Thread 21 Corona Cohort - Nervous waiting, so frustrating

[Monkey2001]

Continuation of OrangeCinnamonCocktail's threads

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Previous thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/a4354626-Corona-Cohort-Statements-Scripted-Grades-Predicted?msgid=111487286#111487286

I can’t get my head around schools and colleges submitting UCAS forms without telling students what they’ve predicted for them. Nor parents? On the one hand they are expected to mature ready for potential independence, and yet your not trusted with your grades. Odd.

DDs school issued predicted grades and UCAS grades with their last school report. If DCs weren't happy, they had the option to sit further exams at the start of this term. All UCAS applications aim to be submitted at/around the early submission deadline. We haven't seen their references though.

@Piggywaspushed

Oooh, I wonder how easy it will be to find those spaces?

Very easy - just put the postcode in your satnav/phone (S10 2FJ). If nothing in Wilkinson St, if you look at Parkopedia there are plenty of spaces which are unrestricted on Saturdays in the streets going south, all within a 10 minute walk of the university. Wnen we did it we were doing a mega day of Leeds in the morning, Sheffield in the afternoon, so we arrived at lunchtime and had no difficulty parking.

Ealingwest our school doesn't involve parents much in UCAS. He may have been told more formally that he has told me, but I still find it strange that a really important part of their application data is not visible when they log into UCAS.

@Monkey2001 how did the double whammy of Leeds/Sheffield work? I was wondering whether we could do the same with Leicester and Nottingham? But it might depend on whether dh is with us, as he wants to do the Richard III museum in Leicester if he comes!

Dd saw her predicted grades (based on summer exams and year 12 work) as well as all her teacher references (she had one from each subject and then her form tutor amalgamated/shortened them).

Just catching up, such a fast moving thread, it's great to see all the lovely progress being made, congrats to all!

DS's application is nearly ready to go, he has a few tweaks to PS to do and will finalise courses after visiting QMUL and Sussex next week.

There's a bit of a faff over his predicted grades - we had parents evening (online, 5 minute appts and one of the teachers didn't turn up ). Physics teacher says he is on for a B, maybe even an A but won't predict higher than a C because "evidence" and to see how he does in mocks which are the last week of term, so realistically the form would go in after Christmas. Aargh.

Biology teacher says he's really turned it around, doing so much better, but is also predicting a C, which is what he got at AS. So not allowing for his "huge improvement" or for being aspirational.

He has gone in early today to try and mobilise the UCAS coordinator, who apparently got a prospective medic's predicted grades changed from BBC to AAA! Honestly have no idea what's going on in that school!

More positively, we have found a physics tutor, he'll hopefully be in a class of two in a really nice place that teaches kids who are out of mainstream school in the daytime and offers tutoring after that. Starts after half term. Phew. Everything a bit frantic at the moment but off out tonight to Book of Mormon so looking forward to that.

Sorry, that post was personal statement length.

@singingstones that is not how schools are supposed to predict. From UCAS website:

Grades should be aspirational but achievable – stretching predicted grades can be motivational for students

www.ucas.com/advisers/managing-applications/guidance-and-changes/predicted-grades-what-you-need-know-entry-year

@crazycrofter the double was fine for us. We stayed the Friday night in student accommodation in Leeds, so didn't need to do accommodation and wandered round the area and had a meal on the Friday night. Just did the department and medicine talk at Leeds on Saturday morning, then went to Sheffield, where we had plenty of time. I think we were lucky that the talks were at times which worked, probably harder now that open days are smaller.

That's just what I thought Monkey. He is finally working hard to turn around his Y12 results, and quite understandably will say, "what's the effing point" if they all say he's doing great but still predict a worst case scenario grade. Hopefully the UCAS coord will sort them out IF he goes to see her today.

His personal tutor is also on the case having finally phoned after missing the appt. She seemed quite annoyed about it, once she accepted that he is in fact one of her tutees - she said she didn't think so and had to check her list, what a shambles.

DD is in Y11 at the same school and thinking of leaving to do her A levels at 6th form college, I think I will be encouraging that!

@singingstones I didn’t know they had personal tutors at school. I don’t think my DD has one. She has a form tutor who does registration in the morning. I would have thought the form tutor would know who is in their class so is a personal tutor different?

Every teacher I know knows UCAS grades are generous. (and then Unis , some factions on MN , and the government bitch about our inaccurate predictions, hmmm). Are you sure the teachers weren't at cross wires and weren't talking about actual PGs and not UCAS grades?

Yes Blue, they have form tutors who have them for one lesson a week, and then also have a personal tutor who writes the UCAS reference. They try to pair them with someone who knows them, so DS's personal tutor is his maths teacher from Y12 and Y13. She does know him better than his form tutor does, but had somehow forgotten he was her tutee, even though she has seen and advised on his PS first draft. I guess things are pretty hectic there at the moment, but any sympathy is tempered by having to help DS get the grades he needs and deserves, because no other bugger seems particularly bothered!

@Piggywaspushed

Every teacher I know knows UCAS grades are generous. (and then Unis , some factions on MN , and the government bitch about our inaccurate predictions, hmmm). Are you sure the teachers weren't at cross wires and weren't talking about actual PGs and not UCAS grades?

I'm pretty sure they mean predicted for the UCAS form, because the physics teacher said at the moment he's doing everything right and is on track for a B, or even an A. He described the predicted C as "negotiable", depending on how he does in December mocks. When I said that felt awfully late to be applying for a competitive course this year, with so many deferrals and lots of people already getting offers, he mumbled a bit and said he would have to check with the UCAS coordinator.

DS did do poorly last year so I can see on paper it looks as though a C is fair enough, but to say he's on track for a B, maybe even an A and still predict a C is a bit annoying and will really take the wind out of DS's sails.

Anyway fingers crossed for the UCAS coordinator. DD has her for French and she's an absolute dragon, so I have high hopes she can sort it out.

This may be a really dim question, but if they no longer publish data on what proportion of applicants get offers for a given course, how do we know if it's a competitive course to get onto? Do you have to attend an open day talk to know this, or are there other ways of finding out? I can find data on the average grades of successful applicants, which I guess gives some indication, but is there anything else we should be doing?

DD had a 1:1 appointment with her form tutor in early September and she was then told her predicted grades and she was allowed to read her references. I remember her being delighted after reading them.

@crazycrofter we did both Nottingham and Leicester open days in one hit with DS couple of years ago. Drove to Nottingham on Friday looked around and listened speeches. Then stayed a night in Leicester and did the open day there on Saturday.

I'm with you Doggerel, information is hard to find.

I did a FOI asking about deferral numbers for the last two years for St Andrews and the answer was it's too hard to calculate so we're allowed to not say.

@DoggerelBank Durham have stats on their website for all subjects with places, offers and applicants information. I think there is another uni comparison site that shows applicants per place but can not remember the name at the moment. Unis often say at open day (or you can ask) we get 5 or 8 etc applicants per place but as most children are applying to 5 unis so this is not surprising. Apart from Oxbridge where if applied to is very likely to be first choice for the child but most other unis will only get ~20-50% of their offers turn into 1st or 2nd choices by the potential students.

Thanks, @Fruitygal and @EwwSprouts. If DS ever chooses a degree subject, we can get started on the research.

That's definitely very annoying singing.

Doggerel I did FOI requests to a few places to find out this info. I don't know why they don't just make it public. Although one uni - Manchester I think - refused to tell me on the grounds that it might prejudice their commercial interests. Not a great look to a prospective parent.

DS went to see Madame UCAS and she said she "can't" approach any teachers about predicted grades until his tutor has written his reference. So computer says no. Or at least not yet. Hopefully his tutor will not forget him again and will get the reference done sharpish.

We are going to Sussex next week and I am oblivious to the news at the moment - anything we need to know about the protests there? Is it to do with trans rights?

Sorry I know this has been asked before but who actually submits the form?

Singing a quick email to tutor to request reference asap? Then at least you've got evidence, a paper trail?

@singingstones how annoying! Your DS gold in the forms and when his bits are complete you clock "pay and send" and it goes to the school to add reference and predictions. They send it to UCAS.

Good idea thanks Oblomov, I will do that now.

Thanks Monkey - just wanted to check if it's possible for them to submit without us knowing the final decision on predicted grades. The personal tutor said that if he's predicted ACC he's still allowed to apply for courses wanting AAB so not to worry. But I think in that case he would prefer to choose another course, or wait and apply with grades in hand, so I will need to make that clear to them if necessary.