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?

Great advice Braiid2. Actually DD has turned down Edinburgh's offer which was next to her insurance. They have no clearing in her course for the moment. If she really misses her ins, I will ask her to ring them up. Edinburgh was the first uni who gave her offer. I hope they don't mind she has rejected them. Argh ...

Good luck to everyone waiting. We've been through this twice.
Just to reiterate the earlier advice, do make sure you have all your module marks to hand, & if you are going for a remark, make sure the school are applying for a priority remark and that the firm and insurance choices know this.
DS was 0.5% away from the A he needed, was rejected by firm & accepted by insurance. We went for the Re-Mark, firm choice agreed to hold place for 10 days pending the decision, insurance also did the same.
The re-Mark came back 12 marks higher on the one physics paper!
More than brought up his grade to that A, & went on to have 4 great years at his 1st choice.
But when he spoke to the uni initially they wanted to know all his module marks in each subject at AS and A2.

Also re the courses in Clearing, remember some students will be looking to trade up via adjustment so unis will be making some courses available for adjustment students at the published grades.

I think it is a week tomorrow thathe universities receive the results

I keep having stress dreams
Everytime I think about it my stomach goes into knots.

Do remind them though that it's a whole new ball game after a level

This is so true. My DC are all at Uni now and ALevels are a distant memory. ... (Thank goodness)

Two of my DC went to the first choice Uni, one to their insurance choose Uni and one did better than expected and went via adjustment to a Uni they hadn't even considered.

I think you need to be prepared for anything.

I think it's worth looking up what happens if you get a changed course offer as when my DS got one he found it a bit confusing. He missed a grade and His firm choice offered him a slightly different course but one that he didn't want so he had to get them to release him so he could go to his insurance choice.

We also found the adjustment process a bit confusing. As did the University my DC contacted on results day. I ended up having to get involved . It was a good RG Uni too - only a 1000'ish students get their places through adjustment each year so it's understandable that admissions staff aren't that familiar with it. You have to make decisions quickly so being a bit familiar with the process helps.

My 4 DC are all at the right university for them and they all love their courses and work hard. You read so many negative things about DC going to Uni but it's been brilliant for my DC.

I'm sort of glad DD has only picked one university, this is just so confusing

My DS's school will publish results online - they have asked students NOT to come to school - assume will these have all the module marks and grade boundaries so we know if we are looking at a remark?

popple I think most schools do it online now but are you sure there will be no-one there to sort things out if plan A doesn't transpire? At my DS school there are loads of staff to sign forms for remarks, advise on clearing possibilities, provide a shoulder to cry on. It's also a bit of a social event so most go in even if they have already got their scores online. It may be worth finding out what the procedure is if you need a priority remark eg who to contact and where to get firms signed etc

Grade boundaries are published online by the exam boards but I don't know how quickly

Popple My school asks students not to come in but there are at least four of us here dealing with just the UCAS side and then three or four people in the exams. office dealing with the data so students and parents can email or phone us. It's better this way as we can focus all of our attention on helping the students -and we can slob around in beach clothes eating biscuits- without getting sidetracked into polite conversations with parents or unnecessary faffing/socialising.

If the students who are having any difficulties then do want to come in after phoning for face-to-face advice then, of course, we let them -and tell them to bring biscuits-. But mostly they're away on holiday anyway, so the phone or email route works best.

Check with your child's school but I'm sure there will be someone at the end of the phoneline or email for you to speak to should UCAS not go as planned.

Popple If in doubt re grade boundaries look on the exam board's website or phone them. Look up the phone number and write it down before the 18th in case the website crashes on the day (or you find yourself without internet access).

Don't think I need to know this year, but what is the difference between remark or priority remark. And did someone mention a clerical check? How much do these cost?

Sadusername A priority remark costs more and is returned more quickly. I've forgotten the exact time-frames, but I expect they're on the exam. board websites, along with the details of a clerical check (I've never heard of one of these, sorry).

School are adamant that we should not turn up on the day but they will be on the phone or can make appt for those that have issues so all fine. Lots of great advice here about getting prepared ahead to a manage the day. Like a PP we are managing a situation where our DS had a very serious accident during exam time and will get between 1~3% extra via special consideration. But not sure if this will get him the grades he needs or if he will have to retake. Not sure how / where he could do this as 2 of 3 subjects were all course work over 2 years (Art, Theatre Studies) so not sure how you would cram these into one year? Also when I did Alevel re-sits decades ago you could sit the paper in Jan which was all the time you needed to bump up a grade or two - now you have to grind on for a year with a June re-sit ...... Which seems a waste of a year. Do any colleges do resit courses where you could just turn up in the Jan or Feb to prepare for the June exam?

Popple So sorry to hear about your son's accident.

Has your school spoken to his firm and insurance choice universities about the situation?

They should complete a "special dispensation" form with the university AS WELL AS your son's extra 1-3% from the exam. board. They should ring the two unis. as well as submitting the forms (should be available on each uni's website but ring Admissions if unsure. As far as I know the school has to do it not the student).

Wow lockedout -- I did not know about that process. School didnt mention it - but I did email the depts at firm and ins uni to let them know as he has also been thru major surgery and we were not sure if he will be able to make uni this year - so we might need to defer (and resit....aaagh). They both said to call them on the day when we knew the lay of the land around results and his health. We are thinking now about encouraging him to have a year out even if the results are fine as due to his surgery he will be quite restricted to what he can do physically if he goes to uni in Sept and he has had the most miserable few months (in hosp and now housebound) missing out on all his sumer plans.

Poppledopple
Definitely call his first choice uni (then, if necessary, his insurance) on results day. Have the numbers ready and if possible the name / direct line of the person you spoke to before plus any records of your previous telephone conversations, e.g. the date you spoke on. As well as your son's UCAS reference, of course. I'd also have medical documents on hand to email to them (or possibly fax).

Even if your son does wish to take a year out, then it is worth speaking to the unis. on results day as, given the circumstances, they may be happy to offer him a deferred place (and then he won't have the pressure of re-sits next year while he recovers, even if he does end up choosing to re-sit something or take any exams.) However, you may need a doctor's recommendation in order for the uni. to agree to defer the place.

Does this link work? (Sorry, my laptop's temperamental, like its user). If so, it's an example of the form used by Exeter Uni. In this particular case, they can only guarantee to take into accounting the special circumstances if the form's received before results day (before the results are released to students, not to the university).

Thank you Locked out - that link is really helpful and important. I will make contact with his firm and ins to see if they do something similar - I hadnt considered that we might need Dr support to defer....I will need to get this organised as well and track down his referee.......

Good luck Popple and I hope your DS is on the mend

Still very relaxed in this house. It can't last

Poor DS popple I hope he is recovering well.
DD is counting down the days and starting to panic, she thinks she mucked up her ICT and therefore won't get her grades.

Just found this thread. Is it going to be the results day thread now, rather than the Y13 one in secondary? Or will we have a whole new thread? Might link over to it from there.

DS1 is staring to get nervous. He has his heart set on his firm (Warwick) which is rather apirational and has gone off his insurance (Exeter) as he's not sure if he'll be able to afford the accommodation. He'll get his STEP results after midnight so will have a good idea at that point if he's got enough for Warwick. I can see sleep being tricky that night.

Been trying not to think about results day, but with just over a week to go it's becoming hard to ignore.

I'm on DC3 - DS x2 at uni. DD suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. She had horrendous trouble sleeping in the run up to and during exams. All has been calm since mid June. Sleeping well, no panic attacks - now it's all resurfacing again, 3 guesses why?! Keep telling her it really isn't the end of the world if she doesn't get the required grades. There are many different paths in life.

Secretly really hoping she gets in though! Good luck everyone.

DD is away so I have no idea how stressed she really is.
Constant bad jokes about clearing but I'm pretty sure she'll hit her grades.

Interestingly one of her friends has applied to a uni where their parent is the senior admissions number cruncher.
So the parent will know the child's results on the Monday .... but can say nothing till Thursday. .....

DDs college do not let them go and collect - there are far too many of them : Winchester would grind to a halt. So its email at 7:30 for us next week.

And the the week after collecting GCSEs

Gosh, TalkinPeace. I'm not sure I would be able to keep my mouth shut!! I suppose it would give you the heads up on preparing for clearing.