UCAS help please

[starving]

DD is completing her UCAS form and has had conflicting advice from 2 different teachers at school!

She sat her Highers (Scotland) this summer and got 'NO AWARD' (ie a fail!) for one of her subjects. She does not need this for her chosen uni course so is not re-sitting it.

The question is does this go on the UCAS form? One teacher says yes, the other surprise surprise says no! Does anyone have any knowledge/experience of this?

In Scotland exams are different to the rest of UK as we get one attempt at the exam, there are no resits later in the year etc, redoing modules etc etc. So advice has to relate to Scottish exam results only please.

Thank you

I would put it on if she passed the units - that's what we advise. If she doesn't need it then there should be no problem. Just put the subject units and leave off the overal award section. If you take a look at the form you will know what I mean

The ucas application states that all exams must be listed, including fails. Passmethecrisps has suggested a v good plan.

Ucas is absolutely clear that any non disclosure means that a subsequent offer is liable to be withdrawn.

Yes do put it in. DD3 failed A2 Drama. She did it outside college and nothing to do with the degree course she was applying for. She put it in as it stated on UCAS every exam taken has to be put down on the form.

re the subject units - do be very careful and check she's not withholding any info. Assuming it's the same as CUKAS the from specifically states that you must put all results of exams taken and has a clause for her to sign to confirm that she has been truthful about the info and not knowingly withheld anything.

Certainly you do need to enter all A Levels sat, even if you got a U (fail). Failing to do so can result in the offer being withdrawn, or being kicked out of uni at a later date. I can't see that it would be any different for Scottish qualifications

NOPE! Do NOT add the no awards!

Ah shit... It appears that I'm wrong. I must be old for all the rules to have changed!

When DD applied last year she had similar conflicting advice. She sat A2s in 6th form at school and got disappointing grades. She made a decision to move to college and repeat lower 6th. She got great grades second time round but she still put them all down on the UCAS form despite being told by an admissions tutor at an open day not to bother. It didn't affect her offers as she got 5 offers from very good universities.

I remember doing some research on this subject a couple or so years ago and came to the conclusion that one does not have to declare a complete fail on the UCAS form. The form asks for "an award" (or words to that effect) let it be an A* or E or whatever is the lowest pass grade these days. But a complete fail has nothing awarded to you, thus no award = no declaration.

But please do not take my word for it. Rules might have changed now. Do some research yourself - The Student Room is a good place to start.

Indeed, rules have changed. When I applied, not that many moons ago (2009) you didn't have to declare a complete fail, but things have changed since.

If you think about this from the perspective of a university the very fact that a student was presented for an exam at all then failed does have bearing. Especially in Scotland where there are numerous hurdles to jump before you even get to the exam. Presumably, if the OP's daughter was presented then the school must have had reasonable evidence to feel she would pass.

There are avenues which can be taken. My advice earlier of stating unit passes is what we would recommend as a no award is just that. If the no award was a surprise (which it should be really or she shouldn't have been presented) then the guidance teacher can write a short statement in the reference which gives a bit of background into the reason for the fail. What universities are looking for are bright and well-rounded young people - these kind of 'blots on copy sheets' will not hamper most young people getting into most universities.

Complete denial that the subject was ever studied could, however go down badly.

Still lots of conflicting advice.....! (Thanks)

She did pass all of the NABs (eventually in the case of one). It is English I am talking about. Higher was compulsory at her school. The reason for the fail is that she just cannot do close reading. She did pass the other papers but failed so badly on the close reading that it was an overall fail or No Award. The courses that she is looking at for uni only ask for English at Standard Grade Credit or Int 2 (which she has - dont know how!)

I just don't get the one teacher says disclose, the other teacher says don't. It just doesn't make sense. And having looked at the UCAS website I am still none the wiser. Looks like more research is needed. Thanks for the input so far.

I see. Look, the fact is that not every teacher advising will have any clue what they are talking about. I am the specialist UCAS person at my school but I know that the kids will be being advised by every other teacher they speak to.

If Higher English is compulsory and she wouldn't have taken it otherwise then I would ask the school to say this on the reference. They need to provide contextual data for students and making any Higher compulsory is certainly contextual data.

In all honesty having 4 Highers and not 5 will jump out at any admissions officer as almost everyone does 5 subjects. Because of this she may have to reconsider if she desperately wanted Edinburgh, Glasgow or St Andrews. Not definite but most of their places will go to people with 5 good Highers (and an advanced higher or two preferably).

If she was my Guidance pupil this is what I would advise:
Your DD does put on the unit passes as it shows ability
Failure to state it might well go against her
I would note something as standard in her reference
She should make her choices a combination of aspirational, a wee stretch and a for definite.

I am sorry she has had conflicting advice - it is an emotional enough time. I am 99.9% certain though that there will have been no harm intended. I am just sitting here wondering if all of our guidance staff would know to advise the same thing. Staff change and UCAS is a very, very different beast to even 3 years ago.

If I can be of any more help then please let me know. PM me if necessary.

UCAS has changed a lot in the past couple of years, so unless teachers have made an effort to keep up to date, they may give wrong advice.

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1744719

This thread on TSR has some advice, although they suggest ringing UCAS to confirm the situation.

I would say it would be safer to submit it than not. If you submit a fail grade, it's not going to result in offers being withdrawn. Not submitting it could potentially lead to offers being withdrawn. Also, the referee has to sign off on everything to say that it's all correct. If the referee is advising her to submit the grade, then it is very likely she will have to.

Thank you all again for your help. Sorry to take so long to reply but have been away for half term holiday.

Dd is certainly not aiming for one of the top unis mentioned above, nor is it what I would consider a very academic course. The unis she is thinking of applying to according to website are looking for BBBC (any subjects), with maths & english at least at standard grade credit or Int 2. She has this but is just worried about the fail.