Thread 36 - Covid Cohort from GCSE 2020 - The Final Countdown to Results Day for Some?

[CinnamonOrangeCremeBrulee]

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. It's all relative!
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 continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will find a thread within the Further Ed board.
Possibly a move to Parent of Adult Children Board in future? Post Results?

Previous Thread

@vxa2 My DD was in the exact same position 3 years ago. She deferred her 1st choice place the week before results. On results day she exceeded the grades so was offered a deferred place at her 1st choice, but she was not sure about the uni or the course. By the November of 2019 she decided to withdraw from her deferred place and reapply.

Applying with grades in hand is much easier! It is either an acceptance or rejection. One firm choice and no insurance as all offers are unconditional. Also your DD will be first in line for accommodation if it is offered to 'firmed' students first.

Crikey, I can't believe how quickly this thread has moved on - I was working in the office yesterday so couldn't keep popping on here for a read.

I tried discussing options with DS last night if he misses his offers ( which he thinks he has) He said he'd be happy to resit but then realised he'd be sitting one subject with DD. He got totally stressed by the whole thing and refused to discuss any clearing ideas. There isn't much in clearing for his subject and the grades are no lower than his offers. I'm hoping this might change by tomorrow morning 🤞

I'm wishing I had booked an office day today - I can't concentrate at home. Day off tomorrow. I don't remember feeling this nervous for my own A level results. I missed my firm offer, called my insurance and was sorted within 5 minutes - before I told my parents my results.

Another night of broken, minimal sleep, I'm functioning on caffeine and sugar. How am I suppose to concentrate on work with all my anxiety to cope with?? 😱

When we got DS’s results 2 years ago, we obviously couldn’t go into school and they had a school portal thing we could access the A level results from but it crashed and we couldn’t get onto it for ages. He could get onto UCAS at 8am though which said he’d got his first choice, though we didn’t know the actual results!

Is that usual, that UCAS will tell you if you’ve been accepted (or not!) onto your first university choice at 8am, before we can go into school at 9 to find out the actual grades?

I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL for ages - just been very busy at work. Popping on to wish all your DC the very best of luck for tomorrow. IB results day seems an age ago - such a relief that it’s over (although we still have GCSE results day next week to contend with). I have everything crossed for you guys.

Just been out on a long dog walk in the cooler air. DD is up and tidying her messy bedroom. She doesn’t care about grades, just the firm choice uni acceptance. Whereas DD1 was upset at not getting what she wanted( later did through remark) even though she got her first choice anyway, so that was a curve ball.

@Oblomov22 having two mins off to make a coffee at work -your I’m bricking myself comment made me laugh 😂 thanks for being honest ! I think it’s the strain of keeping light hearted and calm for them which is really hard too. On top of the nerves 😬

DD seems to be in the eye of the storm so is strangely calm since yesterday morning. I’m at work so hoping it lasts - have given her plenty of things to do today like let a workman in to do something, get my car cleaned, cook dinner and price up things for uni like her new laptop via DSA supplier site etc;

Hoping to stay calm until tonight - then thinking pizza and scrabble might allow us to all stay calm and get through til bedtime
.?

I am definitely getting more nervous. I think partly as I don’t want to say the wrong thing to DS whatever happens!

As he’s deferring to 2023 at least we don’t have to think about clearing.

And he’s working from 12-5 today at the local pub which is also good. It’s one of his fellow band member’s 18th birthday today - not sure whether any celebrations are planned…

@Appuskidu yep it’s fairly common - when older boys did this school wasn’t open until 10 so 8.30 a big improvement.

They looked online first ucas then online for college grades then went in and sorted remarks. DD is only getting a level results in person so very emotional.

She really should. Maybe remind her that the difference between a c and an a may be a few percent, and undergrad learning is totally different to a level learning. And that the uni is best placed to know who is likely to cope with the course, so if they offer her a place with a C that’s because they think she will be fine.

I would normally be mainlining sweets by now but as I am on a losing weight mission (which is working) so no sweets for me. This is a pity.

Btw greetings from a suspiciously quiet Gatwick. Night flight, 2.5 hr delay, no sleep fingers crossed baggage arrives….!

I'm taking both DCs shopping today as a distraction.
we haven't started uni or boarding school shopping yet, because we wanted to wait until after results days, but DS leaves exactly 2 weeks tomorrow and I'm feeling a bit frantic.

not sure how to handle logistics tomorrow. School opens at 8am but is 30 minutes drive away. We could wait at home until UCAS updates, but if it's bad news, DD will be a mess and may refuse to go to school - her main worry seems to be letting down her teachers.
I think we'll get to school for 8am and let her teachers look after her; her wonderful SENCo has already assured her that she'll be there for her.

This is ghastly. Don’t know where to put myself. I’m worn out with worrying. Want my life back.
On GCSE day she went off, got the envelope and then texted she’d tell us when she came home, and hours later, she did. I told her that we aren’t having that again so I’m coming to school with her in my Sunday hat and pearls! , not that I have a hat. She’s so totally horrified that she has promised faithfully to let us know immediately.
We think she could get anything from ABC to DEF. Don’t know what she thnks. She’s a closed book. Think we've done such a great job of telling her it doesnt matter that she actually believes that.
1 more day.

@Wheresthebeach yes there is.
I've refound my old one - perfectsniper.com
You put in the max. amount you're prepared to go for & link your eBay account & it bids for you in the last 5 seconds. This app has been pretty reliable for me in the past. I just leave it to it.

We've come to Camden to take our minds off it, it's not working for me!! I'm so anxious she gets what she wants and I keep analysing that email from the uni this week

Think we've done such a great job of telling her it doesnt matter that she actually believes that

😂 Oh my good that really made me laugh, it is so true isn’t it?

That sounds amazing! Thanks @Cantonet

I can't believe we're here, the day before results day. My stomach keeps flipping every time I write the date!

Thankfully other than the date reminders I've had a busy morning at work and have a busy afternoon planned too. Dd is with her friends at the minute and then working 4-9. I think she'll have something to eat and then go straight to bed after work, I'm going to go shopping for brunch food after work before picking her up, so it really feels almost there with not much time left to fill.

We don't have a plan beyond dd's insurance choice for tomorrow, she needs ABB for Lancaster if doesn't meet AAA for Birmingham. Her predicted grades were 2 A* and 2 A (which was partly achievable, partly aspirational - English), so if she doesn't meet the Lancaster offer something has gone fairly wrong and she'll need sometime to reassess I think. She'd possibly end up taking a completely different route to uni, or resitting. I had a quick look at clearing options the other day, it might be my bedtime reading material tonight!

Am at work so not up to date with thread but Lancaster has emailed with clearing grades from their website which weren't there last time I looked. History for example BBB instead of original AAB

DD diligently searching through clearing options and has come across Keele. I had to google where it was, let alone anything else! Anyone know anything more than that?

DS's friend went to Keele for one week and dropped out. A fried I had at uni transferred from Keele - but that was mainly because of an A Level remark.

It's a nice campus but isolated.

I'm on it @Oblomov22 there will be no faffing !

I hope those lowered Lancaster grades means the girl I teach wo cocked up her sociology paper 1 gets her place...

@Seeline I went to Keele, albeit a million years ago. I loved every minute of being there. The campus has more buildings than it did back then but still looks beautiful (in my humble opinion) I made friends for life, some if whom are still there.
It isn't all that isolated - frequent busses to Newcastle and Stoke on Trent. However, I only ever left campus to go to the supermarket and clubbing a couple of times in my first year. I lived in halls for all three years, a two minute walk from the Students Union and five minutes from lectures.
I met DH there in my first year. He was there for five years after somehow managing to do a post grad course first, followed by an undergrad foundation year (because he didn't want to leave,) followed by a three year degree