Applying for uni in 2021...

[Parsley65]

Thought I'd start the ball rolling on this one...

Dd wants to study psychology and we've been checking out dates of open days.

Her school still does AS levels. She's doing psychology, physics & business.

Please come and join us on the long and bumpy ride past revision and exams and on towards the much anticipated start of uni life in Autumn 2021.

Bimkom - From memory I think when you put in your application to UCAS you state that you intend to apply to 2022, but obviously do the application rounds this year, and I think Universities are obliged to treat them all equally regardless of start time. Contrary to popular belief, I know quite a few kids who have applied successfully for a deferred entry, and I include Oxbridge in this too!

What going to happen now? No predicted grade exams for uni?

How will they judge from jan exams as it didn’t Cover anything ?

Who knows? Predicted grades I guess, but what are they going to do about covering the syllabus? It's going to create real inequality of access. DD has some coursework due in soon too. And no uni visits this side of summer I'm guessing.

I’m really worried as uni open days, work experience has been cancelled so empty UCAS form !

Everyone's going to be in the same situation though, they'll have to take it into account.

Also supposed to be staring epq and coursework can’t bung everything into yr 13?

Hi everyone. How are things going?
Up to today I'd have said we were doing ok. Dh is working from home. He is in IT within a charity so he's just doing his normal work hours. Dd is struggling today with the distance learning of A-level content and her teacher's expectations.
She decided to work to her normal college timetable as she was worried she'd focus more on the 2 subjects she likes and get behind with the 3rd, which was working well. However, one teacher in particular has set them work in a confusing way with high expectations of it being completed rapidly. Dd has collapsed in floods of tears and says she doesn't understand it, had already completed some of it last week which apparently was all wrong and was a huge waste of time It sounds like the teachers are putting quite a lot of pressure on them without acknowledging that other teachers are doing the same and it's basically overloading them. Dd doesn't want me to get involved but doesn't want to tell the teachers she's not coping... anyone else finding it hard???

Yep same here, A levels are hard enough and we cannot rely on Self teaching . We have signed a petition that either course content is reduced or grade boundaries lowers next year.

Ooh, a petition? That sounds good. Our kids are going to be all over the place next year, it'll take ages for them to catch up with each other. So much depends on decent online teaching, sensible expectations, dc having time and emotional resilience to do the work etc. It's all a mess!

Well DS finally submitted his EPQ on Thursday. In some ways being at home has made it a bit easier in terms of focusing on it (the school deadline for submission was before the end of term, which was this week, anyway, even before the Corona crisis). He was supposed to do a presentation on it in front of others in his class, and them in front of him but that has been cancelled. But as part of submitting he submitted the powerpoint slides that were supposed to be for the presentation, and I believe he will present down the telephone or something next week (even though it is offically holidays, they are keen to get the EPQ completely done and dusted as part of this last term as originally planned). I am not sure how this is going to work, exactly, nor why it is going to be aural only, or maybe they are sharing screens to see the powerpoint, it is all a bit confusing - but it will only be one teacher, or maybe two who will see it.
Apparently they are looking at some form of online testing instead of the exams that were originally supposed to be after the May half term, assuming we are still locked in by then, and will use those for predicted grades. Because school closed not that long before it was supposed to finish for the end of term, it hasn't felt like unreasonable pressure (there were a series of key tests this term, but the last of them was on March 10, and then the focus shifted to the EPQ, so it hasn't been so bad for us. I think it will get a lot harder when they "go", or should I say "stay" back after Easter.

We did get his report on Friday (although it was just comments from teachers, rather than grades), and the results of these tests have been trickling in. And wouldn't you know it - given how worried we were about the Chemistry, DS pulled out all stops for that, and got 83%, which is at least a high A, and maybe an A star, which given that it has been Bs and Cs up until now, was a huge improvement, and rave reviews from his Chemistry teachers about how hard he has worked. But, maybe as a consequence, his Biology and Maths suffered, and so we got comments in the report from his Biology and Maths teachers suggesting he was not doing as well as he had at the beginning of the year, and he needs to use the holidays to fill in gaps. Sigh, really can't win.

I haven't heard anything come out yet about next year's A levels. DD is getting on and finishing the first draft of English coursework, but there must be real disadvantage for some kids looking after siblings or with no ICT. I think they'll have to provide greater choice of exam questions to recognise they're not going to cover all the syllabus.

DD's school are very well set up for on-line teaching as they are an ipad school anyway, and use technology daily. So from that side all well with the at home learning. They have kept to timetable, even doing on-line PHSE, Tutorials, and Assemblies! They are actually on holiday now, so just back to reading. DD does a "similar to" EPQ type thing, and she can do that over Easter, as well as trying to do an Essay Competition with Oxbridge. Not sure which one.

The thing she has found the most difficult, has been the lack of social contact with her friends, and classmates. She doesn't cope well without routine, and very much misses just being in a group. Counter intuitive to her social anxiety, but she likes to be present, even if she doesn't necessarily contribute. Complex child. The only saving grace is that we have older DD back from London and working from home. So at least a bit of company other than her old mum and dad .

Hi folks,
I was a regular on the gcse 2019 threads and have found you again!
Well...what a bloody year!?
Ds1 is currently on a virtual open day at Leicester uni.
He really likes the history and politics degree courses.
He has already been to 3 others prior to lockdown and liked 2 of them.
I feel so sorry for him and his peers....they have been left behind :(

@yoikes, DS2 is currently 'at' Leicester, too, following the 'live chat' for History of Art. Originally the plan was for real life attendance at the July 3rd open day, but the reason for not being away this weekend also having evaporated (or at least, postponed to an as yet unspecified alternative date), he thought he might as well take the opportunity to 'go' today. Encouraged by me, because I really liked the place when I went to an open day with DS1 six years ago.

DS2 has been to proper open days at UEA, with which he is besotted, and Leeds, which he also liked, so already has at least two places to which he is happly to apply.

Ds1 has enjoyed it :)
He likes Leicester a lot

I just read from the beginning of the thread back in February and had to smile at those saying don't rush to visit universities - there's plenty of time

I guess there still is, but the opportunity to actually visit in person and get proper impressions has gone.

Dd is struggling with motivation and is concerned at the amount of students who will defer for a year, so competition for 2021 entry will be through the roof.

Placemarking. I have one in year 10 too so double the worries.

Hi everyone - checking in with you all. Hope we (our DC's) are keeping sane.

Well we failed completely with our Exeter open day, and thought they would tell those already booked, that they had set up a virtual tour, instead of the live tours. They didn't, so we couldn't get a slot, which by the time we saw them, they were all filled up .

Hey ho. Our fail. So, only been to Oxford, and that was wayyyyy back in 2019. DD has exams this week, although they don't seem to be making a big deal out of them, don't think they effect predicted grades, well I hope not! DH's dad, Grandad, died this week, so all very sad, and DD was very close to him. Not from Covid, but from poor treatment due to Covid restrictions........ expected, but unexpected now, if that makes sense.

So, we trundle on. DD will have a couple of days in school from 15th June, but only for some UCAS mentoring, a presentation she has to do for some coursework, and pastoral. I suppose that is something.

DS2 has decided that Leicester's History of Art course probably isn't for him. The course (and setting, concrete and all. Especially the concrete, actually) at UEA is his gold standard.

He didn't book for Exeter; he and I visited the campus when DD went to an open day a couple of years ago and he wasn't wild about it, plus the course didn't attract him. Bristol he didn't have on his list to visit in person, but will 'attend' virtually. I think he would love the city, but that's no good if he decides that the course definitely isn't for him. DS1 has just applied for an MSc there, so if he gets in, I shall just hope that the hotels will be open again at some point while he is there and I / we can go and visit.

I agree that it is a bit difficult knowing what is happening 'virtially' in some cases, particularly since some virtual open days are on different days from the original / split up over a week according to department etc. I have been looking up the ones DS2 and I were meant to be going to, but then forgetting where I've jotted them down and keep nagging him to check for emails...

No exams again in 2021? The front page of today’s Sunday Times.

Ofqual letter to heads of centres says guidance will be out before end of term as to how they will approach 2021 exams/grades

I wonder if the end of term guidance will be one of those logarithms. Are we socially distancing 2m? Yes - go to page 18; No - are we social distancing 1m? Yes go to page 26; no - return full time as usual and carry on as normal until cuz happens. You get the idea! 🙄 How can ofqual give guidance; they’re going to have to cover every possible scenario with a tonne of ‘ifs’

Xyz not cuz 🙄