A level results day and UCAS - please can you clarify......

[Poppledopple]

Will DD be able to see that either her firm or conditional has accepted her from UCAS track before she actually knows results? If so at what time? Think I have heard that she may know she is in before she picks up results at school. If this is the case will she also know from UCAS track that both firm and conditional have rejected her (ie she has not made the grades) before she actually goes to school to collect results?

But Coconutty, if he didn't get his grades, you might expect the university to take some time to consider. Given what needs to happen in a very short period of time, 3 days is quick.

Sunshower the universities get the kids grades a week before they are released. I think it's unfair to hang on to applicants for too long. I think Durham kept some tide to waiting days and days a few years ago before rejecting some of them. I can't remember the details but there were quite a few applicants involved.

We had a very stressful time on results day, DS checked Ucas and he was rejected from his first choice and nothing from insurance. We went to school with him to collect his results and find out what to do about clearing. It turned out that he has the required results for his first choice. It literally took two weeks to sort out properly but it was an admin error with his dob. He got his first choice in the end but it was stressful and I'm extremely pleased that we were able to go into school on the day otherwise we would have just thought he didn't have the grades.

OMG Emptynestx2. That sounds awful. Your poor son. He must have been extra delighted once it was all sorted out. Did it mess up his accommodation?

We were all a bit stressed to be honest. Fortunately he had chosen the largest but least popular accommodating so that worked out fine though I did keep phoning the to check as he had to go into clearing to be reoffend his place! Thankfully he's coming towards the end of the first year now and has been very happy!

No, we don't get the grades a wee before. It's usually 2-3 days.

So 3 days to sort out whether r not a Department can take someone who didn't meet their offer grades is not "ridiculous" - it's doing things with care & attention, rather than willy nilly.

week

I'm with the parents here, not just because I'm a parent but because from my experience on the other side of the fence, as a university administrator with some admissions experience, this really shouldn't be a long, drawn out process unless the department and/or the admissions team are very disorganised. The Admissions staff and the departmental Admissions Tutor should know by the end of Monday how many students have missed their offers. That gives all of Tuesday and Wednesday to look through each case to see whether to take them anyway and to get Track ready for opening time on Thursday. On most courses the numbers involved aren't going to be enormous, surely? How can it take three days after the results are out?

Sometimes things get caught up in Departments - it's a difficult time of the year to get everyone together. Sometimes cases can be quite complex, and sometimes there's pressure to take more qualified students via Adjustment. Decisions - at least at my place - really are taken on individual cases, not mass policy, IYSWIM. That kind of care takes time.

Sunshower. Sorry I didn't realise you only had the grades a 2 or three days before results day. That sounds very hectic.

Most other places manage it sun sorry - saying its difficult to get everyone together is laughable. You know the date YEARS in advance. Your Head of Dept should be nominating a handful of academics to be there. You're only going to look at students who miss one, possibly two grades. Your admin can cover most of it saving the few borderline or mit circs applicants to academics.

You have three full days to make decisions....

I think it's only reasonable to have made a decision prior to track opening.

My DD missed her offer, and unfortunately we went into school to pick up her grades early, before track opened. As insurance and firm were the same offer it was an awful car ride home, but then found her insurance had accepted her.

Track opened at 8am.

Pretty awful system all round I think. Really knocked her confidence, and has never settled since.

For the last two cycles Track has been up and running around 6.30am to my certain knowledge .

In the most recent cycle Bristol (the insurance) confirmed that they would take DS on the Monday before results and his firm confirmed him the day before results (the system dates the confirmations). I'm not sure why it would take Bristol so many extra days after the straightforward applicants are dealt with to give an answer to the trickier ones.

Durham kept DN waiting for exactly one week last Summer for a course which takes around 100 students and doesn't usually enter clearing. They narrowly missed their offer, though overall their UCAS score was higher (offer was AAA, achieved A A B). It was a miserable wait until the following Thursday for a decision and it's hard to understand why it took so long.

I don't think there would be too many RG places left after a day let alone three.

This is really not true, in many subjects, following the changes in 2012.