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Saintandy666
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good luck in getting a job

 

Ha, that's not the plan... gonna be in education for a few more years yet! I will have to reapply to university next year though, was rejected flat out for medicine this year.

 

I'm having a year of voluntary work and shop work in between though.

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good luck in getting a job

 

Getting three As is an indication of talent, especially as they're across the sciences (including the very tough Chemistry) and social sciences His chances of getting a good job are better than if the results were, say, BCC.

 

So I don't understand your resentful, peevish comment.

 

And well done Andy.

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Getting three As is an indication of talent, especially as they're across the sciences (including the very tough Chemistry) and social sciences His chances of getting a good job are better than if the results were, say, BCC.

 

So I don't understand your resentful, peevish comment.

 

And well done Andy.

just saying, its a tough world out there

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Getting three As is an indication of talent, especially as they're across the sciences (including the very tough Chemistry) and social sciences His chances of getting a good job are better than if the results were, say, BCC.

 

So I don't understand your resentful, peevish comment.

 

And well done Andy.

 

Thanks for the kind words :)

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Well done. By the way, what is an EPQ?

 

It's basically a dissertation and a presentation. I did mine on tissue engineering for example. It's meant to be worth half an A level, but in reality it probably isn't. But you get cajoled into doing it by colleges. Unis do like it though as it shows an extra interest in a subject area and personal motivation etc I enjoyed it though.

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Ha, that's not the plan... gonna be in education for a few more years yet! I will have to reapply to university next year though, was rejected flat out for medicine this year.

 

Had a friend last year who got four rejections, only one interviewed him. Ended up with 4As (maths, bio, chem, english lit). 4 offers this year. Good luck for next year, Medicine is a lottery, but with grades in the bag, you'll probably have a winning ticket.

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My cousin got her results today (A*AA), and managed to get into Cardiff to study Medicine, having been on the reserve list before. Very happy for her. Andy, your results are definitely good enough to get onto a medicine course with no troubles, where did you apply to? Lots of places are oversubscribed at the moment but are taking on more med students because of the extra funding they get and the NHS perks.

 

I managed to scrape by with little revision last year, and ended up with BCCC (albeit in subjects a lot easier than the ones Andy took - I took French, English Language, Music Tech and Psychology). If not for a marking problem with my AS Music Technology (whereby half of the country was wrongly marked with a U for their coursework, including myself), I would have ended up with an A overall for Music Tech. I'm not bitter or anything, just saying ;)

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Even though exams are easier than they used to be well done Andy.:)

 

Those HNDs are a bugger though eh? Bless, I bet when you bring that up in an interview they either roll their eyes, shake their heads or just smile and nod.

 

Well done Andy, three As is a bloody fantastic effort! At last the media this year have cottoned on to the fact that these exams are not as easy as the more slower members of the forum like to perpetuate. 5Live today in particular were very supportive and about time too!

 

Hopefully the same courtesy will be extended to the GCSEs next week.

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Getting three As is an indication of talent, especially as they're across the sciences (including the very tough Chemistry) and social sciences His chances of getting a good job are better than if the results were, say, BCC.

 

So I don't understand your resentful, peevish comment.

 

And well done Andy.

 

My mate's lad had a job interview recently and when he said he had 3 Bs at A level the interviewer said

 

"Doesn't everybody?"

 

Summed it up well I thought.

 

Still well done to those doing well in their exams.

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Sums up that some interviewers are tools.

 

It'll fcking tragic if people are put off education because of such attitudes. We have enough morons, so let's at least do all we can to encourage a passion for learning.

 

dont think anyone is put off further education...im sure more go into it than ever....which is kind of the point

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I've heard people without A-levels say they've got easier. It's a strange stance. I'm thinking about doing science a-levels because I never got to do them, and looking at the texts, there's far from easy. Should be obvious to anyone that they're not easy. I had to learn a huge amount for my a-levels, but even then, 12 years ago now, people were saying 'they've got easier'. It's just a way for older people to feel better about themselves, but it's fairly ignorant.

 

People will get more intelligent, perhaps we should praise teachers as well for once? But I feel sorry for the people taking the exams. The pressure to do well is more than ever, A-levels and degrees and a necessity for many careers, rather than a chance to further knowledge in a subject you enjoy. So kids understand the need for these qualifications and work harder. Their reward is a load of people telling them how easy it was.

 

Last year I did a mate's mock A2 level psychology paper with a 2 min prep talk and absolutely no background knowledge of psychology whatsoever, and got a B.

 

Still, I agree with the point on there being a lot of pressure on the students because there just isn't the opportunities outside of college/university that there was in my day. Also it isn't the students fault, they can only do their best with what is placed in front of them.

 

The company I co-run was recruiting recently and one of me fellow directors had the attitude that if an applicant didn't have As in their A levels it indicated a lack of effort or intelligence depending on the grades. It was something I did have words about but it just shows the cynicism starting to creep in with regards to A levels and university degrees now.

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I'd be interested to see that paper. There's a lot of topics to cover in psychology. Maybe you're just a genius?

 

Have to say, despite not knowing much about some subjects, perhaps I'd do alright partly because I know how to write academic answers, have written countless essays t university etc, so could cover up lack of knowledge a bit. But I couldn't do any of that at 16 or 18 really.

 

Suppose psychology is a subject where an intelligent person could have a good stab at some answers.

 

No you didn't need to be a genius.

 

All you had to do was memorise 5-6 brief summaries of psychological studies (surname of psychologist, year and brief description of study) and write in a clear,coherent and methodical manner about how they illustrated a certain behaviour or trend and that was it.

 

You didn't need any background knowledge of psychology to do it. Barely anything more than a test of memory.

 

There again I also had a look at his mock English Language paper and I would have struggled with it. Swings and roundabouts to an extent but there are some easy papers out there in certain subjects

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I mean if people start to feel everyone has it so it's worthless. It's never worthless gaining an education. There may be more competition but a more educated workforce and society has to be a good thing. It does mean a lot of thought is needed over what to study though. It's tough having to decide the sort of career you'd want when you're just 16 or 18.

 

Of course you could argue that the boom in further/higher education has led to a dearth in number for more hands-on trades such as engineers, plumbers, electricians etc. Nothing wrong with further learning, just a shame that the stigma of a university degree was placed much higher than previous Poly qualifications and other youth training schemes.

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My mate's lad had a job interview recently and when he said he had 3 Bs at A level the interviewer said

 

"Doesn't everybody?"

 

Summed it up well I thought.

 

Still well done to those doing well in their exams.

 

Sums up the mindlessness and resentment that gets full reign especially around now, when all the headlines in the Mail and other hackneyed rags seem desperate to rubbish 18-year-olds and their achievements.

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How come on the radio and tv they never interview anyone who's just f*cked up their life?

 

Its like the way you never get people starting threads to say how badly they'd just done ;-)

 

 

I got an N for A-Level. For History. An N - I didn't even know they did "N" grades. We had two different teachers in History and both were rubbish. I hated school by the time I joined sixth form anyway, I also got a C in English and a D in Music. I wish I'd quit school at 16 and gone and got a job.

 

Still, I got lucky when I joined the Underground - we're well looked after.

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It's basically a dissertation and a presentation. I did mine on tissue engineering for example. It's meant to be worth half an A level, but in reality it probably isn't. But you get cajoled into doing it by colleges. Unis do like it though as it shows an extra interest in a subject area and personal motivation etc I enjoyed it though.

 

I was disappointed at first when I didn't get asked to do the Extended Project, but then I saw my mates putting weeks of extra work into it for little gain, and now I actually feel lucky I didn't have to do it! Colleges like to do it to get you used to the academic style of work that's used at Uni.

 

And JackFrost, I did that A2 mock Psychology paper, and the mock was easier than the actual exam. All of the teaching staff said that our years exam was more difficult than the previous years, even though not much changes year-on-year with most exams. The difficult part about Psychology as an A-level is the amount of studies you have to learn about - only 16 in the first year but well over 60 in the second year! Any of them could come up in the exam as well, so it's about learning them all thoroughly enough to write a paper about. I think I got 67% in that exam.

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my lad also did psych. I helped him work thro the case studies and believe me it was nowhere near as easy as just learning 6 off by heart. He's got his place with room to spare after working really hard at it. Bo**llicks to anybody who thinks its easy. (although he did his epq in one week, and the grade reflected that!)

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I was disappointed at first when I didn't get asked to do the Extended Project, but then I saw my mates putting weeks of extra work into it for little gain, and now I actually feel lucky I didn't have to do it! Colleges like to do it to get you used to the academic style of work that's used at Uni.

 

And JackFrost, I did that A2 mock Psychology paper, and the mock was easier than the actual exam. All of the teaching staff said that our years exam was more difficult than the previous years, even though not much changes year-on-year with most exams. The difficult part about Psychology as an A-level is the amount of studies you have to learn about - only 16 in the first year but well over 60 in the second year! Any of them could come up in the exam as well, so it's about learning them all thoroughly enough to write a paper about. I think I got 67% in that exam.

 

Tsk Mikey. That really isn't super. Did you tell the exam board their answers were wrong and you know better?

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My cousin got her results today (A*AA), and managed to get into Cardiff to study Medicine, having been on the reserve list before. Very happy for her. Andy, your results are definitely good enough to get onto a medicine course with no troubles, where did you apply to? Lots of places are oversubscribed at the moment but are taking on more med students because of the extra funding they get and the NHS perks.

 

I managed to scrape by with little revision last year, and ended up with BCCC (albeit in subjects a lot easier than the ones Andy took - I took French, English Language, Music Tech and Psychology). If not for a marking problem with my AS Music Technology (whereby half of the country was wrongly marked with a U for their coursework, including myself), I would have ended up with an A overall for Music Tech. I'm not bitter or anything, just saying ;)

 

Well, that's good to hear. I don't know if I made the wisest choices with my universities last year. I ended up opting for UCL, Sussex, Bristol and Southampton. I think Southampton was a mistake, too many applicants and not even an interview process.

 

And you shouldn't be so harsh on yourself, BCC in the subjects you took is quite good.

 

And on Psychology, I have to say the A2 year does sound a nightmare!

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Whats your plan next? uni ?

 

Well, I applied for medicine and didn't get in so I will reapply for that this year.

 

And yes, Chemistry is a little ***** at times, especially the A2 year. It's meant to be the hardest one with Further Maths and Physics so to do well in that stands you in good stead for the future.

 

And I guess you are off to uni now?

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Well, I applied for medicine and didn't get in so I will reapply for that this year.

 

And yes, Chemistry is a little ***** at times, especially the A2 year. It's meant to be the hardest one with Further Maths and Physics so to do well in that stands you in good stead for the future.

 

And I guess you are off to uni now?

 

Andy, you probably already know this, but despite three A's being very good, you'll probably have to be a little strategic about where you apply. And make sure your UKCAT (or the other one) is done well in advance.

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Andy, you probably already know this, but despite three A's being very good, you'll probably have to be a little strategic about where you apply. And make sure your UKCAT (or the other one) is done well in advance.

 

Yep, done my UKCAT already, got 670. Just need to think now whether I want to give UCL another go in which case I'd have to do the BMAT again like last year or give Kings a shot as my first choice(I really want to go to uni in London!). I have a few weeks to decide that though. Definitely going to give Sussex a go this year though as I was on their reserve list this year, so fingers cross I can go one step further!

 

But yer, I am definitely going to be strategical about where I apply. Thanks for all the advice :)

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Even though exams are easier than they used to be well done Andy.:)

 

Piece of **** if your not the one doing them!

My daughter and her mates worked really hard to get the qualifications they needed for Uni.

Of course there are far more resources for them now to get answers compared to when you only had your abacus, ball of string, compass and the stars.

Don't belittle the kids who have achieved something you haven't it just makes you and DD look even bigger ****s than normal.

 

Yes I am touchy about this as my daughter was one getting her results as I am proud that she can go to uni - something this council estate urchin from Redbridge could never of achieved.

 

Well done to the OP hope your parents are as proud of you as I am of my daughter

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Yep, done my UKCAT already, got 670. Just need to think now whether I want to give UCL another go in which case I'd have to do the BMAT again like last year or give Kings a shot as my first choice(I really want to go to uni in London!). I have a few weeks to decide that though. Definitely going to give Sussex a go this year though as I was on their reserve list this year, so fingers cross I can go one step further!

 

But yer, I am definitely going to be strategical about where I apply. Thanks for all the advice :)

 

Great. Sussex would be a very good choice by the way. The London ones are tough to get into no matter how good your results, but also the most prestigious obviously - especially UCL.

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My eldest daughter is half way through her IB "International Baccalaureate" had a good chat with her tonight and now it seems the pressure is on, she has been thinking of not going to Uni now, worried about the debt etc.

 

Why on earth did she choose the IB? It's such an obscure qualification that many university admissions tutors know little about it and offers are often very high. And the numbers sitting it are so small that the marking isn't very reilable. I've seen official UCAS figures showing only about 2500 students went to uni last year with the IB, compared with c. 250,000 with A levels. But if she does get a decent offer and she is bright enough to anticipate getting a decent degree, she should still go to uni. Even with the new fees it still makes sense financially in the long run.

 

As to pillocks saying 'everyone passes A level now', they overlook the simple but important fact that students who are likely to fail, nowadays drop out at the end of the first year in the sixth form because they do badly in their AS exams. So of course the A level pass rate is high ....you don't take it unless you have already passed AS well and have shown you are likely to succeed at A2. Before year 2000, some students wasted 2 years then failed. Now they only waste 1 year and only the good ones sit the final A level exams in year 2.

 

So well done to anyone who has just passed. Ignore any bitter old failures on here!

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The AS pass rate is much lower than the A level pass rate, for reasons just stated. People only go on to do the A2 year if they are good enough and even then only A-C grades are really worth looking at in relation to universities. D and E grades don't get you in.

 

A & B grades these days are the equal of D & E back in my day.

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Oh please! I'd like to see you take a further maths paper or a physics paper or a chemistry paper and get above a U.

 

Did it include questions like;

 

Jayne has £5. If she gives Jermaine 86p, Victor 75p and spends £2.18 on toothpaste how much money does Jayne have left?

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