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?

Fully aware @ghostyslovesheets It was tongue in cheek....

100% this! I see such an obsession with RG unis these days and it's so pointless if they aren't leaders in the desired course or even offer course content which appeals to the students interests.

And lol at the comments about higher grade students being more capable of self teaching - my experience is the exact opposite. So many of these students have been coached to pass exams not to be passionate and self motivated.

Maybe I'm cynical but I really don't feel that choices made at 17/18 are as crazy important as they are made out to be.

There are some groups of universities between red bricks and Post-1992 universities (ex poly) - for course/style of campus eldest wants they look quite good and within her grasp. Plus some 1992 University course in some subjects are highly rated.

I'd suggest going through UCAS website with course and predicted grades and see where come up - though DD1 been going on University open days since before last summer so we've been looking at grades and wrestling with her options for a while now.

Sorry - my mistake - I did think you might have been after I posted.

Is she looking to do something vocational op? If not has she looked at apprenticeships etc? She has decent forecast grades, she maybe able to get what she wants in clearing, she may do better than predicted, but uni isn’t always the answer. It’s a lot of debt and it’s soul destroying to be on a course you either don’t enjoy or struggle with. Not least as if you effectively don’t “pass” each year with the required points they chuck you out. It’s not a free pass for three years.

predicted ABB grades are not that high. Russell group have been AAB or AAA for a number of years. You DD has time to turn her grades around still. She can pick a Russell uni and an insurance choice that matches her grades.

There are still a handful of (lower ranking) universities who hand out unconditional offers.

there are still high ranking universities handing out unconditional offers too. DSs friend has one from a RG university. But he’s predicted three A stars and the course only needed AAA so they’ve clearly made an unconditional offer to tempt him

I’ve just checked the entry requirements for the degree my DC did (entry 2017) and the grade requirements are the same today (STEM at a RG). Even back then, many courses wanted grades higher than Oxbridge so the entry requirements this year can’t be blamed on Covid, or the issues it generated in the last two years.

100% agree with this.

ABB is not that high, as PP’s have said, especially for RG universities. Same would have applied pre-covid.

The deferrals all happened the year before last. I don't think many students from the 2022 cohort were offered deferred spaces for 2023. There may be more applicants (as some people didn't get offers last year so will be reapplying) but ABB wouldn’t have been high enough for many courses even prior to 2020.

As almost everyone has said, the Covid deferrals went this year. The "inflated grades" went this year. 2003 was a bumper birth year in the whole of Europe for some reason (that year's intake at my secondary school formed 10 classes, the following year's intake was back down to the usual 7) and they went to university this year as well.

Your "being livid" is misplaced.

Excellent post.

100% agree with this. DD1 didn’t sit GCSE’s and missed prom, etc. My twins now in Y11 doing GCSE’s missed half of Y8 and Y9 - no concessions in exams or grading. Friends kids missed A Levels and spent 1st 2 years of Uni in and out of lockdown. They’ve all had it rough, OP’s DD is no worse.

FWIW, DD1 now at Leeds, needed AAB with A in English, got AAB (missed the A needed for English but still got the offer)

Dependant on the course, most RG are AAB or AAA. So worth applying, but you need to have backup options dependant on the grades she gets.

That should have read that she got 2 x A* and B

I thought unconditional offers were frowned upon @Era. I know that Nottingham completely withdrew from handing out unconditionals, and Birmingham sent out low offers to students with high predicted grades. I didn't think other high ranking universities did this any more. It isn't as if they require bums on seats, or do they only do this to students with high predicted grades?

Unfortunately lots of people were disadvantaged by covid in one way or another. Your DC needs to learn that life isn't fair.
Every school cohort feels they have been disadvantaged (I'm a teacher and there's always one reason or another) eg. The first cohort to go through a new syllabus, the cohort that did home learning in lockdown, the cohort that had the higher tuition fees, the cohort that had teachers striking in their final year. There's always something I'm afraid.

@Lionlover11 I mean this kindly, but I think you need to adjust your expectations. A very significant number of competitive University courses will ask for AAB predicted. I work for an ex poly 😁but for a highly competitive programme, think 800+ applications for 40 places. We interview 150. Depending on your daughter's programme I would be looking more carefully at the other factors, NSS, staff student contact, location, reputation for subject more than the Redbrick vs non Redbrick. In several subject areas Redbrick may not be the best course type. HEIs are having to make tough decisions about spending and course outcomes so my suggestion would be to go to some Open Days and get a feel for the Uni. Make sure your daughter talks to the student ambassadors, they will give an honest picture of life at University.

The thing that strikes me though is your daughter should know these entrance requirements are not covid related. Nor will they drop any time soon. In fact they could get higher. The school will also know and should be advising your child on what to apply for, that suits her needs best. Becsyde that’s what it’s about, finding the right uni and the right course to suit the students needs and ability levels. So either the school or your daughter should be telling you. She knows you’ve got it wrong.

The first cohort to go through a new syllabus,

Oh yes

DD's was the first cohort to do the new geography A level syllabus. The teachers had no idea how to support the students doing their NEA and were afraid of giving them too much support and marking it too high. Neither the teachers nor the students really knew what was going on.

Not sure I agree with you OP. ABB are decent grades but not everyone can get the top A* no matter how hard they work.

My 18yo is applying for Uni in STEM and has 4 A* s (she is taking further maths) which were not handed to her on a silver plate for surviving covid. You’ve no reason to be livid on your DDs behalf.

I don’t think deferring for a year would result in lower grades to get on courses next year and being a year out of education could make the first year of Uni that much harder when you consider all that can be forgotten in a year…..

Id encourage her to apply to Uni. You could look into whether she’d be eligible for a contextual offer though.

I don’t know I’m afraid. All I know is that the friend is very clever and is also hoping for a Cambridge offer. I’m assuming it’s a combination of predicted grades all over requirement plus a great personal statement and perhaps a less popular course

It's actually closer to 30!

Im not sure grades have gone up? When i was there 20 yrs ago you needed ABB or BBB to get russell group and there was no A. Now there is A, I'd expect the requirement to be A*AA or AAA.

ABB is like BCC years ago, that's never been russell group grades.

I feel a litttle sad that ABB at A level is no longer considered quite decent. When DD got her A level results in 2018 loads of students who achieved ABB were pretty happy. The only one who wasn't was an Oxbridge applicant. He then went to a high ranking RG university through clearing.