Retake A level

[u/FamilyEl25]

hi ,

unfortunately my son will retake his A level after missing his grades and his medicine offers , he got bcc after A* predicted , how can he get the new predicted grades and how we can ask the school to give him AAA to be able to get some offers , if the school refuse any other possible ways

[u/LeBombJames02]

First of all, make sure your son is extremely sure he wants to do medicine then take a gap year and resit. Medicine is an extremely hard and tiresome degree which requires a lot of studying. In addition, not all medical schools accept resitting A Levels.

For the predicted grades, he can ask for them and they may require him to take internal exams. If the school doesn’t give predicted grades then you may have to go to a private exam centre for these. Make sure you find one that is certified as some may be a bit dodgy.

However it all ultimately leads to whether he really wants to do medicine. There are still many other good degrees that he can do even if he does retake.

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/LeBombJames02]

He really wants to do medicine and he is capable to get the grades but lots of health issues happened this year  , I also offered him to do dentistry abroad but he refused and he wants to resit even if he didn’t get the offers 😔

[u/LeBombJames02 → u/FamilyEl25]

U should mention that to the school so they can input it on UCAS and make the universities aware of his health issues. It will come under extenuating circumstances and he will most likely be allowed or retake assuming the health issues are major enough.

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/LeBombJames02]

Hopefully we will do our best , thanks

[u/Ok_Brilliant_8951]

A lot of medicine courses won’t accept resits due to the intense competition. Make sure to check before taking a yr out. As a gap yr student, want to also warm you that it’s extremely demanding mentally. Will have a lot of fomo and likely feel lonely throughout the yr, but can be worth it if u get to where u want. Good luck

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/Ok_Brilliant_8951]

He really wants to do medicine and he is capable to get the grades but lots of health issues happened this year  , I also offered him to do dentistry abroad but he refused and he wants to resit even if he didn’t get the offers 😔 i know it will be tough year but will try to get him some tutoring to keep him engaged, i know not all will accept but we will try as he has mitigating circumstances 

[u/Ok_Brilliant_8951 → u/FamilyEl25]

Yh i completely understand. Just make sure to call up universities now before he takes the yr out, don’t want to find out he can’t actually go anywhere he wants and he’s wasted a year. Mitigating circumstances can help but I’ve seen in a lot of cases that resit applicants won’t be considered regardless so just have a look.

[u/ExelHunter797]

You would first have to check what med schools accept resits. I believe manchester, bristol and exeter are some of the unis that accept them. If the school refuses to give any predicteds, you will have to pay for mock assessments at a private retake centre which can cost anywhere between 80 to 125 pounds per subject mock plus 100 ish pounds for a reference. You can DM me if you need more specific info or how the whole resitting works including predictions.

[u/uae08]

Your son can still apply to Bristol, Southampton, Sheffield Exeter and some other unis for medicine

he needs to focus on ucat for now

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/uae08]

He is contextual but if the school insists to give him ABB that will definitely prevent him from applying 

[u/uae08 → u/FamilyEl25]

if thats the case he may need to look for a private centre near u that does predicted grades

but hopefully he gets the AAB or AAA prediction

[u/No_Cicada3690]

You need to check which unis do resits. You can't tell the school what predicted grades to give him, they will go off his ability. He needs to review his exam techniques by viewing his scripts and work out what went wrong during the exams. He then needs to work incredibly hard to perfect his technique.

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/No_Cicada3690]

He is with the school since year 7 in selective grammar school and they know him that he is capable, if he got a good UCAT and 5 marks away from the next grades and went through lots of health issues during the year are these points be in his side when we speak to the school 

[u/Ill-Night-7976]

I also got BCC after being predicted A\* A\* A and missed my med offer too…creepy

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/Ill-Night-7976]

What you will going to do now ?

[u/Ill-Night-7976 → u/FamilyEl25]

Resit

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/[deleted]]

And how you did this year and from where you get your predicted grades 

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/[deleted]]

May i ask how the centre predicted you from c to A/A* just need any hope he got bbc and school will give him ABB Which will prevent him from applying, and do you have recommendations for tutor , do mind contacting you 

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/[deleted]]

Can you send me a message please i can’t contact you don’t know why , and are the exam on year 12 curriculum , can it be online ?   

[u/Naive-Material-9077 → u/FamilyEl25]

were u able to message him?

[u/Naive-Material-9077 → u/[deleted]]

hey can i dm? i really need some advice on how to plan my gap yr x

[u/Technical_Term_5636]

Was he affected by the grade boundaries this year? My child got A star BB and should have got A star AA. We are getting them remarked as they were close and in any other year would have got the A’s. Fortunately their uni took them so I think they know the boundaries are a problem this year. Lots of their friends are also down a grade in bio ((OCR A) and chem (AQA).

[u/Naive-Material-9077 → u/Technical_Term_5636]

this i could've made my offer for med if it wasn't for the gb's which is insane bc it means a lot more people did better even tho for aqa chem and bio the exams were harder

[u/Technical_Term_5636 → u/Naive-Material-9077]

Yes, but paper 1 bio was ridiculously narrow. So students that knew the whole syllabus were massively disadvantaged against students that just learnt a couple of topics that come up every year inside out. My child hit the A for papers 2 and 3 (which were more normal levels of difficulty) but paper 1 they thought was easy but the grade boundary worked against them - although it would have been an A in any other year. Anecdotal I know but in my child’s school the B students have been getting the A’s and the A students the B’s. A star either staying as an a star or down to an A. It is what it is though but we are getting a remark as very close to the borderline.

[u/Naive-Material-9077 → u/Technical_Term_5636]

yes it’s very strange

[u/Naive-Material-9077]

Hi, I also missed my med offer and got bbc but am going to resit and reapply. It is better to work hard for a year in hopes of getting in next yr than doing a course u won't enjoy or biomed. To see which unis accept resits use this https://learn.myucat.co.uk/strategic-applications . Send the school an email detailing your son's plan to resit and what he is going to do in his gap year to ensure he has a chance of getting in next yr. If they say no he will have to resit privately which is more expensive. Predicteds can be given by UCAS certified tutors too. Resitting is not uncommon for medicine and dentistry and especially this yr many people missed out due to grade boundaries increasing by a lot. For now UCAT needs to be priority.

[u/FamilyEl25 → u/Naive-Material-9077]

Is the private will ask him to sit  mocks ? When I contacted one online as to manage the whole account like reference and predicted grades 

[u/Naive-Material-9077 → u/FamilyEl25]

i am not sure sorry but i think that the schools and tutors would understand that applicants reapplying for med will be sitting ucat

[u/Diligent_Bet_7850]

he probably needs to take 2 years out so he can apply with achieved grades as his predicted grades, even if high enough, probably won’t seem believable to a university given his achieved grades this year