Does taking A levels early impact on university offers?

[Guest55]

It wouldn't be the first time - I've dealt with UCAS for many many years and have a whole collection of such stories I'm afraid.

Departments often have different viewpoints - did you speak to general admissions or faculty admissions personnel?

[Bexley Mum 2]

Faculty Admissions in each case.

[magwich2]

Everything I have ever heard from DD1, DH when he was a teacher and when he was interviewing for 2 Oxford colleges and a russell group uni and from DD's friends makes me agree with Guest55

[KB]

Agree with Guest55
Experience of Uni admissions from both sides.

[moved]

Sadly, me too. I think it does help taking some early as long as you accept that three must be taken in yr 13.

[tiffinboys]

Will be anxiously waiting to find the outcome of the admission process, bexley mum. Good Luck to your DS. A child in our family is going through the process of finalizing GCSE subjects and so much depends on the right subject choices for her future studies.

[silverysea]

May I just ask please, are current younger student no longer allowed to take A levels early? Or is that GCSE? Or did I imagine that there has been a recent change in government policy? Or is it driven by universities? Or certain universities like Oxbridge, that most students can safely ignore?

My dd who is considered very able started the GCSE science course at the start of year 9 - is that normal? What is the point, they can't take the exam early? So they are going to spend three years covering material designed to take two? Is it because the goalposts have moved, or to get better grades on average? She is more likely to switch off IME, if it is draggy and repetitive.

[Daogroupie]

For those of you like me with younger dc's just entering the maze of the four year journey that is GCSE's , AS's and A2's, take this message away: Whatever else you do in those four years make sure you are doing three A2's in Y13. When you apply you will be up against lots of candidates doing three A2's and some more. Doing less is a bad idea. I worked in a company that was snowed under by job applications every month. They always started the process of elimination, not by looking for the good ones, but by sifting through and finding any reason they could for getting rid of as many as they could. Don't give them any reason at all to put you in that reject pile. DG

[Daogroupie]

Silverysea, there are no rules, just consequences. This is why schools can really ending up letting their pupils down. Beaumont in St Albans select promising language students after one half term in Y7 and they go into a fast track class that takes a GCSE language at the end of Y9. The top Maths set takes GCSE Maths in Y10. But this is an advantage, not a problem. It is not taking it early that is an issue. It is failing to fill that vacant slot with something else and ending up taking less than everyone else in Y11, Y12 and Y13. The OP would be fine if her dc was taking three A2's in Y13. Then it would not matter how many other ones were done earlier. My dd will take the same amount of GSCE's as everyone else next year but she will have already done one earlier. Several students in her year have already done Chinese, Hebrew and other languages earlier. I know students who did two languages in Y8. But these were all done privately and all these students will do the full amount of GCSE's at the end of Y11. The message is do what you like for extra but make sure you do the full amount at the proper time. DG

[Jean.Brodie]

The leading faculties look for demonstrable love of subject and commitment to subject. They also want evidence that a student can handle a certain workload at a particular level.

This is best demonstrated by the student taking three or four acceptable subjects at the same time for AS and then for A2. For most applicants, who apply in the autumn of their Year 13, their potential is mainly shown by three or four good grades in relevant subjects in Year 12 and the offer will then be based on three grades at A2. Guest55 is quite right - be wary of what Admissions Staff tell you and, instead, look at what offers they actually make.

Faculties do not like making special cases, unless it is clear that the candidate is quite exceptional. But then this will be obvious to them from exam results, entrance tests, interview and reference.

I really would not want our child to take any certificated exams early. Too often, exams are taken early because it suits a school's drive to beef up their points total for the league tables.