Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Michael’s A’Levels and BTEC*s Progress Thread

I have had to change my options because of the grades I got and other things too but now I have decided to do Business Studies, Economics and Applied Law. I found out today that I couldn’t do Sociology as Business Studies was going to be on a Friday as well as Sociology which means they are going to be on the same day so I had to have a little think and then I decided to do BTEC* Applied Law instead of Sociology. I will be starting A-Levels and a BTEC in these subjects next Monday but before then I need some advice about these subjects as I didn’t do any of them at GCSE level and these subjects are all completely new to me. I have already enrolled but things may change still because I am not sure if they are going to have enough numbers to have 2 business classes or not and if that is the case I will not be able to do business studies and economics because then they would be on the same day. So in that case I would probably do WJEC Criminology which is an applied A-Level which means it is graded the same way but in the first year there is one exam that you can take notes into. I am thinking about possibly resitting GCSE Maths and GCSE French some time in the future to get higher grades in them. I am going to go into college on Friday to find out the situation anyway on whether or not they are going to have enough numbers to do 2 classes in Business Studies. I am also thinking about possibly doing A-Level Maths and Accounting some time in the future privately with tutors for both of them. I am also thinking about having a gap year between A-Levels and university for traveling to a lot of places on my list of places that I must go to before I die which is an unwritten list of places I would love to go to one day these include Japan,USA, Canada,Turkey,Greece, France again,Spain,China,Brazil,India and lots of other places. The university I want to go to is DMU but I am not sure if they do the course I want to do but I will look around there anyway and maybe even ask them if they do do the course I want to do which is Accounting and Finance. I may even not be able to get in there but we will see in 2 or 3 years’ time. I want to become an Accountant in the future. I know this involves doing a lot of tricky exams but if I put my mind to it then I may pass them and become a Chartered Accountant. I am thinking about possibly resitting all the GCSEs I have done but I didn’t get a grade 4 or above in them in about 20 years’ time but I have had thoughts against this now so I may not necessarily do it. I hope to do well in my A-Levels but I will find out in about 2 years’ time. I will let you know how I am progressing. Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

(edited 4 years ago)

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You can do it

I got the Grade 4 in English Language GCSE that I have been waiting for and I got a Grade 4 in Film Studies as well. My maths grade did not improve from last year unfortunately I still got a grade 5 again when I still need a grade 6 to do A-Level Maths so I am going to have to have a discussion with the A-Level Maths Teacher (Julia Smith) at my college and see what her take on it is and see if I can get accepted for A-Level Maths, I am considering a remark for this subject and possibly resitting it in November if that doesn’t work. My French Grade which was a 3 did not improve from last year either so I am possibly thinking about resitting that again or giving that a remark. In Biology and Psychology I also got a grade 3 we are bit surprised by those as I thought I would get those subjects. I am planning to stay at the college I am currently at as I don’t want to have to meet a lot of new people again.
Accounting is now not available at my college as an A-Level and I don’t know why this is. I am going to have to take Business Studies and then do Accounting afterwards. I am also okay to do Economics. I have been considering lots of other options if they don’t accept me for A-Level Maths such as BTEC Applied Law, a Level 3 Diploma in WJEC Criminology and AS Sociology and AS Chemistry and stuff like that. I need some advice about these subjects from some of you as I haven’t done any of them before. I also need to speak to the teachers of these subjects to see what they are about. I hope you are able to give me some advice about this thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

Reply 3

username4441362

Most people in my school find As Chemistry very hard, due to not fully grasping the content consequently failing the exam questions, I'd recommend sociology as it tackles alot of realistic issues and you seem coherent in your way of thinking. Of course i'd recommend watching videos on those subjects to get a better understanding of how people fared and their specific advice. Whatever you choose, make sure you're willing to go forth with it as many regret their a level choices due to a lack of interest

Reply 4

mjhmichael18

@UrWelcome @UrWelcome
I have had to change my options because of the grades I got and other things too but now I have decided to do Business Studies, Economics and Applied Law. I found out today that I couldn’t do Sociology as Business Studies was going to be on a Friday as well as Sociology which means they are going to be on the same day so I had to have a little think and then I decided to do BTEC* Applied Law instead of Sociology. I will be starting A-Levels and a BTEC in these subjects next Monday but before then I need some advice about these subjects as I didn’t do any of them at GCSE level and these subjects are all completely new to me. I have already enrolled but things may change still because I am not sure if they are going to have enough numbers to have 2 business classes or not and if that is the case I will not be able to do business studies and economics because then they would be on the same day. So in that case I would probably do WJEC Criminology which is an applied A-Level which means it is graded the same way but in the first year there is one exam that you can take notes into. I am thinking about possibly resitting GCSE Maths and GCSE French some time in the future to get higher grades in them. I am going to go into college on Friday to find out the situation anyway on whether or not they are going to have enough numbers to do 2 classes in Business Studies. I am also thinking about possibly doing A-Level Maths and Accounting some time in the future privately with tutors for both of them. I am also thinking about having a gap year between A-Levels and university for traveling to a lot of places on my list of places that I must go to before I die which is an unwritten list of places I would love to go to one day these include Japan,USA, Canada,Turkey,Greece, France again,Spain,China,Brazil,India and lots of other places. The university I want to go to is DMU but I am not sure if they do the course I want to do but I will look around there anyway and maybe even ask them if they do do the course I want to do which is Accounting and Finance. I may even not be able to get in there but we will see in 2 or 3 years’ time. I want to become an Accountant in the future. I know this involves doing a lot of tricky exams but if I put my mind to it then I may pass them and become a Chartered Accountant. I am thinking about possibly resitting all the GCSEs I have done but I didn’t get a grade 4 or above in them in about 20 years’ time but I have had thoughts against this now so I may not necessarily do it. I hope to do well in my A-Levels but I will find out in about 2 years’ time. I will let you know how I am progressing. Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 5

mjhmichael18

Update:
I had my first set of lessons for Economics and BTEC* Applied Law last week and they went well. With Business Studies they are struggling to find a teacher for the second class because there is a high demand for the course so my first lesson for that should be on this Friday.

I got BTEC* Applied Law homework this week which I did yesterday night.

I got 94 marks in GCSE Maths. I was 14 marks off a Grade 6 so there is no point remarking. I have been thinking about resitting in November but I haven’t applied to any centres just yet. I may resit it in May/June or further ahead because it will be tricky to fit it around the A-Levels I am already doing.

I got 114 marks in French. 38 marks off a Grade 4. It is not worth remarking either but I have been thinking about resitting it and changing tier sometime in the future maybe next May but I may do it further ahead as it would be hard to fit it around the A-Levels I am already doing.

I have not had any tests in any of my subjects yet so I still have no idea of my predicted grades.

I also need to find out what the case is in terms of marks with Film Studies, Psychology, Biology and English Language GCSE as I haven’t done that yet. I would like to do that this week if I can or I could wait until we get the papers back in October.

I hope you all had a good first week of A-Levels and I hope all goes well for us this week. Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

(edited 4 years ago)

Good Luck mate

all the best for this year!

Reply 8

mjhmichael18

Update:

I have had my first four sets of lessons in Business now which have gone pretty well.

I have been keeping up with most of my homework as I am a very organised student.

I have filled in some forms to get GCSE papers back but they are not all back yet. I have had the Maths back but not any of the others yet.

I have an economics test this week on Wednesday. I still need to revise for this test as I have kept forgetting about it.

I will try and update every Monday instead of once every three weeks but this may be a struggle.

I still haven’t had any test in my subjects yet so I still have no idea of my predicted grades.

I have decided to wait until we get the papers back in October to find about my other GCSEs I did last year other than Maths and French.

I hope you all have had a good first four weeks of A-Levels and you have settled in well and I hope all goes well for us this week. That is it for now.

People who have posted in my GYG other than myself:
@UrWelcome
@UrWelcome
@gw07mcgheerachel
@gw07mcgheerachel
@mez_merising
@mez_merising

If you want to be added to the tag list please let me know. Until next Monday, goodbye.

Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

Reply 9

mjhmichael18

Update:

Myself:
@mjhmichael18
@mjhmichael18

I have had another two lessons in Business which have gone pretty well. I now have had at least 6 lessons in each subject. I may be having some tests soon I don’t know.

I have been keeping up with most of my homework as I am a very organised student.

I have now had the Film Studies Papers back but I still haven’t had any of my AQA ones as they seem to be delayed as they are coming through the post.

I have had an economics test which went pretty well. I didn’t do quite badly but as it is my first test it doesn’t really matter. I got 11/45 which is not that good but I might do better in the future.

Sorry, I missed last Monday as I was tired when I got home as we have had two presentations on Reversing Diabetes that has just started in the last 2 weeks on Mondays and they start at 7pm and finish between 9.30 and 10.00pm and this is why I am posting later tonight than I did last time. This programme is going on for 6 weeks in a row and then a few weeks off and then another one and then a few weeks off and then the last one so 8 weeks altogether.

I will try and update once every Monday instead of once every two weeks but this may be a struggle.

I have now had one test in Economics where I got a U which is not very good but I may increase that score in the future.

I am currently still waiting for my AQA Papers to get back to me as they are coming through the post. I have now found out that I got 113/200 in Film Studies which is not too bad considering it wasn’t really my best subject. This come from 34/70 in Film Studies Paper 1 and 43/70 in Film Studies Paper 2 and 36/60 in the Coursework. This is a Grade 4 overall but it is only by 8 marks.

I hope you all have had a good first six weeks of A-Levels and you have settled in well and I hope all goes well for us this week. That is it for now.

People who have posted in my GYG other than myself:
@UrWelcome
@UrWelcome
@gw07mcgheerachel
@gw07mcgheerachel
@mez_merising
@mez_merising

If you want to be added to the tag list please let me know. Until next Monday, goodbye.

Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

Reply 10

gw07mcgheerachel

s/o to your dedication. keep it up! you can do it, the only failures not to try so just keep trying xo

Reply 11

mjhmichael18

As a minimum at the end of these 2 years I want at least 2Bs and a Merit in my subjects. I think this is achievable if I work hard and do lots of revision instead of being on my phone a lot.

Reply 12

mjhmichael18

Update:

Myself:
@mjhmichael18
@mjhmichael18

I have had another lesson in Business which have gone pretty well. I now have had at least 7 lessons in each subject. I haven’t been having any tests in Business just Exam Questions every afternoon session but in Applied Law, I have got an assignment to start this half term which is there version of tests.

It is half term this week for me luckily as I need a break. I am going to use it up by doing some homework and jobs/errands.

I have now had all my papers back it is just that we need to print the Maths and Film Studies ones off so we can look at them whereas the other ones were given as hard copies so we can look at them if we want to.

I have an assignment in Law to start during half term which is there version of tests. This assignment is not due until the 18th November. I will find out the result of it after that date.

Tasks to do during half term:
- Finish off Business Homework
- Do first five tasks of Law Assignment
- Do some Economics Revision as I have a test first lesson when I go back.

Sorry, I missed last Monday as I was tired when I got home again as we have had four presentations on Reversing Diabetes that has begun in the last 4 weeks on Mondays and they start at 7pm and finish between 9.30 and 10.00pm and this is why I am posting later tonight than I did two times ago. This programme is going on for 6 weeks in a row and then a few weeks off and then another one and then a few weeks off and then the last one so 8 weeks altogether.

I will try and update once every Monday instead of once every two weeks but this may be a struggle. In fact, I would like to know your preference on this.

I haven’t had any more tests or anything like that since the last time I did an update.

We now just need to print off the Maths and Film Studies Papers so we can look at them and I believe mum will try and do that this week with the other subjects papers they gave us hard copies so we can look at them if we want to.

I hope you have all had a good first half-term or 8 weeks of A-Levels and you have settled in well and I hope all goes well for us this week. That is it for now.

People who have posted in my GYG other than myself:
@UrWelcome
@UrWelcome
@gw07mcgheerachel
@gw07mcgheerachel
@mez_merising
@mez_merising

If you want to be added to or removed from the tag list please let me know. Until next Monday, goodbye

Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 13

mez_merising

yes don’t feel pressured to post each week!

Reply 14

mjhmichael18

Update:

Myself:
@mjhmichael18
@mjhmichael18

I have now had another 4 lessons in Business which have gone pretty well. I now have had at least 11 lessons in each subject. I have now had one test in Business where I got 8/30. I have another test in Business next week.

I have also had another test in Economics where I got 16/70 which is not very well considering I had a textbook this time.

I have finished the Law Assignment but I haven’t had it back yet so I don’t know how well I did yet. The teacher says it will take her 3 weeks to mark them all so we won’t get them back until three weeks from last Thursday.

I have now had all my papers back and we have printed off the Maths and Film Studies ones so we can look at them all if we want to.

We have now started learning stuff for the next assignment in Law which is about crime.

I have done all the tasks I had to do during half term.

Sorry, I have missed the last four weeks as I have been tired and busy with lots of homework and other work too.

I will try and update once every Monday instead of once every two, three or four weeks but this may be a struggle. In fact, I still would like your preference on this.

I haven’t had any more tests or anything like that since the last time I did an update other than the ones I have already mentioned.

I have looked at the most of the papers, I did last June and May and I think I may have done better but we can’t change it now.

I hope you have all had a good first half-term and a half or 12 weeks of A-Levels and you have settled in well and I hope all goes well for us this week. That is it for now.

People who have posted in my GYG other than myself:
@UrWelcome
@UrWelcome
@gw07mcgheerachel
@gw07mcgheerachel
@mez_merising
@mez_merising

If you want to be added to or removed from the tag list please let me know. Until next Monday, goodbye

Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

Reply 15

mez_merising

don’t worry about consistent updates! do what’s best for you :smile:

Reply 16

mjhmichael18

Update:

Myself:
@mjhmichael18
@mjhmichael18

I have now had 4 more lessons in Business which have gone pretty well. I now have had at least 15 lessons in each subject. I have now had two tests in Business, one where I got 18/30 and another where I got 8/30. My next test in Business is the mock on the 6th of January.

I have also had another test in Economics where I got 25/70 which is better than last time but still not a different grade to a U yet. My next test in Economics is the mock on the 8th of January.

I have had the Law assignment back now and I did well on a few of the tasks but on a couple of tasks, I need to change a few things. I am allowed to make it better and resubmit but the deadline for that is on the thirteenth of January. The date the second assignment issued and due in has not been decided yet. I don’t believe there are any mocks in Law unlike my other subjects.

I have now had all my papers back and we have printed off the Maths and Film Studies ones so we can look at them all if we want to and I have now brought a couple of my certificates home as well so we can look at them.

We have now started learning stuff for the next assignment in Law which is about crime and sentencing and all that stuff.

I have done all the tasks I had to do during half term. I will do another post with my tasks to do for the Christmas Holidays such as Business and Economics Revision.

Sorry, I have missed the last four weeks as I have been tired and busy with lots of homework and other work too.

I will try and update once every Monday instead of once every two, three or four weeks but this may be a struggle. In fact, I still would like your preference on this.

I haven’t had any more tests or anything like that since the last time I did an update other than the ones I have already mentioned.

I have looked at most of the papers, I did last June and May and I think I may have done better but we can’t change it now.

I hope you have all had a good first term of about 15 or 16 weeks of A-Levels and you have settled in well and I hope all goes well for us during the Christmas Holidays and for our first week when we go back to college or school. That is it for now.

People who have posted in my GYG other than myself:
@username4982256
@Shining Stars
@Shining Stars
@gw07mcgheerachel
@gw07mcgheerachel
@mez_merising
@mez_merising

For some reason or another the tags for @UrWelcome are not working, I think there may be something wrong with them.

If you want to be added to or removed from the tag list please let me know. Until next Monday, goodbye.

Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 17

username4982256

Heyyy,
Don't be disheartened! :nope:

Improvement is improvement, and I admire your will to succeed so much!
Are you still considering GCSE resits? If so, I could help you out a little with French (only if you want to though). :redface:

Best of luck @mjhmichael18

Btw, you may not be able to add the username because they have been blocked. :frown:

And as for updates, like @mez_merising said you don't have to update every week. Only whenever you feel comfortable!

Reply 18

mjhmichael18

Task list for today:
9:40 - Wake up
10:15 - Breakfast
10:55 - Shower
11:25 -Get Dressed
11:40 - Break
12:15-1:35 - Read Theme 1: Section 1 of Business Revision Guide
1:35-2:05 Lunch
2:05-2:35 Break
2:35-4:00 - Read Theme 1 :s-smilie:

ection 2 of Business Revision Guide
4:00-7:35 Break
7:35-9:10 - Read Theme 1: Section 3 of Business Revision Guide
9:10 Supper
10:15 Watch TV
11:35 Bedtime

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 19

mjhmichael18

Update:

Myself:
@mjhmichael18
@mjhmichael18

I know it is not a Monday today but I still want to do a post on here. Do I have to do all my updates or posts on my GYG on a Monday or should they not be restricted to one day of the week? I know it has been at least four months since I was last active on this thread and that is due to me being very busy and me even forgetting this thread even existed.

Last few days of the Christmas Holidays:
I had one of my best Christmases ever with an unexpected visit from my cousin Helen who lives in America. Unfortunately, 6 days before Christmas Day, my Great-Auntie Joan Warren who was 96 died and sadly, I had to go to her funeral on the second of January. I thought she would live to at least 103 if not older. I also did a lot of revision to get ready for my mocks that were coming up at the time.

January:
In my Economics mock, I got a U again, I am not sure how to improve from this grade. In my Business mock, I got an E which I was very happy with at the time. In Law, I resubmitted my first assignment and I did very well on it. In Business, I did a second mock but I didn’t do many of the questions due to my problems with time. In Law, near the end of January and in the first few days of February, I was concentrating on my second assignment. I had to wait a considerably long time for the marking to be done.

February:
I had some exciting changes to what I was learning, In Law, we changed from criminal law to civil law. In Economics, we changed from microeconomics to macroeconomics. In Business Studies, we changed from Theme 1 which was about Marketing and People to Theme 2 which is mainly about finance. I had a few exciting lessons to look forward to each week. During the half term week, I did some Economics revision because I had my first macroeconomics mock in the last few days of February which I got a U in, I am not sure how to get off this long line of Us yet.

March:
I had a few interesting business lessons and Economics lessons until the college had to close due to the covid-19 virus. In Law, we had a few lessons on Duty of Care and then sadly, my law teacher became ill with a sinus infection and she had to cancel the next two lessons because of that. I had to get used to the new online learning experience which was hard to get used to but it did not take me a long time to get used to the new routine. I have been having google hangouts in all my subjects. In Business, we were trying to finish off the syllabus so in the first week we did a lesson on Economic Influences and then in the second week, we did a lesson on Legislation and the Competitive Environment to finish off the syllabus. In Economics, as we had finished off the syllabus before the schools closed due to the covid-19 virus so in the first week we did a practice paper which I have not got the result of yet. In Law, we did a few Kahoot!s on Duty of Care in the morning and we also did a mind map in the afternoon.

April:
In Economics in the second week we did some fiscal policy revision and I still have to finish that off and I also have a task on being the President of the USA to do. In Law, we did some Kahoot!s in the morning and then in the afternoon we did a lesson on the causation of damages and damages. In Business yesterday, I asked my teacher a few questions to do with exams. Then I did an instalment of copying my phone contacts to my google contacts which I have now done three of and spent about 6 hours on it and I have got up to F. I then did some E-skills which is about preparing for what it is going to be like when I am working. Then I broke up for Easter Holidays but I am still going to try and fit some revision in because I think I may have some tests coming up and a little bit of revision always comes in handy.

An Unexpected Event and a University Search Fair that I would like to tell you about:
In Law, on the 13th of February, I had a careers event which they did not tell us about in advance which went well. On the 13th of March, I went to an University and Apprenticeship Fair in Leicester where I picked up 6 prospectuses that I haven’t showed to my parents yet because I am waiting for more to come. I also need to contact the exam centre in Coventry where I did French last year because my certificate for that has not got to me yet. I also do Preparation for Adulthood or PfA for short and that is going pretty well.

Lockdown Situation:
I have got used to the lockdown situation pretty well in the first two weeks but unlike the rest of you I am not doing a lockdown challenge or anything of that sort.

Exam Papers and Certificates:
I haven’t been looking at my exam papers from last year recently because I don’t really need to at the moment but they are now at home if I want to look at them for any reason. I haven’t been looking at my certificates either but they are also at home if I want to look at them for any reason.

I hope you all had a good first two terms of A-Levels and you have all settled in well and I hope you are all well and I hope you all have a good Easter Holidays despite the lockdown we currently have. That is it for now.

People who have posted in my GYG other than myself:
@username4982256
@username4982256
@Shining Stars
@Shining Stars
@gw07mcgheerachel
@gw07mcgheerachel
@mez_merising
@mez_merising
@UrWelcome
@UrWelcome

For some reason the tags for certain people such as @username4982256, @Shining Stars and @UrWelcome are not working, I think there may be something wrong with them and I hope they will be sorted as soon as possible.

If you want to be added to or removed from the tag list please let me know, Until next Monday, goodbye.

Thanks and Best wishes From Michael.

(edited 3 years ago)