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Higher education

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

Original poster

Going to university (2019/20 academic year) - finance, flat shares, friends old and new and freshers' week to come...

981 replies

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 17/08/2019 18:48

Following on from thread 8 which filled up in just 72 hours.

OP posts:
SoonerthanIthought · 20/08/2019 17:25

They used to have a 'highest mark stands' policy, didn't they? I can see why they changed it (I suppose) but it does deter people from applying for remarks - a fortune favours the brave policy has its drawbacks. But it would be too awful if a dparent pushed for a review and the grade went down!

I suppose the 1 in 20 statistic is because those applying are a self-selecting sample - they're people who think (or have discerned from returned scripts) that they should have done better, so are unlikely to include very many who have in fact done worse. And the fact that the grades rarely go down may be because many people stick to the 2 (or 4) mark barrier!

There's a thread over on secondary education about the Ofqual statement about whether 1 in 4 grades are 'wrong' - it's very interesting!

icanbewhatiwant · 20/08/2019 17:36

I have spoken to our practice nurse and she seems to think ds has had menACWY already. She said they weren't informed of any injections he's had. But when she types it in it says he doesn't need it. So I hope she's right.

Shimy · 20/08/2019 17:39

Timetables:

Where has your dc got their timetable from? Was it emailed to them or was it from the uni website(not on ours)?

Clankboing · 20/08/2019 17:48

You are all making me wonder whether I should ask for a re-mark / check of ds Physics now - he was 5 marks off. He got into his uni so it was fine but he was disappointed as it is his favourite subject. I don't know. For his GCSEs the school got his English checked without mentioning it to us and he went up to an A* or 9 which was a nice surprise.

Shimy · 20/08/2019 17:54

I’m wondering about remarking as well. Is this more prevalent with Edexel the mistakes or is it any board. DS 5 marks off from a B In computing although he has got his first choice also. The board is OCR though, wonder if anyone has done a remark with OCR?

SoonerthanIthought · 20/08/2019 17:56

What does your ds think Clank? I think it must be tempting, but the pesky risk of going down a grade is just so horrible! (Even if it is incredibly rare!) Could the school give any advice?

I'm interested that schools apply for remarks without telling parents - I'd thought they had to have agreement (from the student maybe?) because of the risk of the grade going down. (On the other hand I seem to remember someone else saying this as well about a GCSE so maybe it is quite common!)

DrMadelineMaxwell · 20/08/2019 18:01

I was told on this thread by Jenny that York timetables are already there for students to see when they log in to the portal.

RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 20/08/2019 18:03

DD was 1 mark off a B in OCR Biology, part of me wants a remark but the eternal pessimist in me is worried she'll go down a grade (highly unlikely!) and then have her (first choice) uni offer removed. Curse of an overthinker Wink

We have no idea with her other marks (AQA) as I don't know her scores or the grade boundaries (probably a good thing).

I should maybe discuss it with the school.

justasking111 · 20/08/2019 18:13

Finally made a list cobbled together on my lappy, adding the things DS wanted to take. Split it into three.

Shopping list
Collate list (what we have at home that needs pulling together.)
Leeds list, what he can buy when he gets there and gets organised.

Have spent all afternoon going through his office stuff, checking pens for ink, getting all the architecture type stuff he needs to take, folders, paper, post it notes, staplers, etc. etc. Now we know what is still needed. We threw a lot out despite having the big clean out at the end of exams.

I then did a bit of clearing out of my own, drawers full of leads aka spaghetti, (which are now coiled up and tied with cord, we have 20!!! usb type leads, six old mobile phones, plus plugs which I have no idea about.

justasking111 · 20/08/2019 18:15

Oh and fingers crossed the Santander bank account if set up. Boy that was fun, two hours of work, it failed at the final hurdle so we had to start all over again. Then scanning various documents to find his passport was missing, found it behind a filing cabinet.

Tomorrow shopping for bedding etc. wish us luck.

SoonerthanIthought · 20/08/2019 18:22

"...and then have her (first choice) uni offer removed. Curse of an overthinker"

Ah. Raptorina that's the clincher. I think in those circs I would be wary even if the dc was half a mark off the next grade up! (I realise they probably don't do half marks!) But I admit that that's cautious possibly to the point of irrationality if dc is only one mark away.

I wonder how many students who would have gone up are put off applying by the new (relatively, I think?) rule that grades can go down as well as up. We will never know!

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2019 18:24

Schools cannot do a remark without a student's permission so don't know how they managed your DS's GCSE clank!

I think schools are over cautious when advising. Anything within about 6- 7 marks could easily go up if the marks (this is literacy type subjects) were all put in the wrong band by the marker.

If you check the grade boundaries (online is easy) you will often find at A Level they would need to have at least 10 , probably more , marks taken off them to go down a grade.

Obviously, marks going up is rarer in science, comp sci and very rare in maths.

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2019 18:25

I don't think it's new sooner : it has been around as long as I can remember!

Dunlurking · 20/08/2019 18:31

Just back from York - reporting in! Dd (the one upset about losing Sheffield where all her friends are going, but who got lucky with a clearing place at York) loved the campus - the greenery and lakes etc, and the city! Hot tips:- bikes are good, but you are recommended to use 2 different locks on them. You can get the meningitis jabs there - they campaign to get people to have them done. Student Health is okay but slow. Records take ages to come through, routine appts wait is 3 weeks. Tour guide recommended people register with them online as soon as possible - can register before you go. Disability support are lovely - reassured ds that the Ed Psych Assment she had was fine for the uni, but didn’t know why Student Finance didin’t recognise it for the DSA, so if anyone knows what paperwork is needed please advise!

Dunlurking · 20/08/2019 18:32

*reassured dd!

Original poster
NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 20/08/2019 18:40

That all sounds really positive @Dunlurking.

OP posts:
Entschuldigung · 20/08/2019 18:41

@SoonerthanIthought School said it's worth getting the scripts back and getting the tutors to look over them to see if it's worth a re-mark. They're essay based subjects so I suppose they're more subjective than a science paper? I think it's a long shot but it's very unlikely he'd go down a grade. I think he'd have to lose about 20 marks. They did say that one year a department decided someone should get re-marked and they lost 10 points!

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2019 18:43

Would the universities withdraw an offer if you dropped a grade in a remark? I very much doubt it, since everything will by now have been made unconditional, places confirmed etc....

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2019 18:44

Good news dunlurking . I think anyone would like the City of York : it is so lovely.

JennyWreny · 20/08/2019 19:04

Glad she liked it dunlurking Smile

Clankboing · 20/08/2019 19:05

The York campus is lovely - it would persuade anyone! I didn't know about a school having to ask permission piggy - but of course they would need to, having thought about it. I asked ds if he could remember what happened. He said that on one of the first days of his 'A' levels one of the senior teachers came across to him and told him that he had had a re-mark and his grade had gone up. I thought that was how it happened, as I just remember it being a pleasant surprise. Of course, I'm not going to point out the issue of permission etc now lol.

Piggywaspushed · 20/08/2019 19:08

Probably best not clank! and I won't admit forging DS's signature

FrameyMcFrame · 20/08/2019 19:18

@Dunlurking we are just back from York too.
Wonder if I chatted to you, I spoke to a few parents!

SoonerthanIthought · 20/08/2019 19:26

Would the universities withdraw an offer if you dropped a grade in a remark? I very much doubt it, since everything will by now have been made unconditional, places confirmed etc...

Ah, that is a good question Piggy - and yet, and yet, what a risk if they did!

Dunlurking so glad your dd liked York! (and Framey hope your dc did too).

Clank, the odd thing is I now think I can remember this happening to someone else - maybe they ask the dc's permission rather than the parent and then the dc forgets all about it?

justasking111 · 20/08/2019 19:44

York is brilliant, my niece went there, even stayed through the summers and xmas because she had such a good job there to see her through.
More importantly did anyone go to Bettys Grin