Rejected from all five choices

[Rolla23]

So I’ve no experience of further education and totally unsure how it works. My DD is at college and has applied through UCAS to university. She didn’t know her predicted grades before she applied so applied to 5 universities. She found out today that she has only been awarded a pass grade ( as a predicated grade) so this means she hasn’t been accepted to any of her chosen unis. They aren’t big posh ones I don’t think they are just normal ex poly type ones.
she has said no one gets rejected from all 5 choices.
Obviously her actual grade would possibly be different.
Do people get rejected from all five? If she does only get 75 ucas points can she still go to uni?
she said her chosen uni take people on a first come first served type offer so even if she passes now with a higher grade she won’t get in? Is this true?
if anyone could help a confused parent that would be amazing!!

If she's unlikely to get in this time round she can apply again in future. It sounds like work wise she has great opportunities and a lot of it is about who you know so she would be wise to take the year working, getting real industry experience and building her own portfolio. A foundation will help boost ucas points for future applications and build her portfolio

Fully agree with this. I never went to uni so I had to learn about the process, what my DCs needed to do, what school did as well as the timescales involved, grades required for each course/uni. All the information is out there, to put this on the tutor is unreasonable, as parent OP should have been helping out with this too.

My DD missed most of 6th form due to illness, only took one A level, but managed to put together a good personal statement and with only 34 UCAS points got several unconditional offers for Foundation years in fashion (she has never been well enough to go in the end but that's not relevant to this post). Before she applied anywhere, I rung the admissions team at each uni she wanted to apply for, went through the issues she was having, not enough points etc., and got a lot of really good advice for her.

My older DD had some problems with her college, luckily she also had unconditional offers although in the end she would have got in anywhere on her grades. But she told me that those students whose parents didn't understand the UCAS system were just left floundering by the college (wonder if this is more prevalent in colleges than schools).

Its ENTIRELY reasonable to expect the college or school etc to handle this - its essential they do the work required, its not an optional "extra". However, it is also essential that a parent knows when the college isn't supporting applications so that the parent can step in and help - just as if your DD wasn't doing the application properly, you'd help them - theres a formal process to be followed. What about kids without parents, those in care, or whose parents DGAF? The buck definitely stops with the colleges/schools etc.

But now you know OP, so if you can get a meeting with the college then do so and ask them to whole-heartedly support your DD. As previous posters have said there are plenty of options and I see early on in the thread a poster said they'd worked as a UCAS adviser and offered a DM. Good luck to you and DD.

I think she probably has several options…

A foundation year (if she’s desperate to go to uni in September)?

She repeats a year at college to get better grades?

She takes a year out and will then have her results in hand next year?

It sounds like she has been getting poor advice from college.

My daughter applied in the January for her place and got in her desired Desiree. She'd done a BTEC, did not get the extended due to absence from health issues, and once she had been interviewed got 2 unconditional offers. Derby do a good 4 year offer with the foundation year- not sure if they do the one she's looking at but seriously worth a look x

I think as she's been rejected from all 5 then she can pick some more, although I think it's not as many as 5.
Before she does that though, she needs to find out what her predicted grades are and choose a course accordingly. If the school won't tell her, then maybe approach UCAS with GDPR request. It's data they hold on her, so I think GDPR would do it.

I'd suggest she goes on The Student Room forum and asks for advice and people there who have been through it, or some of the moderators who have helped people in similar positions, may be able to give good advice and find somewhere she's happy with.

Why would a school or college withold predicted grades though? It just sets a student up to fail because they could, as in this case, apply to higher education institutions that are beyond their capabilities.

It doesn't make sense.

A foundation year in art is a one year, stand alone qualification. It is a level 3 qualification and attracts ucas points. It is creative in nature and allows students to develop a portfolio. It is generally funded if the student is under 19.

A foundation YEAR is also called Year 0. It is an extra year tacked on to the beginning of a standard degree. It has lower entry requirements and students can roll on to the ‘regular’ degree after the foundation year. They are usually charged at the same rate as standard degrees.

A foundation DEGREE is a two year degree, which takes the learner up to level 5. These are often offered at colleges. Tuition is usually lower, but they are normally funded through loans. It is possible to top up for a third year, to achieve a full degree.

If she has been rejected by all 5 choices, and if it is outside the 14 day cooling off period, she will be eligible for Extra when that opens. This is where she can add one extra choice at a time.

If she DOES add a choice and doesn’t achieve the grades needed on results day, she will be eligible for clearing.

72 points is NOT the lowest number of points.

And the actual ucas deadline is at the end of the month- which means OP’s daughter has applied. This would mean the college is likely to have some support and structure in place to ensure students hand in their forms early. This is usual practice.
Again, I really doubt that no predicted grades were given.

@Rolla23 have you thought that university study may not be the best option for your DD. Call me snobbish but a micky mouse degree from a third rate university is not really worth the money. Unless of course her career choice requires a degree in which case this is a very viable option.

I think she needs some careers advise to explore post 16 options eg apprenticeship, work ?

www.fashionretailacademy.ac.uk/study/courses?LevelFilter=2896 might be worth a look as a stop gap? You only need 104 points for their undergraduate courses too. A friend's daughter studied there and spoke highly of it.

@Rolla23 apologies I didn't read your update before my previous message. I have do doubt your DD will be successful in her chosen field. Could she possibly discuss with someone in her workplace whether further study at Uni will be beneficial to her career?

That link was to level 4 courses that only require one A level and some GCSEs.

Sorry for your daughter's disappointment.

It sounds to me as if the underlying problem might be that the teacher is an 'industry professional' and perhaps lacks experience teaching, hence the lack of suitable support for the applications?

Could you possibly clarify exactly which BTEC she is doing (there are several fashion related ones). Also, is it just the diploma or the extended diploma?

I'd also ask for the predicted grades to be double checked given doubts about the teacher - is it possible she got it wrong?

I don’t massively agree about parental responsibility here tbh. OP’s DD is going need to fully take it upon herself to do lots of independent work and research as part of a degree, so it is concerning that this has gone so wrong. PP made a good points about going to open days etc.

I am totally bemused by all of this.

Are there no “applying to university” sessions for parents hosted by the college? Are they not given any info on UCAS applications from an informed person or pointed towards where info is available?

Do they have no communication with parents about how well dc are doing? What feedback was given by teachers to dd? What reports on progress to parents? Surely some info was available on how well, or otherwise, dd was doing? What about careers advice and grades needed for progress towards a career? Is there no advice routinely offered to students? Is this a college of FE where few go to university? I cannot see how it’s the role of one useless tutor to advise.

Most parents do read up about dc applying to uni even if they didn’t go. I didn’t go. However when DDs were interested I got reading! DH had been but in the dark ages and didn’t remember much. I’m surprised anyone thought an ex poly was the lowest of the low and took someone with, essentially, 2 A levels. Hopefully an alternative route will work out. However the partnership between home, student and college seems non existent here. That’s very odd. If it’s a college of FE it’s atrocious.

I agree with you @TizerorFizz. DH also went to university in the dark ages and doesn't remember how to apply. Back then it was UCCA.

I'm struggling to believe that the school/college has had no dialogue with the parents about university applications.

You would expect a parents’s evening or booklet or direction to UCAS. Nothing makes no sense unless most dc go into work. Or are in work already.

OK the thing with BTEC is that there are no the gradations that you can get with A levels. BTEC has pass, merit, distinction etc.
Eg
BTEC level 3 PASS =72 UCAS points =DDD A levels
BTEC level 3 MERIT = 120 UCAS points =BBB A levels

You can’t as far as I understand get the equivalent of eg BBC A levels - it’s either pass or merit (and distinction and above)

So with a pass, a foundation course would be needed, so overall a degree would take 4 year

I happened to be looking at uni courses the other day that offered foundation years and UWE does fashion and textiles with a foundation year where you only need 48 points as do a few others if that helps

Here

@crumpet. The unis say what level
of Btec grades they want. Not Oxbridge - but many others do. If you don’t have the M or D pass, it’s like to be an issue. That doesn’t absolve the college from giving info to students and parents.

I have experience with many colleges, and I’ve never come across one where students weren’t aware of predicted grades.

🙋‍♀️ DD's college tried this - she had to push and push to find out her predicted grades, did get them eventually (after applying to Oxford 🤦‍♀️) but many of her friends still don't know and have applied 'blind'.

I'm struggling to believe that the school/college has had no dialogue with the parents about university applications.

🙋‍♀️ DD's college has had no dialogue with parents about university admissions, not a whiff of any information from them. Luckily we have been through it before, so could correct all their misinformation (you can't apply without all five choices, you can but only via Early Clearing, you can but it costs more etc etc).

OP I am so mad on your behalf, this is completely unacceptable. They have potentially cost your DD a place on a more suitable course by allowing her to apply for these unsuitable ones. DD is lucky that we know the system but many of her friends have very little support and could easily end up in your DD's position.

The thing about finding out your grades from UCAS for a fee is bullshit too, you can find out from UCAS for free. But they should have told her themselves ages ago so that she could choose unis that she had a chance of getting into.

Just wanted to say my experience with DD1 who is now 22 was the same as @stoneysongs