Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Come and cheer my boy up with his grades please

44 replies

lavenderjune · 14/08/2025 08:44

Ds has had a really tough 2 years with mental health issues and his dad was diagnosed with cancer last year too. He has picked himself and worked really hard the last 6 months and achieved CCC which we didn’t think would be possible. He is disappointed and doesn’t think it will be enough to go to Uni. He hasn’t applied but the plan was to apply for next year. I’m really pleased as at one point I didn’t even think he would sit his exams. Any positive advice please.

OP posts:

LidlAmaretto · 14/08/2025 08:48

Tell him to look at some of the courses in clearing now. He could get into a really good course next year with grades in hand and he would be able to do it early as he already has his grades. Tell him to forget about it until then get some work experience and have a lovely time next year xxx

Rosybud88 · 14/08/2025 08:53

I didn’t sit A levels - I didn’t go to uni - I arguably do better than my friends that did (in salary terms anyway). It isn’t the be all and end all even though it feels like it at the time. Life is a journey and we don’t all follow the same path. He should be so proud that he tried his absolute best! Come what may - uni or not - a great life awaits him if he keeps giving it his all!

Cornflowers35 · 14/08/2025 08:55

No practical advise, but CCC sounds absolutely fantastic results, especially when he's had a tough few years.

So congratulations to your DS. He should be very proud.

All the best to you all,

Sleepthief · 14/08/2025 08:55

Well done that boy on pulling things around in the face of such adversity! This year is a chance for him to pause and think about what he wants to do. In DS1’s cohort (y10 in first covid lockdown), most of his friends were disappointed and took a year out. Some re-sat one or more, or like DS1, found a job, saved, travelled a bit and applied with grades in hand. He got a place on his dream course at a university we never thought possible and is super excited to start in September after two years out of education. It honestly has been the best thing for him! Chin up Master lavenderjune - I’m sure there are great things to come!

Sleepthief · 14/08/2025 08:57

Also, when you fill in the UCAS form with grades in hand, you can see a percentage chance of getting into a particular university with your grades - DS1’s was 17% for the uni he’s going to, so he took a punt and it paid off!

Fushia123 · 14/08/2025 09:01

Sounds as though you are building your resilience which is one of the most important life skills to have. Any future college, university or employer will notice that and appreciate it.
I didn’t follow the path that I thought I would, but looking back I always say that nothing is wasted, and each step I took was valuable in its own right.
Very well done is what I say!! You can stop worrying about results now and give yourself time to relax - maybe get your mum to take you out to buy you something nice!? 😉

HaddlerScoop · 14/08/2025 09:03

CCC is brilliant and would get him onto a foundation course. Considering he has mitigating circumstances this isn't anywhere near as bleak as he thinks it is.

Has he looked at clearing this morning to see what is in there? I know that he probably isn't prepared to go to uni this year but this may help him see what he could get.

Has he been into college to collect his grades? They can talk to him about options and if he is looking to apply next year then they are the ones who can help him with his application, or at least they do at my DC's sixth form. They are also aware of his circumstances which they add to his UCAS application.

DidIdotheritething · 14/08/2025 09:06

The grit and determination he showed to get those grades will take him far in life.

well done to him!

TheGrimSmile · 14/08/2025 09:18

Three Cs is plenty to go to uni. Tell him to get onto clearing. And tell him congratulations!

titchy · 14/08/2025 09:28

He’ll get into uni with those grades easily - he could apply this morning and be off next month!

What subject? He would do well to look at some clearing websites this morning.

TheGrimSmile · 14/08/2025 09:28

35 years ago I went to collect my results, hoping to go to Liverpool to study French. I got a U in French. Don't ask me how that happened but the whole class did. Anyway, I did get an A in English so I managed through clearing to get a place at Sheffield Poly to do English. I'd never been to Sheffield in my life. I went and loved it and the course was bloody amazing. After I finished my degree I decided to go to france as an au pair and became fluent in French and later qualified as a French teacher. Life throws you curve balls and sometimes things can work out better like that than if they go to plan. Ending up in a random city through clearing and doing a different course - in hindsight I'm glad my undergraduate dehree is in English - was the making of me. He'll find a course that appeals to him somewhere that has a space. I know how deflated he feels. I just didn't want to do anything either. My mum booted me up the arse to get on the phone to other unis and I had an offer from Sheffield within days. It's easier now as he can do it online.

KingstonTown · 14/08/2025 09:30

My DS recently graduated with a first from Nottingham Trent, which he got into via clearing with CCC. It was a fab uni and he loved every minute. There are definitely options for him.

Pineapplesunshine · 14/08/2025 09:33

It sounds like your son has done really well, especially given all of the circumstances over the last couple of years. He should be very proud of himself. I know it’s hard to really understand this at 18, but for what it’s worth I would try to help him to understand that education and careers are a long road and those who shine brightest in the early years aren’t necessarily those who go furthest.

I recently read a great Ovid quote:
‘Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.’

It sounds like your son has persistence in bucket loads and it will serve him well.

(Full disclosure, I didn’t do that well in my A levels, but ended up exactly where I wanted to be - and in a professional career surrounded by people with much better academics.)

For now though celebrate how well he has done! If he can do that well under the circumstances he’s been going through, he’s going to fly in the coming years!

TheGrimSmile · 14/08/2025 09:34

Also 3 xCs is good. I'd have been delighted if my ds had done A levels and over the moon if he got 3x Cs. I think mumsnet is unrealistic. A lot of stealth boasting goes on. Most "normal" people dont like to post about results here because it seems like everyone has 4 x A stars and all 9s at gcse. It's like a parallel universe 😆

CanOfMangoTango · 14/08/2025 09:34

Well done to your DS.

He should get onto Clearing and have a look.

Lower grades required for a lot of courses via Clearing which won't be the case if he applies in the normal way next year. Of course, he can look at Clearing again next year.

RainyDayCoffee · 14/08/2025 09:35

@lavenderjune
Good luck to your boy. Parent of a DD with MH issues and it is awesome he even sat the exams. Considering he also had his dad's health to add to his worries, he is a super star.
Having said that it is valid for him to feel upset over his grades. It is not about what he didn't get. It is about the life and outcome he wanted before all this heartache. I hope he is able to pick himself up after a few hours and think about what he wants to do next. I can imagine how sad and proud you are at the same time. Both are valid feelings to have at the same time.
Big hugs.
Xx

Thenextstep82 · 14/08/2025 14:31

Well done to your son!

My ds got CDE and has had similar issues as well as very poor MH so much so every day was a struggle going to college. We are proud of him but he feels a failure.

MamaElephantMama · 14/08/2025 14:38

CCC is brilliant and such an achievement.

There’s far too much pressure on kids to achieve AAA these days.

DipsyDee · 14/08/2025 14:48

Your son has done amazing with great results!!! He should be extremely proud of himself

DipsyDee · 14/08/2025 14:51

Thenextstep82 · 14/08/2025 14:31

Well done to your son!

My ds got CDE and has had similar issues as well as very poor MH so much so every day was a struggle going to college. We are proud of him but he feels a failure.

Tell your son that i got 1 A level at grade E! and I still went on to get my degree. He certainly is NOT a failure!!!!

HazeyjaneIII · 14/08/2025 14:52

He's in the triple C club with my dd!
She's having a year out to do a BTEC in art and work out whether she even wants to go to uni. She is really pleased because, in her words..'I didn't completely fuck up!'
Now she knows what shes got to work with for any future plans... she is more worried about her friends who didn't get what they wanted/felt they should get.
It's such a hard time for them, especially as their social media is full of stuff from uni's and stuff from people getting results.
Mumsnet seems to be full of people getting As and A* and worrying about the standard of uni they can get into.
In reality, your ds could get into uni with those grades, whether now through clearing, or after giving himself a year out getting some work experience, earning some cash and planning for the future. He'll be ok, it sounds as though he has done amazingly so far, so we'll done to him.

EllieWales · 14/08/2025 15:02

Nothing wrong with CCC, he can go through clearing if he really wants to go to uni.

Please remember uni is not the only way, I left school at 16 with GCSEs and never went back to education. I worked in hospitality and traveled for a few years before getting a ‘grown up’ job as an admin in an energy company at 25. I’m 30 now and have worked my way up to project development manager and am doing just as well as some of my friends who went to uni. There’s often more than one way to get somewhere.

There are also some really great apprenticeship/trainee opportunities out there these days if your son wants to work while obtaining an education.

ACynicalDad · 14/08/2025 15:05

I got CCC, now run a charity and am on track for a distinction in my second masters. Some people take longer to mature and excel. It’s not a bad starting point.

Thenextstep82 · 14/08/2025 15:05

DipsyDee · 14/08/2025 14:51

Tell your son that i got 1 A level at grade E! and I still went on to get my degree. He certainly is NOT a failure!!!!

Show quote history

Thank you!! 😊

Radiatorvalves · 14/08/2025 15:07

I am sure he will find something. DS was pretty upset this morning as he dropped 2 grades and missed his first choice. Never that keen on his (perfectly good) second choice. Called up Bristol and looks like he will be heading there. He’s cycled off for his freebie lunch at nandos much more chipper. Good luck…he will find something with CCC. X

Flip

1 2