Headteacher's Reports for Uni

Hi
I just wanted to second the point about 'turning a weakness into a strength'. Lots of schools/colleges seem to think it is best to not mention any (relative) weaknesses in an application but we woudl far rather that students are up front about things. I read a lovely heart-felt personal statement once from someone with mediocre GCSEs acknowledging that he hadn't worked very hard and had got the shock of his life on results day and was never going to make that mistake again! His reference confirmed the dramatic shift in attitude and overall it created a much stronger impression than those personal statements that try to make the student sound perfect in everyway ... even when the results say otherwise!

One of my ex students is now reading Law at Oxford. He did not have straight As / A*s at GCSE, but did at AS/A level, and was extremely committed.

I do not think it is necessarily a bar to entry, although of course, I am only going from anecdotal evidence.

Thats a good point Senua. A friends daughter was worried about only having dual science at GCSE (applying to Oxford for Biology) even though at a school where triple was done. At the interview when the tutor was looking at her application she brought this up herself and said that she regretted it now, blah blah blah. He actually didn't seem bothered by it at all. She got in.

aaagghh, just when I think I know what is best regarding applying this year or next someone has a different opinion and I start changing my mind again. Will have to leave him to get on with it I think. The thought of going through all this with DC2, 3 and 4 fills me with dread.

Senua, really good idea about HIM actually raising the lack of A*s.

"Cambridge tries to interview almost everyone, so it'll be down to the interview to make the difference."

I totslly agree. In fact I would suggest that he brings up the topic of his GCSEs at interview and explains why he should be considered despite his lack of A*. It is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate his analytic and advocacy skills.
A classic case of turning a weakness into a strength!

p.s. I'd agree that he might be better off applying the next year post A-levels - I did this myself, and didn't notice any disadvantages.

I think the '5 at A*' thing might have been a way of trying to indicate that a high academic ability is needed, rather than a requirement?
If the circumstances were clearly stated, I can't see people being that fussed about his GCSEs. (Law may be different, but in our Dept, we wouldn't be.) We've taken people with A-levels that were less than their stated offer given similar circumstances.

Cambridge tries to interview almost everyone, so it'll be down to the interview to make the difference.

If he has accepted a deferred place he can only apply again if he gives up his place. You can not hold a place and apply for others.

thanks mumblechum. And he is an arrogant little git that has to have the last word. I think he'll make a jolly fine barrister

Wow, MOS, your son sounds really committed! All the best to him.

I'm that impressed I said it twice!

Hi Senua,
Thanks for your very helpful advice. I was completely in the dark about it all until a few days ago. Thankfully, I got a huge information pack from DSs school a few days ago (no doubt that explains the 1,125 per term increase in fees) Really useful info ref UCAS and the system.

I agree, if I was an admission tutor I'd not really be considering too much the grades got at GCSE years before. However, DS recently went on a 4 day law conference at Cambridge and one of the questions that came up was about the A at GCSE and one of the members of staff from admission said 3, ideallly 5 at A which is what got us worried. I am somewhat annoyed at his old school about not telling us about the compensatory marks scheme.

Yes, he is (hopefully!) doing enough to show his genuine interest in law. He has been interested for years hence him studying GCSE law when he was 14 on a distance learning course and then flying back to the UK to sit it at Cambridge (he got an A after 9 months study)He has attended Mags Court and sat at the back for several days. He reads all my legal journals and last summer did a weeks work experience at my old firm of solicitors which was invaluable. (it is proper work experience, not the type that some firms offer, ie photocopying, making court bundles and the coffee!)
He has also attended the Cambridge 4 day law conference and the oxford one and has something else coming up in July.
In the process of trying to get him work experience in chambers over the summer.
Hopefully this will be a huge plus for him?

I agree, he will apply this autumn with his peers and if needs be, will then apply again next year.

One question I couldn't find the answer to in the UCAS bumph I have. If you accept an offer for a defererd place which is not a first choice (ie insurance) can he then apply again the next year even though he has accepted a place?

I love MN, you ladies answer more questions than DS's school!

Hi Senua,
Thanks for your very helpful advice. I was completely in the dark about it all until a few days ago. Thankfully, I got a huge information pack from DSs school a few days ago (no doubt that explains the 1,125 per term increase in fees) Really useful info ref UCAS and the system.

I agree, if I was an admission tutor I'd not really be considering too much the grades got at GCSE years before. However, DS recently went on a 4 day law conference at Cambridge and one of the questions that came up was about the A at GCSE and one of the members of staff from admission said 3, ideallly 5 at A which is what got us worried. I am somewhat annoyed at his old school about not telling us about the compensatory marks scheme.

Yes, he is (hopefully!) doing enough to show his genuine interest in law. He has been interested for years hence him studying GCSE law when he was 14 on a distance learning course and then flying back to the UK to sit it at Cambridge (he got an A after 9 months study)He has attended Mags Court and sat at the back for several days. He reads all my legal journals and last summer did a weeks work experience at my old firm of solicitors which was invaluable. (it is proper work experience, not the type that some firms offer, ie photocopying, making court bundles and the coffee!)
He has also attended the Cambridge 4 day law conference and the oxford one and has something else coming up in July.
In the process of trying to get him work experience in chambers over the summer.
Hopefully this will be a huge plus for him?

I agree, he will apply this autumn with his peers and if needs be, will then apply again next year.

One question I couldn't find the answer to in the UCAS bumph I have. If you accept an offer for a defererd place which is not a first choice (ie insurance) can he then apply again the next year even though he has accepted a place?

I love MN, you ladies answer more questions than DS's school!

Oh and I forgot to say. I would go for Plan A and apply in Y13. If it goes wrong then he can always apply again in his gap year i.e. have two bites at the cherry.

o/seas: The website says "Most Colleges will require applicants to take the Cambridge Law Test. The test is designed to provide an assessment of your potential for the study of law. It'll be used as an additional piece of information for admissions decisions alongside your school/college examination results, the other information provided in your application, and, where applicable, your performance at interview."

So applicants have:
a) interview and admissions test in Y13
b) actual AS results from Y12
c) PS, reference & predicted A2
d) GCSE results from Y11 or even earlier.

If you were an admissions tutor, which would you place most reliance on? It is fairly certain that every cohort of applicants has a few who will always get in, some who will never get and then there is the lump in the middle. The middle ones will be much-of-a-muchness and it is difficult to differentiate which ones get the offer: it is when you get to this stage that minor things, like the number of A* at GCSE, will come into play. Your DS needs to ensure that his (a) - (c) are so impressive that no-one needs to look at his (d).

I would make sure that the PS or the reference mentions the extenuating circs re the GCSE results and lack of knowledge of the compensatory marks scheme, but then leave it at that.

I can't remember, is he doing anything which demonstrates his "genuine interest in law"? - work experience, visiting Courts, reading journals, keeping up with the election etc

Sorry lazymumofteenagesons no inside knowledge, just three sons, one of whom is at uni, so been through the UCAS system. Saw too many of my son's friends "crash and burn" by having unrealistic expectations of which uni was possible.

Some universities have a quota for deferred places for certain courses, making it even more competitive. Check it out.If he is taking a year off anyway then what is against applying next year for an unconditional place with his A level results. Maybe 'admission' will be back on to give more accurate info on deferrals and applying post A level cos it looks like she has some 'inside' knowledge.

lazymum, he has to have a gap year before Uni in any event as he will not have been back in the UK for the required 3 years prior to him attending Uni otherwise. Might suggest what you've said to him although the advice given to date was to apply this October with his peers but to defer a year.

mumoverseas - if his gcse grades are going to mess up his application to Cambridge (which may well be the case - due to almost all candidates having a full whack of As), he may be better off applying after A levels. If it is possible for him to take a year off, I would have thought the university will first look at his A level grades and if they include a couple of As and a couple of As they may not look at the GCSEs.

More than anything else, when it comes to completing the UCAS form your son needs to be realistic about his options. By all means go for the uni expecting 5 A* grades but without then the expectation must be you will not get an offer, no matter what mitigating circumstances.

So they need to put down some uni courses that will fit with his expected grades and one that is lower. He will then have a reasonable expectation of getting a number of offers and can then make appropriate decisions as to which he chooses.

Off-spring, just like their parents with admissions to preferred schools, can make assumptions that the world is queuing up to offer them a place at uni. It is not like that and everybody needs to live and work in the real environment. So a little parental help is needed to ensure realism.

ladylapsang. He wants to read law. At Cambridge! Hence my concerns as apparently they want at least 3A at GCSE, ideally 5. He has mostly As but only 2 at A
Shame your DS's appeal wasn't successful. Apparently last year there were a lot of appeals in relation to the English exams.

muddleduck thanks for that. Will talk to him about this. Hopefully all is not lost

mumoverseas

Make sure that the UCAS form includes the entenuating circumstances at the time of his GCSEs and states that these were not taken into account by the exam board.

Or if the school/college are unhelpful about including this info then I'd encourage hime to state in his personal statement that he was disappointed not to do better in his GCSEs and then given the reason.

However you do this, it is very important that the unis are able to evaluate the GCSEs in context.

Mumoverseas - Think they only get a few marks extra so a B would not be changed to an A* anyway. At least the B was upgraded, my DS was one mark off a higher grade & we appealed & it wasn't increased. What subject does he want to read?

Ladylapsang, wish we'd known that before about letting the exam board know. When my mother died (think it was the day before his english exam) I contacted the exams officer at his school who basically said very sad but not relevant Nothing we can do about it now though as his GCSEs were last summer. Bloody annoying though. He was predicted A in both english exams and got an A and a B but appealed the B and it was changed to an A. Several other subjects were predicted A and he got As and looking at these they were the ones that were around the time of the funeral. He was very close to his nannie as she'd looked after him for several days a week when he was younger and they spend a lot of time together. I can understand it not being relevant in exam year but he literally had to fly overnight after the funeral long haul to sit his exam.
Oh well, wish we'd known all that before.

senua thanks for that, will have a look.

o/seas: read the page that I linked to ("Describe their suitability/any factors", towards the bottom of the page)