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 :)

@fannieadams Gosh, Durham as a clearing option is pretty punchy!

Sounds like you have a super academic one there though, so hopefully will get his Firm.

Crossing everything for you, @fannieadams. I have no idea where my boy wants to go if he has to go into clearing. His offer is A AAB or A A* BB.

I've just re-read my last post and it sounds a bit arsey. It wasn't meant to - more awe at being smart enough to have Durham as a clearing option.

Waiting for results here too. DC is swinging between failing everything and has done enough to get in.

Taking a year out would not be the catastrophy they think. They are as ready as they can be. They have passed their driving test and can look after themselves.

I am really going to miss them.

I didn't think it sounded arsey! Nonetheless, Durham is a ridiculous idea as we haven't even visited, nevermind if they have a spare place. It's also really far from us, which is why it wasn't on the list.

@fannieadams sorry to ask the obvious, but is his course on the list Durham already have out for Clearing? That will give you some idea.https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/offer/clearing/uk/

Yes his course is in clearing. That's why he said he would go to Durham as plan B, but that clearing list is so fluid as IB and Scottish results are out. It could be 1 place.

Yes, you're right, it could be only 1. But hopefully it's more. Durham is quite a particular choice and not necessarily for everyone, it is one that it's a good idea to look at in person if possible. DC ruled it out having been. But appreciate it's a long way. Or maybe he's one of those souls who really doesn't mind about any of the non-course stuff and would be happy anywhere?

Really struggling to have conversations about a plan B here. No other university is possible, including her insurance choice and another she really liked, because of her autism and the fact that change is hard for her. But a gap year would be a disaster too since she just failed her driving test again and she can't get to the one job she wants to do without a car.

I know terror and lack of confidence lies behind most of this, and this black and white thinking is not new, but navigating through it is very tricky. Nothing I say actually translates into her feeling reassured that there are good options in life outside RG universities.

So like you @fannieadams, tricky times.

This will out me.

My eldest missed her firm choice and didn’t want to take up her insurance place. She went into freeze mode for the entire day. It didn’t help that she got 100% in a subject she didn’t want to study at uni (subject A) and her chosen subject was a B (8 marks off an A) (subject B). We asked for a remark but the grade didn’t change. I then phoned insurance uni to see if she could do a joint honours in A and B and they agreed. So, without any other plan (ie she could have gone to her preferred uni but to do a different course which she refused to do) she went off to her insurance uni and moaned about it for 3 years. She then went to another uni for her Masters in subject B.

In 2025 she started a fully funded PhD in an excellent RG uni in the department of subject A , but she needs her subject B to do most of the donkey work for this PhD. She wouldn’t have got this PhD without having done a joint honours degree.

She would not be working on a fantastic project as part of her PhD -she wouldn’t have got the PhD in the first place - if she had gone to her firm offer uni to study her preferred subject.

So if it all goes tits up next week, the next stage will be hard but they will be on a different pathway to perhaps a better future.

Having said all that, I have a different child waiting for results next week so he definitely needs a firm plan as he doesn’t really have an insurance safety net and he could end up anywhere in a panic.

DS is currently saying it’s his first choice or nowhere (Sheffield, 3As). I can see him freezing too, if he doesn’t get them.

There’s some leeway in that if he misses by one grade he can do the BSc instead of masters and if he got three Bs he could do a foundation year - but I’m not sure he’d really want to add on the finances of another year…

But with that leeway in mind he’s not really thinking about clearing. Will get him to think before the day tho’.

DD’s friend applied to the same first choice uni (UCL) and got the same grades of A AB and was still accepted as their degree subject was the subject they got the A for. So fingers crossed there is some leeway.

We went to the Southampton open day last summer and the admissions tutor said that this is the time of year when they read the personal statements as they actively look for reasons to accept the student who just missed the offer. So fingers and everything crossed.

@SlightlyJaded Ds1 is in the cathedral halls. He is in room 1 which i am hoping means he is on the ground floor so no stairs to lug his stuff up and down. Although the ground floor has it's own problems, dh was on the ground floor at university and we used to call them the goldfish bowl rooms as everyone could see in unless you closed your curtains. Also burglary was an issue on the ground floor at my university so looking into getting him contents insurance.

Does anyone have tips for coping with the emotional side of drop off? I was planning on waving him off at home and then going to have a good cry and going to visit him later when he is settled and i am used to not having him around but he wants me and dh to both come. I was wondering about going somewhere nice on the way home and telling myself that the nice thing is the reason we are going out and that we are just dropping ds off on the way. I don't know though. I'm worried i will cry when we drop him off and ruin an exciting day for ds.

Another potential Bath mum here. Or Lancaster if he doesn’t get the grades. I just want to know where I’m going in September and when. I’ve not brought anything yet as no idea what he’ll need and what accommodation he’s got. He made his Bath accommodation choices and 2 for Lancaster.

Dd will only be 1 and a half hours away (hopefully) but I have booked a hotel room over night. My plan is to move her in and then go supermarket shopping the next day, and pick up whatever essential she's forgotten. I can sob proudly in the peace of a hotel room!

A few years ago older DC had a Durham offer as an option via clearing. They require a very fast decision which can be stressful particularly when DC had spent 9 months planning to attend a different Uni. DC turned it down since when we went to visit (that day due to the tight deadline to accept!) the vibe wasn't right. I agree that it's a very particular choice. It's a marmite university perhaps more so than any other.

Hi, I'd like to join too please. Ds has firmed Durham and Lancaster is his insurance. His exams didn't go as well as expected so possibly in clearing but keeping everything crossed not to.

Best of luck to all Dc's.

Sorry I have another question about Clearing as I want to be clear (!) about what happens...

They call the first Clearing university on their premade list (ie Southampton) and tell them their results and why they want to go there. Then what happens? Does the Southampton offer on the phone? How does that then transfer to UCAS? Do they then accept on 14th on UCAS? Is it first come first served?

Thank you! I am feeling quite nervous about it all!

DD has an offer for York, waiting A-level results. She’s been looking at clearing as she’s decided she doesn’t want to go to her insurance, and has found a different course at a different uni that she’s considering ditching her firm for. I’ve suggested waiting for results etc, we’ll see what happens.

He will probably be ok if he had the grades for a Durham offer (presumably high grade requirement) and Lancaster as a fallback. Although Durham is notorious for not allowing any near misses, Lancaster has a significant amount of capacity and so is very flexible on grades. The reason for this is that in year 1 you can take up to 3 different subjects (so you can go in as a geography major but you then have to do at least one minor subject out of a very long list). This means they plan for far higher numbers in lectures and seminars and so they have a lot of flexibility. It's the reason that most lancaster courses are in clearing every single year - even the very popular courses.

With us they took DCs details and then called back about an hour later with confirmation that there was a clearing place allocated. That then had to be confirmed on UCAS or else it automatically expired so that it could be offered to another applicant. This was Durham. DC had very high grades though (A star A star A) hence the fast response. I know of others where it took much longer to get an offer/response back.

Thank you

Dd (and I) are v anxious for next week. She’s quite confident she will miss her maths mark for UCL (a a star a needed). Her insurance, Exeter, is deferred. She should make that grade with a contextual offer and they have emailed to say if she doesn’t make that mark, they understand her extenuating circumstances (missing all of y10 due to anorexia and all it entails with poor MH). Dd won’t consider not deferring as it’s a big sudden change (she is also autistic) and there is a background worry about securing accommodation. Three years ago, we never thought dd would be able to sit her a levels, so we are so happy to have gotten this far, hopefully the last week’s wait won’t break us!

Sitting here worrying. So glad others are in the same boat. Dd won't discuss results yet, shes lost faith in her ability to predict grades due to a very hard year 13. She has an offer from lancaster with insurance at Notts. I'm hoping worst case scenario is a foundation offer from either. She may not take the lancaster one though as bizarrely it's taught 45 mins away at her current 6th form college.and they plan.to bus students daily from campus for free! Really not sure how that will.work! It is a good college though.

It is really stressful! Theoretically there is enough leeway between DC1's predicted grades and insurance offer that insurance really should be her worst case scenario (although stranger things have happened, obviously...)

Although she absolutely will accept her insurance offer she's told me she'll be be really sad not to make her first choice, and given that she almost never discusses her feelings with me that's quite a statement for her. Clearing doesn't have much yet for her exact course so she might have to get a bit creative if it comes to that!