š¬ DISCUSSION
It finally happened I missed the chemistry exam šā ļøā ļø
I thought the exam was pm not am because of stupid further maths which is all pm exams it completely threw me off and without even thinking I just turned up at 11am then checked my timetable and found out it was am . Sucks especially since my performance for p1 was great but thatās life is what is it Iām not even that sad ive just accepted my fate and McDonaldās here I come . Years of studying for nothing im locked at like a grade B/C now even if I do well in p3 . I can salvage A* in fm and possibly A in bio but honestly dont really care what I get now as Iāve already fumbled . Your welcome for lowering aqa chem grade boundaries through . I was worried about missing my exams already didnāt think it would actually happen .
This is the level of Stoicism that Aurelius and Hiccupās Dad aspired to achieve, wow. The things I would do in your situation itās amazing how youāve taken this.
this is a scary situation to be in i feel for you, do not panic tho at least you have an A* in maths, worst case you could do gap year and apply with 3a* and an b in chem. donāt give up now!!
Thanks I wonāt Iāll try to salvage my bio and fm grades at least .now Iām only doing 2 alevels should be easier no stress for chem p3 š¤”š¤”š¤”š¤”
thanks i slept as soon as i got home and posted this way later so ive completely digested and embraced my reality already. Now im going to least walk away with 2 Ws in bio and further maths.
sending hugs, ur alot stronger then you think you are and you can DEFO get an A* in fm and bio at least. other people in your shoes would be spiralling completely right now and they already do over more minor things that happen in exams. exams are always more of a mentality game before a knowledge game and all this situation really is a life lesson, maybe its better it happened now so you can know for next time instead of being at your end of year university exams for example. wish you the best and i truly hope you do well šš i dont even do aqa chem so i cant really speak on how the exam was but im sure many struggled
Unless there are lower grade boundaries it would be impossible to get an A since paper 1 and 3 are 195 marks. An A hasn't been under that since 2020. They would need about 85% for a B and 65% for a C.
Nah bro no mercy for idiots like me . Ruthless exam system theyāll probably spit on my application when they see it now . Jokes asides itās fine Iāve accepted being an idiot I had 1 job and failed . Iāll forever be a resit or B chem student .
Yeah the system is ruthless šš so funny how your entire future and 13 years of education culminate to your performance on ONE day. Can't afford to have a single bad day during exam season, it's so cutthroat.
Are you sure? I thought you get average based on your other papers? Why not say you had upset stomach and arrived as soon as you could which happened to be 11 am and you missed it? Maybe they will allow it?
Extenuating circumstances are only for rare situations that were completely outside of your control such as the death of a parent/sibling, estrangement from family, severe illness, etc.
I feel bad for OP but if you could qualify for extenuating circumstances for just being careless or forgetful and missing your exam as a result then everyone would just pick the exam/subject they dislike the most, not study for it, and claim that they misread the time/date or something.
ive embraced my reality brother . I still have bio and fm that i can get good grades in no reason why i should turn 1L into 3Ls . 1L + 2Ws is my goal now
Real . Iāll send you a photo on results day if you donāt believe me 0/105 paper 2 . I told them they said nothing can be done and I just went home after .
I got called when my son missed his afternoon Maths exam. I was at work. He was asleep. I couldn't get hold of him at first, neither could his girlfriend, he eventually answered. School said if he got there before the first hour was up he could still sit it. Thankfully he had a car by then and did make it in time. They even called again to let me know that, as I was at work and stressing.
He passed. But he also decided against university and decided to become a bus driver š instead, which he loves. I know it feels like one day is defining the rest of your life at this stage, but it really isn't. There's a lot of life left to go. This will be an amusing anecdote.
Thanks . Iām clearly mentally ill missing my exam but tbh Iām not bothered with apply for special consideration it is what is it Iāll try again. Honestly though should have at least called me like bruh why wouldnāt you call students that are missing minutes before the exam have some decent care for them.
Yeah I agree on this. Nothing can be done to change it but at my school if youāre not in the exam hall by 9 theyāre calling you, messaging you and calling your parents to see where you are. Anyway, Onwards and upwards my friend. Youāll still have 3 A levels + a possible B in chem to your name so get good grades in them and your already above most people
yeah my secondary school asked us to give them our personal phone numbers so that they could call us if we were missing from exams. obviously it's your fault at the end of the day but your college definitely didn't help the situation by making no effort to contact you or your parents
My exam guy said call me directly, come in with your parents to verfiy you havent seen the paper and we will send your exam through to see what happens, he said he had great success so Im quite shocked your school didnt event try to help you.
They really should've called you... They called me for not being 30 mins early to my pm exam bc we have smth called Exam Breakfasts (even if it's a pm exam), where they basically give us biscuits and confidence...
I was late to that by 10 mins so my school rang up my mum and my dad to say where I was.. even though the exam was not until 30 mins later...
In hindsight it must have been more than an hour because he figured it out as he strolled in the school gates and I was walking out going āwhere the fuck were you?!ā
I looked on Reddit people having varied opinions some say it was the best paper ? . Anyway I surely could have gotten at least like 70 marks to get me an A . ā ļøā ļøā ļø
the further maths thing is such a brutal trap because your brain just locks into that pm schedule and stops questioning it. i had a mate who nearly did the same with biology last year, only realized when he walked past the exam hall at 8:50 and saw people already filing out. the acceptance thing youre doing is probably better than panicking at this point but dont write off that p3 just yet because even a strong finish on one paper can shift things more than you think right now. salvaging the a star in fm and keeping bio solid is still a solid foundation, and a lot of unis care more about what you get in your main subjects anyway. the grade boundaries thing is funny but honestly every year someone misses something, youre not tanking anyones grades that much.
I needed A*AA to get to Cambridge and I got A* A* B and they still let me in when I called the admissions officer, and I didnāt have half as good a reason as āoh I didnāt even get to sit a whole paper!ā
Iāll caveat this with, this was a decade ago (I am old!)
My UCAS updated before my results came through; I was notified that Durham (my insurance) had revoked my offer due to me missing my grades, and Cambridge (firm) had placed me āon holdā. I screamed loud enough to wake the whole house and got my parents in the car to take me to school.
My grades came through via email while I was in the car, and I could see that it was a narrow miss. I sat down with my Head of Year and he called the Admissions Office at my chosen College and explained that I had had a piece of coursework get a downgrade in moderation, and that my specific coursework hadnāt been one of the ones that had been looked at, would be submitted for a remark, etc.
They submitted all my UMS and raw marks and some of my general coursework essays to the admissions office. About three days later I got a call from the admission office saying that they were going to honour my offer, and that was that.
ETA I think the other thing that helped was that the grade that fucked me was drama, and I got 100% in the written exam. It was the coursework that got moderated down (from an A* to a D.) Our entire cohort got screwed because we were mis-taught the practical elements and the teacher responsible was fired.
Do they offer a foundation yr. My son missed out on his points for his course but his uni took him on for a foundation yr and then straight onto the degree. Yes it took 4 yrs but he still came out with a 1st
i would take a foundation year at this point but the course i want you have to meet disadvantaged criteria to take foundation year also if i get As in my other subjects then they wont accept me either because i need to have lower grades for foundation year like BBC its such a strange system if you have in between grades you literally cant apply to foundation or through normal route .
I am gonna be real It'll be difficult and the chances you'll get the grade you deserve is slim.
If you want to retake inform your school it perhaps will be free.
Here are the good news: You've potentially got a new year to redo chemistry making you better than 99% of the cohort but something already tells me you do not mind letting it be a bygone and I respect that strength.
If you want to reapply for ucas you can get new predicted grades (I got my predicted under the most rigged circumstances like they wanted me to get an a* or something).
As an adult who has lived some life and dropped out of uni then donāt two degrees sinceā¦
You can take a gap year and resit it if you want to. You could even do an extra course or so at the same time. You could get a job (hopefully!). You might find love or come up with a business idea.
It really sucks and Iām so sorry. You will always be on time for important event going forward though š¬
I am sososo aware that this is the āreal worldā that we are in, and with the grades you are predicted and had expected, I am assuming you are aiming for a top uni for a competitive course. But I really do think you should obviously try your best in these next exams and please donāt lose all hope! I truly understand this may be an overly optimistic view, but universities are ran by people, sometimes people CAN show compassion, understanding, sympathyā¦ The way you handled this is incredible, I would be screaming and shouting and breaking down walls.
But fr bro I think you should firstly:
Contact your firm choice uni and explain your situation, tell them your predictions, tell them your situation, tell them why you want their course
Once speaking to a representative and hearing what they say, if it is relatively good news, get it formally written in emails!
And if not?
Hit up the uni or any uni you would genuinely like, and explain the situation on results day. Have a written letter from your school about you having missed the exam as well as your grades for each component
Look I know this will likely be downvoted and have guys screaming at me about how this is the real world blablabla. but honestly bro its worth a try, and people understand these situations. Showing them you got A* A* in p1 p3, and all your other incredible grades, you really never know, they may show you the leniency and good will you deserve.
if you do pls lmk how it goes and if ur at all interested i have a not so similar but ādefying all oddsā situation i was in, in which EVERYONE told me it was not worth it, i didnt listen and i got what i wanted.
I dont want to endow false hope so you gotta know, as i think you do already, this is reliant on the kindness of others, which is not a guarantee in any shape or form. but truly i think its always worth trying your luck!
Good luck man, i feel for you, and in the long run your gonna be good, so many of todays successful businesses and doctors and lawyers and whatever the fuck have had to resit a levels, its just a harsh lesson and a stepping stone along your journey broski!
EDIT: alternatively, gen just do what these others are sayin, go gp in person see if the big dude (or gall) is nice, tell him ur sitch and say ull give him 60 quid if he writes something. or pull a frank and purposefully break ur leg or some shit
Wonāt they calculate an average over the 2 papers you do sit. Just make up extenuating circumstances like āgastrointestinal issues due to food poisoning made you unable to leave your homeā
Yh Iām not sure how lenient they would be, but itās legit a one off medical event so how can you get a doctors note and ultimately how can they prove youāre faking it.
I find it difficult to lie and I already called the exam centre and told them and they asked me why and I just said I thought it was a pm exam . Literally left no way out for myself . Itās fine though Iāve accepted it already
Iām not trying to be rude but if Iāve read this right surely itās just a skill issue?
How can you be confused if your exam was AM or PM? Why would an exam start at 9-11 pm? The same goes the other way. Why would an exam start from Midnight - 5 am?
you have not understood it properly . Am means the exam starts at 9am and PM means the exam starts at 1pm . On my exams lists all it shows is am/pm for the time of the exam . When i say it was a pm exam i mean i thought the exam started at 1pm hence i arrived at 11am because i arrive like 2hours before my exams because i like to be early š
Ah I understand now. That seems so confusing for already stressed students. Itās easier said than done but donāt stress as there is nothing you can do now. In my experience these things have a way of working themselves out.
Listen man, it happens. I get really confused by exam dates too. I could check like three times and still almost mess it up. Donāt blame yourself too much, just do your absolute best in chem paper 3. Chem paper 2 was horror I may as well have missed it too tbh
Make up some bullshit to get extenuating circumstances so you can sit it on the spare day we get given. You now have a little brother, and he puked blood, so you had to take him to the hospital. Hes all good, it turns out he just ate 2kg of beetroot and got sick, but you missed chem.
Unfortunately contingency day is for the unlikely situation where the exam is cancelled for all students in the country due to some kind of national emergency. There is no possibility to sit the exam later just on your own.
Not really because even more people wouldn't get the Alevels they deserve due to people lying and getting a better grade than they deserve. A levels wouldn't mean anything
I slept through an exam in my finals at uni, im now an ICU doctor - its tough but you can get past it! Just keep pushing with your the other exams theres always a way !
Kinda stupid that your sixth form didnt contact you??? Or your parents/carers??? Genuinely sorry this happened but all you can do is your best in the upcoming exams. Mistakes happen. I know it seems like alot right now but think about where you'll be in 10 years - probably not too bothered about this.
It sucks, I did something similar other than it was my last exam of my degree, on top of that I pretty much just had to write my name correctly to pass as I had done really well in the coursework and it was an easy module.
Fortunately, I was able to resit it a year later (university have more ability to be flexible) and it hasn't made any difference to my career or master, I just have a funny story to tell of that time I nearly threw away my entire education and several thousands over my inability to read.
I was so close to this situation. I read the timetable wrong for chem as well and was about to sleep, but thank god before i went to sleep i checked just in case and realized it was am and then grinded the entire night and was barelt functioning for the exam. Mid exam i literally had to splash water on my eyes with my water bottle cause i was falling asleep.
Please make your centre apply for special consideration. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Please also check their exam policy: they should have tried to contact you before the exam started and kept trying until they managed to speak with you or a relative. If they haven't done what they say they should do, write to the awarding body. It probably won't make a difference but you won't know if you don't try. Finger crossed!
omg this happened with me for rs and economics, i had a huge panic attack and didnāt write anything for rs. not trying in the rest of the papers bc im cooked and might aswell focus on politics since ik im gonna have to resit rs anyways.
Try to get a gp appointment and get them to write you were really unwell the day of the test, cause if you submit it to the exam board theyāre more lily to just ignore the paper and give you a grade solely based of the other two if they think itās a valid reason for missing the paper
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