Dropping an 4th A level after submitting UCAS application

Hi, so I’m currently taking 4 a-levels (biology, chemistry, maths and Spanish) and I applied to multiple unis, including Cambridge, this October to study veterinary medicine. I have had one interview and have my Cambridge ones next week, but have not had any offers yet. My problem is that I really don’t want to do Spanish anymore. I took it initially to do as an AS as I enjoyed the subject at GCSE, but half way through last year my teachers convinced me to stay on for A2. However now I’m really struggling with it, I definitely do not enjoy it anymore and I’m getting so stressed over the prospect of doing the exams for it because I know for fact I will fail. It’s also affected my other subjects as I can’t dedicate as much time to them, and I don’t want it to have a negative effect on my results next year.

Overall I just really want to drop it, but I don’t know what processes I have to go through and how it will affect my UCAS applhttps://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/member.php?u=5502896ication. I know lots of you will probably say that I’ve worked on it for over a year now and shouldn’t let that go to waste without gaining a qualification but I really don’t mind about that, I just want to get rid of the stress.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

If you put 4 subjects on your UCAS form you have basically entered into a contract with the universities to sit them. They will have made offers or rejected you based on that information so changing your part of the contract allows universities to change theirs and withdraw any offer made. In practice however nearly all universities make offers on 3 subjects so are unlikely to be concerned.

Write to your university explaining you are planning on dropping Spanish and get their agreement to it. It is highly unlikely it will alter anything but they do have the right to change or revoke your offer if you go ahead.

The other option is just to turn up for the exam. It doesnt mean you have to do any work and unless it is included in your offer it would not matter whether you pass it or not. Usually your offer is for 3 subjects and therefore the other is meaningless.

1) Speak to your school to see if they have any concerns or thoughts.

2) if you decide to drop it, email all your choices to advise them. In most cases it’s better to wait and see if you get an offer and then advise them. They can then tell you whether they’re okay with it, (rather than dropping it first then finding out it would’ve made a difference).

Thank you for the advice, very helpful.