Second gap year - a mistake?

[AB89]

Family friend didn’t get into any of her universities of preference last year because she got a B in the subject she wanted to. She paid for remarks, but they didn’t go up sufficiently despite teachers reading the papers and believing that they didn’t deserve the marks they achieved. 7 different teachers, 3 from her school and 4 from other schools, have all said they believed the marking on the first paper (graded at a D), to be categorically wrong - not following criteria. However the next stage was a £130 appeal, and her family was going through a legal issue at the time and too proud to ask for financial assistance from friends, so none of us knew this was an option.

The girl reapplied this year as she has to retake the A level and take a gap year, and got rejected from her two universities of preference (her firm and insurance last year). She now has a place on a joint honours course at her third choice university, which she has firmed, but is now considering another gap year to try again for either the original course at her third choice, or her firm/insurance universities.

Does anyone have experience of a second gap year? Would it challenge her socially (being 20 when lots of others are 18)? Is it worth it to get on the original course/University? She is very much torn.

A second gap year would be perfectly ok. I dont think the age difference would make any odds either.

Obviously it would be best if she spent the year doing something worthwhile. If she knows what sort of career she wishes to pursue it would be good if she could get work experience in something relevant.

This graph is a few years out of date but I’m sure you could find something similar that’s more up to date if you wish. It shows that although most students begin uni at 18/19 plenty start hen they are older

Here is the graph. You can see the website info at the top.

I don't think it's the gap year that's the problem but the likelihood that she'll still be turned down again by the other universities. Good universities will want all the grades to be achieved at the same time so resitting one won't help her get in. The school should know this. Is she discussing her plans with them? They are best placed to advise.

Hedda she’s contacted the third choice university who said they don’t discriminate against resits. The school is thinking about contacting the first universities to explain the situation and finding a way to attach it to the application - obviously the issue is that it wasn’t her fault she didn’t make the grades in one year, so she’s struggling to accept that she’s being forced to settle due to something out of her control. They had something like 250 characters to do it in this time round, so obviously they just had to say “her marks didn’t make sense we swear” - which wasn’t that convincing!!

She already has a place at the third uni for this year so whether they discriminate against resits is irrelevant. It's whether she stands any sort of chance of getting into the first two which makes a resit worth doing.

The school is "thinking about". Sounds like a fob off to me.

I wonder whether she needs a conversation with the admissions staff at her first two choices to hear from the horse's mouth whether she has any chance with them. If it's a no, at least then she'll know and won't waste another year on a pointless resit.

The place she has this year is for a joint honours. She wanted to do the single honours but didn’t apply because she’d already applied to two risky choices (her firm + insurance) and as it’s a competitive course knew she’d get rejected. However if she achieves the A she should have got first time round, she’ll be in a strong position to apply for the course next year - rather than just having an A prediction and the words of a few examiners. The school have discussed trying to send the A level paper to the universities in question, so they can see for themselves that they was marked incorrectly.

When applying for this cycle she contacted all the universities she applied to. The firm and insurance said that while it weakened her application she still had a chance - it all depended on competition. One of them she very nearly got into despite the B in the subject she wanted to study, and the other offered her an alternative course. That’s why she bothered to try again this year.

She has to do the resit regardless - she’s taking the exam in June. Then she might have a second gap year, continuing to work in her well paid job and save for uni as well as reapplying.

The school is definitely not half hearted - they’re very angry on her behalf and are going through a formal ofqual complaint. It’s just an incredibly slow process.

Can't she decide when results come in ? If they are better than she needs she could look at adjustment in case the single honours are listed. However continually hoping they might change their minds next time round seems a little fanciful. Are there no other single honours courses elsewhere she would consider? The risk with taking time out is that motivation, discipline and study skills can lapse. What subject is it?

Wait till she has her result. Then if her grade is high enough phone her firm up and ask if they will take her onto the single honours. Even if they're not advertising adjustment places they should be fairly favourable given that she's already firmed them.

The subject is English Literature, the third choice uni is Durham. The joint honours course is English with Education. She’s not sure how easy it is to transfer as the joint honours degree is hosted by the Education department, and single honours English is unlikely to be available through adjustment.

Op, my DS is in the second year at a RG uni.

One of his female housemates, that started at the same time as him, had an initial gap year, worked and travelled, met her boyfriend travelling, had another gap year and started uni at almost 21, on a foundation course.

So she is now in the first year proper (some type of biomed science) and is 22. Considering my son is almost 2 yrs younger, he gets on with her fine!

So it does happen. One of the other housemates is a year older than my son, not sure about the third, but a lot of his uni friends in general are a year older than him.

As for whether unis accept resits, we know a girl now in her 3rd year doing vet studies at RVC who got in after resiting Chemistry. A very competitive course at probably the most competitive place for Veterinary, but she got in after a resit of the key subject they look for!

Age of students at Uni is irrelevant, because some people start later or do courses in subjects that take longer to complete like medicine, architect, vet. What career does she want to do ? As a person who graduated and works with people with or without degrees, I've never had anyone say going to a particular university helped them. To apply for job, you need to produce your certificate. I expect someone who went to Eton or Cambridge/Oxford, it may open more career doors ? So Durham seems acceptable

She’s not really sure/bothered about a career - she just loves English Literature.

Her original firm was Cambridge (she got into the college she applied to). This year, applying with AAB (the B in english lit) and a note explaining that her papers were marked wrong, she was “pooled” but not “fished” from the pool. Her feedback said they felt she was suited to the course but she missed out as their college’s average accepted applicant had 3As at A level and 9As at GCSE. She only took 8 GCSEs!

Her insurance was UCL, and she was offered a place on the comparative literature course instead after an interview which she knows went horrifically.

I don’t think it’s about career for her - I think it’s about not getting into her preferred universities/onto her preferred course through no fault of her own.

I have to say that if remarks did not lift her grades then no amount of 'we think the grade was wrong' from her school is going to wash with universities, especially Oxbridge.

I have to say that if remarks did not lift her grades then no amount of 'we think the grade was wrong' from her school is going to wash with universities, especially Oxbridge.*

Ofqual are investigating - 7 teachers, 3 from her school and 4 from other schools (all examiners themselves), have all written a letter outlining why the grade awarded was unjust (referring to the assessment objectives and all advice given by OCR regarding marking). Two of the pages were actually marked as blank and appeared unmarked both in the original and remark scripts, when they had writing on! One of her friends had the same issue (no change in remark) but could afford the appeal, and her paper went up 9 marks post appeal.

Something has messed up along the lines and clearly it didn’t totally ruin her chances else they wouldn’t have interviewed and pooled her...

Many universities are explicit about not accepting re-takes of A-levels accept when there are extenuating circumstances.

Yes, which is why she contacted the universities in question!

Firm + insurance both said it would weaken but not eliminate her application.

3rd, 5th, and 6th choices said they didn’t discriminate in anyway (and she got offers from them - requiring As in English Lit).

4th choice said they wouldn’t consider any application with retakes, so she didn’t (and wouldn’t) reapply.

It’s common to swirl into a vacuum after failing to be selected at oxbridge. It’s the gamble you take applying because many very able students are rejected.

I think she’s struggling because she got the offer first time round, and applied to that year’s most oversubscribed college for English as well. She also loved UCL and considered firming it over Cambridge, so she’s struggling to accept that she can’t go to either due to someone else’s mess up.

Oxbridge will not accept re-sits of A-levels (again extenuating, documented circumstances excepted)

College admissions tutors will not start reading failed applicants a-level exam scripts.

Sorry to hear about your friends' difficulties- it must be very distressing for the family to have such uncertainty,
It may be possible to wait until the first week of term and approach the University directly and ask if the student can have the place of someone who did not attend/ dropped out of her preferred course. I did this a few years back- I telephoned the course leaders directly and asked to come in that afternoon for an interview- and was accepted- though the University still required my UCAS number so they could process my application correctly.
Not sure how this would work with a joint honours, especially as you indicate the funding is different

Oxbridge will not accept re-sits of A-levels (again extenuating, documented circumstances excepted)

She was interviewed. She was pooled. I don’t think you’re reporting totally accurate information here, otherwise they wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of interviewing/pooling her.

College admissions tutors will not start reading failed applicants a-level exam scripts.

Her school has emailed two colleges to ask about this so they’ll find out directly from the horse’s mouth!