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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Will she get into a top university?

34 replies

SighingandYawning · 15/08/2015 18:00

Got a distraught DD on my hands having got AACC in AS levels. Now I think that's pretty good actually but she tells me I am a bit out of touch, ha ha. She expected an A in one of the C subjects. She is setting her sights very high and wants to do History at e.g. Bristol, Exeter, Cardiff, Birmingham - all RG. It seems that the 2 As are fairly secure and she should get an A* in History next year.

If she got A*AC would she get into an RG university?

TIA.

OP posts:
FreeCoffee · 15/08/2015 18:14

Well...

My DS has just got into a good RG Uni for Maths with A*AC Wink

Those are great AS's - I'm sure she would have no problem getting into a RG uni as long as she keeps working. A lot depends on her predicted grades. Were her Cs high Cs?

There are a big range of Unis in the RG.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/08/2015 18:21

Lots of people improve hugely in the second year of sixth form. She should have an excellent chance of an offer from one of those universities with those grades, especially if her GCSEs are good, the school reference will be positive and her personal statement will be well written and show evidence of a real interest in history and some background reading. If the school/college predicts good A level final marks she should be fine, as I think that's the first and sometimes the only bit of the UCAS form that's looked at.

MrsFrankieHeck · 15/08/2015 18:23

My neighbours DS got into Newcastle this year with ACC.

tomatodizzymum · 15/08/2015 18:34

I must be out of touch because I would think so. It was many many years ago but I got ABC when the univesity asked for ABB. They let me in anyway, as the A was in the subject I went on to study. It's not concrete and she did really really well (but then I am out of touch).

tomatodizzymum · 15/08/2015 18:35

Top university didn't teach me how to spell ;)

TendonQueen · 15/08/2015 18:44

The RG is not a homogenous group. Requirements will vary, and though few parents on here seem to believe it, there are very good universities that are not part of the hallowed RG that are very well thought of, especially so where certain subjects are concerned. I'm sure she'll be able to find a good place.

Original poster
SighingandYawning · 15/08/2015 18:50

Thanks all. I agree Tendon but it's her school that bangs on about RG being be-all and end-all, so it seems. I want her to go where the halls of residence are the cheapest Wink

GCSEs are 3 x A*, 5 x A, 2 x B

OP posts:
stonecircle · 15/08/2015 19:02

DS got AABD at AS last year and has just got AAB at A2. He had five offers - Exeter AAA (who subsequently said AAB 'would do'); Southampton AAB; Loughborough ABB; Royal Holloway ABB (who said at the open day there was unlikely to be a problem if they dropped one grade from their offer); and Sussex AAB (who then changed it to unconditional if he firmed them).

What universities will accept seems to vary hugely - some unis seem to accept grades considerably below offer; others won't accept any drop whatsoever. One of DS's friends had firmed an AAA offer and they wouldn't take him on AAB (with a very high B).

I think the C might be an issue in terms of securing an offer from a good uni. But from my, limited, experience schools seem keen to give students the best predictions possible (DS was predicted A*AA for UCAS, despite the B at AS). So I'd be surprised if they don't predict her at least AAB. Was there a particular module where your dd didn't do as well in one of the C subjectds? If so, might be worth resitting an AS module along with her A2s? What about a remark if she is confident she did better? Might be worth getting a copy of the script and asking a teacher to go through it with her at the start of term to see if it's worth asking for a remark? Especially if she is near the top of the C band.

stareatthetvscreen · 15/08/2015 19:12

yes

dd similar this year and in

wd be better if C was a B though

spinoa · 15/08/2015 19:19

Previous posters don't take into account that courses vary in requirements hugely across any given RG university.

An oversubscribed subject may well not accept a C in the third subject (even in clearing, even though AAC is equivalent points wise to AAB) but a less subscribed subject may well accept AAC since it is points equivalent to AAB (and it is the points which are relevant for league tables).

I think for history Bristol and Exeter would be unlikely to accept a C for the third subject, maybe not even a B, but Cardiff is way below these in the rankings. In undersubscribed subjects (STEM, MFL etc) A*AC would get you into a lot of places, provided that the C wasn't in the subject you wanted to study.

stonecircle · 15/08/2015 19:54

Spinoa - that is all true, but someone who got AACC at AS could easily change that to AAB or higher at A2 and that is what a lot of RG universities will ask for.

addictedtosugar · 15/08/2015 19:55

Cardiff has typical offers of ABB-BBB, but the others are A*AA type levels looking at the websites.
So it looks like the offer would be higher than the C, but she may get in if they are under numbers.
Back in the days when I did A levels, you were predicted a grade higher than your exams at the end of the first year (no AS level system back then), so the C's may well increase to B's and give her AABB.

scatterthenuns · 15/08/2015 19:58

She'll get into a course that requires AAB/ABB no problem.

itsraininginbaltimore · 15/08/2015 19:58

My son was offered Birmingham with 3 B's, which was the lowest grade requirement of all his offers, yet bizarrely it was the only RG university.Confused

Happy36 · 15/08/2015 20:08

Students at my school this year (i.e. received their results on Thursday) have got into RG unis. with grades such as:

A, A, A, D (D was not the subject being studied at uni.)

A, A, A, B

A, A, A, A, B

A, B, B

A, A, A, A, B

A, A, A, C

This is just going down our results list alphabetically.

Hope this helps?

Happy36 · 15/08/2015 20:08

Baltimore Birmingham has experimented in the last couple of years with giving lower offers.

Lolimax · 15/08/2015 20:16

Tell her not to panic! DS got A,B,D and E at AS last year. And on Thursday got ABB and is going nursing to cardiff. She's overjoyed. So it can be done (her first choice was another RG Birmingham which she also got into but asked to be released to Cardiff and though they were full they've been brilliant.

basildonbond · 15/08/2015 21:11

Ds is going to Exeter to do history next month and got offers from KCL, Birmingham, Cardiff and Royal Holloway

He was predicted the equivalent of AAA (he did IB so had no AS to go on) and got offers ranging from ABB (Cardiff), AAB (RH and Exeter) and AAA

He wrote a blinder of a personal statement and his Exeter offer was v generous as everyone else he knew with history offers there was asked for AAA. He knows two who got AAB on Thursday and were rejected by Exeter though

She could see what she gets offered and if she's not lucky this time could take a gap year and reapply with her grades in hand

FuzzyWizard · 15/08/2015 21:23

Two people I know have just got clearing places for Cardiff history with BBC and BBD.
AAB will IME get you into almost anywhere under the right circumstances. I'd really focus on getting the C up to a B if possible. If not then AAC will definitely be enough for some RG Unis.

homebythesea · 15/08/2015 21:34

She could retake the C anyway to bump up the UMS

Impostersyndrome · 16/08/2015 07:59

Does anyone know how retakes appear on transcripts? DS got AAC in FM at AS (B overall) and wants to retake the C module alone. I'm wondering if some universities will look askance at a retake, even though it's a single module.

Happy36 · 16/08/2015 12:01

Imposter On the ones I have seen (for British, US, Spanish, Swiss and Dutch unis), the re-takes appear as do the original marks, both with the dates beside them.

You are correct in thinking that some universities will not take into account re-takes; the best thing to do is to check directly with the university for the course your son has in mind. Give them a call in a week or two, when this year's applications are less busy.

spinoa · 16/08/2015 17:53

Does anyone know how retakes appear on transcripts? DS got AAC in FM at AS (B overall) and wants to retake the C module alone. I'm wondering if some universities will look askance at a retake, even though it's a single module.

Again universities and subjects are not homogeneous. Maths and physics select only by grades outside the very top half dozen places. If he has the right predicted grades he will get an offer, regardless of whether he needs to retake one or more modules to improve his final FM grade. Retaking maths modules is very common.

On the other hand if he is applying for maths and physics at the top half dozen universities, who don't give offers to all those with the right predicted grades but select from these, then the B at AS could probably knock him out, regardless of whether he retakes, because there will be enough other candidates with A in FM at AS.

The story for economics, engineering, computer science would be slightly different. For the best advice you could tell us the subject and the universities he is interested in. Also, as another poster suggested, get him to call admissions tutors and ask for their advice.

Impostersyndrome · 16/08/2015 21:11

Thanks very much Happy36 - that's helpful. In fact, I'll get him to do the ringing, if it doesn't take more than 10 naggings Grin.

Happy36 · 17/08/2015 16:27

Yes, imposter, it should really be him, unis don't really want to talk to parents or schools (unless it is an issue specific to the school).

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