Applying for Uni 2019 Part 5: UCAS, offers and exam season looming

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

New thread started. Here's the previous one

I thought the grade boundary for As was in the region of 80% of Humanities subjects?

Its defo 194 out of 300 for an A

English lit is 285 out of 375 apparently

for rather than of...

What subject is 194/300 for Fazackerley?

Ds has got full marks for his lit coursework so we've done the maths on what he needs for Astar, A and B. It's really helped with his nerves.

Well done to everyone's coursework success so far. Onwards and upwards.

Minimum maintenance is definitely lower than most accommodation. But from reading up and hearing other comments here I think it’s roughly ok for all other expenses combined.

I.e - if you pay for accommodation, the loan should cover everything else

That’s the general approach I’m taking which helps keep it relatively straightforward and easier to calculate. And then depending on which accommodation my son is looking at we can negotiate. Eg if he wants en-suite he can pay the difference vs shared

Danglingmod thats what im tryong to work out. I THINK she needs to get 56% in each exam to get an A

Bath accommodation applied for. A lot of it is really really expensive

Aqa? Yep, so for ds, for an A (if the full marks stands), he needs 210, which halved and halved again (there's a x2 weighting for the exams) means 52.5/75 on each exam, so about 18/25 on each question.

So if she needs 190 do i minus her 84 = 106 divided by 2 = 53 marks out of 105 so thats about 56%

Which subject and board?

But, yes, your maths is right. That's a lower percentage than for English lit.

You can’t really work % out based on last year’s figures because the figure for an A changes each year. If they have a question everyone does really badly on, the threshold mark for an A will go down. I was focussing this with Dd as she thought one of her subjects was really low but it was the first year is was examined so we thought the figures would be lower than ‘normal’ (teachers’ lack of familiarity of subject, lack of materials). Actually I hope this last bit is true for another of her subjects as she’s the first year to do it and it’s been a bit of a mare.

Discussing not focusing (post above)

Absolutely, Zanda. We've rounded up in all cases, assuming grade boundaries will be higher. However, my ds doesn't need certain grades, he just wants to do his best, do it's reassuring rather than pressurising to know rough marks for each grade.

Speaking exams done, seemed to go well. Fingers crossed. Not sure having it partway through a school day between practice exams in other subjects was ideal really.

Dangling slightly envious of the lack of grade need!
Well done LIZS Dd/Ds.
My Dd doesn’t get study leave until after her first 2 exams. ‘Helpfully’ they are allowed the morning off if they have an exam in the afternoon!

DD is at boarding school - no study leave at all! I suppose that should be pretty obvious but it just seems weird after her older brothers who were both at local schools so got their study leave, in for exams, then school over.

But for DD after the exams it’s straight into Play rehearsals so she doesn’t break up any earlier either

Fazackerley Ds has just done his accommodation application too. He is tall & will struggle to sleep well in a single bed so have had to put down some of the expensive options...

Oh man - should we do accommodation applications before exams start (in a couple of weeks)? Or is it ok to wait until afterwards?

What uni klaw??

Or is it ok to wait until afterwards?

Check what the arrangements are for the specific university - date by which your DC has to have applied in order to be covered by the accommodation guarantee, is the accommodation booked 'live' (you book a specific room now, not enter preferences and the university allocates at some point using an algorithm etc)? 'Live' booking inevitably means that the earlier you book, the more choice you have, other methods are more like e.g. applying for state school places, iyswim.

@piggywaspushed Warwick (first choice) or Southampton (insurance)

You need to check your DD's inbox/ post (or obviously check that she has!!). Most uni accommodation opened for booking ages ago and , as marching points out some operate first come first served bun fights The only outlier I was aware of is UEA which opened very recently for booking.

Both Southampton and Warwick say to apply by 31 July/1 August- so I hink they don’t allocate until after those dates, btu they don’t say so explicitly