A levels

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I didn't do too well in my A-Levels, not well enough to go to universtiy anyway. 3 months after leaving I found my current job where I'm being trained to be a service engineer, so it worked out for me in a roundabout kind of way.

 

[AlexWinter]

I'm doing my A levels right now, (Maths, Physics, English Language and Spanish) And I can't help but feel like...

With the Uni fees rising and the Uni's slashing their intakes and with the amount of people overseas that come to study here that A levels are kind of pointless.

And robots are going to take most of the jobs in 25odd years anyway.

I think we're sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place in the UK. A lot of Uni students don't get jobs in the field they wanted to continue into and with thousands of people being made redundant in the public sector we seem a bit fucked tbh.

Especially with the upcoming robot worker.

Any suggestions?

 

[Togs]

meh, you'll still enter a job at the same level and pay as some oxbridge grad, plus if you really screw up you can retake the year (like myself and a couple of oththers I know).

 

[zhoominator]

Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal

as i said there are exceptions to the rule but what you need to remember is those people are exceptions to a rule.

And once again, I say that is garbage. Look around you, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, many businessmen/women, chefs, sportspeople (believe it or not, there is a lot of people who make a good living in this field), most of these won't have a degree. That's not even mentioning accountants, lawyers, bankers and company owners who worked their way up (in fact, degree or not, most people have to work their way up, some just start closer to the bottom). That is just mentioning a small amount too. That is a hell of a lot of exceptions.

I think you are very narrow minded my friend and are just spouting what you have been conditioned to think. Unless you live in a very poor country, you can make money from wherever you start. And these people are far from being exceptions. Unless of course if you're a snob that believes that anybody earning less than £100k a year hasn't done well in life.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Thing is, it's all leading onto something else:

GCSEs get you into a good 6th form (not too relevant in the past few years, but with the Conservatives in power we're likely to see more grade segregation).

Once in the 6th form and working on your A-Levels, the GCSEs cease to mean sod all. Now it's a case of get good A-Levels gets you into a good university.

Again, once in university and working towards a degree, A-levels don't do dick for your career, it's all about how good your degree is.

Once you've got your degree and are looking for work, the degree remains relevant but experience (both life- and work-) becomes important too.

 

[Wadders]

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!

Haha I'm afraid not mate, he does Physics or maths I think. Really ought to find out for sure....

Good luck if you go there, I'm sure you'll enjoy it

 

[AlexWinter]

Thing is, it's all leading onto something else:

GCSEs get you into a good 6th form (not too relevant in the past few years, but with the Conservatives in power we're likely to see more grade segregation).

Once in the 6th form and working on your A-Levels, the GCSEs cease to mean sod all. Now it's a case of get good A-Levels gets you into a good university.

Again, once in university and working towards a degree, A-levels don't do dick for your career, it's all about how good your degree is.

Once you've got your degree and are looking for work, the degree remains relevant but experience (both life- and work-) becomes important too.

And now that staying in education is going to become compulsory in 2 years or so, what will be the point in GCSE's other than dictating which A levels you will be able to take.

So everyone is going to finish education with their A levels or college degrees or whatever and universities will be flooded further, there's going to be a huge surge of unemployed students without any experience and qualifications that aren't going to help them in the real world.

Because you know that 50% of the people that are going to be forced to do those 2 extra years are going to take retarded, easy subjects that won't get them anywhere.

 

[Mandalore_15]

Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal

as i said there are exceptions to the rule but what you need to remember is those people are exceptions to a rule.

And once again, I say that is garbage. Look around you, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, many businessmen/women, chefs, sportspeople (believe it or not, there is a lot of people who make a good living in this field), most of these won't have a degree. That's not even mentioning accountants, lawyers, bankers and company owners who worked their way up (in fact, degree or not, most people have to work their way up, some just start closer to the bottom). That is just mentioning a small amount too. That is a hell of a lot of exceptions.

I think you are very narrow minded my friend and are just spouting what you have been conditioned to think. Unless you live in a very poor country, you can make money from wherever you start. And these people are far from being exceptions. Unless of course if you're a snob that believes that anybody earning less than £100k a year hasn't done well in life.

You can't become an accountant or a lawyer without a degree. Becoming a banker (as in an ACTUAL banker, not just a clerk taking cheques over the counter) without one would be almost impossible. Company owners, yes, you could do that without a degree, but it takes some SERIOUS hard work and research to start a company from scratch. Over two thirds of businesses fail in their first 5 years, so putting in the groundwork is essential, and even then there are no guarantees. Besides, those with the inclination and intelligence to put in that level of work are likely to be attracted to academia ANYWAY.

Tradesmen are on the wane. Getting an apprenticeship to be a mechanic or plumber these days is incredibly difficult... I don't know about you, but I don't know ANY tradesmen younger than their late twenties. Being a chef is a good option (my girlfriend's sister works as a sous chef in a famous London restaurant), but most chefs go to culinary school, which is basically more formalised education. Not going would leave you at a serious disadvantage.

As for mikozero being "narrow minded", I'm on his side. The average graduate starting salary is £22-24,000, and the average graduate graduate will earn £100,000 more in their LIFETIME than a non-graduate, a far cry from the £100,000 a year you referenced. The fact of the matter is that many graduates are out of work and yet more are being paid poorly. With this many graduates to choose from, those without degrees will be left by the wayside. It's not how I think things should be, but that's the economy we've been left with. Without a degree, life is much harder for you, unless you're very lucky. Those people who are ARE exceptions.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

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.

Badly insulated pipes burst a lot in winter. Personally I would not advocate Trades. They can be quite dangerous and require very hard physical labour. My Dad is carpenter and he nearly died when a railing was not fixed properly while working on a scaffold or roof I forget what he was on. He has also slipped 2 discs in his back due to heavy lifting and has burst his thumb with the hammer more times than I can count. Also you do actually go to do a course for it and then get an apprenticeship. So they do go to a kinda Third Level learning.

OT: Doing well in your final exams gives you a good start but you don't need it. In fairness A Levels aren't that bad. You don't have to half as many subjects and we do in the Leaving Cert. Well most don't as far as I know. We have to do at least 6 and most do 7. I am doing 9 but one of them is a piece of piss which can only get me a max of 70 points(I won't delve further into Irish point system unless asked to).

 

[beniki]

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.

Well, think about it. It's a lot easier to level up in a game if you do some grunt work at lower levels. There's no point in not learning to play the game until you hit level cap. Although a lot of WoW players seem to manage this...

It's the same in real life. Get your grunt work done now doing the basics, and the uni level stuff will be infinitely easier. Have an easier uni life, and you can work more on other stuff to get a good job. It all adds up.

I thought like you did... I was lucky and enough of a devious bastard to work around it all. I don't recommend it. Breaking in through back doors is a lot harder than just walking in the front.

 

[AlexWinter]

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.

Which university was this? I may need to know.

 

[Verlander]

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.

snip

A Levels are essential, unless you go into trade or another apprenticeship. I only have A Levels, and I can't get a job for shit. They are the very minimum you need to succeed in this country, and if you want to look at work in another country, you need either a shit load of money to get you started, or a degree. End of story.

Remember, even a degree or trade qualification can't guarantee you a job in this country, and they can get cheap labour for the more basic jobs. That means 16 year olds, or foreign nationals willing to work for less. Don't count on lucky breaks, or work through "knowing people". It sucks being at the bottom, so grab something you love and are good at, and work at it to the very very top. A lot of jobs, especially in the main cities, want a degree as part of their employment criteria, regardless of the subject the degree is held in, and even if the job does not require one. It's just one more way to reduce the sheer volume of applicants. Basically, what I'm saying is, don't be a mug and waste it all now. I fucked up in uni, and have never, ever stopped regretting it. Go as high as you can

 

[Psymon138]

A Levels are important, if they're the right ones for what you want to do. I wanted to study Veterinary Medicine (which is a real ***** for extra-curricular stuff, but that's not the focus here) so I took A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Biology and Chemistry were important for the course and I took Physics to round out the sciences and give me more options if it all went tits up.

Which it did. The Vet course is absurdly competitive and I didn't get the grades (BBC as opposed to the straight As the unis wanted). I considered retakes, but decided I really didn't want another year of school so I took a gap year and decided to apply to other courses I was interested in.

As it stands I am in my second year doing Palaeobiology. The subject is fascinating, I love the uni I'm at and I was able to work and save enough over my gap year that I didn't need to take out a loan for my first year's fees. At the end of my three years I want to take my degree further, on to a Masters or even a PhD if I do well enough and eventually end up in academia. Verlander is right, find something you love and pursue it. But you have to start now. If you want to go to uni, or if you want to go straight into work, A Levels are the first thing people look at. I know it seems like a fuckton of work for very little benefit, but keep at it and you will reap the rewards.

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

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.

Jeez, small world, eh?! Mmmh, from A levels I've begun to lose interest in furthering History; my heart's pretty set on Classic Civ.

Nottingham was probably my second choice; but all this is from little research, really. So we'll see.

Good luck for the future though man, heck, might even see you at Warwick.