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?

3 Bs is really not a high requirement.

ABB wasn’t enough to get you into a good Russel group 15 years ago without clearing. At least for a serious more academic subject. This definitely isn’t a new post covid thing.

But if you can’t get the required grades at A Level and are applying for a very academic course at a top university, then that means you might scrape through only to struggle when you get there and end up dropping out with debt and no qualification? Yes it’s pressure to get in, but there is pressure to learn and succeed when you get there.

Courses for Russell Group unis have traditionally always been high, I went to Warwick in 93 (after a deferral for 2 years for surgery) for a BA(QTS) the lowest offer of our cohort was ABC - obviously before A stars & strings of As were rather rarer - so higher relative offers today are expected.

I even got into Cambridge (didn’t go, the vibe was bloody awful for me, as a socialist Warwick was more my jam, we had a minute’s silence & ovation when John Smith died in our full year Ed lecture that morning ffs) and I definitely didn’t have AAA when I applied lol!

Honestly, OP, have a look around at courses. She doesn’t have to go to a Russell Group uni to succeed in life. My son is attending our local FE college with some degree provision awarded by another local-Ish uni, for example. That awarding uni has statistics in my son’s area of study that outrank the majority of Russell group unis in the same subject. Plus he’s in a very small class and the course has an industry focus, led by people who know the field because they’ve worked in it, not just because they are academic researchers.

DT’s went to RG Uni’s in 2017 - needed all A’s

What course and which institutions?
There really hasn’t been an increase in entry requirements in recent years as you suggest. Perhaps since the introduction of the A*, but certainly not a covid thing!
Some of the ‘ex-polys’ are excellent institutions and for certain courses they would be preferable to a RG.
Try not to pass on your hang ups about ‘polys’ to your DC or else they might feel they don’t live up to your expectations!

Concentrate on the course and which universities are ranked higher for the course she wants to do. Just because they're RG it doesn't mean their courses are all the best ... they're not!

Every RG uni that my DS applied to or was interested in wanted 3xA grades or higher in 2016 for his subject. I think this year things are getting a little closer to normal after Covid. The 2020 cohort was at the bottom of the birth rate dip in the UK as well, so courses will be a bit more competitive.

I’m sorry to say OP this is not because of Covid. RG offers have been AAB as a general minimum for a good while. DS applied 3 years ago and nothing less than that was going to get him any offers. Standard offers for arts degrees were AAA at Bristol and AAB at most of the others.

It's eye-watering. I got an offer of EEE from UCL, but went elsewhere with BCCE for a stem subject, medical biochemistry. A friend had an offer of EE for dentistry from Birmingham. EE was the minimum requirement for a LA grant. 90% of my year went to uni, a very few started work.

And yet so many young people today get told they are lazy, indulged, entitled, work shy etc

What subject is your DD wanting to take @Lionlover11?

As others have pointed out RG universities aren't the be all and end all. Where you go to university is irrelevant if degree is accredited by a professional body. For example all medicine degrees are conferred by the GMC so it doesn't make any difference whether you graduate from Oxbridge or a non RG university.

I have just had a look at DD's university (RG), and you can take geography with ABB at A level. I'm sure there are other courses where they ask for ABB.

There are plenty of other pre-1992 universities - Royal Holloway College and St. Andrews spring to mind, but there's also Strathclyde, Loughborough, Bath, to name but a few.

Russell Group certainly isn't the only option in terms of "top" universities.
But I think you'll find the grade requirements are the same at the vast majority of universities.

The uni I went to didn't even become part of the Russell Group until my final year, it still required AAA for my course 12 years ago. These aren't new requirements as a result of covid - the demand has been there for a long time. Your daughter's grades just aren't as good as you think they are.

I needed AAB almost 20 years ago, maybe you just underestimated what some courses need

I don’t think Grade requirements have changed have changed in the last couple of years - they are the same as pre Covid.

Nothing to do with Covid OP, I've just checked the RG universities DS1 applied to four years ago pre-pandemic and the grade requirements are exactly the same now as they were then, AAB for Chemistry.

'poly universities'

Not sure how three Bs is an insane requirement! 😂

I do feel for you op.
I have a friend, and her DD is applying for courses where ther are only 15 places. Almost an impossibilty even though she does tick many boxes in a lot of respects. She may just make it, but it does make for anxious times and waiting.

I needed 3 As to get into my RG twenty years ago, they're prestigious, oversubscribed and therefore difficult to get into. It's not new.

So you get her into a RG with scrape through grades and she struggles and gets a 2:2 or you head non RG and she graduates with a first. RG is not the path for positive self esteem and self confidence

The published high entry requirements are for your benefit too. If you look at it from the unis pov there are limited spaces, they want the best students with the best results as they are more likely to succeed.

The entry requirements not only say what the min that is required for that course, but also give students an indication of the level they are competing with for places.

They could easily say entry requirements are BBB then not give any BBB students offers when they have enough of AAA applicants to fill the spaces. This would have been a waste of a UCAS choice for the BBB student.

I much prefer the Scottish system in this aspect (it is not perfect either) where most courses (except med etc) pupils apply in S6 with their S5 grades available, so they have more confidence on where to apply (when applying to Scottish unis).

Do you need advice on realistic places for her to apply? Is she looking at very oversubscribed courses?