Son struggling with A-Levels

Running_On_Empty

What will he hope to do after a law degree? If he wants to practise law then he is not doing the right A levels. Law is definitely not an A level that the universities want.
The law is a highly oversubscribed profession and the law degrees churn out at least one third more people than can qualify. Look at the numbers of law degrees and then look at the number of places available on legal practice courses and bar qualifications. Then look at the number of training places in both areas of law, solicitor and barrister. They are ever diminshing numbers and only the ones with academic A levels from top universities stand a good chance. Ths is the reality.Thus, the lower end end up feeling very disappointed and that they have failed in some way.

He needs to really examine what he wants to do after the degree and it may be that he decides that what will give him most satisfaction in a job is not law. Law is a wordy written subject. Tons of reading and writing. Lots of assimilation of facts and all has to be done speedily and getting it right first time is very important.
He may decide that university is not for hm, either. This is not failing but being realistic and getting a head start on all those who will go to university for a three year party and not much of a chance of a graduate level job at the end.

You can help him manage his expectations by asking him where he is with his thinking after A levels. Don't focus on his difficulties, focus on his hopes and then ask him to build the bridge between the A levels and his hopes.

bouicca21

I don't think anyone should get too hung up on A level subjects. The one subject no uni is interested in is general studies. Some uni law courses go for the LNAT results as a better predictor of aptitude than A levels anyway.

The real issue is choosing subjects that restrict future choices. Just because he wants to do law now doesn't mean that is what he will want to do at uni. People change, and so do their career aspirations.

For now, it's a matter of getting through the A levels with as high as possible grades so he has as wide as possible choices about uni. So it's a question of identifying just what extra support and training he needs to achieve high grades.

TBagpuss

i haven't read all of the thread so apologies if I am repeating what has been said.

As your son is bright then he may well have only just hit the point at which he really needs to work hard to suceed - it's entirely possible that up until now, he has been bright enough that even with his lack of skill, he's been able to do well, so he has not needed to learn techniques to overcome his dificulty in expressing himself.

IF this is the case, then he needs to think of it as a skill to be learned and practiced.

Making notes, planning essays, expressing yourself coherently on paper are all skills which can be taught, and like most skills, get better nd faster with experience. If he is able to manage well in calss then it sounds as though he is able to take in, remember and process the information, he just neds to get comfortable doing that on paper.

Does he make notes in class? has he had any advice about making notes (e.g. learning to summarise, to pick out the salient points etc, rather than trying to write dowen the entire lesson)
Does he plan his essays? How many drafts does he go through before handing an essay in? Has he asked for specific feedback

TBagpuss

Another point to think about is how he revises - it may be that he needs to think about that, and to make changes - persoanlly, I used to find it helpful go go through my class notes and make summaries, usually twice (i.e. fist time round I would end up with 1-2 pages of A4, then I would go through a second time and condence that onto 1-2 index cards. For me, it was helpful as it meant I was re-reading eveythign in detail (and reading extra where needed), having to identify the key issues / facts, and then writing them out twice helped them to stick in my mind. When I got into the exam I could quickly note down some bullet points (similar to what I had on my indexd card for that particular subject) and use that as a basis for an essay plan, and to refer back to as I wrote to ensure I didn't miss stuff out.

It's my understanding that there is some evidence which suggests that you remember things better if you are trying to remember them in a simialr situation towhen you learned them, so if you are going to be takng an exam sitting in silnce there are bbenefits to revising in a similar environment, rahter than wih music playing , for instnace.

Typing may help with the dyslexia but only if he will have that option for the exams as well. If not, then he would be better advised to paractice writing so he becomes more confident woriting essays legibly and to a deadline. Applying for extra time in exam,ms may be the way to go.

However, practice is importnat, and I do think that that may be the hardest part for - it is a shock if you have ben used to being able to do well without trying very hard, to find that you have to start reallly working hard. It doesn't mean he is stipid or can't do it, just that he has met a challenge.

Becles

securityguy wrote: »

"Law, sociology and psychology. All essay based subjects"

That's a very strange combination: why has he chosen them? They have in common that they are (a) not only not required but not even recommended for the matching degree, and (b) held in very low regard for other degrees. It's also, as you say, three essay based subjects, which is a huge load, independent of their applicability. I would also be surprised if he had done GCSEs in any of them, certainly not all of them, so it's three new subjects. It seems a perfect storm: unfamiliar subjects of limited applicability which are also a high workload.

He did sociology at GCSE and really enjoyed it and he is keen on a career in law.

He definitely doesn't want to be a solicitor in things like conveyancing or divorce as he said that sounds boring.

He is very keen on working for the CPS in the job where they look at evidence and decide if a case goes for trial or some other crime and justice type work. He thought the three subjects all linked in with that sort of career motive.

Sorry for not posting his actual GCSE results on here. He is happy for me to post this but he didn't want his actual results put on the internet.

He's had a chat at college today and asked for extra work. All the lecturers have agreed to give him past questions that he can do under exam conditions at home. We're going to go through the thread and pull off all the exam techniques and he's going to try them all and see if he can find a method that works best for him. He liked the watch on the desk idea, so I need to buy him a watch as well!

missbiggles1

Difficult, I'm afraid.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/careers/

bouicca21

Don't forget even minor things - like if he needs to write longhand, using a pen that has a nice tactile feel as it moves across the paper, rather than a bog standard biro. A fountain pen (don't forget to take spare cartridges into the exam room) or one of those nice rollerballs.

Running_On_Empty

CPS Apprentceship, one in Nottingham and another in London. Graduates are not eligible.
Oops, link does not work, sorry

Running_On_Empty

The apprenticeship in Nottingham closes today and one in London closes on 12 February. They are advertised on civil service jobs website
https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi

minimacka

My son is currently at 6th form and despite revising all the time when he sits down for his exams he freezes and says his mind goes all foggy. I have suggested listening to music before hand to calm him down. I have also printed off all the past exam papers for math and physics so that he can go through them and time himself, hopefully he will be more prepared when the exams come round.