How long for the school to turn around UCAS application?

[cathyandclare]

Just wondering how long is reasonable for the school to get together references etc?

DD applied last year but there was an admin error on her form ( put down GCE instead of GCSE) which meant she got flat computer rejections due to not having GCSE English!! Frustrating that a gazillion people checked it, but ultimately her fault so she's dogma gap year and reapplying but it is taking a looong time for her tutor to do the reference, despite doing one last year, and after that it gies to another person who is also very slow. It took 6-7 weeks last time.

What's a reasonable time do you think?
I know it shouldn't be relevant but it's a public school.

Doing a gap year
Clearly the lack of attention to detail is a family trait!!

If she's on a gap year, maybe she could call them and ask for an expected time (and to make sure she is in their system).

Depends on the school, how many pupils in sixth form, how many staff dealing with UCAS, how well the teachers know your daughter...etc etc.
Suggest she phones school and makes and appointment to go in and see the relevant teachers and remind them she exists.

It was a boarding school so 20 in a year in the house, with the housemistress writing the reference and obviously knowing her extremely well. She wrote a reference last year so had all the teacher feedback and now has her grades too. I suppose I was hoping for a ballpark...it's usually done within a month, or whatever.

DD1 went to a local school, that was much bigger and appeared less organised but they did it all within a week but she was Oxbridge so maybe they prioritised her.

DD2 has been chasing , they know she's waiting. I suppose I'm worried that we trusted that all would be well last time and weren't too helicopter-y (beyond supporting with checking her ps) and there were problems, so we're not sure if we should be chasing as well.

I’m not surprised you’re worried after that experience! Your poor DD!

That has just given me the fear - I didn’t check my DD’s application apart from her personal statement.

I can only give you anecdotal evidence based on our experience this year, but DD’s school have taken 1-2 weeks so far between student submitting and school submitting. That’s for mostly Oxbridge/meds/vets though so far.
The deadline for everyone else not in those categories is after half term, so perhaps your DD’s school is waiting until then as well.

I hope your DD is enjoying her gap year so far and hasn’t been too upset by the experience.

It really does vary wildly from school to school. Where I work we would have it done within a fortnight and it would only take that long if the student hadn't told us they were about to submit a week in advance as we would have to go round all the staff to get their comments at that point. Other schools will have different systems and more or less efficient staff members so it is really impossible for us to tell you what to expect from her school. I suggest as Pp said, that you should get her to contac the school and ask them. She could even subtly remind them of the error that slipped through last year "I'm sorry to bother you but as you can imagine I'm very anxious after the stress of all those rejections last year..." If you don't get the response you would like I would then suggest speaking to them yourself. To my mind it's not good enough to keep people waiting over a month but there are no rules laid out nationally that I'm aware of so I think you can only approach them and be stern! Good luck.

Six to seven weeks is batty. If the housemistress only has twenty kids to write references for then it's many many times more batty even than ordinarily batty. I'd definitely contact them.

Thanks everyone, DD has chased and reference is being completed this evening.

He'smylobster I didn't check that bit either, was too busy scanning the ps for missed/extra apostrophes! She did get a good offer in the end but still decided to take a gap year. I think it's worked out better, she's decided to change course, she's grown up a lot, is working hard and is also auditioning for drama schools. So, if she can just get an her form in and a place, I will actually be able to relax and breathe again!

The chasing definitely worked, it's gone in 2.5 weeks. Just hope there are no mistakes this time, EVERYONE has checked and checked. It's so easy to see what you expect though, isn't it? With DD1's PS, it was reviewed by 3 heads of English, her personal tutor, 3 school admissions people, DH who's a grammar nazi and me and we all missed the absent apostrophe in The Handmaid's Tale until the very last minute.