Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 2, UCAS & offers

[Decorhate]

Here we go!

Gaelforce good luck to your DD. Is it usual for the students to know what's in their UCAS references? It's all so different to how it used to be.

DS''s reference still hasn't been done (taps foot very impatiently) and the Head of Sixth Form seems to be off school this week...

My DS is now playing hide and seek with the woman who has had his PS 'for checking' since Nov 14th...

She has now ignored two plainitve (and irritable ) emails form me , not turned up to an appointment she made with him (if he is to be belived) and not written his reference, to my knowledge.

All of this is pushing back any progress made, so I feel very very frustrated. Could do without this at this time of year.

I haven't gone as far as contacting the head of school yet because he won't do anything

Anybody wanting to see reference, your DC can call UCAS and they will e-mail it to them within a few hours. No charge.

Hi Piggy I do feel your pain because we were/are in a similar position.

Thanks for the tip Monkey2001.

Hi Piggy. Have you considered raising it with the Governors? At my school there is a specific Governor linked to the 6th Form. Technically this is an operational rather than strategic reason but it is affecting the reputation of the school as well as potentially disadvantaging pupils

Piggy have a word with ofsted about your concerns, you cannot be the only parent being blanked.

NewModel Re: ref. I think it really depends on the school & referee.
If you're doing it by the book , the ref sends reference directly to school and it gets sent off without being seen, However, as pps have said, under privacy laws you can request to see it.
My DDs school is a bit of a "toy town" school with quite a few Noddys on the staff. The teacher just handed my DD a copy and I saw it after the UCAS form had been submitted. I'm hoping her strong PS will get her over the line - If the PS is actually read.

Hi Gaelforce I see. DS's school very much does things by the book. In a way it surprises me that UCAS sends them out on request but I guess it's a freedom of information/GDPR issue

Piggy - another one here thinking of School Governors.

I am sort of linked to the governors so wouldn't do that yet.

Today DS has caught up with the woman and she has emailed me (very terse!) so we may be moving (at a snail's pace.). Rtaher annoyingly , it took DH to speak very firmly to DS to egt him to track down the staff member!

I'm horrified at the lack of support some students seem to be getting here. I hope everything is resolved in good time. At DD's 6th form the assistant principal used to sort out all the UCAS stuff. It was part of her job description. She has supported DD even though she left in the summer.

I finally found what I was looking for NicoAndTheNiners. The course DD wants to do at her chosen university has a 4% drop out rate. What is the average?

Lonicera you may want to be slightly wary of drop out rate for Biomed Sciences as some people end up there because they did not get a medicine place, unlike your DD who has actively decided to go that way. Maybe compare with other biomed rather than all courses.

Is snyone’s DC an offer holder for Nottingham Trent? If so have you received an info pack as promised in initial email? DD wants to book offer holder day but has heard nothing else from them and it’s been a few weeks now!

Dd just got an offer from Durham after deciding to put it down last minute. A very quick turnaround!

Thanks Atiao, choirmum and Nico and well done on everyone's offers coming in... I can't keep up.
Looking forward to offer days 🙂

Yes, I realise that quite a few students doing biomed are would be medical students.
I have looked at the three universities that DD applied to, and the drop out rates are 2%, 4% and 5%. Interestingly the 5% one is the university the most highly rated for student satisfaction. It is also the one where post graduates earn the lowest salary.

Her favourite is the 4% university, but their biomed degree offers the most flexibility in terms of specialising in the second year.

The university with the lowest drop out rate is DD's least favourite as it is a campus university, and DD wants to live in a city.

vancleef. Dd also has an offer from Nottingham Trent. I've seen no sign of a pack about an offer holder day. Will double check with her tomorrow.

Yes, agree about checking biomed drop out rates against other biomed courses. Some courses such as nursing are known to have higher drop out rates. Not sure about biomed. Saying that 4% sounds very acceptable to me.

how long did Nottingham Trent take to get back to you Nico?

Dd got her Nottingham Trent offer probably within a week of ucas form being submitted, certainly within two. However I'm sure this will vary widely between courses.

Good to hear no one else has heard anything else from NTU - DDs offer came in exactly a month ago today! I rang admissions office yesterday and got an irritatingly vague response about info but did glean offer holder days are 3rd Feb 23Feb and some further dates in March. I will chase again next week if nothing appears

Thank you Nico and Van, will maybe have to chase up for offer holder days if he gets that far. Gawd this is so stressful.

Hello, can I join? My daughter has just sent her application off. Biology for Southampton, Surrey, EA, Kent and Essex. She is doing a BTEC Extended Diploma, so is worried she will have a lot more to do (eg. Interview)

Re NTU, given the experience of mumsnetters (my spell check wanted to make that murderers!), maybe they only have a very small proportion of their applications in as so many schools were focusing on getting their Oxbridge/Medicine applicants sorted. It could be that they send things out in a batch when they have made a lot more offers.

Well all the offers are in now that Warwick have responded with an AAA offer. DD has had her Cambridge interview this week and will wait until she has the result in January, but has her firm and insurance decided, and would be very happy with either, if Cambridge do not offer a place. Now Christmas!

CharlieandHannah welcome.