A levels

[BlueberryMUNCH]

Ugh this threads making me nervous. I don;t have any AS exams until June...but already the work is really taking its toll.

This might be a longshot, but does anyone here go to Warwick University? That's going to be my main goal...just wondering if it's any good?

 

[shootthebandit]

snip

yeah oxford and cambridge are for literature subjects. bristol is where its at for engineering, it goes back to brunell who studied at bristol. i did look at doing aeronautical engineering at uni but i got an apprenticeship doing aircraft maintenance (mechanical and electronics). seemed like a better option than uni. although when i was looking at uni bristol came out on top

 

[Wadders]

If I were you I'd listen to your teachers and do as well as you can at A level. Its really not that hard and it's free, so whats the point in failing them?

Even if you dont wana go to uni, having 3 A levels under your belt is very useful I'd say. I'm in uni at the moment, but I cant see how A levels wouldnt help you in the future. Jsut do as well as you can, and in the event that 2 years of your life define the rest of it, you can say you put a decent effort in.

Having said that schools will always act like failing A levels is the end of your life because it makes them look better if they get more people to pass. I've got a few mates who didnt even do A-levels, let alone fail them, and they all have solid jobs, mainly manual - nothing wrong with that of course, but I would say that failing A levels might limit you a bit, so again, do as best you can, if it matters then all well and good, and if they dont then hey, who cares?

That probably made little sense, but it mighta helped

Ugh this threads making me nervous. I don;t have any AS exams until June...but already the work is really taking its toll.

This might be a longshot, but does anyone here go to Warwick University? That's going to be my main goal...just wondering if it's any good?

I didnt, but I know somebody who does.

One of my best mates is there at the moment in his 2nd year. From what I gather from him its pretty good, but that might just be the department for his course, although probably not, I think it's a fairly prestigious uni. Not sure what the night life is like, I seem to recall him saying there wasnt many places to go, but I'm sure its good enough for a night out.

 

[Mandalore_15]

Ok, here's where I want people with experience to respond. I live in England.
My school is acting like if you don't do well in your A levels, all hope of you finding a good job is out of the window. I personally think this is ridiculous, as I can't see how 2 years of your life can dertemine the rest of it.
But who here didn't do very well in A levels? How difficult was it for you to find a job? What can you do if you don't do so well?
It's not somthing that's worrying me at the moment, I'm in my first year. But still, I'm curious.

Let's put it this way... a friend of mine got two A's and a B at A-level, then went on to do a science degree. He got a 3rd class degree (lowest pass you can get). The best job he can get now is as a part-time Christmas temp in a videogame store on minimum wage.

So yes, in today's society in the UK, if you want to make a decent living you need A-levels MINIMUM. If not a degree... Higher education has been devalued in this country to the point that if you don't have any you're unemployable.

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

I didnt, but I know somebody who does.

One of my best mates is there at the moment in his 2nd year. From what I gather from him its pretty good, but that might just be the department for his course, although probably not, I think it's a fairly prestigious uni. Not sure what the night life is like, I seem to recall him saying there wasnt many places to go, but I'm sure its good enough for a night out.

Ah right, awesome, then ^_^.

...no chance he's doing the 'Classical Civilisation' course, is there? ><.

Thanks a lot mate!

 

[shootthebandit]

snip, i apologise for snippings. im on PS3 and theres a character limit

i agree with you but i also think the media has got to you. without a degree you can still have a good career (if your willing to look hard enough)

i agree that a degree is devalued my dad now aged 49. grew up when apprenticeships were common, he worked his way up and he says that the majority of graduates he interviews dont have a clue about anything

also bad luck for your friend, under qualified for a job based on his degree and overqualified for a normal job. rock and hard place ouch!

 

[FlamingSquirrel]

I didnt, but I know somebody who does.

One of my best mates is there at the moment in his 2nd year. From what I gather from him its pretty good, but that might just be the department for his course, although probably not, I think it's a fairly prestigious uni. Not sure what the night life is like, I seem to recall him saying there wasnt many places to go, but I'm sure its good enough for a night out.

Ah right, awesome, then ^_^.

...no chance he's doing the 'Classical Civilisation' course, is there? ><.

Thanks a lot mate!

I was thinking of doing either Classics or History at Warwick - from what I could make out at the Open Day, the History department was amazing, but the Classics department was only alright. Still, that's only my opinion - it's always worth visiting yourself to check it out, and also to take a look at the various University League tables that are floating around.

 

[Continuity]

Ok, here's where I want people with experience to respond. I live in England.
My school is acting like if you don't do well in your A levels, all hope of you finding a good job is out of the window. I personally think this is ridiculous, as I can't see how 2 years of your life can dertemine the rest of it.
But who here didn't do very well in A levels? How difficult was it for you to find a job? What can you do if you don't do so well?
It's not somthing that's worrying me at the moment, I'm in my first year. But still, I'm curious.

I flunked pretty hard, got just one B grade in physics. I've been employed full time since I left college and, 11 years on, I've just about hit national average wage. Make of that what you will.

Personally I say if you can do it, and do it without flunking, then a levels and uni are a no-bainer - provided you study sensible subjects that lead directly into an employment area where you can get a job. If you're pretty sure you're going to flunk then don't waste your time and mess up your CV, just go straight to work and work your way up, maybe getting a professional qualification later on.

As to what I did after college.. I just went to a temp agency and did random office work. Eventually I got into investment accounts, then accounts, then systems support, now basically systems analysis. Do I recommend you try it? no. The finance sector has been hit hard by outsourcing and the job market is flooded with people with experience and qualifications, this has driven wages down and makes the finance job market pretty competitive.

I also did awful in my 1st year. I got back in due to good attendance. (Believe me, attendance is an issue in my college.)

I thought I was doing the right subjects in A-Level, I really REALLY wasn't and paid for it.

This year things are better than they used to be... Despite being with the year below now.

[sub]Cept AS Maths... That can go die.[/sub]

Yes, picking the right subjects helps a lot, and maths is basically 2 A levels worth of work for just 1 A level.

 

[Mandalore_15]

i agree with you but i also think the media has got to you. without a degree you can still have a good career (if your willing to look hard enough)

i agree that a degree is devalued my dad now aged 49. grew up when apprenticeships were common, he worked his way up and he says that the majority of graduates he interviews dont have a clue about anything

also bad luck for your friend, under qualified for a job based on his degree and overqualified for a normal job. rock and hard place ouch!

I assure you that the media has nothing to do with my opinions. I'm currently studying for a post-graduate masters degree because even with my undergraduate degree (which was a high 2.1) it's seriously hard for me to find work. I had a friend with a 1st class degree that were turned down from all their applications. Unless you stay on the cutting edge educationally and add a crap-load of extra-curricular stuff to your CV, well, you might as well sit at home thumbing your arsehole all day.

 

[Tiny116]

But who here didn't do very well in A levels? How difficult was it for you to find a job? What can you do if you don't do so well?
It's not somthing that's worrying me at the moment, I'm in my first year. But still, I'm curious.

I failed my Maths and English Language GCSE's and never did any A Levels.
I graduated from University last year (With a 2:1) and am Now employed as a fully Qualified Radiographer (I take X-Rays)

I did a Btec National Diploma when I decided that A-Levels were not going to be for me.

A Levels don't determine your entire future mate.

 

[captaincabbage]

Dude, don't sweat it, my best mate got shit marks on his A levels and he's now a manager of a Dick Smith Electronics, and he's only 21.

 

[AdmanUK]

It all lies on whether you're going to university or not. As a rule companies looking to employ people just look at the last bit of education you did, or what you have done in the last five years. I scraped into uni with my A-Levels (Try not to do that, it's not pleasant having to wait for a phone call to see whether you got in even after you got your results) but I am not worried because employers will only look at my degree result.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Unfortunately, a lot of employers just can't be bothered to see people without the requisite pieces of paper saying they did well at school.

I've really understood how say, 5 random exam passes should count more than 3 relevant ones, but it's the way things seem to be.

I just wish there was some way to go in and work for a day for free to prove yourself, rather than just spend a couple of hours recrafting your CV and covering letter to appeal to a particular employer knowing it'll probably end up in the bin with 90% of them on the first shuffle tho.

In short, if you can, do as well as you can, great school results don't guaranteee much, but bad ones still hold you back.

 

[Burningsok]

Edit: wait, is this college?! then no I haven't gotten that far. Well I've only had one semester of it so far.

 

[zhoominator]

I personally think this is ridiculous, as I can't see how 2 years of your life can dertemine the rest of it.

they may lay it on a bit think as do you but basically ye that's what it comes down to.

if i had my way i'd stick high school kids in a bus in 1st year and drive them round the estates and different ends of the wage scale and let them draw their own conclusions.

ye there are exceptions to the rule (i was one of them...for a while) but what you need to remember is those people are exceptions to a rule.

you might get screwed by economic conditions when you come out but those change.

stick in at school: do well in life.
its hardly a new deal

That's garbage, sorry but it is. It really irritates me that schools basically stress that if you don't go to uni that you won't amount to anything. If you aren't academic any buy into it, that'll happen to you. My mums friend got a degree in law from Cambridge a year ago and is still looking for a proper job. On the flip side, my best friend from school was bad at academia but he knew that. He got a placement for 6 months in South Africa working on a reserve for animals and is now working full time for reasonable pay working with and looking after animals.

What about the plumbers, joiners, even electricians? Many of these people haven't gone to university but no matter rich you are, you will need people like that and trust me, my neighbour is a plumber and he's raking it in, especially in winter for some reason. Meh, whatever.

The point is: stick at something and you'll do well in life, whether it be school, business or something you're very passionate about. It doesn't have to be academia.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Personally: quit after a year of A Levels (before AS was a thing, so I left with nothing), got a job, got 'made redundant' (or, to put it another way, my prick of a boss decided his son needed my job more than I did), spent a year unemployed thanks to laziness and some good video games, got a fantastic job that lasted a year and a half until the company nearly collapsed and had to let half the staff go... that was the point when I went to university - a shit university that'll take anyone as long as they know which end of a pen makes the inky marks, but a degree nonetheless.

Were A Levels important to me? Not in the slightest. Do I think they're important to people in general? If you're looking to get on a good degree at a decent university, yes. I don't believe for a second that any employer will even look at your A Level results once you've got a degree, but it's a stepping stone that you can't realistically afford to miss if you're aiming for that sort of thing.

Of course, there's jobs out there for people without degrees and A Levels. Not just shitty jobs either, there's plenty of companies that genuinely don't care about such things - the job I had that I really enjoyed, I got based on previous experience in an office and the fact that I 'demonstrated excellent common sense'. Obviously there's also skilled jobs that are equally good, pay very well and come with their own training so they don't require formal educational qualifications.

Long story short: if you're already doing A Levels, you might as well try to do well. Just, it's not the end of the world if it doesn't go to plan.

 

[EeveeElectro]

It depends if you want to go to Uni or not. If you don't, they're pretty pointless because employers want experience, not grades. They're important if you want to go into Uni but I know a few people who have got in with grades C and lower.

 

[Baneat]

Ah! Gets my hopes up a bit. I want to do computing at uni, but I need an A in maths and a B in two other subjects for the 2 courses I've looked at. I'm doing Computing A level, so if I get B in that it will give me a headstart.

They require an A in maths? That sounds like one tough Uni, mind me asking which it is?

The universities I've been looking at require 240 UCAS points, which is like 2 passes.

And for your computing at A level... it depends on the course, the best way to be ahead is to learn coding of some form. If you can code then when they're teaching everyone else how to code you can get on with it and get more coursework done.

2... passes..

The one I applied for asked for AAABBB minimum in Higher

 

[Geekosaurus]

They're not as hard as they make them out to be. Just concentrate on them for two years and don't piss about.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

2... passes..

The one I applied for asked for AAABBB minimum in Higher

At least you're probably cleverer than me by now

I was surprised too... two passes and a UCAS score of 240.

I didn't realise gaming courses required such little entry.