What if ds doesn't get his grades?

[DComb23]

From what we can glean of about my ds' A-level performance, there seems to be quite a strong possibility that he won't get the grades needed for even his "insurance" offer. What are his options if this happens?

Try and get a place through clearing, resit them and apply again or do something other than Uni.

Firstly try not to panic! If he doesn't get his insurance offer, he'll go directly into clearing. He can then look at different uni websites and ring as many as he wants - they will let him know on the phone if the grades are good enough to make him an offer. Clearing is pretty competitive nowadays so he is likely to get several options.
Hope things go well for him.

Don't panic. Go through clearing. Unless it is a subject like medicine which won't have places (or I wouldn't expect it to have). In which case he could rethink which course he wants to do or retake A levels.

Depending on how much he misses them by, and depending on how other people do, he might be accepted anyway.

If he is rejected, then a good look at clearing will be the thing to do. There's no need to make rash decisions, call around/look at webpages, and think about what's important (location v programme?)

Thanks for the many answers. Clearing seems to be the way to go while not panicking. If he had to resit, when and how does that happen?

It may sound silly but how does one go through Clearing?

The UCAS guide is pretty good: www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/apply-and-track/results/no-offers-learn-how-clearing-works

It might be worth him having a think about other courses he'd be interested in before results (but after a good break post-exams).

For example, sometimes universities will offer an alternative science degree if you miss an offer for medicine. Would he be happy with a similar offer?
Would he prefer his current course at a university which hasn't filled it's places or a less popular course at a university he really likes? (Sometimes swapping to joint honours or a more specific degree, like medieval history rather than history, works for people).
Did he have a really good look round at what's on offer in the first place? If he went for history, say, because he enjoys it at school would War Studies (with political & sociological aspects) be interesting?

Hopefully he'll get what he needs, but clearing is far from the end of the world & sometimes let's people pick a better course for themselves.

Thanks timeexperiencer - have explored the UCAS videos and have a better idea of what happens around the Clearing process.

If he chooses to resit, when and how does that happen?

Resits are the following June. The difficulty may come if the syllabus has changed. School /college may offer revision sessions and/or for him to retake them at their centre but he may be charged.

Thanks Lizs, that's very helpful to know.

If a university accepts him through the UCAS site, what does he do next? (I haven't yet found the answer to this on the UCAS site).

He must do any phoning in Clearing, NOT you. He needs to think carefully about what new course/uni he chooses (preferably one he's already visited and likes), but he also has to move fast as the clearing places for popular universities/courses will go quickly.

If he had a first/second choice at an elite university, I'm afraid they're unlikely to make exceptions if his grades fall just under the offer. If his places are at middle or lower ranking universities then they are more likely to be flexible as they will find it harder to fill the places. Still might well need to go through clearing though.

If there's a good reason for his lower marks, and there's a particular or prestigious course he is set on, might be better to do retakes and try again next year.

Some courses with joint honours are easier to get on, as a PP said. After first year exams if he did well he might even be able to switch back to a single honours course, especially in a Scottish university where years 1 and 2 of the 4 year course are much broader. Other similar courses allowing switching after the first year but some are harder to initially get into (especially around biochemistry type courses). So he could go for a similar course in the same dept and might be able to swap later.

I've asked ds to make a list of 5 target university courses (courses he wants, lower entry requirements than his insurance offer, not too far down in the uni rankings) if he has to go through Clearing. Does this sound right to you?

A good starting point, but of course there may not be spaces. I think it will be helpful to have that list though so he had a chance on the day.

Many universities have their clearing vacancies on UCAS now so he needs to look there. Then draw up a shortlist. No point drawing up a shortlist and wasting time phoning if none have vacancies.

If he gets a clearing place it'll be confirmed through UCAS, then he needs to sort out accommodation quick.

If he wants to resit he needs to talk to his current college about plan b.

Also get him to see if his favourite uni has a foundation course that lead into his course

In other words if he wants to do 3 year BA English see if he can do a foundation English course for a year at same uni then he transfers over to the BA course at end of foundation year

Good luck to him @DComb23

Missing your grades isn't unusual, in fact the majority of students miss their predicted grades by TWO or more grades. I think the figure is 54% for 2016 (not sure though) and THIS article says a whopping 75% of students didn't achieve their predicted grades in their three best A levels last year (including those who only missed their grades by one grade). However the vast majority of students get into either their firm or insurance choice.

You can have a read about it in the UCAS end of cycle yearly report, the most recent one if for 2016. I'm on my little phone so a bit limited doing links but I found this UCAS FACTS AND FIGURES SUMMARY showing info for 2016 and 2015. As you can see the vast majority get into their firm choice.

What were your DCs predicted grades? Obviously the very highest tariff Unis with the most oversubscribed courses won't be flexible whereas undersubscribed course at lower tariff ones will.

Also, remember that things change a lot each year - the goal posts are in constant movement...

Don't automatically give up if he misses out on his grades. It's worth phoning to see if they'll reconsider. After all, they've made him an offer based on his personal statement and reference from the school, so have already invested in him. They might be inclined to take him anyway, if he can show he really wants to be at that particular university. This is the advice that was given to us at DD's offer holder day at a red brick university.

@DComb23, just wondering how your results day went?