Oxbridge 2020 (8th thread)

[DadDadDad]

A thread to continue discussing entry to Oxbridge in October 2020 (less than nine months away ). All welcome, although this obviously will be of most interest to those with DS or DD holding an offer, and wanting to find a bit of support.

All too soon, 13 August will come over the horizon. Until then, ask questions... share experiences... discuss news and stats... write a poem... (we did briefly have some poetry on a previous thread).

With huge thanks to @HugoSpritz and predecessors for previous threads.

Oh dear, that's so tragicomic, poor lad.

DS1 is also depressed but still working.

Oh and he failed his Driving Theory yesterday. Nobody fails the theory test....

I am quite worried about DS. He is more angry than anything and is struggling to accept exams won’t happen. He is still studying.

sandybayley DD failed hers 2 or 3 times and then passed the practical on the first time! We were shocked when she passed.

Thinking of all those young people in this horrible situation - I really hope you get some clarification today as to how grades will be awarded. And I hope that it will be a fair process.

I can understand the anger ofteninaspin - to have worked so hard and got so far, the finishing line in sight and then it’s just gone. I don’t what the solution is and I feel for everyone.

DS was due to sit his theory test this week but it’s been cancelled. Can’t see that happening for some time but that is a minor problem.

Sending you all very best wishes.

From what’ve heard Oxford rarely over offers but aren’t above poaching students from other universities if their original offeree doesn’t make the grade in terms of Alevels but a rejectee does

My sympathy goes out to all of you and your hardworking DC awaiting news.

I have a DS in the lower sixth who will hopefully be applying for Oxbridge this Autumn. The exams straight after Easter to determine his predicted grades have been cancelled and they’re going to have to be very self-motivated to push themselves over the next term which is an important one. Also his work experience is cancelled, as is a voluntary role which might have helped for his personal statement. They won’t have the chance to even visit the unis as all open days are cancelled, so they’ll just have to choose a college based on the info on websites.

If it’s any consolation, I don’t see how unis cannot honour the conditional offers they have made. They could have lawsuits on their hands surely, if students feel they weren’t given the opportunity to prove themselves and attain the required grades?

If a student is awarded the grades in the conditional offer that will be ok. If not - more likely to be a problem this year.

DS still working - until we know what kind of evidence will be used for giving a grade, it seems sensible to keep on top of material. He also did a lot of tidying of his desk and notes last night which is unusual for him - normally papers and books are a hopeless jumble where he struggles to locate things when he needs them!

The evidence which is almost certain to be used will be the same evidence that goes into making projected grades (the internal school projections, as opposed to UCAS predictions). And this is bound to be subject to moderation in the way that coursework marks always are. I would think that work done much after the school closure would be of less evidential value than the whole sweep to date of Y12 - Y13. If a school suddenly claims significantly better results for a cohort than their tracking would suggest, then hopefully they'll be sat on quite hard.

, I don’t see how unis cannot honour the conditional offers they have made.

force majeur?

@goodbyestranger - I suspect you are right, but for the moment it's useful for him to have some motivation to study. It's a real concern about mental health over the coming months with nothing to aim for.

Yes I see that DadDadDad.

Hi all - and best wishes to everyone who is worrying about what will happen with university offers. There has been some info (not much) published here www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/coronavirus. No news on STEP yet I'm afraid.

But would projected moderated grades be very different to the predicted UCAS grades. I realise not all students will attain their predicted grades, but surely, this year, they just have to give them the benefit of the doubt? What kind of teacher would actually mark a student down now and deny them the chance if their uni offer?

It’s possible that unis may have to make some tough decisions for courses that have been significantly over-offered. Maybe they’re seeking legal advice because they could face laws suits from those students arguing they never had the chance to prove themselves, if some conditional offers are withdrawn.

Now they’re saying social distancing could go on for up to a year, in which case it will affect interviews for next year’s cohort as well.

Yes projected can vary significantly by this stage of the academic year. UCAS grades tend to be high and often way in excess of the standard offer. It's absolutely fair to go by teacher assessment provided that teacher assessment is done with adequate care.

I hope it's OK for me to join this thread at this very late stage. I have been following for months and months and have found the advice really helpful.

NatSci offer holder DS is having a couple of days to process the news but will definitely be finished up any last bits of A level course content and is keen to get started on anything more advanced. Biggest worry here is that he hasn't firmed the offer, as Durham is still outstanding.

The idea of law suits is a bit excessive and will only be relevant to incredibly well off students. If they miss their grades they can appeal. Up to them to demonstrate that they were due a higher grade and that will depend on their work to date - or the appeal might take the form of an autumn exam, apparently.

In contractual terms I don't see that the unis need to be concerned about legal action if a student isn't awarded the grades required by the offer. The problem will come if teachers dole out unrealistically high grades left right and centre and then presumably the problem will be mostly that of the most popular unis, Oxford excepted and Cambridge largely excepted.

Hi @DearPrudence
DS is also holding an offer for Natural Sciences. All of his A-level courses are an essential foundation for the modules he hopes to study next year, so he is completing the specifications himself at home. He then aims to do some preparatory reading and problem solving (Isaac physics, nrich etc).

There's no guarantee that he'll be able to start the course in October, but he is choosing to hope that he will be able to, and working towards that gives him a sense of purpose.

The problem will come if teachers dole out unrealistically high grades left right and centre

If a school is too generous overall, could some A* grades get moderated down?

That's an admirable attitude, ironoaks.

I'd somehow have thought that oxford and Cambridge, which have weathered several rounds of bubonic plague and has trained lawyers for centuries will have thought through their contacts.

... contracts.

I suppose schools can look back on their A-level statistics over the years, eg x% tend to get A* in this subject etc and use this as a rough guideline?

And I guess if students aren’t happy with the awarded grades, they can appeal. Just as you would have bern able to ask for a paper to be remarked.

I presume the exam boards will aim to achieve the same distribution of grades as for previous cohorts. The difficulty will be devising a mechanism to assign absolute marks to determine which side of a grade boundary any particular candidate lands.