Do universities accept A levels that are takes outside of the 2 year window

Yh thanks for the clarification. So say if you have A Levels and don't go to Uni yet you should depending on their eligibility criteria because you have those past qualifications or those qualifications like maybe BTEC for example since they're Level 3 equivalent qualifications which should be accepted depending on how much you have passed or not.?

Don’t really get what you mean here I’m afraid. Normally RGs are more strict about BTEC courses than Non RG (usually). But if you’re talking about the “length” of time before you apply to university, it absolutely does matter like any case would. Like if you did A level maths, then applied to Economics and a RG 5 years later, but didn’t keep up with it and universities see that you didn’t keep up with it. I’m not saying 100% they wouldn’t accept you, but there is definitely a chance they might look at someone coming out of A levels, abit more favourable than you if it came down to it. Thats not to say 100% they wouldn’t accept it, they absolutely might! But there is always a sneaky chance they won’t. Depending on what u did in those set 5 years (it might help you or it might not)

What do you mean by " RG" ?

It means “Russel group”

Basically I’m doing 4 a levels. Maths physics and economics. And a native language privately. If i do badly in physics which i probably will. Would this affect me for uni. Would i get into a good uni?

Oh ok. I just searched it up and it is a destination of mine to study in one of the Unis in the future maybe.

Right simple answer here. And I want you to answer these questions honestly as RG unis are completely different in terms of “feel” and “learning environment” to non RG universities. If you went to an RG university, would you feel like you would benefit from 1-1 convos with your lecturers or do you think that you’re more independent, can learn things on yourself and don’t really rely on lectures to give you that push? Because where people do really well at A levels I’m talking even getting A*, tend to struggle at university at first because they are so used to “memorising” the text book at A level/ past papers. At A level, exams are basically you either get it right or wrong, it’s way more critical thinking, way more in depth knowledge of the subject than just “math”. This is definitely something to be aware of as well.

If you’re doing level 3 BTEC I can’t say if it is accepted or not…. It all depends on the university and it all depends on what BTEC you’re doing. Some just don’t take BTEC outright and some do but only certain ones. It’s subject to what BTEC you do and what uni you apply to. Wish you all the best 🙂

A word of caution - some universities treat native language A levels differently from other A levels and may not accept them for all courses.

This is over-simplistic. Universities of St Andrews, Bath, Loughborough, Lancaster and Surrey sit 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th in the Complete University Guide League tables. None are Russell Group

Yes of course you’re right. However, I do think this was a given to be honest. Everyone knows they are top universities when applying. Every top university such as bath, St Andrews (NON RG) do follow the same teaching methods as top RG such as Oxford especially St. Andrew’s. Same with big classes, absolutely woeful support from lectures, also they expect you to know it. (Have a mate who how goes St.Andrews, bath and LSE. They pretty much have the exact same experience as above (all different courses as well). Although you’re right, I don’t think it was needed, when this is pretty much a given.

Oxbridge has the tutorial system so while they do have very big lectures, they also do very intensive 1:1 or 1:2 teaching. Other universities do not offer the same level of intensity to Oxbridge tutorials.

Why you nitpicking?… when I say teaching methods I don’t mean “criteria” anyone who reads that would know what I mean. In terms of “teaching standards” Oxford isn’t no different to other high level RGs, they just have smarter students due to the high standards. So it’s obviously going to look like they have an overall better teaching when they realistically don’t. And to say they do a standard of a first or a 2:1 pretty much all universities aim for that so not really sure what you mean there. But you’re completely missing my entire point about Oxford and high RGs in general, they tend to not help students, woeful support, if you don’t know it then it’s on you not the teacher to teach you, they expect you to pretty much know it. To say what I’m saying is false is just madness when I have mates that go Oxford, LSE and other high ranking RGs and also St.Andrews (Non RG) it’s quite a universal opinion, and many people don’t warn students when they do apply for such high ranking universities that the support you might get at other universities might benefit them than going to a very top end university.

Not sure why you are being so defensive about this. Oxbridge operates a tutorial system that is different from that at other universities including LSE and St Andrews. Up until 20 years ago they got extra funding specifically to support this different teaching system; now it is funded from income streams.
All universities expect you to be self-motivated with your studies. That is why you ‘read’ a degree. I presume when you are talking about RG/High ranking universities what you really mean is pre-1992 universities which were primarily research institutions vs polytechnics which taught vocational courses for local industries.

Not sure why you are being so defensive about this. Oxbridge operates a tutorial system that is different from that at other universities including LSE and St Andrews. Up until 20 years ago they got extra funding specifically to support this different teaching system; now it is funded from income streams.
All universities expect you to be self-motivated with your studies. That is why you ‘read’ a degree. I presume when you are talking about RG/High ranking universities what you really mean is pre-1992 universities which were primarily research institutions vs polytechnics which taught vocational courses for local industries.