With A-level results announced last month and the new university term now beginning, many students will be settling into the next chapter of their education. But for some, things may not have gone quite to plan. A disappointing A-level result doesn’t have to define what comes next. For students who feel their grades don’t reflect their ability or ambitions, retaking can offer a valuable second chance - whether that means improving an existing grade, changing a subject or taking a year to rethink the future. Below, Talk Education’s universities expert Anna Rogers looks at everything you need to know about making the most of that opportunity.
So you’re thinking about retaking an A-level or equivalent. For the purposes of this article, I will focus on A-levels, but the same principles and thoughts are true for almost all sixth-form qualifications.
Why?
Perhaps this was what you thought when you opened the result of your exam, but my ‘why?’ is more about what would make you want to retake a subject.
Most students who want to have another go at an A-level feel that the grade they have achieved doesn’t really reflect their academic ability, and they want to put that right. I admire this – the pride and ambition to correct something that misrepresents your view of yourself.
Sometimes areas of the course have been poorly taught, or choices of curriculum or subject weren’t a good match. Maybe your education was interrupted in some way, or perhaps – and we need to be honest – not enough work was put in to achieve the grade required or anticipated. This can all be fixed.
Get help
The first thing I would advise in the strongest terms is that you are not going to be able to do this by yourself. Shutting yourself up in a room with the same books and notes you used last time will – and it’s a harsh truth –
never get you an uplift in a subject at A-level standard.
It’s important to bear in mind that you will need to add significantly more marks to have made the retake worthwhile. This can only be achieved with external guidance and support. Use a private tutor or a retake college, of which there are many.
Timing
This can all be done in an academic year, ie nine months. This time next year you could be looking at a very different profile. Your grades could have gone from A, B and E to A*, A and B, which is a very different picture. Some retake colleges would like you to study with them from September, but a good many will take you on in January for an intensive revision session until the exam, which is a good option if you’re not looking for a major uplift.
If you need to radically change the grade, it would be sensible to take a year to do so, cramming the knowledge of two school years into one. With only one subject on which to focus, this is easily doable.
You can get a job at the same time or pursue a passion such as sport or a creative activity, and give yourself time to immerse yourself in you. It’s a year of making a difference to your academics, your hobbies, your social life and your interests. It’s also a great time to visit friends at university and check out institutions for yourself before applying.
UCAS (and other applications)
By and large, it’s better to have a higher grade on a retake than try to find courses or institutions to which you’re not suited but are accessible with your current grade. There is one caveat: some competitive courses at punchy universities will not accept grades that have taken more than two years to achieve, and they mean all subjects in one sitting. Well, never mind – just don’t apply to those places.
It is a requirement on the UCAS form that all grades are entered, so you will add your original A-level with the grade and date you took it, then add the retake A-level with the date you will take it, and it will appear as a pending qualification. Your referee will then add a predicted grade so the universities can see that you intend to get an uplift.
I think it is a good thing to mention the retake in a personal statement and, as it were, to ‘fall on your sword’. A bit of humility goes a long way, and a short sentence that reads ‘my English A-level grade was not representative of my ability, so I am determined to put that right this year’ (or similar) communicates more than just the intended uplift. It shows that you are ambitious, determined and accountable – qualities they like.
Exam boards
If you are intending to do a straight retake, it’s good to find a college or tutor that is using, or is familiar with, the exam-board curriculum you have taken. It might be that you wish to switch to a different exam board to find content that is more suitable for you, but be aware of this when signing up.
A new subject
Now here’s an idea. Instead of revisiting and reworking the same qualification, what if you took a new subject in a year? For example, a girl I was advising who had scored A, A and E (the E was maths) was thinking about a retake, but had the self-awareness to realise she found maths impenetrable. So I advised her to take a new subject in an academic year – the same time it would have taken to do the retake. She chose business and scored an A*. What a change!
A new subject can also allow you to access courses that your previous profile excluded – maybe you want to do zoology, but your first-take A-levels didn’t include biology. You can put that right.
Multiples
You can, of course, retake more than one subject, or take more than one new subject, but be careful about overstretching or overwhelming yourself – that would be counterproductive. Life has changed; you’re not at school anymore with a rigid structure of study. Be realistic and tactical. You do want to make a change, but you need to give yourself enough time to make a success of it.
Final word
There is nothing worse than short-termism in education, so the fact you’re focusing on the big picture and the long-term benefits shows an amazing attitude. Be bold, be determined and make that difference!