Is it possible to tell how likely it is a uni place will be offered?

[LynetteScavo]

Looking at courses for DS1, and one course seems perfect...location, professional accreditation, and DS should, by next summer, have much more than the minimum entry requirements. (It's not a Russel Group uni but we're fine with that).

So is it possible to tell how likely it is he will be offered a place?

If you look at the course on unistats.com you can see under entry requirements the average grades of students who started the course. If your ds's grades are predicted to be as good or better than the average then he's very likely to get an offer.

That's very helpful, thanks!

If the predicted grades are in the range of the standard offer, there's a very high chance of an offer. That's assuming a personal statement free from spelling and grammar mistakes.

That's assuming a personal statement free from spelling and grammar mistakes.

Huh? You seriously think that spelling and grammar mistakes in personal statements are likely to play a role in any university offer?

(OP's DS is not applying to a high tariff, high competition institution and he is not applying for an essay based subject either. The chance that personal statement will play any role in the decision is small, let alone SPAG mistakes in the statement coming into play.)

I’m not so sure about that user! DD’s bf visited a uni on Saturday where attendees were told that out of approx 1000 applicants an initial 600 would be rejected purely based on their personal statements - and yes he is now very motivated to work on his personal statement!

DD’s bf visited a uni on Saturday where attendees were told that out of approx 1000 applicants an initial 600 would be rejected purely based on their personal statements.

But this is just not representative of an average university course: with income dependent on student numbers, the vast majority of courses simply cannot afford to do anything but offer to all qualified candidates.

You must be talking about a very competitive subject at a very competitive university - most courses have offer rates well above 80%.

Somehow MN seems determined to make university entrance much harder than it actually is. For OP's subject area (tech, computing), for courses that accept BTEC, candidates with the required predicted grades are almost certain to get offers, regardless of the detailed contents of personal statements. For such courses the decisions aren't even made by academics - they are made by administrators according to simple rules set by the academics.

The UCAS offer rate calculator gives a percentage estimate of how likely an offer will be made based on UCAS’s stats for previous years. It only works for predicted A Level grades though:

www.ucas.com/advisers/offer-rate-calculator/

User are you the OP? You seem to know a lot about the course OP’s Ds is applying for?

OP has posted a lot in the past about her DS doing BTEC in IT/computing subjects. OP also says in the first post that the course is not a RG (~"high tariff") course.

If it’s non RG (although some non RG are very competitive eg Bath) then mostly they are recruiting universities and not selecting. Some will look at the ps if they have selecting courses. If they are bums on seats at all costs, then they probably won’t read them. They may also have high drop out rates too. If a young person exceeds the basic educational requirements and has any extra required (portfolio, work experience for example) and can write an accurate ps, then they should get offered a place.

I feel sorry for employers who actually think a degree means they are taking on someone who can write good English when they employ a graduate! Perhaps if people did get pulled up on poor English we might be a better educated country and students from a wider range of universities might get top graduate jobs. Communication is important and anyone who cannot check a PS or get it checked is unacceptably slack. Of course some employers do know and do not offer jobs to people who cannot write an accurate application. Straight in the bin!

How much weight given to the personal statement depends on the course and the university.

DD is applying for medicine. Newcastle have said that they pay very little attention to the personal statement. They look at it last after weighing up all the other options. Other universities are more interested in it.

At the University of Bristol, the PS is weighted 50% when applications are assessed for medicine. I would check the web site for every course. How different they are!

Newcastle say in bold letters that they “take into account your whole application, not just results”. On top of the list is the PS. I would read their admissions document Lonicera.

bubbles I'm in a non RG university and got in as a mature student. My BTEC was so old it couldn't be converted to UCAS points. I'm in a cohort with around 50% mature and the rest I think came either via clearing or with BTEC. So I did have a thought that it was a bums on seats sort of thing.
I couldn't be more wrong. There is a huge emphasis on Academic Writing. We've been assessed on our entry level writing and anyone who isn't demonstrating at least some potential is put into extra tutorials. The University clearly very much expects high standards.

My point was that they didn’t on entry if they do not read the PS. As DH recruits engineers I can assure the standard of English can be woeful and some graduates cannot be allowed to write emails to clients because of this. If only they had been to
English tutorials!

I know most universities will get students up to speed on writing essays but not all degrees require essays.

Donaj - it IS bums on seats sorry - particularly if they recruited through clearing.

However now that you're actually there they want you to succeed hence the extra classes.

BubblesBuddy that's not what they said at the subject talk for medicine.

I've been to that talk too Lonerica. They said they only check the PS for 'red flags' after selection based on UKCAT, interview etc. But perhaps terrible spelling would be a red flag for a medicine application.

What they say in a public document should match what they say at an open day. I am surprised there is a mismatch. I really would ensure the PS is excellent in every way. I assume your DC is not just applying to one university. What do the others want and how do they weight the PS?

Well, I have no worries about DSs SPAG - it's one thing he's very good at. I'm more concerned about him ever getting around to actually writing his personal statement, and what he includes in it.

He's actually considering Engineering courses, and no I'm not User9182!

Somehow MN seems determined to make university entrance much harder than it actually is.

This is what DH said at the weekend

Engineering is hardly the most competitive to get into. So he shouldn’t have any difficulties unless he chooses the very competitive universities where they get lots of highly qualified applicants. . As employment prospects are good, in most Engineering disciplines, it’s a relatively rosy future - particularly if your communication skills are good as well! It’s just a choice of MEng or BEng, engineering discipline now there are so many choices, and finding out which one he prefers.

It depends, bubbles - could be anything from AAA.

“Unless he chooses the most competitive universities”. I did qualify what I said. I know some do ask for high grades but some don’t and are lower for BEng. You can transfer into MEng if you do well. You wouldn’t put all 5 choices as universities wanting AAA would you? Therefore you can get a place but not everyone will apply for the AAA courses anyway. It’s not as if there are not enough courses to go round. There are; so unless your DS is aiming very high, there’s little need to worry. Plenty of employers will be glad he’s breathing! Believe me! Writing well? A bonus really!

It's good to know it's not too competetive to get into , Bubbles, and he should be offered a place. There seems to be a very wide range in requirements from AAA to well below the UCAS points he will have. That does put him in a good position for going straight for a Masters and the uni he likes the look of most....is there any reason somebody would choose not to go straight for a Masters?

*competitive....luckily DS has better spelling than me!