Anyone else got DC applying for uni this year - beyond annoyed

[Lionlover11]

DD is 18 and applying for uni this year and the grades are literally insane. Good Russel groups
are asking for grades previously only oxbridge would ask for and former poly universities that previously would have been easier to get into have now shot up to 3 B’s. All because of covid deferrals. I’m absolutely livid on DD’s behalf that predicted of ABB (very good results imo) will not be enough to get her into a Russel group for the course she wants to do. It feels like this year group have suffered so much already because of the pandemic and now because of covid deferrals it’s bitten them on the backside again. I’m half considering telling DD to forget applying for this year, get the best a levels she can and just apply next year when hopefully the grades have eased off. Anyone else in the same boat?

I'm not sure grades have gone up? DD1 is at University of Manchester with AAA - with an A* for her EPQ it was lowered to AAB - DD2 was aiming for a vocational course and still required ABB (gained ACD so is doing a further year) - I think it's a bit of a myth that uni is easy to get into

Don't suggest she don't apply. Apply and see what happens.

Russell groups are hugely over subscribed and are tightening places to ensure teaching quality remains high.

If she applies, she may get in. If she doesn't apply she definitely wont

Also 'poly universities' have been universities for 20 years now !

Sorry 30 years!

You're luckier than last year's cohort who were competing with deferrals from the 'everyone gets an A star for surviving a pandemic' cohort.

Applications have been down so far so chances are probably fairly good of getting a place

Surely it was 2022 uni entry that were affected by covid deferrals? Not 2023 entry? Also 2022 have to pay back loans for 30 years but 2023 for 40, so less people deferred to 2023. I don't think the high grades is a recent thing.

Sometimes it's worth thinking about the course choice

Some slightly less obvious courses can be very good but much less heavily subscribed

Agree

I think you may need to managed your expectations a little. I mean this kindly but ABB are good results, but not ‘very good’. Almost 30 years ago the average grades needed for a Russell Group for popular courses was ABC or ABB. Russell Group universities can pick and choose their intake, and AAA is not uncommon.

DS1 went off to uni two years ago. RG uni. DS2 is just going through the process for next year.
The grades don't seem to have shot up from what I can remember, although I do agree the unfairness in that this cohort is the last of the four to have had their GCSE or A level years disrupted by COVID yet the only to have no allowances made re A level results/grading.

Surely this is the result of grade inflation over many years, rather than covid? I don't think the requirements are particularly high this year, and yes, I do have a dd who is applying.

Being "livid" is not particularly helpful to your dd tbh. Russell group is not the be all and end all in any case. I wouldn't be encouraging her to defer as there is no evidence to suggest that grades will come down in the next few years. Just support her in applying to wherever she wants to go and looks like she might be able to get into.

There are also more 18 year olds currently than there have been for a while, putting pressure on places and therefore pushing grades up. That would have happened regardless of the pandemic.
is there a chance DD could improve her grades? What does she want to study - maybe we can suggest places?
I would also point out the RG isn’t the be all and end all - they’re good unis with great marketing but there are many excellent unis that aren’t RG. It’s not like the Ivy League!

everyone gets an A star for surviving a pandemic' cohort

Thats a really nasty attitude to kids who did well in that year - the disruption to their education was catastrophic and they were not just awarded grades with no evidence - for context my eldest gained AA during covid and A A* in the exams this year - so I would say they were fair grades. The attitude that no of those A level or GCSE students deserved the grades they achieved is really unkind

Too many variables to state whether you're unrealistic or not.

What course is she wanting to apply for? What is the spread of the minimum requirements for that course across the UK? Where does she actually want to study? Is this your pick of university or hers?

And I'm afraid AAB isn't a spectacular set of results if you're looking at highly competitive courses and locations...

Russell group universities are very competitive. My son will need A*, A, A for his chosen subject. Which is actually higher than Oxford's requested grades of A,A,A. Maybe she should consider applying to other universities too , to hedge her bets.

Oxford offer slightly lower grades because the hoops you have to go through to even get an offer are significant.

I think this is likely more from the A star introduction in 2010.

ABB sounds good but comparatively that’s BCC compared to when I went to Uni a decade and a half ago.

You would have struggled to get to Russel Groups with BCC back then. Competitive courses required AAA which nowadays would be 3A*

I’m not sure those predicted grades would ever have likely led to an offer from a RG Uni?

Loads of other unis are fantastic.

My sons at Warwick and needed A A A - higher than Oxford wanted. He started a few weeks ago. Grades have been high for a while to be honest

That stars didn’t save on my post - that was A star x 2 and 1 x A

ABB grades aren’t that high though, not enough to get into a lot of Russel Group courses and that’s not a new thing. Your DD needs to have a think about if she is capable of getting higher grades and if not then look at suitable courses

It’s not recent that Russell Group would require more than ABB - is it the case that this is your first child applying and you’re working off decades old info?

ABB are good grades - nothing to be worried about at all! But what’s most important is not the RG uni but the best fit course for your DC. Don’t get hung up on RG, really.

Wow mine are younger but that's a lot of pressure!

I remember "2 Es" offers from former polys even for teaching etc. And in 6th form that a pass wasn't just "a-c" like at gcse. That's really tough. Everyone can't get As...

I imagine with so many more going to uni now the grades are higher too. It used to be just for the academic and now it's widened so much its become another hoop to jump and a ton of debt for jobs that didn't used to need uni.