I think I failed
This year through s5 I have been failing my higher courses I chose human biology ,chemistry ,geography and maths all at higher but ended up dropping maths to focus on the others.This did not help at all and it was really hard to explain to my parents that i had to drop maths as they extremely demanding.I have sat my geography and chemistry exam and my English one is not too far and neither is my biology one , i have put in so much effort but i know i have gotten a NA for both and have no clue what to do as i feel as all colleges and universities will reject my application after seeing the NA results I am completely terrified at what to do and feel my life is over what should I do?
Reply 1
Original post
by Help?????This year through s5 I have been failing my higher courses I chose human biology ,chemistry ,geography and maths all at higher but ended up dropping maths to focus on the others.This did not help at all and it was really hard to explain to my parents that i had to drop maths as they extremely demanding.I have sat my geography and chemistry exam and my English one is not too far and neither is my biology one , i have put in so much effort but i know i have gotten a NA for both and have no clue what to do as i feel as all colleges and universities will reject my application after seeing the NA results I am completely terrified at what to do and feel my life is over what should I do?
Hey, you do not need to worry! Many job companies don't even look at your qualfications, they look at what experience you have had! Last year, I was doing Nat 5 Maths (I'm in S5 too, doing Highers) and I was really struggling with it. I ended up having to get a tutor but I passed with a C and that was all I wanted. This year I'm really struggling with History which is something I'm usually good at but this year I'm finding writing essays for the Cold War sooo difficult. It's not a problem if you don't pass all your exams this year as you still have S6 and can retake them if necessary and get a tutor too! What would you like to do at uni/college/as a job?
Reply 2
5
Original post
by be_read08Hey, you do not need to worry! Many job companies don't even look at your qualfications, they look at what experience you have had! Last year, I was doing Nat 5 Maths (I'm in S5 too, doing Highers) and I was really struggling with it. I ended up having to get a tutor but I passed with a C and that was all I wanted. This year I'm really struggling with History which is something I'm usually good at but this year I'm finding writing essays for the Cold War sooo difficult. It's not a problem if you don't pass all your exams this year as you still have S6 and can retake them if necessary and get a tutor too! What would you like to do at uni/college/as a job?
Hi and thanks for the reply,currently I’m stuck between architecture and engineering.both are similar and require good grades but as you can tell I’m not getting them
Original post
by Help?????This year through s5 I have been failing my higher courses I chose human biology ,chemistry ,geography and maths all at higher but ended up dropping maths to focus on the others.This did not help at all and it was really hard to explain to my parents that i had to drop maths as they extremely demanding.I have sat my geography and chemistry exam and my English one is not too far and neither is my biology one , i have put in so much effort but i know i have gotten a NA for both and have no clue what to do as i feel as all colleges and universities will reject my application after seeing the NA results I am completely terrified at what to do and feel my life is over what should I do?
Hey,
First of all, just wanted to remind you that all you can do is your best!! -and the fact you’ve kept working hard shows real strength, no matter what anyone says, even if your results don't go as you hoped, there are still lots of routes into higher education. (:
You’ll have your S6 year to strengthen your qualifications and your current N5's from 4th year can open paths into college too. Please don’t feel like your life is over - many people reach their goals through different paths, and you’re not alone in this!
Theres always a different route to get to where your wanting to go, also you always have the option of emailing colleges/uni's and enquiring about specific entry requirements.
Good luck on your upcoming exams & try not to stress too badly! - You're doing the best you can! (:
Emily
2nd Year, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
Reply 4
5
Original post
by University of Strathclyde Student AmbassadorHey,
First of all, just wanted to remind you that all you can do is your best!! -and the fact you’ve kept working hard shows real strength, no matter what anyone says, even if your results don't go as you hoped, there are still lots of routes into higher education. (:
You’ll have your S6 year to strengthen your qualifications and your current N5's from 4th year can open paths into college too. Please don’t feel like your life is over - many people reach their goals through different paths, and you’re not alone in this!
Theres always a different route to get to where your wanting to go, also you always have the option of emailing colleges/uni's and enquiring about specific entry requirements.
Good luck on your upcoming exams & try not to stress too badly! - You're doing the best you can! (:
Emily
2nd Year, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
First of all, just wanted to remind you that all you can do is your best!! -and the fact you’ve kept working hard shows real strength, no matter what anyone says, even if your results don't go as you hoped, there are still lots of routes into higher education. (:
You’ll have your S6 year to strengthen your qualifications and your current N5's from 4th year can open paths into college too. Please don’t feel like your life is over - many people reach their goals through different paths, and you’re not alone in this!
Theres always a different route to get to where your wanting to go, also you always have the option of emailing colleges/uni's and enquiring about specific entry requirements.
Good luck on your upcoming exams & try not to stress too badly! - You're doing the best you can! (:
Emily
2nd Year, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
Think I got a C in English and a C in Bio, now I’m worried about uni applications cause I wanna do biomedical engineering and need BBBC but also need physics and maths for this and I’m taking that next year with art could I still apply?
Original post
by Help?????Think I got a C in English and a C in Bio, now I’m worried about uni applications cause I wanna do biomedical engineering and need BBBC but also need physics and maths for this and I’m taking that next year with art could I still apply?
Hey,
well done for getting through the exam period!! I know how stressful and overwhelming the exam period can be, so genuinely massive credit to you for pushing through it all. (:
In terms of applying to uni, it’s great to hear you're planning to take the subjects needed for biomedical engineering next year- sounds like a great step to get to where you want (: - You can still apply. If you meet the entry requirements by the end of S6, unis can give you a conditional offer based on achieving the grades you're sitting next year.
That said, some universities do have policies around how many attempts and/or years you have to achieve certain qualifications (especially for competitive courses), so I’d recommend reaching out directly to the admissions teams of the unis you're interested in once you have your results- they'll be able to best advise you based on your specific case wether they would consider your application. Their websites usually have an admissions contact email or phone number.
Good luck!! - if you've got anymore questions feel free to reach out 😀
Emily
Year 2, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
Reply 6
5
Original post
by University of Strathclyde Student AmbassadorHey,
well done for getting through the exam period!! I know how stressful and overwhelming the exam period can be, so genuinely massive credit to you for pushing through it all. (:
In terms of applying to uni, it’s great to hear you're planning to take the subjects needed for biomedical engineering next year- sounds like a great step to get to where you want (: - You can still apply. If you meet the entry requirements by the end of S6, unis can give you a conditional offer based on achieving the grades you're sitting next year.
That said, some universities do have policies around how many attempts and/or years you have to achieve certain qualifications (especially for competitive courses), so I’d recommend reaching out directly to the admissions teams of the unis you're interested in once you have your results- they'll be able to best advise you based on your specific case wether they would consider your application. Their websites usually have an admissions contact email or phone number.
Good luck!! - if you've got anymore questions feel free to reach out 😀
Emily
Year 2, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
well done for getting through the exam period!! I know how stressful and overwhelming the exam period can be, so genuinely massive credit to you for pushing through it all. (:
In terms of applying to uni, it’s great to hear you're planning to take the subjects needed for biomedical engineering next year- sounds like a great step to get to where you want (: - You can still apply. If you meet the entry requirements by the end of S6, unis can give you a conditional offer based on achieving the grades you're sitting next year.
That said, some universities do have policies around how many attempts and/or years you have to achieve certain qualifications (especially for competitive courses), so I’d recommend reaching out directly to the admissions teams of the unis you're interested in once you have your results- they'll be able to best advise you based on your specific case wether they would consider your application. Their websites usually have an admissions contact email or phone number.
Good luck!! - if you've got anymore questions feel free to reach out 😀
Emily
Year 2, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
Hi, I want to thank you so much for replying to my thread and being as reassuring as you have been. Is there any way I can strengthen my application to uni over the summer without spending too much , I have seen that Oxford do classes but they cost over around £1000 for 2 weeks and £500 for 1. I want to make my application stand out from others even though I don’t have the best grades so I’m wanting to volunteer and take extra classes over summer to do that. If you can let me know how to find or contact places that can help that would be extremely helpful and once again , thanks
Original post
by Help?????Hi, I want to thank you so much for replying to my thread and being as reassuring as you have been. Is there any way I can strengthen my application to uni over the summer without spending too much , I have seen that Oxford do classes but they cost over around £1000 for 2 weeks and £500 for 1. I want to make my application stand out from others even though I don’t have the best grades so I’m wanting to volunteer and take extra classes over summer to do that. If you can let me know how to find or contact places that can help that would be extremely helpful and once again , thanks
Hey, its great to hear you've been finding it helpful speaking to me! (:
For your application, (im pressuming its UCAS- just correct me if not), ive just linked underneath my wall of text you to the official UCAS websites PS advice page for applicants- especially recommend watching the video as it breaks down each question into chunks explaining the info you'd include!
Those summer schools you were mentioning are definitely amazing opportunities if you're able to access them, but please don’t feel like you have to spend loads of money to stand out! What unis really value is your passion for the course and how you reflect on your experiences and link them to that course you're applying for.
Over the summer, as you were saying looking for a part-time job/volunteering role sounds great! - this doesn't have to be within biomed engineering, in my application at the time I'd wrote about my hospitality job and linked transferrable skills I'd developed through this to my ability to succeed in the course I was applying to alongside research into the course & why I felt it was a good fit for me. - The UCAS structure is now a bit different since I applied so these all may be split into different sections.
In terms of finding things locally, a good first step is to google volunteering or part-time opportunities in your area, you also have apps, such as indeed, which showcase a bunch of job opportunities. You can always filter this to see if theres anything suitable more science based(:
Not sure if you've had a job previously- but with creating a CV/cover letter your school may have careers services which can help with the process, there's also the my world of work skills Scotland website which includes a CV builder within the website to give a bit of a guide on how to go about doing this! 🤗
I’m not a biomed engineering student myself so I can’t really recommend specific classes/reading as I dont really know too much on the subject lol (: - but if you pop a post on here titled something like “biomed eng application- summer prep” in the UCAS section they’ll likely be someone out there who will be able to assist!
Those summer schools you were mentioning are definitely amazing opportunities if you're able to access them, but please don’t feel like you have to spend loads of money to stand out! What unis really value is your passion for the course and how you reflect on your experiences and link them to that course you're applying for.
Over the summer, as you were saying looking for a part-time job/volunteering role sounds great! - this doesn't have to be within biomed engineering, in my application at the time I'd wrote about my hospitality job and linked transferrable skills I'd developed through this to my ability to succeed in the course I was applying to alongside research into the course & why I felt it was a good fit for me. - The UCAS structure is now a bit different since I applied so these all may be split into different sections.
In terms of finding things locally, a good first step is to google volunteering or part-time opportunities in your area, you also have apps, such as indeed, which showcase a bunch of job opportunities. You can always filter this to see if theres anything suitable more science based(:
Not sure if you've had a job previously- but with creating a CV/cover letter your school may have careers services which can help with the process, there's also the my world of work skills Scotland website which includes a CV builder within the website to give a bit of a guide on how to go about doing this! 🤗
I’m not a biomed engineering student myself so I can’t really recommend specific classes/reading as I dont really know too much on the subject lol (: - but if you pop a post on here titled something like “biomed eng application- summer prep” in the UCAS section they’ll likely be someone out there who will be able to assist!
https://www.ucas.com/applying/applying-to-university/writing-your-personal-statement/the-new-personal-statement-for-2026
Goodluck with your application!! (:
Emily
Year 2, Chemistry
Official University Of Strathclyde Rep
(edited 7 months ago)
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