Making a case for contextual offers - serious health issues

[shockthemonkey]

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.

bojo as I say above there is a clear legal process and "fit to study" should only happen after considering whether a candidate is worthy of a place based not just on achieved academic merit but on their academic potential. BBB is not exactly short of academic merit in the circumstances, especially when they have achieved much better when not faced with the challenges of hospitalisation, but there are also school references and evidence of outstanding determination. Only then should the university determine whether they're are sufficient grounds to judge an applicant unfit to study and within the exceptional exemptions to the legislation that I have already highlighted. I am not being aggressive but I am highlighting that you appeared to be commenting without manifesting the benefit of experience or knowledge of the issues.

Sorry, I thought the dodgy wifi and being the odd continent or two away had swallowed my first comment

Crammer? Or a foundation year?

Is he trying for straight Economics? Unfortunately whatever his potential he will not be able to show by January next year that he is at a sufficient mathematical level to cope with a maths based economics course such as Warwick.
I would also suggest that one of his choices should be a foundation year, similar to the Warwick one. Despite the competitiveness of the top Scottish universities they may be worth a go due to the four year structure.
He should also be persuaded to consider as another of his five choices a more realistic university that he chooses rather than the choice be forced on him through clearing. He can then aim for a competitive Masters. I assume that he also has plan B to complete his degree in France and then move

He sounds as though he has the will and potential to eventually achieve but needs to decide whether he really wants the UK as an undergraduate or is happy to aim high with the risk of likely rejection because plan B is also fine.

Well he has proven he can get the grades when circumstances were not against him.

He hasn't, as the top university courses mentioned would be looking for much higher scores than 15.5/20.

I suspect the system will not tbe kind to him.
Also has he any exams ever where he did very well? Eg if someone was very ill during GCSE but got 4 A at AS level or messed up AS due to illness but got 11 A GCSE that would show that that person was very bright but just had a bad year. Instead this young person seems to have had so much illness that he cannot easily prove very high grades.

Translated into A level language, this candidate got BBB and is applying for courses which turn away candidates with four A star predictions and which absolutely require a minimum of A in A level maths. The latter requirement is almost never dropped, even for contextual offers, as lower A level maths performances correlates strongly with failure.

From OP's message, the only evidence he currently has that he could work at higher levels is that he was achieving roughly AAA equivalent scores in school. He would need to show that he is capable of significantly higher levels than this to be in with a chance. His maths score in the Bac will also be relevant, as maths heavy top Economics courses expect incoming students to be natural mathematicians, who pick up maths very easily indeed. They would usually expect scores of 17+; for top mathematicians missing classes for maths would be expected to have less effect on the score so a score of 13/14 would suggest that he does not have the required potential in maths.

Taking students who can't keep up with the course would be very unfair to them.

Thank you so much, everyone, and sorry I have been away.

Some incredibly interesting and helpful ideas and info.

I will be back with more info soon, if you're interested... I am quite certain he will be able to keep with the course as he is doing well in his first year at the Sorbonne and is very motivated. He is extremely pleasant and engaging and I do hope he gets his wish... I will have to look very very carefully at the mix of unis we put in his first five on UCAS as it would be devastating to need to use Extra only to find that none of the recruiting unis participated. That said, a student of ours got a place at Durham on a popular course when she applied four months after the deadline -- she wast just terribly lucky I suppose.

Thanks again

I'd call around some of the Uni's.

One of my DC had an 'unusual' educational history as we had moved about a lot as expats and we found calling the Universities direct was useful. Some were extremely helpful and happy to give written assurances that they didn't mind his background and his lack of any achieved exam grades He was applying for medicine so it was competitive.

Of course, there were others that were equally unhelpful.

Although it's thoroughly disapproved of by a lot of Mumsnetters I found that people were just as helpful if I called as they were if my DS called.

Oh, I should have said that the student is not necessarily going to study straight economics. He is actually leaning towards Business/Management or something related to geo-politics (eg IR or development).

I am working on that part with him!

Thank you all so much for your comments and your kind sentiments - yes he does deserve a break after what he's been through, and this year's results at the Sorbonne look pretty good (not amazing I don't think... I am waiting for his bulletins).

He is doing initial approach via email but I have encouraged him to call. I agree you get a much better sense for where you stand (as long as you get to talk to someone who can answer your questions which is not always the case).

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

1. 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.
2. 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:

1. He may not have the background knowledge normally expected for a course, so will also have some catch up.
2. 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!)
3. 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

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.