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 :)

UCAS updates at 8am in theory. It has however been known to crash..

Possibly a stupid question but this is all new to us and have a very, er … chilled out DS! I know he can check his results online at 8am but then what happens ? Will the uni confirm he has a place? We have booked accommodation but presume we then call them? Is there a website that goes through the process for idiots like me? Ta x

You tend to get an email from the university saying congratulations and telling you what steps to take. Quite often these will come through before you even get hold of your results.

Ergh. DD says her college has emailed to warn them that their online system might get swamped so they might not be able to log on to get their A level results straight away. Apparently there was a bit of a crisis last year. This is not good for her nerves or mine. Just as well she is averse to clearing perhaps.

Still in my day I had to wait for the postman.

@Birdbrained13 a fair amount of universities now do clearing online, via form or webchat. For those you call we absolutely do need to speak to the applicant - unless he has nominated you to speak on his behalf via his ucas form, so I would recommend you get him to do that.

His additional needs wouldn’t allow us to skip it unfortunately because of GDPR

Our plan is to be at school gates for 8am to collect the grades in person + check ucas on phone + start making calls from the car if needed. Is this the right plan? It’s our first time and my DD is not the best at keeping track of school instructions.

I’m another one to say do not panic if things don’t work out and a gap year is needed.

I’ve already said this on here somewhere I think but this time last year ds was expecting poor results after being ill during his exams. He only ever wanted one degree not offered anywhere near us so involving a big move away from home which he didn’t particularly like the idea of. He decided he couldn’t do it and really didn’t know what to do. Results were good and I persuaded him to take a gap year. He found a relevant job, saved loads and has grown up so much. He’s now ready to head off in September. He’s still a bit worried about going so far but he’s way more enthusiastic and more willing to take the chance.

He’s a very quiet non drinker and non partier so I just hope halls isn’t too much but I’m a lot more positive than if it had been last year.

This last year has been great for him and the money he has saved will make such a difference.

I’m here feeling it for all those of you who are where I was last year and waiting for the help I’ll need with the whole moving away experience - eldest stayed at home for uni and ds would happily head off in September with a tooth brush and a clean pair of jeans!

@FitnessIsTheOnlyWealth I think picking up results from school can be brilliant if your DC is confident and/or resilient. Conversely It can be hard to cope with being in a fishbowl and opening disappointing results if everyone around you is celebrating.

A couple of years ago DD checked UCAS first and had done MUCH worse than we all expected - it was a shock, unexpected and I wrote a whole thread around it and our clearing journey. She did go into school to talk to teachers about a remark and to have a bit of a meltdown later that morning, but was SO glad (in hindsight) that she'd not opened her results at school.

Most people WON'T have that much of a nightmare day though, so as long as you take everything into account, it can be fun to open at school

Dd has firmed York so fingers crossed . One of her chemistry papers was apparently a disaster so I’m trying to keep her positive while still having a plan for clearing if necessary

I think everyone at my DD's college receives their results by email (presumably because students attend from a very wide area and a lot used to rely on college buses which obviously only run during termtime). I assume that there will be staff available to help but DD won't be going in because of the distance.

I think I'll make her look properly at clearing the evening before but she's already said that if she misses both firm and insurance she'd try to go to our local Uni but hopefully she'll be ok, she said the exams went alright but who knows.

If Unis get the results tomorrow, presumably the clearing grades will change, courses will be removed and courses will be added over the weekend?

I just want it to be over now.

Terrible evening here. DS in convinced that he has failed miserably and got a bit tearful. It's entirely possible - he has had the most eclectic range of marks over the past year on mock papers - everything from a low A to a low D.

His Sixth Form was pretty crap and let the whole cohort down very badly in one subject (that I won't get into here) and he had a pretty useless teacher for one of his others - but at least we could plan around that one and we got a tutor. But no excuses, he will get what he gets and neither of us can say hand on heart that he couldn't have worked any harder - he could. He put decent effort in but he definitely was not that kid who was burning the candle at both ends, and I think he slightly regrets that now.

But now that we are here, he is feeling it, I am feeling it and I just want it to be over. It's a shitty system and when I am queen, exams will form no more than 25% of any overall mark. So there.

@SlightlyJaded thank you, I hope your DD is doing well now?

how did you know she’s done badly on ucas? There are no grades so was it based on the Uni possibly not confirming her place?

Dd still refusing to look at clearing till next week. Collage - huge 1000 per year set how to acess your results email and we.will have cake an fizz if you want to celebrate. Minimal about support just a support will be available, contact us by messager and we will get back to you as soon as possible with 3 choices either careers, exams or wellbeing. So which do.you choose or do you message. All 3? Really not impressed.

Yes, you are right. Of course results not on UCAS. Typo on my part...

She checked UCAS first - saw no offer. And then checked her results that were posted onto a different hub (presumably by her sixth form).

It's a shitty system and when I am queen, exams will form no more than 25% of any overall mark.

It wouldn't be so bad it it went off pre-existing exam results not expected - or if they weren't so out of wack predicted with actual grades.

Though DD1 is on a uni course that has no exams and is doing really well so wonder if two years of stressful a-levels weren't the best idea. DH is a lecture and says there a move with many courses to move away more from exams.

DS college they can get results on-line but there is a party later where they can go in celebrate and say goodbye - DD1 two yeras ago was happy enough to go in as she had her place even if grades were much lower than hoped and expected.

DS can decide on the day - likely dependent on what we need to do.

With DD1 we had contingency plans - both offers did foundation years and one automaticlaly offered that and she could have stayed on here and done a uni course at local uni or re-done a-level courses in a year. With DS only contigency it's clearing - though he's taken 4 A-level and Welsh bacc ( had to ) - his main offer based on 3 grades so hopefully if he's a just miss they'd look at points.

I honestly wish they would sort the system out to be a results only one. My dd hasn’t applied to uni this year as mocks weren’t great and we really do think a gap year is so much more beneficial for growing up in general and to get some money to help fund her living costs. The stress of this whole predicted grades process is utterly bonkers and unnecessary and no where else in life is anything as major as this life decision based on guess work! I hope the next few days go well for everyone & all our young folk find a path that fits.

I can feel the stress mounting here so great to see we are not alone ! DS is certain he’s missed his grades and not happy with his choice 2

The system is awful, dangling "carrots" in front of students and then possibly snatching it away if they miss a grade by 1% or just if they're having a bad day/ exam stress.

And if you end up in clearing, you're pressurised to make a really quick decision - often within hours. A decision that could be horribly expensive in so many ways if you get it wrong.

I think clearing shouldn't open till the Monday, giving everyone time to step back, take a breath and study what's available. Universities should have open days at the weekend for people in clearing plus online talks so students can make an informed decision.

Better still, apply with grades in hand in August and shift the whole academic year to start in January. That term could be used to earn money, get work experience, volunteer, travel etc.

I agree - I wish clearing didn’t open straight away!

Another lurker here with a ds who just wants the wait to be over, despite being confident that he'll get his insurance grades and fairly optimistic about his firm. He felt that the exams went well and already has a grade for Maths in hand.

To be fair, he's consistently worked his bum off and done loads of past papers, extension stuff, did TMUA, etc. so I don't think that it's hubris, but the lack of a Further Maths teacher for most of the year (so he has really had to teach himself) could yet be the undoing of his hard work.

I too would prefer a system where they apply once results are known!

Just a reminder that it’s easier to check grade boundaries if the student does into school or college. If a student misses their offer and is only a mark or two off the grade boundary, they might want to out in for a priority re-mark/review of marking which will usually come back within 48 hours and mean the place is re-instated. If there is a delay with this, it can mean the place is reinstated but only for the following year. Usually firms have to be signed to give permission for this review of marking (and to pay the fee) so being in school or college just means that can be processed on results day.

There is always the caveat that a review of marking can result in marks and grades going down as the new mark stands. However, if a student is close to the grade boundary above, the chance of dropping the significant amount of marks needed to go to the grade below are low.

Where students consider getting more than one paper reviewed, it can be best to do them one at a time. Go for the one that has most scope for increase/ seems most anomalous with performance first. It is possible to request script return for free before committing g to a remark. In some places, a teacher will look them over, but not all schools offer this as staff are not available after results day. it often isn’t good to get 2 or 3 papers for the same subject back at the same time as one can go up and another down, cancelling out any gain.

You can check grade boundaries on the exam boards websites, they're released at 8am on results day and then you can download the pdf to see the breakdown for each subject and then all the papers as well. It depends on each school but if it is on an online platform it should still have the total marks next to the grade and then you can see how close or far they've gotten to the next grade. But yes many teachers do try to be in and to at least look over papers very close to the next grade boundary and advice on whether or not they think they can find the marks. If they can many will advise a remark. I'd likely stick to staff's advice as they do go through it objectively and see whether they actually think they can go up or not.

@rainingeveryday yes a Jan start would be brilliant. Students are having to play chicken with their grades and it means the capable but unconfident ones avoid the most competitive courses. DD was predicted 2 A stars but point blank refused to apply to any unis whose standard offer included any A stars.

University and grade talk is embargoed in our house at the moment. It's going to be a long week.

Dd has now had her offer changed to unconditional (yay, no worries for Thursday!) and her course is not showing on UCAS or Uni website clearing. Is this because they now have enough ‘bums on seats’? She received an email saying they have re-looked at her application and can see it would be a perfect fit for her, given her previous college course, but I wonder if this is just ‘lip service’.
Edited to say that her three friends who are going with her have not had theirs changed.

Congrauations to your DD wizbit93.

I suspect they must be going though applications as they now have A-level results and the prior course wasn't picked up correctly first pass when perhaps should of been and has now been spotted.

Nice of them to update and not leave her in suspense longer - didn't actually know they could do that at this stage. She and you must be very happy.