How can I retake A levels inependently cheaply? Please heeeeelp!!!!

Original post by HornDirndlFest

I got 4 Us and know I will retake in one form or another. I never found tuition of any help and need to find a way of retaking but cheaply as some of the places online which I have found are ridiculous. A member commented that they did them somewhere for £200 but I can't find how. Also I live in Letchworth

http://abbotbeyne.staffs.sch.uk/

Have you spoken to your school? Why not call every sixth form or college in your area and ask for a quote? They might be cheaper than private exam centres.

Reply 2

prettyreckless13

1

Are you at college or sixth form? If so, you can contact the head of examinations and ask if they can enter you as an independent/external candidate...

Reply 3

OP

Original post by Craghyrax

Have you spoken to your school? Why not call every sixth form or college in your area and ask for a quote? They might be cheaper than private exam centres.

That sounds sensible, I'll probably end up doing that, cheers. I don't now how likely any of them are to allow completely independent study though. This is something of a nightmare I am experiencing at the moment

Reply 4

OP

Original post by prettyreckless13

Are you at college or sixth form? If so, you can contact the head of examinations and ask if they can enter you as an independent/external candidate...

I was at 6th form and am now kicked out obviously. I've already had to see the head of 6th form and they naturally advised against retaking, which I reject utterly. I don't know if they'd let me even if I paid given them and their precious league tables or whatever

Reply 5

Original post by HornDirndlFest

That sounds sensible, I'll probably end up doing that, cheers. I don't now how likely any of them are to allow completely independent study though. This is something of a nightmare I am experiencing at the moment

Well it depends if you value your independence most or saving money :p:

To be honest I did A levels at a further education college and in my experience they are considerably less pushy and interfering than mainstream schools. As long as they think that you're working hard they can be quite happy to leave you to your own devices. And the optional support and company of fellow students isn't a bad thing :smile:

Reply 6

prettyreckless13

1

Original post by HornDirndlFest

I was at 6th form and am now kicked out obviously. I've already had to see the head of 6th form and they naturally advised against retaking, which I reject utterly. I don't know if they'd let me even if I paid given them and their precious league tables or whatever

Oh, they kicked you out?

It's worth a try getting in contact with them, though. If they still deny you the chance to retake independently, then try other schools. I took a year out before I applied to university in order to retake a few exams. I told the school I wasn't going to be attending but I'd like to pay for my retakes with the school as an external candidate. They agreed. I worked in the meantime and used that money to pay for resits, which they requested in the early stages of the following year. Try other sixth forms. As long as you make it clear that you would like to resit the exams as an external candidate, they may consider you. Hope that helped, and good luck!

Reply 7

OP

Original post by Craghyrax

Well it depends if you value your independence most or saving money :p:

To be honest I did A levels at a further education college and in my experience they are considerably less pushy and interfering than mainstream schools. As long as they think that you're working hard they can be quite happy to leave you to your own devices. And the optional support and company of fellow students isn't a bad thing :smile:

How much did you pay? I am not rolling in money, I may even have to sell my moped if its over £1000

Reply 8

OP

Original post by prettyreckless13

Oh, they kicked you out?

It's worth a try getting in contact with them, though. If they still deny you the chance to retake independently, then try other schools. I took a year out before I applied to university in order to retake a few exams. I told the school I wasn't going to be attending but I'd like to pay for my retakes with the school as an external candidate. They agreed. I worked in the meantime and used that money to pay for resits, which they requested in the early stages of the following year. Try other sixth forms. As long as you make it clear that you would like to resit the exams as an external candidate, they may consider you. Hope that helped, and good luck!

Yeah, if you fail 2 subjects you get kicked out at my (old) 6th form. I suppose they'd have a policy for these things, no matter how much they wouldn't 'advise' me to. they clearly don't think I am capable, I say I am but I think they might value their league tables enough to do as they should do and let me

Reply 9

Original post by HornDirndlFest

How much did you pay? I am not rolling in money, I may even have to sell my moped if its over £1000

Well in my case it was free because I started my A levels there before I was 18. This was some time ago... 2004-2006 :p:

EMA still existed and you only paid for education if you were over the age of 19.
But honestly I'd really expect state schools and colleges to charge less for exams than a private body would. When I was still studying we were required to attend 85% of the classes. However that was really just for those of us with free education. We were told we'd have to pay for exams if attendance fell below that marker. But if you're paying anyway then you'd have more freedom.

Reply 10

OP

Original post by Craghyrax

Well in my case it was free because I started my A levels there before I was 18. This was some time ago... 2004-2006 :p:

EMA still existed and you only paid for education if you were over the age of 19.
But honestly I'd really expect state schools and colleges to charge less for exams than a private body would. When I was still studying we were required to attend 85% of the classes. However that was really just for those of us with free education. We were told we'd have to pay for exams if attendance fell below that marker. But if you're paying anyway then you'd have more freedom.

Certainly should. I think that would be a line in the sand for me, obviously I realise that I was a stupid ass not studying enough but I blame the wasted, not at all useful time in lessons in part, for my downfall. As long as its under £500 for all 4 then I'll be happy. Although if you look at the NEC it's £500 per A level (wtf?)! So I desperately need a sensible resource

Reply 11

Original post by HornDirndlFest

Certainly should. I think that would be a line in the sand for me, obviously I realise that I was a stupid ass not studying enough but I blame the wasted, not at all useful time in lessons in part, for my downfall. As long as its under £500 for all 4 then I'll be happy. Although if you look at the NEC it's £500 per A level (wtf?)! So I desperately need a sensible resource

You don't need to do four A levels. Three is completely fine for admission to Universities :smile:

Rather do three and ace them than four to a mediocre level.

Reply 12

OP

Original post by Craghyrax

You don't need to do four A levels. Three is completely fine for admission to Universities :smile:

Rather do three and ace them than four to a mediocre level.

So what was the point of 4 ASs anyway? Come to think of it my Grandpa (who was a teacher) was saying that 4 is far too much

Reply 13

hihihihihi

18

How did you manage to get 4 U's?

Reply 14

Original post by HornDirndlFest

So what was the point of 4 ASs anyway? Come to think of it my Grandpa (who was a teacher) was saying that 4 is far too much

Its not cut and dried. For some people, doing four ASs is helpful because it allows them to identify where their strengths are, so they can be more flexible and progress with the subjects they like the most in A2. If you do three from the start you're kind of stuck with those choices. You've said yourself that your school is concerned with league tables. From their perspective if their students can get great grades in four subjects that is better than three. And similarly it would impress Universities if you had great grades in four subjects. Its just that for some students, that would divide the amount of time you have to focus on the other three and result in suppressing the overall standard. I think you have to judge for yourself what is best.

Reply 15

OP

Original post by hihihihihi

How did you manage to get 4 U's?

I was shocked myself, I'm just putting it out of my mind. I'll have time enough to dwell on it and recover. As it happens I knew I wasn't going to do very well. In the mocks I got:

C
D
D
U

... so I thought I might retake the year anyway (but family disagreed), at least this means I have to :smile:

#thinkpositive

Reply 16

OP