Delay uni for few years -do A levels expire?

Alikay

DD has received her A level results today: AAB, which means she's accepted on her Bio Sciences course. However, she's been having doubts for a few months now about a) the subject, b) the location (200 miles away) and c) the timing. Over the summer she's been offered a full time post with her saturday employer and really loves the job. She has lots of contact with the public, and this is the bit she really enjoys -she now thinks that peering at microbes in a lab is not how she wants to spend her days.

She expected getting her results would inspire her to continue with her original plans, but it hasn't. She said she felt no envy about friends going off to uni, just chuffed with her results and happy to start her job permanently on monday. She has a great social life (different ages,so not all leaving town for uni in Sept), and a nice boyfriend -basically a happy girl with a busy life.

We're very happy for her to do this, but she is a bright girl, and I suspect than in a few years she will want to study at a higher level - though probably something more "people-related" and maybe nearer home (excellent uni 12 miles away). Will her A levels still be valid after, say 4 years? And has anyone elso done this sort of thing, and how did it turn out -anything you regret? Thanks

the_devil_made_me_do_it

A-Levels are for life same as GCSE It's only course such as Access which have a 2 year lifespan.

Stubert

Even if she worked for a year it will probably be a good thing for her as she'll have her own money to support for at least for a while and be that little bit more mature and aware of her finances when/if she goes eventually.

mobilecat

Her Alevels will last forever. Once she is a few years older and perhaps not living with you she will be classed as an independent student but thats no bad thing. There are many advantages to studying at a later time and very few disadvantages. Good luck to her.

fatgit

I'm glad to hear that someone is looking to leave it a while before heading off to Uni. She'll probably find that

a) she'll eventually choose a subject that she really wants to do
b) she will perform better at uni later on as she'll have a more mautre head on her shoulders


Only problem I foresee is that she might get used to the salary coming in every month and in a few years time she might not want to sacrifice the good wage every month to go back to uni. Personally, if I went back to Uni the lack of (good) monthly income would be the biggest struggle for me.

She might find that her employers in the future may put her through a degree? Worht investigating.

Broke_Student

fatgit wrote: »

Only problem I foresee is that she might get used to the salary coming in every month and in a few years time she might not want to sacrifice the good wage every month to go back to uni. Personally, if I went back to Uni the lack of (good) monthly income would be the biggest struggle for me.

On the plus side, if she can prove she has been financially independant for atleast three years then her student finances will be assessed on her income and not her parents. She is therefore likely to recieve a maximumloan/bursary/grants package due to not earning much whilst she is a student

seaweasel

Qualifications do not "expire", but some universities won't accept them after a certain amount of time. This is unusual however and if you're applying as a mature student (usually over 21 I think) then the entry requirements for courses are often more flexible, e.g. I got into Psychology at Glasgow with Highers when I was 21 that wouldn't have got me in when I was 18.

crank_girl

I may get shot down in flames for saying this but IMHO a lot of 18 year-olds don't possess the maturity to get the most out of a degree course. There are too many distractions such as learning about who you are away from the watchful gaze of your parents, learning about finances and running a home etc. The more of life's lessons you learn before you get to uni, the more attention you have for the subject you are supposed to be studying.

If she goes in a couple of years with a wodge of cash and a bit more life experience she'll have much more motivation to maximise her time at uni.

Best of luck whatever she decides...and big congrats for the A-level results.

yeslek

crank_girl wrote: »

I may get shot down in flames for saying this but IMHO a lot of 18 year-olds don't possess the maturity to get the most out of a degree course. There are too many distractions such as learning about who you are away from the watchful gaze of your parents, learning about finances and running a home etc. The more of life's lessons you learn before you get to uni, the more attention you have for the subject you are supposed to be studying.

well said

Stubert wrote: »

Even if she worked for a year it will probably be a good thing for her as she'll have her own money to support for at least for a while and be that little bit more mature and aware of her finances when/if she goes eventually.

this is so true

i started uni at 21 and no way would i have been mature or sensible enough to study if i'd have gone straight in at 18

pixiedust_2

Only problem I foresee is that she might get used to the salary coming in every month and in a few years time she might not want to sacrifice the good wage every month to go back to uni. Personally, if I went back to Uni the lack of (good) monthly income would be the biggest struggle for me.

That is the only problem I'm having now that I'm going to uni. I left school after my A-levels, and went into full time work. I really don't think I would have managed to complete a full 3 year course when I left school, but, a few years on, and a bit of cash saved up to help me get started, I'm heading off to uni *knowing* what course I want to do and what I want to do when I'm finished with it all.

Not a single regret at all

starsinmycrown

hi, i think thats a great idea. i was saying the other day- i think uni at 21 should be compulsory! i know most of my friends would have done a different subject, or even not gone to university at all if they'd been older, instead of doing useless degrees and then leaving uni with huge debts.

My tutor told me that when i arrived at 23 at uni that mature students perform better because they are there to work, not to socialise or get away from mum and dad. theyve got better ideas about what they want to do too, and because theyve made sacrifices to be there, they take it seriously and she said she enjoys teaching mature students. i'm training to be a teacher and i know its what i want to do because ive thought long and hard and worked with special needs kids for 4 years before training to teach. Also i've got a FAR better idea of what kind of salary i need to earn- i'm with 19 year olds who are saying things like "£17k, thats a GREAT wage!" when i know i was struggling to support myself on 15 and there was a lot of cost cutting to be done. I have mature student friends at uni- one has just gained a scholarship to japan at the age of 33 in psycholinguistics- he is happy as larry!

My boyfriend has a biochemistry degree and is unhappy in his lab job for exactly the reasons your daughter mentioned. it seems very soulless, he spends a lot of time working alone with horrible things like cells and chemicals and when experiments fail he feels as if hes spent weeks on something that was a waste of time and he can hardly talk to anybody in the lab where he works, and is looking to completely change careers. He now wishes he'd done architecture! If your daughter is happy where she is, then thats a plus point. Being happy in a job makes all the difference.

I have lots of friends who wished theyd chosen better, so many are saying "if i knew then what i knew now". I think your daughter has the right idea. A-levels dont expire- in fact its better because when i applied to uni with my existing a-levels i got an unconditional offer- because i already HAD the grades, which made choosing a uni easier. You will get maximum loans if youve been working beforehand as suggested. When i look back- at 18 years old was i equipped to make huge decisions that would affect the rest of my life? absolutely not. I wish her luck!