A-level results, late ADHD/autism diagnosis and reapplying to UCL – looking for advice

[Milliondreamz98]

I’m hoping some parents here might be able to share advice, as I’m feeling quite lost about what to do next.

My child missed her UCL offer after not achieving the required A-level grades. Her predicted grades were AAA, so this has been a huge shock.
There is a long background to this.
Before GCSEs, my child developed severe depression and started counselling. Despite this, she achieved strong GCSE results. We were advised to seek ADHD and autism assessments, but the waiting list was around two years.
During Years 12 and 13, the depression improved, but school became very difficult. She struggled with attendance, motivation, and what looked like school refusal and exhaustion. Despite this, they still received AAA predictions and an offer from UCL.
In Year 13, things worsened. Concentration and study became very difficult, and performance declined sharply, with very low mock results.
After nearly two years, She was finally diagnosed with autism and ADHD, which likely affected their learning, focus, and behaviour. However, this came just as exam leave began, so there was no time for school support or adjustments.
There was also a serious issue with a private maths tutor, where boundaries were crossed from his side and we had to stop lessons about three months before exams, causing further disruption.
In the end, she achieved an A in English and a D in Maths, which was very upsetting given her earlier GCSE success in maths.
She still want to go to UCL. She is now on ADHD medication and is determined to try again. As a parent, I feel she faced many challenges without proper understanding or support during A-levels.
We are considering reapplying to UCL, but I’m unsure how realistic this is with her current grades. I also wonder whether her late diagnosis and lack of support could be explained in a future application.
I’m also confused about the reapplication process. Since she has left school, how do we get a reference or predicted grades for UCAS? Their grammar school says they do not support former students. Is this normal?
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has successfully reapplied to UCL or a similar university after lower-than-expected A-level results, especially where ADHD or autism was diagnosed late.
Any advice on reapplying and possible options would be very helpful. Thank you.

I’m a psychologist and taught research methods and statistics at a couple of universities. You need to be competent at maths and capable of learning more maths, but it’s mostly statistics unless you’re doing something very specialist like psychophysics. A 6 at GCSE should be respectable baseline. If you went into psychology in the hope of it being mostly maths you’d be disappointed. Like most social sciences it requires a broad range of academic skills.

OP, unless your DD can turn out multiple A and A* grades for resits and is a resilient and independent learner UCL is probably not a great fit. You might be better looking at courses with more coursework so she can manage her time over the year and not have so much pressure at exam time

Would she consider a different London university?

London Met offers Psychology with a Foundation year with just one A level pass required.

It would also give her a year of easier work to catch up and be on a good track to start the degree next year.

London Met teaching starts end of September.

Don’t be cruel. She got a D because she’s a disabled student who was groomed by her maths tutor. That would put anyone off the subject.

And you wouldn’t have got in to UCL. Not even a look in.

Will the OP’s be able to get in to a uni with AB D in maths? Absolutely yes

Will she able to get in to UCL? No. I’m sorry but no. The UCL is a world leading very very academic rigorous premium university that accepts the cream of the crop only. The requirements for their course are AAA*.

If your daughter was planning on living at home and commuting to uni, then that means you’re London based. So surrounded by fantastic universities that she should explore as being much more realistic.

If your daughter was planning on living at home and commuting to uni, then that means you’re London based. So surrounded by fantastic universities that she should explore as being much more realistic.

Yes, because of my A level choices (which did include psychology, but no hard STEM), not because I got a B in maths GCSE (UCL asks for a B/6 or above) or because I didn't take maths.

Your tone is coming across very confrontational. I wonder what a psychologist would make of that.

You needed AAA* to do psychology at UCL one A in one of the sciences or mathsOR psychology

You didn’t do a science or psychology at a level and for a B in maths

All I am trying to do is explain UCL is one of the best universities in the world and the entry retirements are fierce and strict

Delete wrong thread!

Although I would not assume the D in maths means she is not good in maths. I actually got an E in A-Level maths and was predicted an A. I asked my ADHD psychiatrist why my O-Levels went so well and A-Levels so badly and she said it was probably down to very poor executive functioning, which needs to be good for A-Levsls. I went through clearing and got a good degree. (sadly i have no idea about UCL’s opinion on this - some unis essentially only look at the A-Level grades and others look more broadly at each candidate).

I got an A in psychology at A level, thanks 😊

Chartered Psychologist here.... GCSE maths - C, no a-level maths, 2:1 psych degree and distinction at MSc.

Absolutely no need to worry about maths and totally agree it's over emphasised on mumsnet as necessary for psychology. Working with statistics or assessment methods (in context) is very different to what is covered in, and the skills needed for A-level maths.

I hope your DD finds her way forward 💐

My comment is obv about studying and having a career in psychology more broadly - not specific to UCL.

Has your DD looked at any other options via clearing, OP? There’s also the option of a foundation year with some courses.

It sounds like your DD would benefit from building coping strategies around executive function. Unis vary a lot in their offer to neurodivergent students, it’s well worth thinking about this when choosing a uni.

Would she be living at home for uni? Learning to live independently takes a lot of executive function and emotional regulation, something like a commuting or foundation year would let her tackle this without stressing about a heavy exam load.

Might it be worth adding the Open University into the mix of options? They do some psychology degrees which are recognised by the BPS and you can choose to study at a full-time or part-time level, do just one course or a whole degree. Some universities may take OU courses as transferred credit if she decides to enter the system later - that needs checking with the individual university. I've known, in the past, some treat first year OU courses as equivalent to A levels for mature students.

It might give your daughter breathing space to work on some life skills, evaluate what the ADHD/autism diagnosis means for her, and work out her next steps while still heading in the direction of her current goals for future work. Meantime, maybe she could get paid or voluntary work with children which could add to her general CV. She could start saving some money to help her if/when she goes to an in-person university too. If the OU suited her and she still wanted the university experience, she could look at doing a postgrad qualification later with a first degree behind her and stronger general foundations. Just a thought.

My dd took a level maths with a private exam centre.

the deal is you pay the money and then turn up and go the exam.

they don’t do predicted grades because they don’t even see you before the exam so have no information to base the predicted grades on.

btw, ex maths teacher and I have a maths degree. The maths in psych is largely statistics, no pure maths at all.

a level maths is largely pure with some stats and mechanics. It’s quite possible to do very well in the a level and not do any of the stats questions.

equally, ability at pure maths doesn’t tell you much about ability to learn stats in context.

Just wanted to echo a PP and warn that UCL is a very high pressure environment. There is little in the way of pastoral care. Something to bear in mind given your DD's recent situation.

What uni did you go to @applecharlotte

I would bet a lot that it wasn’t UCL or up there alongside it

I did a Masters degree at UCL and would not recommend it for an adhd student.

It is fierce isn’t it?

And they’re not going to bend to a parent giving them a call to say that they’d been difficulties during year 12 whilst an assessment was waited for and accept a student with a D.

It’s very competitive, fiercely academic and the pressure is intense. I didn’t enjoy the campus at all.