private candidate, choosing another alevel

Had a talk with my school and they explained to me if I failed one of my alevels I could take the exams there as a private candidate.

The thing is, I'm not interested in resitting the same subject and would rather take another subject. Im planning on only resitting one alevel so I'm confident I could learn a new subject in one year as it's one that plays to my strengths.

How would UCAS work then? would they be given my previous alevel grades already, how does predicted grades work, what results would be sent to unis after exams are done? Would this mean I've only done one alevel excluding the two from the previous year since i didn't want to resit them? Everything I have found online has been really confusing so i would appreciate any clarity.

Reply 1

McGinger

When you complete your new UCAS application you would list your achieved A levels - all of them, even if you are retaking any, or taking other subjects. You would also list the A level you are resitting or taking-as-new in the 'pending qualifications' section. If your school allows you to apply through their school UCAS portal, they can then add their reference and may be willing to add new predicted grades.

However, if you do a single new A level subject privately and not via the school, its unlikely they will want to do this, and without a private tutor, this can make UCAS applications tricky as Unis will want a predicted grade. It is also much harder taking an entirely new subject than just revising/resitting an existing subject - do not underestimate the amount of work involved or how you will manage this without any face-to-face teaching.