‘Typical offers’

[GaribaldiGirl]

Possibly a dim question - but if a University says a ‘typical offer’ for a course is AAA-AAB then does that mean if you apply with those grades you’ll most likely get in? I’m looking at Liberal Arts courses for my daughter (who got 3 A’s at A level this summer) but she thinks lots of her friends offers were much higher than that for the same courses and therefore she might not get a place. Which seems odd.

[TheThirdOfHerName]

If she already has AAA then she is in a strong position compared to an applicant who hasn't yet taken their A-levels.

For each course, Unistats shows the range of UCAS points for the students who started the course last year.

[ErrolTheDragon]

It depends on the number of applicants per place (and then how likely it is that those given offers will make them their firm or insurance choice). To take the extreme example - Oxbridge and some of the London colleges and a few other very highly rated courses elsewhere will get more applicants with predicted or actual grades higher than their typical offers than they have places. So in that sort of case, the applicant holding the 'typical offer' grade might well not get an offer. However, that's the extreme, not necessarily the norm.

Perhaps your DD should make most of her 5 choices at the level she's achieved but see if there are a couple she likes the look of a grade or two lower, to be on the safe side?

The other thing which may have caused the discrepancy is demographics (lower birth rate so fewer applicants ) - lot of unis have ended up with places in clearing this year or giving places to offer holders who didn't make the offer grades. Some may have decided to lower their offers a bit since last year?

[NeaterBonita]

Sounds like your DD in a strong position to apply for any course with typical offer of AAA. Fantastic position to be in. Well done to her!

[GaribaldiGirl]

Thanks!

I checked Unistats - great tip - and her grades put her in the bottom quarter of people who got places. But maybe worth a try.

[SarahMused]

Try the Which University guide. It tells you the percentage of applicants that got offers as well as the typical subjects and grades they have. You can even put in your grades and it will find appropriate courses.

[RedHelenB]

But unis like students with grades in hand so I'm sure she'll be fine.

[titchy]

Unistats is misleading. If they advertise Aaa to Aab she will almost certainly get an offer if she has the correct subjects. Don't worry!

[titchy]

This might reassure

[GaribaldiGirl]

Titchy - that’s very reassuring! Thanks.

[ErrolTheDragon]

her grades put her in the bottom quarter of people who got places

The offer puts a floor (bar a bit of adjustment for clearing/allowing slightly missed offers) on the grades of the people who end up with places, so the distribution of achieved grades logically always should be higher - so that's fine!

[ElizabethBennetismybestfriend]

DD is re sitting one of her a levels where she dropped a grade and taking A level lFrench which she had studied to AS. Her other 2 A levels are good grades but she is worried that by re sitting she won’t get any offers.

[ElizabethBennetismybestfriend]

Visited Liverpool today and Dd delighted both by the University and by the fact that the grades she has are good enough for the course she wants to do so she does not need to re sit (spoke to the Admissions tutor) so great relief all round.

[CraftyGin]

3As for a liberal arts degree? What’s to doubt?