University 2020 :4: The wait for grades and better days ahead

[MillicentMartha]

New thread for us. Interesting times.

Old thread here

Just noticed that guidance was made final today!

No, I know that taking the exam in the Autumn couldn’t mean a 20/21 start, but no one has said if they would honour their current offers if a candidate got the offered grades in an autumn exam to start in 21/22.

Maybe not completely final. This is just the guidance for teachers, students and parents. It still mentions that results of the consultation are to be fed in.

I see Kingscote. No, they just talk about universities being ‘flexible.’

Just marking my place as it moves so quickly

I think Cambridge have stated they will honour the offers if Autumn exams are taken

Wasn’t that when they thought they would be available before the October

Sorry didn't explain well.. I think they stated they would offer 2021 places to the DC who met 2020 offers in autumn exams

As oneteen says, Cambridge have told offer-holders that if they aren't happy with the A-level /IB grades they're given this August and they want to take the exams in the autumn, then the offer will be kept open for entry in October 2021.

Other than Cambridge no other uni has specifically said that if a student fails to meet, for example an AAA offer by getting calculated grades of AAB, that the offer will stand for 2021 entry. This is what Kingscote is seeking clarification of. At present it would appear that they would need to reapply in the absence of confirmation that the current offer carries forward.

That seems generous of them given that they over offer - hopefully takes pressure off some kids

It is very generous , notably Oxford has not said similar although their offers tend to be lower anyway

Silly question... Teacher assessment grades follow previous years curve allocating the same number of grades... Come November or when ever the autumn exams are sat and those DC that are unhappy with their grades sit new exams and perform better than the grades they were previously awarded... Surely this could result in this year's cohort having a much higher set of results overall than the previous years when both results are considered?

This years cohort is a low birth rate year too so surely that’ll have an impact on places

True oneteen but I wonder if small numbers will eventually sit the exam and some might be surprised that they don’t actually do better after six months out of lessons (or actually the teachers did know best !)

Is Cambridge university (and others) going to honour offers if only one A level is sat? Eg Student needs AAA and is awarded AAB. Student decides just to sit the B grade subject and can 3 months studying solely for one exam rather than juggling three.

spend 3 month

Yes bowbridge they will. Camb have written to offer holders saying that if they pass Autumn 'resits' they will hold their place for a September 2021 start.
I don't think Oxford have said anything yet.

I can’t see anywhere that it’s been stated they have to take all their A-levels in the exams, Bow. So yes, presumably Cambridge will let them take just the one and bump up the grade. Most Cambridge applicants will probably only have missed by one grade anyway, if at all. You have to expect most of them will achieve the higher grade via the single exam, as focusing on just one subject is far easier than juggling three, as you say. If the grade is lower via the exam, they can still keep the previous grade anyway.

If Cambridge do over-offer by 20-30%, this could well mean 20-30% less places for next year’s cohort at Cambridge.

I wonder if they will do anything to address this - eg take a bulge year in 2021, or cut the numbers of overseas students? I realise they have no idea how many will sit exams yet, but nevertheless, it’s not that hard to envisage what could easily be the impact here, so I hope they release some kind of statement about the potential impact on 2021 places in due course.

@Monkeycats "If the grade is lower via the exam, they can still keep the previous grade anyway."

That is interesting and a bit of a no-brainer to sit the Autumn exams if you are happy to wait a year. The risk of a remark was that your grade could go down as well as up.

Well yes, it will be a no brainier for those who get AAA rather than the A*AA required.

Maths applicants would still have had to get through STEP, so it’s unlikely to affect this course so much.

The careers office at the school mine go to recommend not applying for a deferred place at Oxbridge in normal circumstances, unless you can prove that you have a clear plan for the gap year that would really strengthen your application. This is because normally, to offer a deferred place, the uni would need to be fairly certain that you would be a stronger candidate than the majority applying in the following year. In other words, to be offered a deferred place, you don’t just need to be among the conditional offer cohort, you need to be at the “top end” of that cohort. This is why there are not usually many deferred places.

2021 could see a large chunk of places being accounted for before next year’s students even get to interview.

The course where Cambridge over-offers the most is Maths. If Maths applicants miss their offer, it will be because of STEP 2 / STEP 3. The exams for these are taking place this summer, and are not included in Cambridge's arrangements to keep offers open for next year.

For other courses, they only over-offer by 15-20%.

If an applicant doesn't get the grades this summer, they might choose to start this September at their insurance choice rather than have to wait a year to start at Cambridge.

How does the pass rate on Step work... Eg can everyone pass Step if they achieve a given percentage?

I know DC may not be getting any assistance from school with Step prep but I would have thought that pass rates would be high given the DC are only sitting Step with no other A levels to worry about.

I just had a look at the Cambridge 2018 stats for conditional offers v acceptances for Humanities and Social Science courses as I think these courses might be most affected.

The first number is the conditional offers made. The second is acceptances.

HSPS - 213 / 167
History - 214 / 176
Archaeology - 33 / 18
Law - 269 / 202
Architecture - 58 / 35

and so on ....

Cambridge do seem to offer by well over 20% for many courses.

Some of the gap may be students who chose to go elsewhere, but not probably not many in the case of Cambridge.

Even if there are only 10% less places on courses for the following year, this is still a significant reduction.

I think it’s great that Cambridge have committed to giving their offer holders this “second chance” as it were, but I do hope they are able to provide equal reassurance to the following year’s applicants.

How does the pass rate on Step work... Eg can everyone pass Step if they achieve a given percentage?

I was under the impression that they move the grade boundaries to fill the places, but could be wrong.