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While
it is only natural to feel a bit nervous, there is no need to worry.
Whether
you didn’t do as well as you had hoped or did better than your wildest
dreams, there is help at hand so you can still aim high!
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| Isabel
Warren, Connexions Suffolk |
"I
don't have the grades that I need"
If
you haven’t got the grades that you needed for a sixth form or college
course – don’t panic!
First
of all, try and talk to teachers or tutors about which courses you
might still be able to do. If you’ve only missed by one or two grades,
perhaps you’ll still be able to do what you had planned.
Or
perhaps you will need to do some different subjects. There will
be teachers available at sixth forms and colleges over the next
few days that you can go and talk to about your choice of course.
|
 If
you haven’t got the grades that you needed for a sixth form
or college course – don’t panic! 
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|
Isabel
Warren, Connexions adviser
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Connexions
personal advisers may be there too, and they can tell you about
all the courses on offer locally.
If
you find that you can’t start an advanced (level 3) course this
autumn, don’t worry, as you haven’t lost the chance altogether.
There
are a number of intermediate (level 2) courses that you could consider
instead.
These
last for one year, and if you get on well, you can then go on to
an advanced course the following year. If you didn’t get the D and
E grades needed for intermediate level, then there are foundation
(level 1), and entry courses that you might be able to do.
A wide
choice is usually offered by local colleges and these often don’t
require any particular grades for entry.
"I’ll
take all my GCSEs again…"
It’s
not possible to take all your GCSEs again as a full time course.
Most places will let you retake Maths and English, and perhaps Science,
but along with other courses. 
Many
students re-taking exams find that they can only improve by one
grade or so.
If
you haven’t done as well as you had expected in your GCSE subjects,
perhaps it would make sense to rethink your ideas and start on a
different kind of course next year.
It
could be useful to talk through your options with a Connexions personal
adviser – they will know about all the choices open to you.
"There must be a mistake!"
Perhaps
your grades are far worse than you expected. It may be worth going
back and talking to your teachers – mistakes in exam marking are
rare, but they do happen, and your school can ask for papers to
be re-marked if they think it would be justified.
more»
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The
Queen 
