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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

urgent advice about grades lower than offer

30 replies

whichuni · 01/05/2019 14:20

My son has an to do Bsc Economics offer from Bristol A* AA including an A in Maths and from Leeeds AAA - no specific subject requirements. Doing A levels in Maths, History and Economics.
He really wanted Bristol as his firm choice but we now know he is highly unlikely to get the A in maths. He is also not confident of getting an A* in one of his other subjects as predicted - although it is still quit possible that he could.
He feels he should not do Bristol as his first choice as although they may consder narrow misses he might miss the offer on more than one count. of course with a B in Maths he would also have missed his offer - but not potentially by as much- also they don't hav the A in Maths requirement.
The official line from Unis is that they may welll still accept you if you narrowly miss the grade. But are bristol likely to condside the worst case scenario of AAB to be a narrow miss? I know it would qualify as a narrow miss for Leeds but of course there is still no guarantee of getting in.
I know none of you can predic what would happen - but would be intested in hearing from anyone with similar experiences - particularly at bristol or Leeds

OP posts:

Original poster

whichuni · 01/05/2019 14:22

second line of the last pararaph should have read with a B in Maths he'd also have missed his offer at Leeds

OP posts:

ZandathePanda · 01/05/2019 15:35

university.which.co.uk/university-of-bristol-b78/courses/economics-bsc-hons-2019-075ad86d531b

Looks like they may take people with AAB but it will depend what everyone else gets or doesn’t on the day.

titchy · 01/05/2019 15:57

That's their contextual offer zanda. In all honesty I wouldn't have thought Bristol would drop two grades - one possibly, but not two.

But has he already firmed and insured? In which case there's not a lot he can do except revise revise revise. If he hasn't made his decision yet, the deadline was yesterday if he has had his offers for a few weeks.....

titchy · 01/05/2019 15:57

Or is the deadline 5pm today....? In which case I'd advise Leeds as firm.

HarryTheSteppenwolf · 01/05/2019 16:06

I don't think anyone can answer this, as it will depend what grades are gained by everyone else who is holding a conditional offer.

If his worry is that Leeds might take him with AAB if he makes them firm but not if he makes them insurance: it's possible, but it's also possible that they'll fill all their places with people with AAA anyway. I would guess it's more likely that Leeds would take someone 1 grade off an insurance offer than that Bristol would take someone 2 grades off a firm offer, but it all depends on what's in front of them on results day. I'm afraid this is the nature of a system based on conditional offers.

If he firms an AAA offer and then gets AAA he can, in theory, apply through UCAS Adjustment for a place on a course with AAA requirements, but this depends on their having places available (and on his being able to get them to answer the phone). He would also have limited choice of accommodation at that stage.

OKBobble · 01/05/2019 16:14

I would go with the higher offer as firm and the lower as insirance. My DSS had an AAB offer as firm and BBB as insurance. He got into his insurance on a BBD.

There is always adjustment or clearing to look at once his grades are in if he fails to get either offer.

Original poster

whichuni · 01/05/2019 16:48

Thank you for all your advice. Our deadline is slightly later as he had a late offer. We are trying to decide whether to put Bristol or Leeds as firm - he has other offers in hand for insurance.

OP posts:

ifonly4 · 01/05/2019 17:00

As you know they can chose a firm and insurance. If it's down to the two mentioned, then makes sense to have a shot at his firm, with Leeds as his back up. Not sure if its Bsc, but I do know someone who had an offer from Bristol for Economics, ABB!

Xenia · 01/05/2019 17:19

I don't think Bristol would go that low (AAB rather than A*AA) for economics which is very popular and very competitive unless he is eligible for a contextual offer.

However he might do better than he thinks and even if he doesn't he will have his back up choice so why not put Bristol first and have Leeds as back up (unless he feels no way will he get even the Leeds grades - may be you can check if Leeds went into clearing for economics last year). (I have twins at Bristol by the way who love it so I would definitely recommend it if he thinks he is in with a chance).

Decorhate · 01/05/2019 17:37

Yes if Leeds is his second favourite why not put that as his insurance? What are the other offers he was going to put as insurance? I think the days of having to put a much lower offer as insurance are past. If he misses both he could probably get something through clearing?

I don’t have any experience of Bristol or Economics. However my dd had Leeds as her insurance & although they said on their website that they would not accept her combination of achieved grades, they did on the day.

Danglingmod · 01/05/2019 20:27

I agree he should put his actual favourites down in order even if the grades seem unattainable at the moment. If the worst case is he drops grades and neither still take him, then he's down into clearing but this year even mid to above mid Unis will probably be in clearing anyway (numbers).

Wintersnowdrop · 01/05/2019 20:30

My friend’s ds got into Bristol last year with ABC when offer had been AAA.

BubblesBuddy · 01/05/2019 21:13

For Economics, Wintersnowdrop? Even the contextual offer at Bristol requires an A in maths. So a B in Maths might be the deal breaker. They wouldn’t take a C in anything for Economics one would have thought and certainly not in maths. For MFL they can be a lot more flexible. I don’t think they need to be for Economics though.

Leeds appears to be more flexible regarding the maths. Would he not be more comfortable, academically, at Leeds? He would, presumably, struggle a bit at Bristol if he creeps in with a B?

Fazackerley · 02/05/2019 07:25

I don't think Bristol would go that low (AAB rather than AAA) for economics which is very popular and very competitive unless he is eligible for a contextual offer.*

They will take him unless they have someone better. They won't not fill the place.

Fazackerley · 02/05/2019 07:26

I know a girl at Bristol reading Spanish who got in with BBC.

Fazackerley · 02/05/2019 07:27

I do realise how irrelevant that is! Sorry it just popped into my head

Needmoresleep · 02/05/2019 08:15

Economics courses vary in how mathematical they are. The Bristol on is more mathematical than many. And compulsory maths courses often come in the first or second year. If you are not comfortable with maths, and here it is statistics, the first year could be hell on earth.

Plus whilst Bristol might accept dropped grades in other subjects, I doubt they would in maths, as it would be unfair on the student.

I would look carefully at the course and the scope there is to choose less mathematical options. If he is struggling at A level, he may be better off elsewhere.

I think MFL is very different. From what I hear dropped grades are common. Economics in contrast tends to be quite selective.

BubblesBuddy · 02/05/2019 08:40

As I said, Fazackerley, MFL do accept dropped grades as there are nowhere near enough well qualified students to go round. MFL isn’t Economics.

Xenia · 02/05/2019 10:09

Yes, it was the economics course reason I made my comment. no a different course ( BSc) my son got his AAA offer and is there now and enjoying it. No A in that offer and he didn't get an A. It is just economics there does need maths and if you ave not too good at it you might struggle with it. However I stand by what I said - have a go, work hard at the maths A level, put Bristol first and have Leeds second and leave it to clearing if you don't get either.

Malbecfan · 02/05/2019 10:50

I'm going a bit against the grain here. DD1's friend massively messed up her Chemistry A level. Her offer from a prestigious RG uni with a fab reputation for science was something like AAAA. She got A*AAC. She rang them on the day as she didn't make her insurance offer either and thought she'd see what they said. Towards the end of the day they called her back and took her. She's now at the end of her 2nd year there. The insurance offer never got back to her.

Where would your DS prefer to study? That should be his firm choice.

Dancingdreamer · 02/05/2019 10:51

This is a low birth year and lots of universities will be struggling for students. Even Cambridge is offering a form of clearing this year! Having said that Bristol for Economics is incredibly popular and competitive. However if that is your DC’s top choice, I suggest take the risk and firm it as long as they have a safe second choice which they would be happy to go to. The worse case scenario is that they end up in clearing but I sense there will be lots of places available in good universities judging from last year.

Teenytinyvoice · 02/05/2019 11:01

If he is hard working and diligently getting on with it, i’d aim high and then consider a gap year if he gets grades too low for Bristol but much higher than his insurance choice.
Also chat with the maths teacher and the subject in which he is predicted and A*, see what they think now the exams are so close.

Needmoresleep · 02/05/2019 12:01

I am basing my advice on knowing students (friends of DC and DC of friends of mine) who are perfectly bright enough, got the A levels, but struggled with the maths required, in a couple of cases failing and dropping out.

If maths is hard work it can be miserable.

So again, compare the courses.

But it's statistics which is different to, say, mechanics. How does he like statistics.

BubblesBuddy · 02/05/2019 14:51

If the course was Chemistry, a prestigious university is unlikely to accept a C in Chemistry! It would be like accepting a C for Maths in Economics. It’s a fundamental qualification for the course and Bristol specifically say what they want. As indeed a Chemist must get a certain grade in Chemistry. For other A levels there might be wriggle room but the courses are geared at this type of university to a certain level of pre knowledge and ability. A C doesn’t say that and I agree with needmore that it could be miserable. Far less so at a university that doesn’t require Maths A level and probably offers catch up modules. This should be taken into account when firming.

Needmoresleep · 02/05/2019 15:05

I don’t understand.

The MN obsession seems to be the ‘best’ University. Economics can be a broad church. Some courses will offer plenty of accountancy, finance and management. Some are pretty full on maths. (DS took more maths courses than his friend studying engineering at Imperial.) Bristol is not as bad as LSE/UCL/Warwick/Cambridge but still attracts would be econometricians.

If you are struggling with maths at A level, it won’t be fun taking a maths heavy course at University. There may be ways to wiggle out of some of the harder maths at Bristol, but generally go for the course that interests him more.

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