A2 Results day support

We positively mark however I have marked 12 and only 4 have gone up and 3 have gone down in marks not grades. Plus I am marking a more subjective subject. I would imagine maths or the sciences would be different.

Why do so many remarks result inn better marks? Are you trying to give the benefit of the doubt, or are you genuinely spotting things that were overlooked before?

If you are going for a remark it is very quick, my first papers came through at about 6pm yesterday. A lot of schools decide who they think should be remarked on Wednesday so it is auctioned first thing Thursday. I am marking now and already 3 have gone up a grade and one two! Since examiners are usually current/past teachers we know the time pressures.

Some students have been incredibly lucky this year; I know of someone who secured their BBB offer place with CCC.

DumbledoresGirl. Would your son have the option of private halls? Basically pretty much indistinguishable from Uni owned halls.

Mine was offered a place first thing in the morning, even though her grades were lower than offer (CCD instead of BBC). I totally don't understand why, but I guess she is very lucky!

Eatyourveg: computer science.

I have to say, I am not impressed so far Cardibach. Apparently it is now unlikely ds will be in uni accommodation which is something I consider very important for my ds. He has social difficulties and is very young for his age so I am really stressing now that he will be lodged in some anonymous private rent, with no contact with other students.

virelai fine, but we are all A2 parents
What is your position on Universities gaming the system by keeping kids who have made the points but not the grades waiting so they can look at potentially 'better' candidates in clearing?

Oxford tutor here, and just wanted to say that our decisions about who to select for interview are made on the basis of a number of factors in combination: UCAS personal statement, school reference, AS grades and UMS scores, predicted A2 grades, written work, aptitude test, plus some basic contextual information about the school. I would not want to raise hopes unrealistically, but a less-than-perfect performance at AS could be compensated for by brilliance elsewhere. In my college we have interviewed plenty of students with less-than-perfect AS grades, and have admitted a few of them if they have showed sufficient potential elsewhere and can make their A2 offers.

I would not want any students to rule themselves about on the basis of AS performance alone. We are aware that students can improve markedly between AS and A2. We are interested in achievement, but also in potential. If the lower AS grades turn out to be part of a pattern (i.e. consistent with the quality of the rest of the things we look at), then an interview is unlikely, but if they are the anomaly, and the other things listed above are of the necessary standard, then an interview is a possibility. It makes things less likely, but not impossible, so it may be worth an application nonetheless if this is really something they want to aim at.

Dumbledoresgirl what subject is your ds wanting?

It's disgraceful, Dumbledoresgirl. Should be banned. They should make an honest decision and stand by it.

Cardibach - I think that is what my son has been enduring today too. His second offer have repeatedly told him they are 'working through the list' and he will either have an offer or be rejected by 4pm, 6pm, etc.

As of now, the UCAS site is saying they are making him an offer, but the uni's own site still has nothing on it suggesting this. And meanwhile, we are one day down in the clearing process. I hope they come good tomorrow morning.

MsAverage- there are no A*s at AS level.....

Had a stressful day with DD. She needed CCC to get in our local uni but ended up with a DDD. She sup in one exam and got a U which took her grade down from a B to D. After a nightmare 5 hours of despair and changing minds she eventually found a uni which have offered her a place with a foundation year on her much wanted course, Chinese studies. Unfortunately it is the other side of the country which we had not bargained on. We now have a month to get her accommodation and everything she needs sorted out, plus rearranging a holiday and arranging to drive her there. Luckily they still have accommodation and it is cheaper than other unis.

God I am scared of her going so far away

DD has been horrifically messed around today by Coventry University (name and shame) who are playing the field with offers. She has 100 UCAS points more than her offer but not tin the exact form, and they have spent all day refusing to either give her a place or withdraw it. Bastards. They are clearly looking to see if they can get better from Clearing, but without releasing her - with no Clearing number she can't officially even talk to other Universities. It's scandalous.

well Ds missed out on his first choice but got a place at his second, only thing now is getting him a place to live as the student Halls applications are closed. seems to be good support from their website etc so far.

I don't think we are disagreeing.
I think it is assumed that those applying to Oxbridge have stellar GCSEs, with the vast majority or all grades being A. These students then often get A grades at AS, but there will be a range from low A grades to high A grades. And of course, a school will predict for A2 based mainly on that AS performance....so higher AS marks in the A grade boundary, are more likely to result in a prediction of A rather than just A.
So even if the AS marks are not looked at directly by Oxford (and tbh, that has not been my experience.....of many many applicants, the ones being called for interview have been those with 90+ for each of their modules) then they are till relevant, because of their impact on predictions too. Of course GCSE grades are looked at too. I know many people believe these are a better predictor of success than AS levels.

It is a shame that many students with some low A grades at AS, but without good enough GCSEs are led to believe they have a strong chance of Oxbridge success - as ever, candidates need people in schools who know what they are talking about regarding the application process.

Except that oxford tend to look at gcse and a level predictions, rather than the AS ums. Cambridge on the other hand DO look at as.

To the earlier poster whose child had low A grades and said it meant Oxbridge was no longer realistic;
It's right that A does not exist at AS level, but in terms of getting into the very top courses at the very top places, they look at how good the A is. 160/200 is needed for an A (think 80% in terms of UMS marks) but people will see 180+ at AS as the equivalent of A and what is a reasonable predictor of achieving A* at A2. The top places will be looking for this kind of mark, not just A grades. Therefore, without these kind of marks at AS, an application to Oxbridge probably isn't going to get anywhere.
Increasingly, they are reducing how many are called for interview. When everyone applying has loads of A* at GCSE and all A's at AS, they need a way to differentiate students, and looking at the actual marks is it. So a scrape A grade won't be good enough.

DD1 . ABB .'Thrilled' . She achieved the only A grade in the school this year, in Chemistry (OCR) Bs in English Lit and Sociology. She can't believe she has got an A in Chemistry. She is off to Leicester and 'forensic Science'.

The school are making a big 'Fuss' about her A grade, its a very big thing for the School.

HPparent I have no idea what UMS is but I think you may be right there. Dh went into the school with ds and came back with some explanation that the marks we were using were not the same marks as were shown in the grade boundaries. Goodness knows why the whole thing has to be so complicated!

dumbledoresgirl I think contact with AQA has to be via the school. Could your DH be confusing marks and UMS. Would you consider an urgent re-mark of the papers as they are lower than the school expected?

I'm hearing of lots of people who've got in to their firm choices with a fair few dropped grades.

Thanks for the positive support and well done to your son Tinkly. It must feel so good to have that success after struggling.

So far, my son has contacted his second choice but they haven't made up their minds yet- probably waiting to see how many places get filled.

In the meanwhile, dh was checking ds's marks against AQA's website to see how close to the boundaries he was and he thinks some units have not been correctly graded, eg ds got 36 marks for one unit for which he was awarded a U but the website is saying it should be a C. That can't be right, surely? They have hot-footed it to school again but I am terribly worried that no-one will be there now. Are we allowed to contact AQA direct?