Too late to apply for A Levels? (at a college)

Margaret

Margaret

Margaret

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One friend told me I could be too late, does anybody know if that could be true?

I figured I'd have a while yet before it would be a rush to apply, but I did forget about all the school leavers as they leave within the next 2 months right?

I'm screwed aren't I! :(
 
It's never too late unless they've run out of places, which is fairly unlikely.

I applied/signed up for a college course last August and there were still paces (just).
 
No you shouldn't be too late at all. Just contact the college you want to go to and ask when the next open evening is, and if there isn't one then ask for a tour. They will do it. I know because my college are still bringing school student round. And it's not too late till the enrollment day and even then I know about 3 people in my college who came after the enrollment date. It also depends on your age, some colleges wont be bothered. But if it's a sixth form college then there could be a problem. Just check with the college.

I hope this helps you out.
 
Moses99p said:
Hi there,



How very special of me... I actually looked... but looked at the wrong place in his profile page :o.

At nineteen I'd seriously advise doing something other than A levels... sure, some A level students can be alright, but the maturity levels will start to grind, horrifically. Lots of them will act like children because, let's face it, they'll be sixteen when you start this course. I presume the OP wants to go to university? What would you like to study? Have you looked at Access to Higher Education courses?

If you're nineteen when you start your course it'll be free... but if this is your second time attempting A levels you'll have to pay to study the second year... and at my college that's about £1000 D:. If you did an Access to Higher Education course it would be one year, so quicker... but it'd also be free...
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I'm not 100% sure just yet but some of the A Level subjects appeal to me a lot, the other option I'm looking at is a national diploma in media, that seems really interesting too.

Tough call! But oh yes I do want to get to university.

Thanks for the replies though folks. :p
 
Moses99p said:
At nineteen I'd seriously advise doing something other than A levels... sure, some A level students can be alright, but the maturity levels will start to grind, horrifically. Lots of them will act like children because, let's face it, they'll be sixteen when you start this course.
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This. I pulled out last year because I couldn't hack it any more (was 19 coming 20). Even lecturers treat you like 16. They seem to think money shouldn't be a issue for you :rolleyes:

But you might as well give it a go. Just remember that 16 year olds can't drink. So don't bother asking them out lol :D
 
Pretty much everyone here would say avoid subjects like media. I'd agree if I'm honest, and it's a subject I'd really like to do myself, but going to do law instead becuase it's more likely to get me a job...

And yes, college when you are older than 18 just frankly sucks, you realise how annoying you must have been when 16. And there is the problem of if you do A-Levels you have to pay for the second year (which I couldn't afford to do, so ended up 2 years out of education until I could apply as a mature student.)
 
Fubsy said:
Pretty much everyone here would say avoid subjects like media. I'd agree if I'm honest, and it's a subject I'd really like to do myself, but going to do law instead becuase it's more likely to get me a job...

And yes, college when you are older than 18 just frankly sucks, you realise how annoying you must have been when 16. And there is the problem of if you do A-Levels you have to pay for the second year (which I couldn't afford to do, so ended up 2 years out of education until I could apply as a mature student.)
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Yeah that's the problem, I was considering a forensic science course but read that it kinda sucks for jobs and is pretty pointless. Shame because it sounded like the most interesting course I've ever seen.

Annoying situation, IT is another possibility for me but I'm not 100% sure really. :o
 
Hey

If you are considering something at college as a precursor to joining University, it's worth considering what course you want to do at university first and work backwards from that. Some courses are 'worth' more than others to specific Uni courses (although they have the same amount of UCAS points)

Having said that, people saying don't take media I wouldn't necessarily agree with. I think if you are going to college and uni, it's just as important to pick subjects you enjoy rather than what might give you the best job. No point in doing Law if you have no interest in it. Something like 5% of graduates end up getting a job related to their degree. Media gives you a lot of options if that is a field you are interested in, however it also happens to be one of the most competitive.

You can see which subjects uni's accept for courses by taking the stamford test on ucas.com

Also, can I ask why you didn't take A-levels at 16? Genuine question!
 
DailyGeek said:
Hey

If you are considering something at college as a precursor to joining University, it's worth considering what course you want to do at university first and work backwards from that. Some courses are 'worth' more than others to specific Uni courses (although they have the same amount of UCAS points)

Having said that, people saying don't take media I wouldn't necessarily agree with. I think if you are going to college and uni, it's just as important to pick subjects you enjoy rather than what might give you the best job. No point in doing Law if you have no interest in it. Something like 5% of graduates end up getting a job related to their degree. Media gives you a lot of options if that is a field you are interested in, however it also happens to be one of the most competitive.

You can see which subjects uni's accept for courses by taking the stamford test on ucas.com

Also, can I ask why you didn't take A-levels at 16? Genuine question!
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Thanks, I guess looking into some university courses would be a good idea and I didn't take A-Levels at 16 because I messed around at school and didn't bother with a lot of coursework which impaired some of my grades quite a lot so I didn't try to get on, although to be fair none of the subjects really appealed to me either but now it's another matter.
 
Margaret said:
Thanks, I guess looking into some university courses would be a good idea and I didn't take A-Levels at 16 because I messed around at school and didn't bother with a lot of coursework which impaired some of my grades quite a lot so I didn't try to get on, although to be fair none of the subjects really appealed to me either but now it's another matter.
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The reason I ask is that if you didn't get on so well with GCSEs, A-levels are structured the same, but obviously harder (coursework and exams) whereas you might find one of the vocational courses (BTEC National Diploma) a bit more interesting, holds your attention more and no exam stress. However they aren't considered equal with a-levels by *some* uni's (russell group)

Why is it you are looking at Media? It's quite different from forensics (most people like forensics because of CSI, although the reality of the job in the UK is vastly different)
 
If your goal is to go on to University then the best thing is to look at what they offer and what catches your eye.

If you see something your interested in don't be afraid to get in touch with the admissions department of the uni and have chat with them in regard to what they would accept to let you onto your preferred course. They will be more than happy to advise you.
 
DailyGeek said:
The reason I ask is that if you didn't get on so well with GCSEs, A-levels are structured the same, but obviously harder (coursework and exams) whereas you might find one of the vocational courses (BTEC National Diploma) a bit more interesting, holds your attention more and no exam stress. However they aren't considered equal with a-levels by *some* uni's (russell group)

Why is it you are looking at Media? It's quite different from forensics (most people like forensics because of CSI, although the reality of the job in the UK is vastly different)
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Well the reason I didn't get on with GCSEs was purely because of me not putting in effort and generally just clowning around a lot, I never really had any problems with the content I just hated doing it, school wasn't a good time for me really.

Media is interesting to me, the production aspect at the very least and from the description it focuses heavily on that so that sounds good!

Forensic Science does seem extremely interesting, though I'd be lying if I said that interest wasn't sparked because of CSI, but still it does sound great but I read the job possibilities are pretty pants, of course that was on the internet from a forum so could well be a load of rubbish.

I don't really know anything about science either so that wouldn't look well on an application, the last thing I did remotely related to science was, well, GCSEs which I only got a C in. (or possibly a D, cannot remember)

Doonhamer said:
If your goal is to go on to University then the best thing is to look at what they offer and what catches your eye.

If you see something your interested in don't be afraid to get in touch with the admissions department of the uni and have chat with them in regard to what they would accept to let you onto your preferred course. They will be more than happy to advise you.
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Aye! Think there's an open day soon too so that could be worth tagging along too I guess. :)

Will give the college a ring this week as well.
 
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