The Student Room Group

Struggling with finding the best route to take A-Levels

I really want to get back into education and do A-Levels but I'm really stuck on the best way to go about doing it. I want to do it online because I can start in January and all colleges start in September - and I really struggled with my mental health at college. I've had a look and made a list of online distance learning providers and haven't so far found one provider which does courses on all the a levels I want to take (Economics, Media, Graphics.) I've done some research online and found that most providers just give you presentations and cost loads of money so I'm debating on self studying and applying for the A-Level exams as a private candidate, and possibly booking a tutor on the weekend to help me study certain topics I might get stuck on. If anyone has any advice or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated.

Reply 1

Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown: Are you sure you've posted in the right place? :smile: Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses if you post there. :redface:

Reply 2

Original post
by wqwfqwfqfqwf
I really want to get back into education and do A-Levels but I'm really stuck on the best way to go about doing it. I want to do it online because I can start in January and all colleges start in September - and I really struggled with my mental health at college. I've had a look and made a list of online distance learning providers and haven't so far found one provider which does courses on all the a levels I want to take (Economics, Media, Graphics.) I've done some research online and found that most providers just give you presentations and cost loads of money so I'm debating on self studying and applying for the A-Level exams as a private candidate, and possibly booking a tutor on the weekend to help me study certain topics I might get stuck on. If anyone has any advice or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know much about doing Economics, Media and Graphics, so I'll offer the best advice I can. Self-learning is a great way. You will be able to manage your time better and it shouldn't be that stressful. I would say booking a tutor is a good idea. Instead of booking one for topics you don't understand, you could book one for the whole subject itself and you can still do prep at home by self-studying and asking your parents or siblings for help. As for applying as a private candidate, that could be a good choice as you can have a flexible study schedule and can go at your own pace and once your ready and have covered all the content (Y12 and Y13) then you should be ready to take your A-levels as a private candidate.

This is the best advice I can offer. I hope this is useful to you. Good luck and I hope everything works out!

Reply 3

Original post
by TSR Jessica
Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown: Are you sure you've posted in the right place? :smile: Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses if you post there. :redface:

Thank you, I've reposted it on the forum

Reply 4

Original post
by Dino1243
I don't know much about doing Economics, Media and Graphics, so I'll offer the best advice I can. Self-learning is a great way. You will be able to manage your time better and it shouldn't be that stressful. I would say booking a tutor is a good idea. Instead of booking one for topics you don't understand, you could book one for the whole subject itself and you can still do prep at home by self-studying and asking your parents or siblings for help. As for applying as a private candidate, that could be a good choice as you can have a flexible study schedule and can go at your own pace and once your ready and have covered all the content (Y12 and Y13) then you should be ready to take your A-levels as a private candidate.
This is the best advice I can offer. I hope this is useful to you. Good luck and I hope everything works out!

Thank you for your advice

Reply 5

I really want to get back into education and do A-Levels but I'm really stuck on the best way to go about doing it. I want to do it online because I can start in January and all colleges start in September - and I really struggled with my mental health at college. I've had a look and made a list of online distance learning providers and haven't so far found one provider which does courses on all the a levels I want to take (Economics, Media, Graphics.)

I've done some research online and found that most providers just give you presentations and cost loads of money so I'm debating on self studying and applying for the A-Level exams as a private candidate, and possibly booking a tutor on the weekend to help me study certain topics I might get stuck on. I'm also considering doing an access to he course in September - maybe self-studying a single A-Level first until then to help with my application.

If anyone has any advice or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated.

Reply 6

How old are you, and did you finish any post-GCSE qualifications?

There are many Uni based Foundation courses designed specifically for older students returning to education - examples :
Return to Study - UCLan
Foundation Years | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

Quick Reply

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.