A Level Anxiety

[Toffee22]

Only 4 more "sleeps" until the A level results come out - not that I will be doing much sleeping...

Eldest son wants to study medicine. 3 "A's" required no slip ups allowed. Have just checked and most medical schools don't accept re-sits. How can I face looking at the cold hard facts at some point on Thursday. I'm sure it will be difficult for my son too! When I tried to talk to him about it today instead of a response he said he would do an "impression of a tree". It wasn't even a very good impression. What does this mean?

Can I join in please? Its AS's for DD and I didnt even think I was nervous

Sorry, Sieglinde, didn't realise you were an Oxford admissions tutor. It always seems a bit easier when you have other criteria to go on rather than just the results.

Do students actually phone the universities to find out whether they've got in?

oh I sympatheise... My DCs aren't anywhere near A levels yet (3 and nearly 1?!)... but I used to do admissions and clearing and it's stressful. It really is. I imagine all admission officers really want to help the students/parents, so really, don't dismiss calling and asking to speak to the admissions tutor if somehow any of your children have missed by a couple of marks or whatever. The very worst that can happen is, they say no. Good luck.

Can i join the waiting room please ? I am sick with worry, i have a ds and a dd who get their results on thur. We played a massive gambling game and i just hope we come out with something. DS messed around at school so he did two A levels in the winter as a home schooled student and got reasonable grades, although he did no work, he then realised that he would like to go to uni so had to buck his ideas up to do is geo all in one go this summer. We dont live in the UK so it has been hell to get the tuition for him. We are dealing with the service des equivalences in Brussels and we still dont know what grades he needs to to to uni in Belgium. I have been on hold for half an hour this morning trying to find something out. DD became home schooled last Sept and has done 4 A levels in one year, ( it seemed like a good idea at the time) , but looking back it was crazy. I think she might do a retake as she needs two B and C which is a hard ask when you are studying on your own. Thanks for listening to my rambles....

another anxious/stressed mum here. DS needs AAA. Not too much pressure on him

yes, I am an admissions tutor, but practices do vary a lot between colleges. I would endorse drcrab's advice, but IF AT ALL POSSIBLE get your dc to ring themselves. It's MUCH more impressive than if mum or headteacher rings, unless an appeal is actually underway, in which case the head teacher can of course say so. homeaway, I do HE as well, and it can look very impressive to get the grades thus as unis appreciate the life skills learnt.

another stressed person trying not to show it. As far as distraction goes it helps if they have a job.

DD1 needs A*AB plus a 2 in STEP, or ABB for her insurance. Despite the fact she already has ACD from previous modules, she's still not sleeping and stressing really badly. On the plus side she's taken on the task of "clearing out the whole house", so there are loads of lists, and she issues daily tasks to us all .

waiting here too for As and GCSE and my own A level results fr the kids i taught...

DS needs 4 As at AS Level

I think I'm stressing more than DD here - although she's doing a fair bit of stressing too. She needs AAA for both her firm and insurance....

What we did do yesterday was look at the celaring sites for all the other unis she might apply to at 9am on Thrusday to see if there are any places available and there were some options there.... less than a quarter of the websites we looked at have a list up yet but some do (eg Goldsmiths, RHUL). Plus, if you go on The Student Room they have a fantastic list of contact details and clearing website quick links for every uni in the country - if clearing is needed, the click list would save valuable time in getting through...

... but we won't need clearimg...

so obviously that should be CLEARING websites...

If anyone needs advice on approaching an Oxbridge college, do message me. Honestly, nobody wants to maximise the pain!

Hi ellisbell - yes, summer holiday job in local factory has been a distraction for DS, but also somewhat of a two-edged sword as he now realises that if he doesn't get in to uni, the factory work could be all that is on offer for the foreseeable future. (think it's just dawning on him that he should have put the work in, but I will NEVER say "I told you so" :( )

yes, if anyone needs to go through clearing (clearing isn't all that bad - it can work for those who received better grades than predicted!) do make sure that the DCs do the phoning, the DCs are awake and on the ball (seriously...), that they answer the phone 'intelligently' (an enthusiastic awake sounding DC can make a good impression - really), and that they can explain why they want to do this course, or explain what actually happened for the predicted A to become a B (or vice-versa).

I have a research meeting scheduled from about 11.30 onwards, but you want to message me, please do. Otherwise, post on here, and I'm sure others can help.

We're waiting for AS levels and have lots of friends waiting for As.After a good year 11 we have had a really up and down year 12 ,he only did one module in Jan and did really well but as he said himself only having done one exam is a double edged sword .Last year felt I had a pretty good handle on what he was going to get,this time I haven't a clue.

Oh good luck everyone and all dcs going through this. Eldest dd at university now but I remember the stomach churning waiting for results, I think I cried due to relief when dd told me what she had.

Exams helpline telephone number: 0808 100 8000

If things don't turn out as expected, they could ring the Exam Results Helpline which is free, and provides expert information and advice to students who receive higher or lower exam results than expected and want to change their plans.

A levels day, Thursday 18 August, it's open 8am-8pm, then Friday 19th -Weds 24th August.

GCSE day, Thursday 25 August, it's open 9am - 7pm, then Friday 26 and Saturday 27 it's open 9am-5pm.

They will help with FE/HE courses, vocational training, remarks and retakes, subject choices, gap year options, funding, moving away from home to study and finding employment.

Telephone number: 0808 100 8000.

Thanks so much drcrab.

If the course DS wishes to take is available through clearing and has been available through UCAS Extra, is there then a chance that they may still take him if he is just a few UCAS points short of what is required?

It sounds like it, carpwidow.

I suppose from a uni point of view, they are also keen to make sure all places are filled on the less-popular courses.

I spoke to the admissions tutor of our local university who said they much preferred having students who were there because it was their first choice course - he said they were much more committed than those who'd got in through clearing. Seems to me if you're a few marks down, you're still preferable to someone who has the grades but hadn't wanted to go to that university to study that course.

Signing in. Only awaiting AS levels, so not too stressful relatively. I have been instructed to collect his results from the school and then not open them, so he can have that pleasure in the evening when he gets home from his swimming course. What's the betting I lose my patience and steam them open?

A Levels for DD3, AS Levels for DS1 and GCSE's for an over relaxed DS2 who claims he'll be happy with whatever he gets .