Predicted grades entered incorrectly by school - any advice

[Littleham]

An unusual number of year 13's in my dd's school have been turned down by the universities they applied to .... disappointed teenagers. They were told that their predicted grades were too low. It turns out that the school added the wrong predicted grades, so for example a girl who got high marks was predicted BBC and vice versa. Some of the predicted grades are two grades out. Chaos! Luckily we are unaffected.

Is it too late to rectify? Can they start the process again? Trouble is that the universities have turned them down now.

[VegasIsBest]

The school would need to contact UCAS and discuss this. How can they have entered the wrong grades? Have they explained?

[Kez100]

Oh dear! I think the school needs to come clean with UCAS! There must be appeal processes for errors.

[titchy]

The school most certainly can and should rectify this - going via UCAS and contacting all the institutions involved - phoning if necessary. How did it happen? Didn't anyone know what their predicted grades were? Parent really shouldn't take this lying down.

[EvilTwins]

UCAS deadline is January 15th. The school needs to contact UCAS and there is time to sort it out.

[titchy]

Oh and quick before the end of cycle deadline.

[Littleham]

Accidental mess up I think!

[Littleham]

Thanks. I'll pass this advice on to those affected. Feel so sorry for one girl who wants to go to a particular university. Her real AS grades & real predicted grades easily exceed the entry requirements.

[ImperialBlether]

So her predicted grades were below her AS grades? By one grade or more?

[Kez100]

Did they get AS grades wrong too? Poor student.

[Littleham]

Yes Imperial & Kez. Glad to hear something might be able to be done to put it right.

[Littleham]

Well I passed on your advice. Apparently the school has now sent in corrected predicted grades, but it is too late for offers now that they have been refused.

Would it be worth individual students appealing direct to the university admissions department?

[Needmoresleep]

They have nothing to lose. I think should do it soon. Universities are commited to giving all condidates equal opportunity as long as they apply before the January deadline. This was a school error, so Universities should want to follow the spirit of the rules. I think the school should be contacting the Universities. However if they dont I would email the University highlighting the grades that were on the origional form and the grades that are on Ucas now and asking that they reconsider. I would copy the school in on the email, and suggest that they will be able to confirm this information.

[PiratePanda]

The school should be bending over backwards to help by writing letters to the university choices of every affected applicant!

That being said it is not incumbent upon the universities to make offers even once they know about the correction. Unless the predicted grades are AAB or above the universities will have a quota and will probably already have met it.

Still worth a try, and of course applying through clearing or even taking a gap year and applying with actual grades in hand, which is the most successful strategy. My DH just admitted two students to his highly competitive Oxbridge course who were not given offers last year, and applied again this year with their real A-Level grades - additional bonus being that this showed determination.

[Kez100]

Someone must have a duty of care in this! Humans are bound to make mistakes and UCAS must have seen this before. Anyone applying before 15th January must be given equal consideration so even if a new application was put in with UCAS sorting that (the old application wasn't a real student anyway because it was materially inaccurate).

If a student lies there is a opt-out for the Uni so it should work the other way.

[Needmoresleep]

Panda it dont think the statement "and will probably already have met it." is correct. All applications made before the Jan 15 deadline have to be given equal consideration. Places dont just run out. If places had been allocated before this date, and a better applicant comes along, a place has to be found for them as well.

Which is why some popular Universities hang onto applications. They want to see how many they need to consider before making decisons.

[Littleham]

This particular girl was predicted BBC initially, but should have been predicted ABB.

[PiratePanda]

Need, from the other side of the desk that's just not how it works.

[uilen]

Unless the predicted grades are AAB or above the universities will have a quota and will probably already have met it.

This is incorrect in several respects. Number caps have now been removed entirely (you are out of date). Most universities will not have filled all their places (by any means) in January. Universities also cannot treat "equal" applicants differently if they apply before January 15 - so if the error is appealed asap universities are bound to reconsider. A number of "top" courses are still making decisions far later than the January 15 deadline - of course they also make early offers to very strong candidates, but they hold off from selecting until all applications are in.

Very few courses would be so full, even in August, that they couldn't take one or two more students. Many or perhaps even most courses, apart from the most competitive subjects such as medicine and the very top places, offer to almost all candidates who have the corrected predicted grades.

[Littleham]

The favourite university course gives out offers in the range of 280-320 points (not grades), so I think her ABB predicted grades would be OK if they still have places to offer.

So it sounds like it may be worth a phone call.

[Littleham]

Oh dear. You were right.....very popular course. Poor girl.

Is there any sort of appeals process for such an unusual case?

[Needmoresleep]

How did she approach them and ask to be reconsidered on the basis the information origionally provided through no fault of her own, was not accurate. Was it just whoever answered the phone. Others will know better, but I think she should get something in writing addressed to someone senior (as in please pass to and give the email high priority) and copy in the school. I would have a word with UCAS and quote anything helpful that they say, or at least copy them.

I would do this before the application deadline to ensure she had kept the door open for equal consideration.

[Littleham]

Not entirely sure Needsmoresleep, but I will pass on your advice. Thanks for helping.

[Molio]

Breathtaking negligence by the school Littleham, which needs to be held to account.

[Littleham]

I suppose so, but to be fair some of the teachers are run off their feet & there was a major distraction within the school at that time. I can see how human error could occur when dealing with a huge number of applications. What surprises me is that there isn't an obvious appeal mechanism.

Thank goodness my dd did her application early.

[SlowlorisIncognito]

Why should there be an appeal mechanism for school based mistakes? Universities are also busy and have to deal with thousands of applications every year. If they spot an obvious mistake, they may let an applicant know, but they don't really have time to deal with multiple applications from the same student, when the mistakes involved are not of their making.

The mistake was made by the school, so really, it is up to the school to attempt to rectify it. This should really be a priority for them, as it will surely put off applicants considering their sixth form.

Individual students could also contact UCAS and the unis involved, explaining the situation, but without co-operation from the school, they are not likely to get very far.