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

Higher education

Making a case for contextual offers - serious health issues

36 replies

shockthemonkey · 29/05/2016 10:32

One of my charges has bravely battled through three years of repeated hospitalisations and a heavy and prolonged treatment programme which is still ongoing now on an outpatient basis. He was in hospital pretty much full time from 2010 to 2014 during which time he sat part of his Baccalaureat through the online distance learning institution in France... then he returned to school and sat the rest of his exams to come out with a Bac ES with 12.5/20 -- this equates roughly to BBC-BBB in the UK.

He is applying to UK universities while also completing year 1 of an Economics and English programme at the Sorbonne. He wants to aim high, much higher than BBC unis as his reports at school were glowing and his grades inched up in his last year at school from around 12 when he came out of hospital to around 15.5 at the end of the year. But during his bac week he was undergoing more heavy treatment hence the low grade.

I am helping him put together a dossier to send his five chosen unis in the UK.. it includes a doctor's certificate stating that he was hospitalised from 2010 to 2014 and that he is nearing the end of a treatment programme which has taken a heavy toll physically and mentally. It also states that while in hospital his access to internet was very difficult making the CNED part of his education particularly challenging.

He also has reports from his school praising his courage and dedication.

Can you think of anything else that would help universities consider him even though his Bac grade is a long way off their typical offers? He is considering going for the likes of Warwick, St Andrew's, UCL... after first checking with them that they would give his case due consideration, and getting a neutral-to-positive reply.

He wants to aim high, quite reconciled with the idea of ending up in Extra or even Clearing if his first five turn him down.

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Needmoresleep · 31/05/2016 08:57

On calling, I can't see why there is a problem with someone else making the call if

if you are an overseas student and it is a call that a school might make, especially in Shock's case as she is an advisor, not a parent. How a University might allow for illness might fall into that category.
if you are asking for general information, so don't give the applicant's name. DC are in school all day and so it can be easier for a parent to check a minor point of information.

Universities will probably have reservations, but the student should have the same reservations. Any application will be stronger if he has thought these through and factored them into his ambitions.

He has been very ill for a whiile, which is already a lot to cope with. In addition:

He may not have the background knowledge normally expected for a course, so will also have some catch up.
He may not have the study skills of some on top courses. Some students at top Universities come in working very very hard and continue to do so. The cliche is the Asian student, but our observation is that top French students, those who if they were in France would firmly on the Grande Ecole track, are just as focussed, as are others. All night sessons in a first term are not unknown. (Though excessive!)
He will be learning in a new language and a new culture. And Britain is quite different . Its hard enough for British students to adapt to the different self-directed study requirements of tertiary education.

I think he needs to unpick what he wants from a UK degree. I can understand that a child who has been sick simply wants to get back to "normal", but it might help him to see the three years as a chance for a safer route to the same place. It would be awful if he were to squeeze into UCL and then struggle. Far better to be towards the top of the cohort at somewhere where he is more comfortable. He should do what British students routinely do, and drill down into what they really want.

(DD and a good but non-British friend had a conversation involving mutual bafflement, as she explained that though she was predicted top grades she did not want to apply to either Oxbridge or London as she wanted time to play sport and enjoy University life. In part influenced by the fact that DD is dyslexic so cannot predict how difficult she will find the step up. Someone from outside the UK, where Oxbridge is a dream, could not understand why you would not even try to study somewhere with a top internatonal reputation when you had the chance.)

So would he

thrive on a large campus which allowed involvement in societies, sports, drama and music, and allow a level of social catch up for the years he will have missed when ill. Or would he be happier somewhere like London with its large French community.

what does he want from his degree. Without achieved grades, it might suit him to go somewhere wiht a level of flexibility, where he can review where he is after a first year, taking more, or less, rigourous courses, or ones which involve less, or more, writing in English. He might also look at teaching methods, supervision etc. What level of help would there be if he needs it.

Is his aim to get a job after graduating or to go on to a Masters. Either way he should look at the next stage. For, say, economics, it might not matter what University you went to, but it often matters that you have taken sufficient maths. Ditto with employment. Get a good first and a good work placement at Bath and you could be far better off than struggling to scrape a 2.1 at UCL. Or is he a natural intellectual who will thrive if surrounded by very bright students from around the world.

If he thinks it through and acknowledges the questions/concerns Universities might have, his story to them, and indeed his personal statement, should be more convincing. That said I agree with others. The demand for places on top courses is such that good students are being rejected. So it will be a big ask to pursuade a University to take someone unproven. If he is really good, he can always apply for a Masters.