Degree courses - what they ask for vs what they actually accept

[mummymeister]

I am looking for the website that shows what grades Uni's ask for, for a particular course and then what they actually take in terms of the intake. I remember it being mentioned with a link here on MN but cannot find it. Over the past few years with my other DC I heard a lot of " well they were offered ABB and got BBC and were taken" Trying to encourage my DC who took two a levels this year and completes one next year not to jump into retakes until they find out whether the unis they want would actually take them or not. Difficult to give any more information without outing myself. Can anyone help?

In some places, it seems that they consider other things such as entrance exam score, interviews etc.

A few people have got into Oxford this year with less than AAA. I’d bet, more than previous years.

Unconscious bias is weird isn’t it? There is an assumption that OP’s GB athlete DC is a boy, when OP has scrupulously avoided mentioning their child's sex - not sure if it’s because tinstar first used ‘he’ and people have gone with that?

Hingle - yep, unconscious bias. I was thinking of one of DS's friends who has had a chequered academic career due to being a GB athlete as I was writing. Apologies for misleading anyone.

Mature Student here. I was asked for 30 Distinctions and 15 Merits. I got 21 Distinctions, 18 Merits and 6 Passes. RG Uni for Biology. My passes were in the my Physics modules which to be honest went straight over my head. One of my exams was a Merit; I spent the exam puking into a bin. I was absolutely prepared to go to my Insurance Choice but the RG Uni accepted me anyway as all my Biology modules were very high Distinctions.

Re Loughborough - ExBIL was an Olympic Athlete and they took him on despite his CCC A Level grades.

Again thanks everyone. Retaking the two from this year in the summer of 2019 isn't going to happen due to competitions and training. we had always planned that 2018/19 would be a gap year when my DC could breakthrough at senior level in their sport. Currently ranked top 10 in the UK at senior level and top 3 at youth level. DC got a B and a C and was hoping/aiming for 2 B's. very likely on predictions to get A* or A in the one that is being taken at the end of 2019.

It will absolutely be them that calls the Unis to discuss. the plan is to talk to admissions and subject tutor and also to catch the open days this Autumn. The school will be very supportive as they understand not just the sporting pressures this year but also 3 awful events that have hit our family which I cannot go into detail about as it will be very outing. But, suffice to say that they definitely had an impact on all of us.

I take the point that there will be some unis that view the lower grades as being worse because only 2 were taken but 3 were being studied and internal exams were taken in the 3rd subject so its not like my DC was only studying and working on 2, they have always been working on 3. DC had started to try and do the 3rd A level in one year but due to circumstances had to stop doing this in January otherwise all 3 would have been taken this year.

I think we are just going to see how each individual establishment views the situation. some will like the kudos and support DC's sporting ambitions. some will see the sport as a distraction. giving up the sport is definitely not an option, not at this stage anyway.

when we spoke to Uni's mid January when we knew only 2 were going to be sat in 2018, we had nothing but positive comments and support from the admissions officers. I do realise that this wasn't them giving concrete offers but in January I did feel that abandoning the 3rd a level in a year idea was the better option based on the feedback from Uni admissions.

My Dc is not going into a sports related degree. we are still looking at the OU and things like the EPQ etc. The best outcome would be for one of the Unis of choice to offer ABC on a course that would normally be ABB and then DC can work really hard to get that in the 3rd A level. Lots of kids don't fit into the box for lots of different reasons so at the moment I have faith in the flexibility of the system.

Hi Mummymeister,
We looked into this last year. The engineering course dd wanted to do required AAA. I spoke to admissions at dd top 2 picks and they told me their average acceptance grades were BBB. Both unis were happy to give this info.
Knowing that a lot of courses would be in clearing dd took the risk and put both unis down although it was highly unlikely she would get AAA.

Fast forward a year dd got CCC. She was rejected by both choices immediately which gave her an early start in clearing.

On Thursday she wanted to resit
On Friday she got an offer for her preferred course from an ex-poly
On Saturday she got an offer from a red brick
She is under consideration from one of her original 2 unis, so may get an offer.

I think the competition is tough at the very top, but there are plenty of opportunities around.

The offers on the clearing websites at the moment are not the results they are accepting.

Anecdotally I would say her friends who aimed high and got 2 rejections on Thursday have ended up with offers from ‘better’ universities than those who chose a safe second choice with similar grades

Thanks Marshal. its a difficult time especially as DC is away at the moment but positive stories are always good to hear.

UPDATE I just wanted to update this thread to let you know what has happened to my DC. As mentioned above they got a B and C from predicted grades of A and A due to 3 major life events before/ during the exams. DC wrote to a number of universities and also visited on open days to discuss the situation directly with admissions tutors. Also decided to do one A level this year (predicted A based on mocks last week) so having a part gap year to pursue their sport as well as studying. 4 out of 5 unis have all offered places with 2 accepting several grades lower than their published offer. This was because we had a very supportive school who wrote and explained the grades situation and also because my DC made and kept in regular contact with the Uni admissions officers and subject tutors.

So now hoping for an A in the exams this year and then DC can go off to the uni of their choice.

I really wanted to post this update to give hope to anyone else that is in our situation to say that providing your DC puts the time and effort in to speak to Unis that they are a lot more helpful and flexible than we thought they would be. They realise that not everyone fits into the same box and if you talk to them it can only help.

Thanks again to everyone who gave us support and advice when I first posted because it all felt a bit rubbish at that time and now it doesn't.

Ahh that’s lovely to hear. Well done to your DC especially under difficult circumstances. Hope all goes well.

Thats a lovely update. All the best for the forthcoming exam.

What a great update. All the best for your DC

My DS got BBC A Level results last summer. On a gap year now (working) and chanced his arm applying to a good RG uni for a course requiring AAB. Offered a place and delighted 😁

UCAS offer rate calculator

Thanks everyone. I felt a bit hopeless last year when I posted but got some great tips on here and in messages. Filling in UCAS first and second choices today and genuinely DC would be happy to go to either of them - one RG one non-RG but highly rated. The training for DC's sport is also going well so might have the "defer" dilemma - but that's for another day!

Great update.

FINAL UPDATE - my DC got the result they needed for the course at their first choice RG Uni and will be off there in September as well as continuing to train and compete. It was the best possible outcome we could have hoped for. The admissions tutor made contact too and I cannot tell you how incredibly helpful all of the admissions tutors we have dealt with have been. Starting the conversation early and being honest about expectations has really paid off. There is a lot more flexibility and support in the system than I realised. Thanks again everyone for your advice and messages.

Fantastic! As a GB athlete he deserves to have some concessions. I cant imagine how much effort he puts in. Congratulations to your house!

Thank you Serin. It was such a relief to look at the UCAS tracker as we have all been on edge for weeks. I just hope that others in our situation or similar make contact with the admissions officers early and start the dialogue.

I have been steering 20 students in similar situations through clearing this week..... so will every other school in the country

Every school in the country having 20 GB athletes? I don't think so somehow, even in different sports.

Should have read full thread - congratulations!