A level Results - 18 days - anxiety rising....anyone else??

[Poppledopple]

Maybe because it is August tomorrow - but seems to have come round quickly. Had a nice break not thinking about anything since last exam and after full on year choosing, applying, getting rejected, getting offers etc....

Might as well switch off and try and get distracted for the next 18 days....as either way it will be v busy few days/weeks after results to get started on next phase of his life.

PFB -- any old hands out there want to give me a slap?

While it's useful to think about Clearing ahead of time please remember that there will be many changes to the list of courses available in Clearing by Thursday morning. The Universities received the results last night - but won't have a clear picture of exactly how many vacancies they have till Tuesday or Wednesday. So their Ucas lists will be updated by first thing on Thursday.

Even quite prestigious universities will be in Clearing this year, as removal of the student number control means that they may be happy to pick up a few more students on some courses.

Good luck to all those waiting for results.

popple - absolutely they can shop around, collect offers and then jave some time to sit and consider them before deciding which to accept. You accept by adding that clearing choice onto UCAS track and the University match up that application with their own systems at the other end. Adding a clearing choice on track doesn't open until 3pm .... precisely to avoid students making a snap decision and accepting the first offer they get.

Also yes its absolutely correct that preparation is good .... but the picture will change as to who and what is in clearing on Thursday morning and throughout the day on Thursday too.

Getting more complex by the minute - so much shifting sands - is it likely then that more opportunities could come on stream in the coming days/week if applicants hold multiple verbal clearing offers from the Thurs am but can obviously only accept/match one on track....

Is it all done and dusted by the Friday - or does it rumble on....would a uni come back and make an offer later if they hadnt taken you in clearing (if you were borderline?)

popple he has already decided he doesn't want to go to other places that made him offers (which all bar one required the same grades as his firm anyway so may not be any more amenable to missed grades than his firm) more fundamentally he can't handle the uncertainty about type of /location of accommodation. At his firm he knows the building and type of room he will be in if accepted. Through clearing it will be way less certain and that just is not acceptable to him.

I hope DD gets sorted out early if she is in clearing .....as she is planning on going to V-Fest early the next morning!
Having a lovely ....might as well enjoy the calm before the possible Storm

this is all a bit close for comfort - I veer from being wildly confident that she has the required grades to a huge, cold sweated panic that she is nowhere near.

From what I've heard from friends in admissions at the Universities, they get the results on Monday fist thing.
They do not have them yet.

No idea how long universities carry on making offers, but from my experience of helping out on my employer's phones on results day places go very quickly indeed. The highest-ranked universities will probably mostly be out of clearing by the end of Thursday.

Don't forget about Adjustment. I know most of you are worried about your children not getting the grades they need, but sometimes the surprises are the other way round. If an applicant gets far better grades than they expected and exceed the conditions of their offer, they can trade up to a course with higher requirements, if it still has places. The higher the grades, the more likely it is that the university will find them a place.

And finally, to get a good result from Clearing, the applicant really does have to prepared before the day and quite, quite sure about whether they would want to accept the Clearing place if offered. Is it the right course for them? Is it the right place? There isn't really time to think about it at length on Thursday, far less to go and visit. For many applicants, it really would be better to take a gap year or change plans altogether.

Good luck!

TinP, it's been confirmed on this thread that the universities do already have the results. That doesn't mean that they've done anything much with them yet, though.

The results are available to be downloaded from UCAS now. Some institutions will download them straight away in between Olympic events by someone working from home others will wait till early Monday. The results are then imported into record systems for admissions folk to view and go through.

I know that I am being obsessive here on detail but after looking through websites for clearing different unis are opening their phone lines at different times - so come are doing 7am-7pm on Thurs and some are doing 8am-8pm.....and PP above said that they were opening at 6.30am

Looks like it will be a long day.

What I am not finding at the moment is what are the lowest grades they will accept - maybe they dont want to publish them and will only reveal on a phone call - so that they are not swamped by calls?

Also if you in the position of "no decision made" - do you call the actual dept to chase or the central uni clearing hotline?

Universities definitely have the results. The next few days are fairly manic in the run up to release on Thursday: they aim to have a very clear picture of what is available for Clearing but of course this changes as students accept and reject offers.

Then it is full scale mental til term starts.

Four big sleeps....

popple - all universities have their own ways of doing things Im afraid. We have a seperate phone line for clearing applica ts to those already holding an offer with us.

Also ... we are very open about lowest grades we will accept. They will be on the website and will change throughout the day
The applicants and call handlers see and work from exactly the same website. Not all universities are as clear.

wow - origin more brilliant info.....cant keep up!

I didn't know whether to be impressed or aghast with my friend who didn't know it was results day on Thursday until I told her! She is very, erm, hands-off.

I feel extra sorry for the children of admissions staff
their parents know
but can say nothing
they are eating their fingers off
in the case I know, hugs all round

coco
I know for a fact that parent has not (yet)
moral strength and all that !!!!

The adjustment process is different to clearing. My DD was given incorrect information by Uni admissions staff last year. They were very pleasant but they didn't understand the adjustment process. Luckily, I had researched it and was able to step in. I know it's the Mumsnt crime of the century for parents to get involved with their kids Uni applications but DD was asking for my help.

Adjustment applications can be processed immediately on track by the University unlike clearing applications. DDs 'upgraded' place ended up being confirmed on track by lunch time on results day ahead of any clearing applicants. (One advantage this gave her was that she ended up top of the list for accommodation.)

Only just seen this thread, we've just come back from our holiday today as DD didn't want to be abroad when her results came out.

She's very dispondant about her results and is sure that she won't get the grades she requires, she did work really hard and was very focused during her A levels, so hopefully it's just a confidence blip! It's reassuring to hear that other DC's are feeling the same.

Good luck to all the DC's on Thursday and to all us parents.

Out for lunch today and DD has admitted shes not sure if shes ready for University . This has been brought up before but I think she thought we would be cross if she got a place and turned it down (we absolutely wouldn't). Ive told her to wait until thursday and maybe the decision will be made for her.

Coco - might be just temporary jitters? But if she has said it before - has she said why she feels this way - and what she would do with her year out?

If she gets her place on Thurs she could ask if it is possible to defer.....looks like you just need to contact uni with a sensible reason (need to earn some cash, want to do xyz - possibly related to course, travel etc) - then the ball is their court - they might say yes. If they say No and she has the grades she could re apply when UCAS opens and have an unconditional offer in place early on. My DS has just realised that he will have to defer for medical reasons but he is really excited about the wide range of different opportunities will have. Not sure if you have seen this thread running - but lots of good advice....

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/2702881-Is-it-ever-a-BAD-idea-to-have-a-gap-year

She still wants to go to college.

Coco -- Will she be living at home if she goes to uni? if so why does she not want to go - does she not like the course? anxious about it academically or socially?

If she does diff A levels at college will she then apply for different/better uni or course?