Does resitting your A-Levels affect your chances of getting a degree apprenticeship?

Hey, I have received my recently and I am not quite sure about what I should do. Previously I have been offered to do a degree apprenticeship with a large investment bank in IT solutions. They were going to fully fund my degree at the university that they chose for my course and then pay me a very good starting salary. However, as I haven't met the minimum requirements of AAB (I got D in Maths, D in Computer science and E in Physics). I am considering resitting my A-Level results (with the exception of Physics as I intend to switch it to another subject) however this costs approximately £3500 to do. The main reason I want to resit is to get better grades and try to reapply for a degree apprenticeship (not necessarily with the same company), however, I am not sure if that is the best way to go as I believe that they may be biased if the see my previous A-Level results.

I have also been given offers from Kingston, Birkbeck and Brunel universities to do computer science with a foundation year. I hope that if I do chose to go with one of these I will be able to summer internships, but I am worried that companies won't be willing to accept me once they see what A-level results I have received.

Please give me advice on what I should do, no-one else in my family went to university so they do not know much about it.

Reply 1

toxicgamage56

19

Original post by BlueHat552

Hey, I have received my recently and I am not quite sure about what I should do. Previously I have been offered to do a degree apprenticeship with a large investment bank in IT solutions. They were going to fully fund my degree at the university that they chose for my course and then pay me a very good starting salary. However, as I haven't met the minimum requirements of AAB (I got D in Maths, D in Computer science and E in Physics). I am considering resitting my A-Level results (with the exception of Physics as I intend to switch it to another subject) however this costs approximately £3500 to do. The main reason I want to resit is to get better grades and try to reapply for a degree apprenticeship (not necessarily with the same company), however, I am not sure if that is the best way to go as I believe that they may be biased if the see my previous A-Level results.

I have also been given offers from Kingston, Birkbeck and Brunel universities to do computer science with a foundation year. I hope that if I do chose to go with one of these I will be able to summer internships, but I am worried that companies won't be willing to accept me once they see what A-level results I have received.

Please give me advice on what I should do, no-one else in my family went to university so they do not know much about it.

Oh, which IB was it? I would say that companies that host degree apprenticeships wouldn't really care at all that you resat your A-levels. If they did, I feel like that would sort of defeat the purpose of schemes that are meant to focus on a career rather than academics.

Reply 2

User130806

2

Original post by BlueHat552

Hey, I have received my recently and I am not quite sure about what I should do. Previously I have been offered to do a degree apprenticeship with a large investment bank in IT solutions. They were going to fully fund my degree at the university that they chose for my course and then pay me a very good starting salary. However, as I haven't met the minimum requirements of AAB (I got D in Maths, D in Computer science and E in Physics). I am considering resitting my A-Level results (with the exception of Physics as I intend to switch it to another subject) however this costs approximately £3500 to do. The main reason I want to resit is to get better grades and try to reapply for a degree apprenticeship (not necessarily with the same company), however, I am not sure if that is the best way to go as I believe that they may be biased if the see my previous A-Level results.
I have also been given offers from Kingston, Birkbeck and Brunel universities to do computer science with a foundation year. I hope that if I do chose to go with one of these I will be able to summer internships, but I am worried that companies won't be willing to accept me once they see what A-level results I have received.
Please give me advice on what I should do, no-one else in my family went to university so they do not know much about it.

Yo did u get accepted onto a degree apprenticeship course then while being a resit? Cuz I wanna resit my alevels too and see if I can apply to degree apprenticeships but was confused on whether they accept resits

Reply 3

apprentinsideryt

9

Original post by User130806

Yo did u get accepted onto a degree apprenticeship course then while being a resit? Cuz I wanna resit my alevels too and see if I can apply to degree apprenticeships but was confused on whether they accept resits

Yes, resits are fine. As long as you get the required grades in the resits, it doesn't really matter. It's more about having the transferable skills which are going to be useful to the employer. If you want, I can send over some resources to help with your degree apprenticeship application, including a sample CV and work experience opportunities available right now. Just let me know if you're interested and I'll send them over.

Reply 4

Chris2892

16

Original post by apprentinsideryt

Yes, resits are fine. As long as you get the required grades in the resits, it doesn't really matter. It's more about having the transferable skills which are going to be useful to the employer. If you want, I can send over some resources to help with your degree apprenticeship application, including a sample CV and work experience opportunities available right now. Just let me know if you're interested and I'll send them over.

Employers aren’t typically constrained by the university on what A levels a candidate has.

The apprenticeship standard asks that you have a level 3 qualification or equivalent proven work experience. It also asks that you have a level 6 GCSE or better in math and English, but that can be backfilled during the apprenticeship.

Any application constraints you see for entry requirements beyond that are subject to employer preference only.

Original post by BlueHat552

Hey, I have received my recently and I am not quite sure about what I should do. Previously I have been offered to do a degree apprenticeship with a large investment bank in IT solutions. They were going to fully fund my degree at the university that they chose for my course and then pay me a very good starting salary. However, as I haven't met the minimum requirements of AAB (I got D in Maths, D in Computer science and E in Physics). I am considering resitting my A-Level results (with the exception of Physics as I intend to switch it to another subject) however this costs approximately £3500 to do. The main reason I want to resit is to get better grades and try to reapply for a degree apprenticeship (not necessarily with the same company), however, I am not sure if that is the best way to go as I believe that they may be biased if the see my previous A-Level results.
I have also been given offers from Kingston, Birkbeck and Brunel universities to do computer science with a foundation year. I hope that if I do chose to go with one of these I will be able to summer internships, but I am worried that companies won't be willing to accept me once they see what A-level results I have received.
Please give me advice on what I should do, no-one else in my family went to university so they do not know much about it.

Hi @BlueHat552

Firstly congratulations on your offer from Kingston! I think there has been some great responses so far, so I thought I would just add a bit of information about Kingston so you have a better idea of what it would be like if you went down the university route.

Internships over summer are a great way to go as you do get lots of time off to gain experience. There are also options for placement years that may be of interest as then you get a full year gaining experience in the the industry.

Your time at Kingston and the course itself will prepare you well for finding an internship over summer and employment after you graduate. There are many recourse and programmes at Kingston such as The Careers Centre and the Future Skills programme that help you gain and understand the skills that employers are looking for. I have done a previous post that goes in to more depth that you may find useful, I will leave the link here How Kingston Prepares you for Industry - The Student Room

This should hopefully be reassuring as grades are not everything to employers they are also looking for the skills that you have and gain from university and work experience etc.

It can be hard making these decisions but I think whichever decision you make you will make the most of the opportunities it provides to get you to where you want to go.

I hope this helps and good luck! Feel free to ask any questions you may have :smile:

-Grace (Kingston Rep)

(edited 4 months ago)

Does resitting your A-Levels affect your chances of getting a degree apprenticeship?

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