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 :)

That’s really strange and I can understand very unsettling. Sorry if you have posted earlier but did he get the grades needed? If so, surely it is automatic and they have to take?

I agree. If they have been accepted what is the point of a remark. My niece went through clearing in 2020 and landed a place at an RG uni after not getting her firm. She chose architectural engineering ( 5yr course ) and graduated this year with MSc 1st. She was predicted A* in Maths and Art but due to the ridiculous algorithm they applied in 2020 and randomness of the grades allowed she was awarded an A and a C. Not once has her lack of top grade A levels affected her studies. But her 1st will open doors for her for the rest of her career.
A levels are a stepping stone. If they have opened the door to uni then they have served their purpose.

So you contact the uni (we just rang clearing line and they told us what to do). In our case she was asked to send an email, which she did, a couple of polite lines on her plans and question on what the process would be, and they emailed back within a couple of hours confirming deferral and saying her UCAS portal would be updated within 48 hours. It’s uni discretion so they’ll all be different but we were amazed at how quick and smooth it was. Emergency plans for getting her there this September when she hasn’t even applied for finance yet were in place!

Universities are very much contributors to the problem though. Quite a lot put their standard offer grades unrealistically high. It means they get their pick of students who firm them - they are contractually obliged to take those who meet the offer and can pick and choose the rest at their discretion. Plus they look more aspirational in the league tables. The cost is that all the pressure and jeopardy then lands on the student, and sometimes that schools will be generous with predictions to give their very capable students a shot at securing these overinflated offers (which then drop).

UCAS has a nice little gizmo that shows you the standard offer, typical grades held by students and chances of being accepted with different grades profiles. It is VERY common, according to this, outside the top 10 or so, for courses to have standard offer at say AAA and typical grades significantly lower.

My daughter got an AAB offer from Royal Holloway for Law and AAA from Birmingham. Birmingham's most common grades on entry were AAA, fair enough. Royal Holloway's were BBB. Students who had honest predictions of BBB might be put off from even applying when they are actually a great fit. Inflated predictions, I think, are in part a reaction to inflated standard offers.

Sorry, that got long winded.

Also two grades dropped on Edexcel politics here. Her tutor has had the paper and remarked it already and apparently he’s furious. So definitely worth a formal remark, sounds rather like there were some examiners that don’t know the subject thoroughly enough this year. Good luck!

If she ended up with those grades in 2020, then they're what the teachers predicted for her
They initially did an algorithm for larger schools, but then the government (against official advice I will add) changed it to teacher prediction and reissued grades.
Which changed it to being the students who had teachers who hadn't over predicted were disadvantaged instead - typically comprehensive students.

I believe the delay may be due to two forms that needed to be completed on his UCAS Hub. He’s experienced several technical glitches since applying, and those forms weren’t uploaded by the university until the offer day only after he followed up to ask why his offer was still showing as pending. He has since completed and uploaded the forms, but the status is still showing as “waiting for the university’s decision.”

She has the grades for Leicester and Reading.

Sussex list says they will consider a C if there are other Science A-Levels - and being so close to the boundary will probably help.

Swansea and Essex aren't publishing grade requirements but are probably similar so worth looking at.

DD very happy at Aberystwyth but it's a place with such a distinct vibe that you shouldn't go unless really sure.

These are unis that if you ask about on Mumsnet you suddenly find have lots of happy graduates and students - they just get rather lost among the Oxbridge threads!

If she really wants the Russell Group badge she could trying waiting a week and seeing if places like Southampton and Liverpool are still advertising vacancies - it might suggest they'd be willing to compromise.

Otherwise it's gap year and resits.

Thanks @Twiglets1 @FanfictionFan the deal is to ring this afternoon - they were too upset yesterday and working this morning.

@Phoebsie agree with your post. One of the most useful things as a parent has been following these yearly threads since DS was in yr 11. It informed our 'aspirational' firm choice as one that although advertised as AAA regularly takes students all the way down to BBC.

As it happened he missed his firm but that's beside the point. It gave him a good shot and we'd also put down a very realistic insurance which saved the day.

If as a parent I knew nothing about this process I may have put more store in predicted grades and encouraged him in applications that would have put him straight into clearing with no clear plan. It's a horrible game but it is a game and both students and parents alike need to know the 'rules' to make the best of it wherever your DC fit on the spectrum of ability/performance.

On the other hand @SlightlyJaded you could look at the 17% as possibly embarking on a better university experience... When the cap on numbers was lifted a decade or so ago, the top unis started to hoover up students who would otherwise have gone to lower tariff unis, and the freeze on domestic fees and the decline in international students has only exacerbated the situation. This is especially true of humanities students, who are cheaper to teach than STEM students, so are packed in to subsidise the science courses, often resulting in less contact time for the students and the humanities staff being stretched ever thinner.

Thank yo too @Halfull that is the plan this afternoon - ring UCAS/the uni and try and get an answer. Fingers crossed it is as smooth for us too!

Your daughter is going to have to compromise. Either she goes this year to the uni's that will take her or she takes a year out, resits and tries again.

But going to the uni's she wants this year with the grades she's got simply isnt an option

Its a harsh life lesson for her.

Also, keen to understand how the school have been "rubbish"?

She was in a brand new 6th form with no grade history. I think that her revised grades were better but was accepted on the initial grades. Her Art teacher was astonished that her grade was lower. It was all very random since the algorithm relied on previous data from the school which obviously they didn’t have. But it didn’t stop her, she’s now about to start work with a UK firm that has offices worldwide.

@Halfull we also had a two grade Edexcel politics drop - both current head of dept(an exam marker) and former (now a head teacher) have been through her papers and advised a remark. She was distraught, but is into her firm.

Wow - exactly the same then! Which paper was it? Paper 1 was worst for us - but she got an A on paper 3! Has her grade changed @Halfull ?

(Also pleased you had a responsive tutor - have tried three times now to get beyond reception/the email contact they give you. I know it's their holidays - but really poor!!)

It’s hard to find foundation courses at good unis.

Agree I wouldn’t worry time to celebrate and head off to IKEA for all the student bundle deals before they all run out. 🥳

She got Langwith which was her first choice so she’s delighted! (I thought she’d put AL but now remember she changed her mind)

💯 this

With the grades it probably the only option if she wants to focus on biology.

That said my ds needed an A in biology and got a B. He wanted Exeter so he
took a year out
changed boards as he hated Edexcel.
Taught himself the course ( not dissimilar tbh)
and retook
Got the A and his place at Exeter

That’s amazing.

How did he apply to uni with predicted grades when he had a B already? That’s what I’m confused about for my DD. Thanks

Sure but in this case they don’t matter as he got his first choice anyway. Once he has a degree it won’t matter what his A level results were anyway.

@SockFluffInTheBath, @HebeJeeby@icecreamfortea@petitdonkey I also have a Dd starting in Anne Lister in September . V excited to have got her first choice

He did the retake at an exam centre and he couldn’t get them to predict grades as it was literally just an exam centre

So he phoned his old school and asked for a prediction
On the basis he was predicted an A the year before and he’d had a year to work on that they predicted the A.
So he applied with two grades already and one predicted

If he’d retaken at his school he’d have had revision lessons and mocks making it easier for them to predict. Nevertheless it all worked out fine

If she’s set on what she wants it’s only one year in her life. She can cram in a bit if pt work to supplement the Uni loans too.