from the comfort of your own home! For more information about what they offer or applying for one of their many courses, please visit their website or have a look on the TSR Wiki page about The Open University .

Also if you don’t want to continue with A levels or have changed your mind about the course you would like to do, then an Access course to Higher Education could be the way forward. You can read more information on an access course on this thread .


For those who would like to do something other than go to university:

After you receive your results you may decide that university is not for you at all. This opens you to options such as apprenticeships, vocational courses at colleges or going straight into a career. If any of these options appeal to you, please visit the links which are in the ‘Useful links’ section below.


Useful Links:




Good luck to everyone getting their results shortly! :biggrin:

Scroll to see replies

I'm panicking because tbh I think I have got like CEE, possibly a U tbh :s-smilie: and i don't know what to do next year if that's what I have :s-smilie:
My parents will be angry and I actually don't know what to tell them.. truth is I didn't revise and sat on here instead :mad: and I'm not sure whether I should resit the year and stay at school another 2 years or what!? And whether I should go to college to do that or stay at the school I'm at now :confused: But if I go to college that means waiting to January to start, or possibly next September

This is basically just a ramble of me panicking but I really don't know what would be for the best :frown:
Reply 2
mehhh.....hi.
I'm panicking because tbh I think I have got like CEE, possibly a U tbh :s-smilie: and i don't know what to do next year if that's what I have :s-smilie:
My parents will be angry and I actually don't know what to tell them.. truth is I didn't revise and sat on here instead :mad: and I'm not sure whether I should resit the year and stay at school another 2 years or what!? And whether I should go to college to do that or stay at the school I'm at now :confused: But if I go to college that means waiting to January to start, or possibly next September

This is basically just a ramble of me panicking but I really don't know what would be for the best :frown:

Wait until results' day until you actually know if you've failed or not, it's no good us advising you about resitting the year or whatever if there's still a chance you haven't failed.
Reply 3
You don't even have your results stop worrying
Reply 4
Dont worry about something that hasnt happened yet, you'll drive yourself nuts.
TSR can make your grade drop:colone:
mehhh.....hi.
I'm panicking because tbh I think I have got like CEE, possibly a U tbh :s-smilie: and i don't know what to do next year if that's what I have :s-smilie:
My parents will be angry and I actually don't know what to tell them.. truth is I didn't revise and sat on here instead :mad: and I'm not sure whether I should resit the year and stay at school another 2 years or what!? And whether I should go to college to do that or stay at the school I'm at now :confused: But if I go to college that means waiting to January to start, or possibly next September

This is basically just a ramble of me panicking but I really don't know what would be for the best :frown:



I am like you too, I have a uni resit exam on monday and have only done a tiny bit of revision, when I first did the exam in may I got 30%, I didn't revise enough and didn't now any of the theory

just resit the exam at the next available opportunity
Agree that you should wait until results day. Things might not turn out as bad as you think. :yep:
Reply 8
You sat on here instead?

Oh dear.

Considering you haven't actually got your results yet, don't worry about it.
I think im going to get bad AS results..
Will uni's still accept me if i get high predicted grades? :frown:
what happened to those who got bad AS results and did resits?

someone tell me about their experiences..please :bubbles: :shy2:

seriously though, if i end up getting bad AS grades, as im expecting for history and english lit because i F**** UP timing hardcore..what will i do? :frown:
I want to do law at uni..
at i need AAB, ABB? :{

i want to know whether those who do get bad as results still do fine at teh end, still get to go to the unis they want by resitting? :/

no meanies, thanks [;
Lizzzle
You sat on here instead?

Oh dear.

Considering you haven't actually got your results yet, don't worry about it.



Oh dear indeed.
ebmaj7
Obviously you'll be disadvantaged, but it's not although you'll be doomed to failure or anything.

Chin up. :smile:

what if i just resit the exams? ;/
If you are resitting your grades will be put as pending and not declared.

You'll be fine if you have a nice PS and reference etc.
my A/S levels were something like EDDC, my A2 levels were ABBE. still got an unconditional offer from surrey.
mehhh.....hi.
Oh dear indeed.

This is the same position im in.
But ISNT RESITTING IN JANUARY AN OPTION?!
:frown:
Op, don't panic :smile: There's nothing you can do, so just relax for the next few days.

Yes, it is possible you have 'failed', so nobody on TSR can reassure you that you achieved As. All you can do is take notes of your mistakes and make sure that TSR isn't more important than your future revision. Apart from anything, exams are a test of your dedication to education :smile:
Doyle&TheFourFathers
my A/S levels were something like EDDC, my A2 levels were ABBE. still got an unconditional offer from surrey.

Surrey wants abb.
law- they care where you go for uni.
I know how you feel, but I'm sure many people feel the same way. I admit, I only revised the night before and a few days before aswell, but you can resit I'm sure. Calm calm calm is that I tell myself.
Reply 18
helpneeded-a
This is the same position im in.
But ISNT RESITTING IN JANUARY AN OPTION?!
:frown:




A2's demand a lot of your attention anyway + potential January Exams
Getting distracted with revising AS levels is likely to decrease your overall performance for both AS & A2's
Not having regular teaching over the material of your AS's is likely to affect your performance
A2's build on the knowledge you learnt at AS, you didn't achieve the grades at AS how can you expect to improve at A2?
The amount of money to resit numerous exams in January (around Christmas) and the possibilty of spending even more money on resits on June & July could leave you out of pocket of more than £100
Also applying for Universities off of your AS results will make it difficult to get offers from the top universities, and put your teachers under pressure to give you a good prediction grade

plus many more reasons.

Your parents will probably be mad at you for resitting the year, but in terms of longevity it makes more sense to resit the year than put yourself under that kind of pressure for A2 where you could potentially do even worse.
Lizzzle
A2's demand a lot of your attention anyway + potential January Exams
Getting distracted with revising AS levels is likely to decrease your overall performance for both AS & A2's
Not having regular teaching over the material of your AS's is likely to affect your performance
A2's build on the knowledge you learnt at AS, you didn't achieve the grades at AS how can you expect to improve at A2?
The amount of money to resit numerous exams in January (around Christmas) and the possibilty of spending even more money on resits on June & July could leave you out of pocket of more than £100
Also applying for Universities off of your AS results will make it difficult to get offers from the top universities, and put your teachers under pressure to give you a good prediction grade

plus many more reasons.

Your parents will probably be mad at you for resitting the year, but in terms of longevity it makes more sense to resit the year than put yourself under that kind of pressure for A2 where you could potentially do even worse.



Ehrm, a couple of people resit in my school, first they have DDEA and then they'd resit,work hard and come out with AABC? i'd be more than happy with that.

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