Year 12 - 2025/2026: Support Thread 2

[QueenMabby]

A new thread for us to keep chatting on!

All the leg work of matching what they want with their grades and uni and course ranking form various tables been done by me. It's all quickly forgotten then that I did that but it forms the basis of where they start from otherwise it seems too overwhelming for them.

Then we aim for a spread of at most 5 open days across many months to spead cost we never done mid week ones either.

DD2 has a spread sheet with courses - her interest could come under three different ones - and grades they want and she keeping an eye for their open days. So one down and now she has something to compare the rest with.

Works for us - as our kids do like to mull things over - but many of their peers don't start looking till autumn Y13.

If your schools subscribe to Unifrog I believe they have a uni finder function where you put in your subjects and predicted grades and what you're interested in and they give you suggestions as to which might be suitable.

It's slightly different for us with DD wanting to do medicine - but that is a totally overwhelming process also. I did my own research and then selected some I thought would work for her in terms of her GCSE grades, preferred teaching style, location, and chances of getting in (which is a guess at this stage as she hasn't sat her UCAT yet) and then suggested some to visit and she selected the ones she wanted to see out of that list.

She rejects Anglia Ruskin and Leicester, which I think is a great shame as they both look great to me, but she did agree to Keele which I didn't feel strongly about, until I visited and absolutely loved it.

They had leap frog at secondary school and didn't seem to like it but never mentioned that feature and never mentioned having it at college at all.

DD1 ended up at Leicester - knew about it from MN more than anything as her grades were looking lower than hoped and predicted. She looked at two very different subjects there in open days one impressed and she ended up doing other didn't. She loves it there but DD2 looking at subject that didn't impress and looks like the department may be merging or going anyway. As we can only do so many open days not sure if it's worth looking at that one for DD2.

DD1 and DS seem happy where they've ended up. DD2 impresed enough by Swansea to mention it to several friends who are now thinking of having a look so on right path so far.

Ds hasn’t shown any interest in looking at universities yet. Ds1 wanted to stay near to home, so we looked at 2 of the nearest universities. He ended up at UEA about 45 mins away. He now regrets going to our nearest city. But he enjoyed it nonetheless. Ds2 only wanted to go to Sussex uni. His half sister lives down there, he liked the area, so that was the only one he looked at. It would be great to see some other unis. but only if Ds decides he wants to.

One of my best friends, both of her dc’s didn’t look round any unis. They knew where they wanted to go.

Dd is wanting to apply to Cambridge so we’ll have all that extra stuff to prep for that. Well look at a few others and she was also surprisingly impressed by our local uni which might make a good insurance option. We will look at one London uni. She’s not sure she wants to live in the capital and I think it is a very different uni experience but the department and research options look amazing.

We have also done lots of weekend city breaks over the years. That is a good way to broaden their horizons without it being explicitly about which university they will end up at.

Are many uni open days in the week? I work for a uni that only does open days on a Saturday. DD has a Saturday job and has already booked off 2 days this year for extra curricular things/holidays. If all open days are on Saturdays it will really take the p!

@CocoPlum from the ones on DS’s list, there are a few that have Friday ones

DS wants to look at Cambridge too. I’m not really so keen on him applying as I feel the odds of an offer are low, and the time to prepare for the ESAT etc will take away from him actually working on his A levels, but it’s his choice! We’ll see what he thinks when he goes to the open day

Fingers crossed we'll choose some with Fridays which is my NWD!

I do appreciate that weekends probably suit full time workers better! But I have annual leave to use, I don't want her to lose her job as it's so hard to get one!

I think it will depend on the university - though I would have though most likely to be in week would be in summer when undergraduates aren't having lectures and exams and marking is over.

I think DD1 had an offer day on a Friday - she'd been to an open day with DH -but did that one by herself. DH says with his students he's seeing more just doing the offer days - though all the offer day he done so far have been Saturdays.

A lot DD2 looking at still haven't put open days up yet.

Bath and Oxford were on weekdays last year. Even if not applying there your first couple of open days can be as much about learning about UCAS and student life/finances. You then learn what to ask at your more serious choices.

Edinburgh and Imperial are both weekdays. Often they are on a Friday and a Saturday to give options.

There was an October bath Saturday open day last year. Exeter has Friday and Saturday in May half term. Think lots of them do Friday/saturday.

I’ve given up on open day research - I had a hit list , but I’ve no idea what DS1s predicted grades are likely to be anymore … at the moment it’s looking less likely that the standard A*AA for engineering/ AAA for economics is going to be doable … he’s just got a U in Further Maths and what looks like Bs hopefully in the other stuff in in class tests though marks are still coming in .. he was shocked by the U .

Just putting this out there for those where stuff isn’t going too well so they know they aren’t alone

@waitingquietly- that’s tough. Poor ds. There will be plenty of engineering and economics options requiring Bs and most won’t need FM either. Is the U a one off or is he struggling? If the FM is a fourth option would school consider letting him drop down to 3 A-levels which may help solidify the grades in the ones he carries forward?

@QueenMabby - that definitely seems like the preferred option , they’ve entered him for AS level though which is a worry . Parents Evening in a couple of weeks so I’m going to have to get to the bottom of what can be done then . I keep offering tutoring but he just isn’t taking me up on it . He is very self sufficient and not easily rattled - all good characteristics - but he already has a 4 in Spanish because he didn’t take the help 🤷🏻‍♀️… DS2 is GCSEs this summer and I really wasn’t expecting to be more worried about the older than the younger at this point

I’m sorry he’s having a tough time, I hope the parents evening will be useful

Just checking in, not much to report here.

@Oblomov25 and @Eccle80 how did parents eve go?
DD3 received her mock AS results and there’s room for improvement but definitely working hard, with teachers all saying the right things. She’s still applying for Sat jobs. I don’t think there’s a shop, cafe, restaurant in the local city and surrounds that won’t have received her CV. She’s even walked into places with it but so far nothing. A few have suggested they could be interested, most say zero vacancies and to only apply online, no CVs accepted. Which is interesting as every single job I’ve ever had has been through being proactive and knocking on doors. I’ve not once applied to an advertised job. But it’s very different now. My middle DD has friends in final year of uni and the lack of jobs is terrifying! She’s been lucky so I’m hoping DD3 will be fortunate soon!

We're still waiting for a work experience offer and can't book a holiday until that's firmed up as the dates offered vary. I feel that one organisation which coordinates placements could be clearer about their selection criteria. The lack of both responses and clarity has put us both off the profession tbh.

Thinking ahead to the autumn, how do young 'uns celebrate their 18th birthdays these days??? DD has a bf and a small group of female friends mostly from her FM class, and doesn't drink. I mentioned something about theatre tickets but I think she had something grander in mind!

DD2 celebrated her 18th with her 6 close friends went at ‘Cosy Club’ which is a bit like Bill’s but with sofas etc and had dinner, they went to a bar afterwards but didn’t really drink as not everyone was 18. They were happy with something relatively low key. DD1’s 18th was in the midst of Covid so absolutely nothing happened other than a posh takeaway.

My dd is in a friend group of 7 (all girls). Dd is the oldest so the others won’t be 18. Dd is not one for big parties or clubs and rarely drinks so I’ve suggested a spa day. She’s thinking about it.

aww! How nice to be planning birthdays. DD1 did paintballing for her 18th - and then they all painted pottery at home (it was random but they adored it and all have matching mugs). DD2 will, you can bet your life, be playing in some orchestra or other as her birthday is right in the middle of the summer holidays. However, 17 still seems a long way away here for her.

Down in Hogwarts, music is still getting in the way of uni planning. Can DD2 go to the UCAS fair? She cannot - she has a diploma exam and when we came up with what we thought was a solution it also emerged she's having to stand in for someone else and play in assembly.

It is a shame as she really needs to see this stuff- most of her 'music' friends are sure it is conservatoire they want and she very much isn't. Isn't even sure if it's music or english (or both).

Still not getting to many academic lessons as it's now 'chamber music week'. Sigh.

She's had a stressful week or two as we've been stuck in the middle east (very unexpectedly - not on a dubai break or anything, merely a sober work conference that saw us stuck in qatar). She got through it but when we saw her saturday she was deeply, deeply relieved. Also behind with her essays. I think she found it all a bit distracting.

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest it always amazes me the age range in the year group . DS1 will start year 13 on his 18th birthday … weirdly his birthday fell on the first day of primary school and the first day of secondary too

Hi all,

Always forget about this thread. I know there is a lot of experience here. DS looking at mid tier unis and am trying to get my head round app process, especially the discrepancy on the ucas site between entry requirements and average grades accepted. He is looking at Leicester, Surrey, UEA etc and quite big gaps. Feel a bit confused about it. Hoping the school are going to round parents up and explain everything.

Do predicted grades come purely from June mocks or do most have further mocks in autumn term?

The great news is DC now has a lifeguard job and can pick and choose his hours, is really enjoying it with other young people. Solidarity with anyone with DC looking. My DC was applying for months, had several interviews and was messed around before landing this, keep going!