IB students are, in theory, allowed to retake as many academic subjects or core components as they need, usually in November or the following May’s exam sessions. However, in practice the process can be quite tricky.

You’ll first need to contact the school in which you took your IBDP. Schools are under no obligation to let you retake, so you will need to have a good conversation with your IB coordinator (i.e beg them to let you retake!)

If your school will not let you retake, things can get extremely difficult. Only registered IB World Schools can offer retakes, and many are unwilling to offer this opportunity to students who did not study the whole course with them. It will be a matter of calling around and pitching your case.

If you find yourself stuck and without options, you may have to consider alternative ways to meet university entrance requirements. One option is to take 1 year A-levels and, for international students, an International Foundation Programme (IFP) will likely be the route of least resistance. You can read more on IFPs in our Curriculums guide.

There are a couple of situations in which you should retake GCSEs:

i) You failed (grade 4/C or below) in Maths or English. It is compulsory to retake these until you pass or turn 18.

ii) You failed in a subject you are interested in pursuing as a career or at university. For example, if you want to study Biology at university but only got a 4 in GCSE Biology, you are not going to get many uni offers.  So resitting the following year could mean you have a much higher Biology GCSE grade before submitting your uni applications.

Where can I retake GCSEs?

If appropriate, speak to your current school first. They may be able to help you retake in November, or the following summer. If they are unable or unwilling to help then you’ll need to find alternatives.

Within the private school sector, it is quite rare for traditional schools to enrol students who need to retake GCSEs.

Fortunately, there is a great range of private sixth form colleges which have a specialist provision for retaking students. Many of them started out as small tutorial colleges for this very purpose. Such colleges offer subject-expert teachers, small class sizes, weekly exam practice and will usually boost your GCSE grades by 2-3 grades!

To find the best GCSE retake colleges for you, please get in touch. Once we know your subjects, grades, exam boards and goals we’ll be able to offer more specific advice.

Should I retake A-levels?

Let’s quickly assume that you’re asking this question as you’ve received your results in August and didn’t meet the offer conditions for your university choices. You will hopefully be well prepared and know how to find what options are available through UCAS Clearing.

There are a few obvious reasons why you might want to retake A-levels instead of going to uni through Clearing:

i) You need better grades to get into a better uni.

ii) You need a better A-level grade(s) to take a specific course for your target career.

iii) You chose the wrong A-level(s) first time round and now want to do something completely different.

Make sure you research how much university will cost, and what return you can expect on your investment. You might be able to get into an acceptable degree through clearing. Alternatively, it may be wiser to sacrifice a year of time and money now, than waste 3 years of time and money on third-rate degree or institution.

Weigh up your options and decide if you are happy to settle, or if it is worth giving it another shot.

Identify what went wrong with your A-levels

Of course, it will only be worth retaking A-levels if you know you have a high chance of success.

You should first consider what went wrong first time around, and figure out what you’ll need to do to put things right. Common reasons for below expected results are:

• You chose the wrong subject(s) to begin with
• Revision didn’t go well (or you just didn’t do enough)
• Exams went badly
• You suffered from some other kind of disruption

Colleges offering A-level retakes will want to go through these reasons with you and come up with an individual learning plan. You will have to fully commit to this plan if you want to make a good go of it.

Where and how can I retake A-levels?

You probably have more options to retake A-levels than you think.

i) Within the state sector, you could ask your previous school if you can retake there.

ii) If that’s not possible and you are unable to afford fees at a private sixth form college, you could investigate options with your local state sixth form colleges. A full list is provided here on the Association of Colleges Website.

iii) You could give private tuition a go, especially if you only plan to retake 1 A-level. You could also get some work experience under your belt in your free time, be it to make money or gain valuable career-related experience.

Just remember that you will need to register independently with an exam centre as an external candidate.

iv) You could retake A-levels online. As with private tuition, you’ll need to take the actual exams in sit-down registered centres. Whilst this can be a reasonably affordable option, you need to be confident that you can thrive with distance learning.

v) Private 6^th form colleges offer the most supportive environments with the most specialised teachers. They are your best bet of A-level retake success, but of course come at a price.

How much does a 1 year A-level retake at a private 6^th form college cost?

Your location could have an influence, but a 1 year A-level course can cost £6k – 12k per subject. If boarding is required, then there is an additional cost.

It is sometimes possible to negotiate and, if you give us a call, we’ll be happy to discuss your options and a suitable strategy.

TSG can help you find the best private 6^th form colleges to retake GCSEs or A-levels

This guide can be used as general information and to get you thinking. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution for exam retakes. Your subjects, exam boards, goals and circumstances will all be completely unique, and will therefore require a personalised solution.

Please give us a call and share your thoughts. Once we understand your situation, we can start to suggest some suitable solutions.

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