Can You Retake A-levels You Already Hold?

I'm a mature student, planning to reapply to uni after leaving a degree a few years ago. I am doing another set of A-levels as my degree results were awful.

The course/unis I want to apply for require that I do all my A-levels in one sitting, and I need to do A-level Maths as one of these (the first time round, I did not take my A-levels in one sitting, so this is mandatory). I also want to do A-level History.

The problem is, I already took A-level Maths before applying to uni a few years ago (I got a grade A) and AS-level History too (I got a grade B, from an A in one exam and a C in another).

I want to redo A-level Maths and History, but I already have certificates in both subjects, as I cached in my A-level and AS-level grades. Can I still resit them? Would I have to do them with a different exam board, or can I use the same one.

You can almost always re-sit any A-levels whether you have already got them or not! I don't understand why you would resit math though if you already got an A at a-level?

I need to have done all my A-levels in one sitting for the kind of unis I'm applying to (KCL etc.) and I didn't the first time round, I did one A-level here and another there. It's a long story but I have emailed admissions and I will need to do another set of A-levels.

Why do you say "almost" always btw?

Oh okay! I'm at King's

I say 'almost always' because it depends how you're retaking your a-levels whether you're doing it by yourself or through a college. Some colleges have different requirements and so therefore I didn't want to generalise the statement

It will be tough re-doing your a-levels because you will have to get up to speed with AS as well. But if you're committed and can offer a lot of time to your studies then you'll be fine!

Cool! What are you doing, and what's it like at KCL?

I'm doing them by myself, and doing AS levels first (over the next 2 years, I'm not applying till next autumn) so fortunately I have a while

I'm studying music and it's great, very busy as you're part of the city!

Okay well good luck aim for at least AAB!

I'm a mature student, planning to reapply to uni after leaving a degree a few years ago. I am doing another set of A-levels as my degree results were awful.

The course/unis I want to apply for require that I do all my A-levels in one sitting, and I need to do A-level Maths as one of these (the first time round, I did not take my A-levels in one sitting, so this is mandatory). I also want to do A-level History.

The problem is, I already took A-level Maths before applying to uni a few years ago (I got a grade A) and AS-level History too (I got a grade B, from an A in one exam and a C in another).

I want to redo A-level Maths and History, but I already have certificates in both subjects, as I cached in my A-level and AS-level grades. Can I still resit them? Would I have to do them with a different exam board, or can I use the same one.

You can re-take any A level you already have, but if you do the same subject then the university may regard it as a re-sit and not A levels in one sitting, so you need to be absolutely sure you don't waste 2 years taking subjects they won't count. If you re-sit Maths, or any other subject that you started after September 2008 (all with the same exam board) then any unit you took could still potentially count (it will if the mark is better than your latest attempt) and it is more likely to be classes as a re-sit.

Thanks. Why September 2008? And does it only count if it's the same exam board?

The specifications for all A levels except Maths were revised and new ones started being taught in September 2008 = this is when the A* was introduced. You can no longer cash-in or re-sit units from the A levels prior to that (the last chance was Jan 2010). Maths didn't change so you can still selectively re-sit bits of it.

Whether switching exam boards would stop it being a re-sit is down to the university's viewpoint. You can't mix and match units from different specifications, so if you swap board you would have to take all the units again so they might be prepared to look on this as a fresh attempt. (You can normally transfer the AS between boards by a transfer of credit but you can't mix individual units).

One can always count on you for the correct information. Are you an exams officer?