Retaking alevel
Unfortunately, my A-level results were so bad. I got an A**, D and U, an A*in Art, D in Business and U in Maths. I’m definitely going to retake my A-levels, but I’m quite confused about predicted grades.
I did talk to my sixth form leader, and she told me she could put my predicted grades as what I got in my actual A-levels. But what’s the point of me retaking if I’m just going to end up going to a uni I don’t want to go to, since the uni I want requires much higher predicted grades? For example, if I want to go to Warwick for Accounting and Finance, they aren’t going to accept me based on my current predicted grades before I even get the chance to prove myself.
At this point, I feel like I might have to take 2 gap years, which I really couldn’t imagine doing because my parents would be super mad at me.
This is honestly my biggest academic downfall ever. I’ve always been pretty decent academically, I got all 8s in my GCSEs and my parents are also VERY strict about academics. During this exam season, my mindset was basically fixed on the idea that I was going to fail anyway, so I thought I’d just try after the exams were over. Looking back, that was obviously pretty stupid because I ended up not revising properly and even missing most lessons.
I’m still not completely sure whether I want to do Architecture or Accounting and Finance, so taking a gap year would actually give me some time to think about it until November or December. I’m only planning to focus on retaking my A-levels and hopefully getting into a really good university. It might be a bit optimistic of me, but I still want to try.
Anyway, I wanted to ask: what is everyone doing, or what has anyone previously done, to get better predicted grades for their retakes? Where did you sit your exams, and roughly how much did it cost? And for anyone who has taken a gap year to retake A-levels, how did the whole experience go?
I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences because I’m honestly quite lost right now.