What should I do after getting lower grades than expected?

Hey! so I got BBC at alevel in Psychology, Maths and Music respectively. I applied to do psych at Uni of York, but they offered me a Psych in Education course instead as I didn't meet my original grades (ABB). No other uni that I'm interested in has offered me a place through clearing. Hull have offered me a place though, and I could look at places like Bangor or LJMU.
Another option would be resitting my a-levels, but I don't know if it would be worth it. I was told some unis don't like that and won't take me, but I don't know what to do. Also debating taking a gap year anyway to take a break & get some work experience so I know for definite what I want to do after uni.
if you could help me in my decision it'd be greatly appreciated i have until 1pm tomorrow to accept my accommodation for york so not sure!! thank you <3

As above - check that you do actually want to do this course.
Psych in Education courses are mostly Education Studies with a bit of Psych - which is great if you want to become a teacher or work in any other way with children / young people etc, but not if you want a career specifically within Psychology.

I would recommend you look closely at the alternate course you've been offered and think about how it compares to the original course, if you think you could accept the differences, and whether it would still be a suitable way to reach your longer term goals. For psychology if your aim is to be a professional psychologist then as long as the course is BPS accredited and you can do well in it, the main thing to reach your goal would be getting relevant work experience (especially clinical but often any related experience). So if you feel that the "with education" part you wouldn't mind and it's BPS accredited it might not be a bad option!
Otherwise resitting may be a factor for some universities but some do not have an issue with it or it's a more minor consideration. You can always contact universities directly to ask them about their policies on resit applicants, if this is not clearly stated in their admissions pages already (usually it is though so you can find out online!).
There is another option which is that you could ask York if they can change you to deferred entry to give yourself a little longer to think about things and take a gap year anyway. You can then decide a little later on if you want to give up the deferred offer to reapply, or keep the deferred offer and just spend the gap year working or doing other activities That way you wouldn't feel so pressured to make a decision so soon! They may not be able/willing to change you to a deferred offer but there is no harm in asking.

Hi there! There's definitely a lot to think about so don't stress or rush your decisions- although I can understand this if you have a deadline for your accommodation offer!
I would definitely recommend checking what modules the course offers and whether this is something that interests you. Also take a look at a few more options for universities that offer psychology in clearing. If you haven't checked them out yet, it might be worth having a look into them as there are places available at quite a few unis for psychology, including here in Plymouth.
If you'd like to chat to anyone to go through your options, I'd recommend calling our clearing hotline on 03332416929 or speaking to our psychology rep student on our Unibuddy page who might be able to give you some more information and guidance.
Hope you manage to make the right decision for you! 🙂
-Alfie, University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep