The Student Room Group

resitting year 12

I am unsure if i should resit year 12 or not. right now im predicated ADE in psychology, chemistry and biology. I wanted to originally apply for medicine. is that still doable? Any advice would be nice
If you want to repeat the same subjects and you're at a state school it's unlikely they'd let you retake the year - have you asked?

I don't think Medicine would be an option unless you apply after achieving good enough results. What plans have you for improving your performance in Chemistry and biology next year?
Reply 2
Original post by EBluebear
If you want to repeat the same subjects and you're at a state school it's unlikely they'd let you retake the year - have you asked?

I don't think Medicine would be an option unless you apply after achieving good enough results. What plans have you for improving your performance in Chemistry and biology next year?

I haven't asked but the is a girl who is in the same year as me who resat year 12 with the same subjects so i believe its possible to do for me. I have started tuition for chem and bio. I was thinking if I decide to not resist year 12 with my current predicated grades i would probably have to apply for courses with a foundation year. So would it not be better to just resist year 12 and get better grades so i could have more options
Original post by FOPHO
I haven't asked but the is a girl who is in the same year as me who resat year 12 with the same subjects so i believe its possible to do for me. I have started tuition for chem and bio. I was thinking if I decide to not resist year 12 with my current predicated grades i would probably have to apply for courses with a foundation year. So would it not be better to just resist year 12 and get better grades so i could have more options


There were some special concessions for people retaking 6th form years in 2021 because of Covid. I'm honestly not certain what's happening this year so do check before assuming it is possible.
Definitely ask. It's a sensible decision :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by EBluebear
There were some special concessions for people retaking 6th form years in 2021 because of Covid. I'm honestly not certain what's happening this year so do check before assuming it is possible.

If i am allowed to retake. Do you think its best to do the same subjects or different subjects
Original post by FOPHO
If i am allowed to retake. Do you think its best to do the same subjects or different subjects


Up to you - what do you want to do? - and to your school. They may not have any room left to let you join the Y12 class in one subject so you might have to change.

The old funding rules made it more likely they'll accept you for different A levels - I'm not involved to know what they are this year.
(edited 1 year ago)
Reply 7
Original post by EBluebear
Up to you - what do you want to do? - and to your school. They may not have any room left to let you join the Y12 class in one subject so you might have to change.

The old funding rules made it more likely they'll accept you for different A levels - I'm not involved to know what they are this year.


since medicine isn't an option i was thinking radiography. So i was thinking i would take psychology, biology and business.
Original post by FOPHO
since medicine isn't an option i was thinking radiography. So i was thinking i would take psychology, biology and business.


Talk to your school and see what's possible and what they recommend (consider talking to other 6th forms too). It may be best to do this before the GCSE results come out as some subjects may run out of room when people swap subjects after they get their GCSE results.
Original post by EBluebear
Up to you - what do you want to do? - and to your school. They may not have any room left to let you join the Y12 class in one subject so you might have to change.

The old funding rules made it more likely they'll accept you for different A levels - I'm not involved to know what they are this year.

You could be able to resit as it’s only once you’re 19+ that you would need to fund it yourself, however every school has its own policy on it and some courses might already be full so it would be worth asking. If your still wanting to do medicine, you would need chemistry, biology IS optional however it is the standard, you could always change your third subject if they let you. Don’t completely write off medicine yet, I know a lot of people who really improved after resitting the year, I resat mine after teacher assessed grades and went from averaging ACD/ACC to getting A*AA so it’s possible :smile: if you resit and still don’t get the grades then it would be worth changing plans, but medicine isn’t impossible if you resit :smile:
Reply 10
Original post by Sbjx
You could be able to resit as it’s only once you’re 19+ that you would need to fund it yourself, however every school has its own policy on it and some courses might already be full so it would be worth asking. If your still wanting to do medicine, you would need chemistry, biology IS optional however it is the standard, you could always change your third subject if they let you. Don’t completely write off medicine yet, I know a lot of people who really improved after resitting the year, I resat mine after teacher assessed grades and went from averaging ACD/ACC to getting A*AA so it’s possible :smile: if you resit and still don’t get the grades then it would be worth changing plans, but medicine isn’t impossible if you resit :smile:


thank you i really appreciate the encouragement
Original post by FOPHO
I am unsure if i should resit year 12 or not. right now im predicated ADE in psychology, chemistry and biology. I wanted to originally apply for medicine. is that still doable? Any advice would be nice

Heya! For medicine, you would usually need AAA so if you really want to get into medicine, you would need to talk to your school and perhaps look into resitting the year. Alternatively, you can do graduate medicine if you do a subject that's related to it e.g. biomedical and etc. Usually, similar courses require lower entry requirements and are not as competitive as medicine so you have higher chances of getting in. Then if you really want, you can do graduate medicine :smile: (who knows maybe you won't want to do it later on!).

You can still increase your grades with enough revision and hard work! For bio and chem, I'd recommend checking out Study Mind for free past papers separated by topics + free revision notes. Youtube also has plenty of videos and etc to help you out with your revision e.g. here is a link to a channel!

I hope this helps and Good luck!
Milena G.
UCL PFE
Study Mind
Wait so do medical schools not accept your application if you've retaken year 12 (with the same subjects) as I got a low grade in chemistry and I'm wondering if it's worth starting over at a new college? I am just finishing year 12 now and obviously my predicted grades are not high enough and I was speaking to a few people and telling them that I think I want to move 6th forms and retake year 12 but will this affect my application for medicine?
Original post by FOPHO
I haven't asked but the is a girl who is in the same year as me who resat year 12 with the same subjects so i believe its possible to do for me. I have started tuition for chem and bio. I was thinking if I decide to not resist year 12 with my current predicated grades i would probably have to apply for courses with a foundation year. So would it not be better to just resist year 12 and get better grades so i could have more options
Thats the right decision of repeating it so you can get more options to do.i know its quite hard as for me it was also hard but i made it. so try your luck.

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