2025 A Level Results Day and Sept Uni Starters - All Welcome

[SlightlyJaded]

I couldn't see board specifically dedicated to results day for our DC who have sat A levels this spring. And I know some of us STILL have questions about Uni starters.

DS has Liverpool as his first choice and Notts Trent as his insurance - both to study History. Anyone who recognises me from previous boards might remember the hell we went through with DD a couple of years ago, so DS has applied quite a lot of caution to his choices - perhaps too much, perhaps not enough. Neither of us have any idea what to expect with his results. He has genuinely fluctuated between a D and an A in some of his mocks....

I still haven't done anything about accommodation which is one of the reasons I am starting this thread.

But mostly, it's for nail biting, relief, tears, support, advice and all the other things needed to get us through the next few weeks.

Welcome :)

Does anyone else feel genuinely sick with worry about Thursday? DS is ok but I’m anxious as the grades are so high for his form which he really really wants.

I don't, @NCTDN, but maybe I should be! I checked on the course on UCAS and DS could well get in with grades below his offer, looking at previous acceptance levels. His offer was below his predicted grades (because he preferred the city/course) and he doesn't seem to think his exams went disastrously wrong. There's an inbuilt fallback in that Sheffield said at both the open and offer days that if you didn't get the grades for the integrated masters you could drop a grade and do the BSc and then later move up to the masters based on performance. And if you didn't get those you could do a foundation year (though that makes it potentially a five year course which might be too long).

Plus, news headlines seem to suggest universities are going to be generous this year since they are desperate!

And, finally, I tend to think there's no point worrying about something that might not happen. It's worth being prepared and having thought about what happens if, but you don't want to be already exhausted if you are called on to leap into action on Thursday.

I'm starting to feel anxious now.

I have heard within the sector that results are fairly good this year. It isn't a year where we should be seeing headlines about thousands missing their grades.

So that combined with the bums on seats mentality is reassuring. Unfortunately DS's firm isn't one where they have published their clearing grades. It's odd how some have been extremely transparent and others are keeping their cards close to their chests. I don't know what there is to gain by not posting what they will take.

@NCTDN i have burst into tears a couple of times, because I know DS1 struggled with stress during exams and so may not have done as well as his predicted grades.

@NCTDN not so bad here (DD has gone camping to chill with a friend, back tomorrow night). She’s not in for one of the high stakes unis though, and I have a back up plan for the back up plan 😁 fingers crossed for your DS and all the others needing the top grades.

They will likely do it on Wednesday night/Thursday early morning - so I'd check their website then.

Which course? This is what ds wants, but because it’s not in clearing I suppose that’s added to my anxiety.

He wants to do an MPhys at Sheffield. Though it is in clearing so it seems there are spare places. His offer is AAA but on the course page on UCAS, the typically accepted offer is AAB and the lowest accepted grades were BBB.

Unless it's a massively competitive course, I think universities will accept lower from someone who wanted to go there in the first place, rather than the grades they want from someone who is potentially disappointed to be in clearing.

Though probably they will take both if student numbers are down..

Yes they're likely happy to take someone with lower grades, I wouldn't jump for the lowest though because often that's people with Disrupted Studies during exam season or extenuating circumstances, who have to be considered more or are often let in with grades that others won't be due to the circumstances but are included in the data. He'll likely be fine though and they will be lenient with the grades.

Ah, that makes sense.

@Phonicfail - gosh, that seems quite unusual?! Did your DC slightly freak out that it suggested that it meant they hadn't made the grades of their firm? It's clear it doesn't mean that if it was from mid-July, but I can imagine that would be the reaction of mine if they saw an email like that! It seems a bit strange of the uni...or maybe this is commonplace?

I also feel quite sick with worry, and while we are avoiding any discussion of it for now - my DC is being pretty grumpy and snappy 😝 so I think it's preying on their mind...

It doesn't help that their firm is Oxbridge, who don't do clearing - and are notoriously tough if students don't make the exact grades. Also doesn't help that I misguidedly looked up percentages of students that make the Astar grades in subjects DC needs for the offer - and they very low...😬

They 'are' very low, I meant!

Yes I am super stressed, my DD is super stressed, she should get her grades but is second guessing herself. She has done amazingly with mental health issues and a terrible tragic loss in her first months at college.
We didn't know if we should have mentioned it as extenuating circumstances because she has cracked on, but when I think what she has been carrying I want to burst into tears for her.
Just want to know now as she is hardly sleeping either and I am more worried about her than Uni at this point!

All three of us are pretending we are fine but clearly this is total nonsense and someone is grumpy (DH) or bursts into tears (me and DD) at least once a day. Adding to the stress is that neither of us have actually been through this as we applied after a gap year / got an unconditional offer.

@Bonniebonnie Oxbridge also here; and someone has to get the A star grades so why not your DC? Also, I have read some hints on another thread that they might take a one grade drop in some subjects.

@BusinessScrub - ah I really sympathise!

No tears here (yet) but a lot of grumpiness. I hope you are right on grades, I think I also read that thread and it's impossible to know which way it could go. DC's predictions exceeded the offer but I am well aware that predictions are often inflated - plus in DC's strongest subject, one paper was very tough, according to everyone! HOPING this will be the case nationally, and not just some weird gap in the teaching at DC's school 😖

Very anxious daughter here too, trying to keep busy with work but also spending lots of hours in her room stewing. I don't think she is sleeping much either.

Good call to look at clearing options! DS's insurance is in clearing, so that seems a good sign if he doesn't make his Cambridge offer. He is mainly focused now on plans for his gap year (and had an unexpected phone interview yesterday with someone in New Zealand he had sent his CV to!)

I feel for you on all of this. DD was calculating exactly what marks she needed for each paper after her course work and so is combining a modicum of confidence with total existential fear of the unknown.

I am trying to prep for all eventualities, from relief to a panicked dash into school for clearing.

If DS gets his predicted grades, he could theoretically still get into any of the five universities he applied to in the first place - though he'd have to do physics and maths at Durham. They're all in clearing.

@PhotoDad ds also has a phone interview for a gap year thing in New Zealand this week! Fingers crossed for them both

Im going to have to ignore this thread for the week! DD did the Irish leaving cert and we don't get results till 22 Aug and the tension over what might be left in clearing then (as she wants UK universities) will kill me.
Good luck everyone. I hope your DC get something they are happy with.

Good luck to all for results (whenever they may come) and for NZ gap year jobs! (Sounds fun!)

Ds got a postcard this morning from his insurance offer. At first glance it looked like they were welcoming him to having a place (which is unlikely as his insurance wants a higher offer than his firm) but then reading more carefully it says something like "good luck if you're hoping to come here, or if you're considering other options on results day, then please do consider us". So I assume they've sent it to everyone that applied.

I think it's poor timing tbf. A week ago and you'd know they didn't know results, but at this time I think it could be taken by nervous candidates as either confirmation they got in, or that they are known to have missed their offers.

That's brilliant @Phonicfail At least some of the pressure is off - how do they feel about their Insurance choice? Obviously everything crossed for the Firm, but DS (for example) would be okay with his insurance so this sounds like a great outcome. Well done your DC.