i need advice/encouragement

last year i lost my sister and it ruined my life. Because of it ,my a level performance was poor due to a deep depressive episode during the most important stretch.
i came out with an EED in maths, sociology and politics. (Horrible subject combination, i know). I had no aspirations or idea of what i wanted to do. Since then i have heavily inclined towards studying optometry…but i did horrible in my a levels and i only have one science.
Heres the issue. I couldnt show my parents my grades so i lied and said i got a AAA. Why? Because i didnt want to make them feel worse.
I have a mental plan in my head, but is this even possible? I plan to secretly retake maths and politics, ive already started revision over the summer.. and i want to privately sit biology in one year. I know itll be costly (around £1.5k) but i have a job and am saving up. I just need someone to tell me if they think this plan will work.. i know im capable of achieving good grades, my mock grades were always As , my gcses were 8s and 9s.. i just need to let this out and hear some encouragement.. is this even do able?
I forgot to mention, my parents know about biology and let me take a gap year.. they dont know about me having to resit the other two..
I also have questions: for someones who privately resat a levels , did you do them all at the same centre? How did you get your predicted grades to apply for ucas before january.?
Any input or advice or anything would be appreciated .

Hi @aleiaxyz I am so sorry about your loss, I cannot even begin to imagine how hard that has been for you and your family. I know you feel disappointed in your grades when you achieved such high GCSEs, but you should be extremely proud you still sat your a-levels despite how hard the past year has been for you. That shows a lot of resilience so please make sure you are giving yourself some grace as not many people could have kept working hard like you have been.
Its really great that you told your parents about your biology a-level. I think it would be good to tell them about the other a-levels soon too, as they wouldn't want you to be struggling all by yourself and adding on all this added pressure.
You are more than capable of achieving the grades you want, I definitely think you can do this! Your previous grades show your capability, I think your support system is what will help you the most. Friends and family will be your biggest support whilst you are working and studying, they also know your capabilites and that you can achieve the grades you want.
If you are worried about your a-level choices to get into optometry, I would visit the universities websites that do this degree and look at what sort of a-levels they want. You could also reach out yourself to see if your combination would be accepted.
Best of luck and you're doing great!
Vee (kingston rep)

last year i lost my sister and it ruined my life. Because of it ,my a level performance was poor due to a deep depressive episode during the most important stretch.
i came out with an EED in maths, sociology and politics. (Horrible subject combination, i know). I had no aspirations or idea of what i wanted to do. Since then i have heavily inclined towards studying optometry…but i did horrible in my a levels and i only have one science.
Heres the issue. I couldnt show my parents my grades so i lied and said i got a AAA. Why? Because i didnt want to make them feel worse.
I have a mental plan in my head, but is this even possible? I plan to secretly retake maths and politics, ive already started revision over the summer.. and i want to privately sit biology in one year. I know itll be costly (around £1.5k) but i have a job and am saving up. I just need someone to tell me if they think this plan will work.. i know im capable of achieving good grades, my mock grades were always As , my gcses were 8s and 9s.. i just need to let this out and hear some encouragement.. is this even do able?
I forgot to mention, my parents know about biology and let me take a gap year.. they dont know about me having to resit the other two..
I also have questions: for someones who privately resat a levels , did you do them all at the same centre? How did you get your predicted grades to apply for ucas before january.?
Any input or advice or anything would be appreciated .

Hi, Im sorry for your loss. I was in a similar situation to you, consistently achieving good grades and having strong GCSEs, but I had a few personal losses during my a levels and went homeless for a period of time, which lead to very poor results. That is why Im currently doing a gap year and studying 2 new A levels. I had a lot of the same questions you did about taking exams privately, but now I have the answers to share with you.
Your UCAS predicted grades will need to come from a teacher, and you could either ask your previous school to provide them for you, or you could find a tutor who is willing to provide them for you. My predicted grades are from tutors I interacted with on Sherpa, which is an online tutoring site I highly reccomend you check out, though there are many like it. You should probably hurry as you'd want to give your potential tutors as much time as they require to feel confident they can give you a grade before January.
As for the exam centres, you can ask your previous school if you can enroll as a private candidate to resit your exam. If not, there are still plenty of options available for private candidates, depending on your location. JCQ has a list of exam centres here that are taking private candidates: https://www.jcq.org.uk/private-candidates/ . I wouldnt trust any exam centres not listed on here (unless you're doing CAIE, for which you'd need to use this site https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/why-choose-us/find-a-cambridge-school/ ). You should also probably check online reviews to find one you feel most secure in
Also, I know its not my place to comment but I would suggest that you should probably tell your parents the truth about your grades situation. They only want whats best for you, and would likely be more than happy to assist you with the costs and with booking the exams. It'll make you feel less alone. As for the encouragement aspect, yes its completely achieveable and im sure you'll do fantastic. People do resits all the time, and if you were achieving A's previously then you already have a more than solid foundation. Best of luck to you

Hi, Im sorry for your loss. I was in a similar situation to you, consistently achieving good grades and having strong GCSEs, but I had a few personal losses during my a levels and went homeless for a period of time, which lead to very poor results. That is why Im currently doing a gap year and studying 2 new A levels. I had a lot of the same questions you did about taking exams privately, but now I have the answers to share with you.
Your UCAS predicted grades will need to come from a teacher, and you could either ask your previous school to provide them for you, or you could find a tutor who is willing to provide them for you. My predicted grades are from tutors I interacted with on Sherpa, which is an online tutoring site I highly reccomend you check out, though there are many like it. You should probably hurry as you'd want to give your potential tutors as much time as they require to feel confident they can give you a grade before January.
As for the exam centres, you can ask your previous school if you can enroll as a private candidate to resit your exam. If not, there are still plenty of options available for private candidates, depending on your location. JCQ has a list of exam centres here that are taking private candidates: https://www.jcq.org.uk/private-candidates/ . I wouldnt trust any exam centres not listed on here (unless you're doing CAIE, for which you'd need to use this site https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/why-choose-us/find-a-cambridge-school/ ). You should also probably check online reviews to find one you feel most secure in
Also, I know its not my place to comment but I would suggest that you should probably tell your parents the truth about your grades situation. They only want whats best for you, and would likely be more than happy to assist you with the costs and with booking the exams. It'll make you feel less alone. As for the encouragement aspect, yes its completely achieveable and im sure you'll do fantastic. People do resits all the time, and if you were achieving A's previously then you already have a more than solid foundation. Best of luck to you

hi i’m not op but thanks so much for this guide on resitting bc i had no clue where to resit or how to get grades and stuff like that. i feel like there’s literally no info on it anywhere. thanks sm for the links