A level results day 2021 support thread

[Mrs08]

Hi 👋
I thought it might be nice to have a support thread for us parents? (Can't see one in further Ed yet??)
It's been such a difficult time for our kids - and for us! - but the end is in sight!
Ds will get an e mail at 8.30am (apparently) and can go into college in person if he needs help/advice.
Good luck everyone!
X

I just read that out to DS and he'd well up for that if it was offered!

Had a quick catch-up on here earlier and saw all the accommodation talk, said to Ds 'so have you checked your email today?' He said 'no, why' I said 'well, you know, uni? Accommodation?' he trotted off and came back and said 'errr yeah I have got an offer actually .....' it's no wonder I worry about him going, the muppet! Thanks all for the heads up!

@frugalkitty and @clary that is all so interesting

I only read on this very thread that people had already started booking rooms, so I called down DS to say we had cocked up and needed to get on the ball. We then logged in an nabbed the only non catered room left. In Harry French. It’s a small room, but the hall itself is quite popular with students for a reason.

Then an hour later he gets the mail, but by then we had done it already (thankfully, thanks to you MN guys)

We are just grateful he has a room

@frugalkitty is there a reason the en-suite matters so much to your DS? Sorry to hear it marred his day

marlene I think it's because he gets nagged about spending too long in the shower here! I think he just wanted the privacy, but now he's realised there's a sink in his room he's a bit happier.

Better to start with simple set-up and “upgrade” later if possible

I told DS that as a student he has to slob it a bit, so he knows what he’s working for

No en suites in my day at Uni, you just had to wear flip flops and not look to closely at the drain/floor

It’s character building

Yes the one that really got me was the girl with AAA*C and was rejected from both Leeds and Exeter to do geography. The C wasn't in geography. I am not sure where she ended up in the end - no doubt somewhere really good though.

The bit buried in the detail was that one of the A*s was her EPQ, so she didn't meet her offers from Leeds or Exeter which offer AAA or AAB.

Well if that's true and the ballot only offers catered rooms, then we literally cannot afford for DS2 to go.

I think he was unable to get the portal to work for him to request the room he wanted as he was on there at 2.30. Going to ring them tomorrow and have a moan as you would think they would want to encourage disadvantaged students to go, but a catered room is basically going to more or less wipe out his loan and we can't afford to sub him ?£250 a month or so.

Good luck Clary I think it's worth ringing and speaking to someone. I'm glad DH rang earlier. DS is actually much calmer now, and planning what he can spend the money he'll be saving on the cost of halls on. Plus, knowing there's a sink in his room has helped. I'm still disappointed for him, and I don't think it's been managed well but I'm calmer too.

Someone told me that one reason there's fewer rooms on offer is because there's a higher number of students staying in halls another year, because with covid they couldn't go looking for houses in town to rent. Makes sense. Add in the over subscription and it explains why so many haven't got any of their choices.

GCSE results tomorrow will be a breeze after today!

@clary

Anyone else hear a story that Leeds are offering £10k to students (I assume on certain courses) who agree to defer for a year 😮😮

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-58176877

plus first year hall costs when they do get to go covered as well.

Well my dgs didn’t get his handed on a plate
Despite working consistently and often with very little in the way of tuition from his 6th form tutors and based on the brilliant GCSEs results of A and As I thought he would get A A and A in maths physics and chemistry
He got A in maths and 2Bs
He’s still going to his first choice of Edinburgh and I know it won’t matter in September,he’s happy but I feel he’s been let down badly

I think he’s lucky to sail straight into his first choice to be honest

Actually it feels like being predicted a first class degree and coming away with a 2:2

Sorry to hear that shewalks. Try to be happy for him though. ABB in Maths, Chemistry and Physics is not to be sniffed at. Most people doing that combination of subjects will have A*-A grades at GCSE and a lot of them will come away with less than ABB. It’s been a difficult time to do A Levels and he should be proud of what he has achieved.

Also she told me that they are 30% oversubscribed - surely that can't mean they are admitting 30% more students as that would really damage their experience I think.

They won't have done it on purpose - it's the result of the grade inflation this year meaning more students will meet their offers. Lots of universities will have this problem.

Following on from accepting offers we're in the midst of...
I'm an adult let me do it myself/you're my parents you're supposed to help me with this shit.
I know everything don't tell me anything/I don't know anything I haven't been to uni before - you need to help me.

And one of them might defer (I have twins)! You get over one hurdle...

Curledup

Tell me about it. We were helping DS1 pack as he was going down to Uni sports training yesterday - cue much eye rolling and “I don’t need that” etc. Clearly DH and I know nothing about packing, travelling, Uni etc.

Once he was on the train I think reality hit him and suddenly he was happier to bounce ideas off us. They like the idea of independence but in practice is a bit of a shock.

Dd has had her accommodation offer, they asked for 10 and she received choice number 10. Luckily she’s not the bothered other than it took ages going through the accommodation options (she made a chart). Her college took ages getting ucas up and running, so offers late. She still applied for accommodation in March.

Accommodation meant to come through today but still waiting. Am a bit nervous!

For kids who got their first choice - do they need to accept the offer formally or is it assumed to be accepted?

O think it is assumed to be accepted if not declined iyswim

@MadameMinimes
Thank you
Yes I’m delighted for him absolutely and he will be well rewarded before he goes
He’s got the best A level results In The family ever and in such difficult subjects too
I just wonder if he has stopped to think
What happened ?
We aren’t a very academic family so the success is all down to him

[quote shewalkslikerihanna]@MadameMinimes
Thank you
Yes I’m delighted for him absolutely and he will be well rewarded before he goes
He’s got the best A level results In The family ever and in such difficult subjects too
I just wonder if he has stopped to think
What happened ?
We aren’t a very academic family so the success is all down to him[/quote]
I hope he doesn't stop to think what happened. He did it - he got what he needed to progress to where he wanted to go - onwards and upwards. His A level results will not hold him back - only what he continues to will have that effect. Doing A levels with very little teaching is bloody hard especially in Maths Physics and Chemistry - those whose schools stepped up in Lockdown One were very lucky! Doing A levels with minimal support will equip him well for independent study at Uni. Hope he has a blast and does some work too!

@shewalkslikerihanna. Well done to your son .. those are great results. So glad your ds is going on to his first choice. . Edinburgh is a fantastic city!

curledup you've summed it up perfectly!!

@Hoghgyni

Yes the one that really got me was the girl with AAA*C and was rejected from both Leeds and Exeter to do geography. The C wasn't in geography. I am not sure where she ended up in the end - no doubt somewhere really good though.

The bit buried in the detail was that one of the A*s was her EPQ, so she didn't meet her offers from Leeds or Exeter which offer AAA or AAB.

Ah I didn't realise that - that does make a difference to my understanding of the situation! I do think it's unfair when they won't use equivalence though - ie ABC is ok for BBB at some universities but I guess they've been looking for every which way to reject people.

@shewalkslikerihanna same here, DS got aaa in mocks and working grades, and left with AAB

Maths, further maths, Physics. He said Physics was hard as he had to figure out a lot for himself as his teacher was CEV and has not taught in person since March last year. And to think we chose the college because of the awesome labs and hands on experience for sciences

I told him he did extremely well under difficult circumstances, like your DGS , in subjects that are proper difficult (in my opinion!)