A grades but missed offer what are the options?

[secretsquirrels]

I would be very grateful for some advice for DS1.
DS has missed his Cambridge offer because the STEP exam went badly.
He may well miss his insurance as well.
Having said that he is pretty sure he will get AAA*A in his A levels.

We are trying to get a plan ready before results day. I am struggling to understand how clearing works. Does he have to search for a uni with a vacancy on a maths course. If a uni is not in clearing is there any mileage in contacting them or is that just adjustment?
Does the lifting of the cap on A grade students help him?

Hope it was good news squirrels and he has made his insurance after all. Otherwise good luck with decisions in the morning...

OP, I really hope it all went well.

One of my friends has a DS who lost his place at Cambridge to do maths last year because of his STEP mark. He was very upset. He decided not to go to his insurance university, but to take a gap year and apply to Oxford instead.

As he already had his results, Oxford offered him a place and he starts there this autumn. In the meantime, he got a job for his gap year and has earned lots of money.

If things didn't go well in the STEP paper, would your ds consider this option?

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread.
It was a nail biter at midnight on Wednesday when the STEP results came out. He did do better than he expected but not well enough for Cambridge. He was spot on with his A level grades AAA*A and got comfortably into his insurance Warwick.

He had come to terms with not getting Cambridge back in June when the exam went badly so was just thrilled to get the result he did.

A gap year would not have been good for him personally, although he has admitted that he wished he had listened to DH and me he had applied to Oxford in the first place. Looking at clearing there have been no maths courses in the top unis in clearing (he would not have been allowed to use adjustment). So phew.

I saw your update on the other thread secret - many congratulations to your ds, his results are fabulous and I was so pleased to hear he didn't have to resort to clearing as his STEP was good for Warwick.

For what its worth, I have known several dc in exactly the same position in the past who have missed their Cambridge offers and gone on to Warwick - without exception they have all been very happy there and done very well too, so I hope and expect your ds will be the same.