Oxbridge 2020 (thread number 9)

[DadDadDad]

What a year! Just as we've all become experts (at least in our own minds ) about how to write Personal Statements, Oxford admission tests and Cambridge STEP, the complicated dance of the interview process, and how to simultaneously boost our DSs' and DDs' confidence while preparing them for the possibility of disappointment, we have a new topic to learn: statistical modelling of expected grades.

Of course, like all those previous topics, we're not in control of teacher projection and OfQual rejection, but we have this thread to support each other through the coming months.

All welcome. For the record, I have a DS with an Oxford offer for a humanities subject.

Not in a normal year I don’t think. It occurred to me that in this exceptional year with no exams actually taken, every piece of data may be of interest. Maybe or maybe not.

I think York & Edinburgh were amongst the ones willing to drop a grade.

That was in the standard offer period.

Southampton takes an A grade in the EPQ when offering for History, buy as Hoghgyni says, that is already taken into account when offers are made.

On the UCAS website, there is a section on which results are received by them automatically and therefore passed on to the relevant universities; others the applicant has to send to the university themselves (failure to do this being cited as one of the reasons one might find oneself 'in limbo', place-wise, on results day).

Hi, sorry, I know you’re obviously all waiting for results (Good Luck!!!), but could I ask those with DC that applied to Cambridge.... Am I imagining things or did I read somewhere that offer decisions at Cambridge are based on a points system and it’s weighted 30% GCSEs, 30% A-Levels (predicted), 30% interview, 5% PS and 5% school reference? Might anybody be able to confirm please?

Also, on EPQs - Bath and Bristol are two more unis that will make a reduced conditional offer for A*/A in a relevant EPQ. An EPQ is weighted as 2/3rds of an A-Level in terms of UCAS points (ie more than an AS which is weighted at 50% of an A-Level).

Am I imagining things or did I read somewhere that offer decisions at Cambridge are based on a points system and it’s weighted 30% GCSEs, 30% A-Levels (predicted), 30% interview, 5% PS and 5% school reference?

DS did a pre-interview assessment test. After going to the trouble of setting and marking it, I think they would take this into account too?

offandaway DD applied to Cambridge. They certainly give weight to a lot of different elements, but I've never seen a percentage breakdown like that. Also, 30% on GCSEs doesn't sound right at all - they normally say they don't put much weight on GCSEs.

I think it's also subject-specific. Certainly for Maths, DD was told that they would be mostly interested in her school reference and her ability to do maths at the interview, with less emphasis on the PS.

DD's school already did an extended project thing, so all students have to do that, but of course it isn't added into UCAS. Because of this, many students haven't opted for the EPQ as well, and although you can also do an AS, quite a few have dropped out due to volume of work. The school never gave the impression that the EPQ was better/worth more than an AS or indeed nothing. They are very much focused on the highest grade possible three A Levels. I wonder how that is going to play out this year.

Thanks - yes 30% for GCSEs does seem high.

Ironoaks - quite a lot of subjects have done away with pre-admission tests this year, so maybe more emphasis on the interview itself now? But yes, it probably does vary subject to subject.

If of any interest, this chart shows the weighting for the EPQ against A-level and Pre-Us. It was sent by the DC school to explain the predicted grades and inform those applying to unis that look at points rather than grades. They really encourage the EPQ and it’s taught over a year-long course as it demonstrates independent research / source evaluation skills to unis.

Any Cambridge admissions talk I have been to very much stated they didn’t care about GCSEs much, didn’t care about the personal statement at all, cared about their own test and the interview was the most important thing...

Those were different talks by college admissions tutors...they were particularly at pains to say how little they cared about extra curricular and it’s all about super curricular!

Unless it’s medicine- then they don’t care if you have been helping treat Ebola patients or just helping at an old people’s home. They just want to know what you have learned from doing it, - the actual doing it is not what matters... because not everyone has the same resources, but everyone has the ability to learn from experience...

Offandaway - Oxford does publish breakdown stats as to what % is attached to each segment and it changes each step of the way. For example , gcses contextualised, A levels, aptitude test

Then next stage gcses, A levels, aptitude test, submitted work

then gcses, A levels, aptitude test, submitted work and interview.

PS does not get marked but usually forms the basis for at least one of the interviews.

The weightings switch at each stage as more items are added in.

But this does vary from subject to subject and each year too (with no prior warning sometimes). They do publish this info after in the round up reports they issue.

I am afraid I don't know if Cambridge does the same.

Anyway just swung by to catch up on new here and to wish you all good luck for Thursday. I was here under another name until Rejection day! DS has now deferred his firm choice but is adamant he is not reapplying and I have to say I am rather relieved!

Sorry if I've missed this discussion, but does anyone know what if anything to do if the DC misses their offer? Do you just head towards the reserve choice or Clearing?

Can I ask what you all think is the best plan of action if your child does not meet their offer and is not given a place? I assume the best thing is for the student to call the University directly - not the school. I’d like to know what your schools have advised you to do as we have been given no guidance. TIA

This time last year @BrasenoseAdmissions posted on TSR a very helpful explanation of what was going on behind the scenes. This year they have simply said:

UCAS track updates with the campus decision for everyone whose results are known by 8am including open offers. Given the system in place this year, it seems unlikely that any A level results will be missing. That is the only reason why an update would be pending.

Brasenose Admissions

They will have already been in touch with schools & colleges with any queries. I understand the email sent by the college will also give advice on what to do next.

I will definitely be encouraging DD to contact anywhere she needs to, whether clearing or otherwise, herself. She is the one who will need to sell herself. Her school is doing everything online on Thursday because the students are from a huge geographic area. By the time she makes contact with the right person at 6th form, back up places may have already been taken. (She no longer wants her insurance place).

Here was their 2019 info:
There is just a week to go until A-level results are announced and the last and largest group of places are confirmed. We appreciate those of you with A-level conditions have had a long wait and also appreciate you must be feeling anxious at this point. We are issuing some guidance ahead of results day in case it helps. While our guidance is specific toBrasenose, other colleges will operate in similar ways but naturally we cannot speak for them.

On Thursday 15th, you will receive your results via the test centre (in nearly all cases this is your 6th form school). The school receives results directly ahead of this date but there is an embargo in place until 6am that morning. Obviously, we can't say at what time you will be able to access the results. You will need to find out what your results are from your school and they should have explained how you can do this.

Universities (including Oxford) receive results via UCAS. Oxford's central team receive them before we do and spend the weekend preparing to send them to us. We expect to receive the outcomes on Monday 12th and the colleges and departments then spend three days preparing their decisions. If a conditional offer is missed, a review procedure is followed for each and every candidate. There is a Wednesday deadline to get all of the final decisions ready.

As you all probably know, you get to find out what a University's decision is by logging on to UCAS Track. The embargo on results for Universities is 8am on Thursday 15th. When you log on, you will see one of three decisions: confirmed, unsuccessful, or Track will not have updated: it will still read conditional. Almost certainly if it still reads conditional this means that we have not received your results or else have not received them in full. Note that UCAS track will 'freeze' at the start of the embargo period (2pm this Friday) and will re-open at 8am on Thursday 15th.

On Wednesday we will prepare letters and Fresher information packs for all of our confirmed placeholders. If you are UK, most of these should arrive on Thursday. If you are overseas, the post will take a bit longer and so you will also receive an email on Thursday. In the event that there are any missed offer candidates that we have not been able to confirm, our plan is also to send out an email on Thursday.

On Thursday and Friday ourAdmissionsOffice is open and we are able to respond to emails and take calls.If you need to get in touch with us, please note the following:

1. We will need you to identify yourself by your UCAS personal id. If you are nominating someone else to contact us you will need to confirm that this person is acting with your permission. You will need to call or email us to do this.
2. Make sure that you know your result before contacting us. Although the embargo ends at 8am, UCAS have asked Universities not to give out any results even after this date. Should Track read unsuccessful or not be updated, you will need to find out what your result actually is.
3. If Track has not updated but you have your results and you have met your conditions, we want to hear from you! As soon as we have confirmation of the result we can get things sorted.
4. If Track is reading unsuccessful but you have your results and believe you have in fact achieved your conditions, then again we want to hear from you! Again, as soon as we have confirmation of the result we can get things sorted.
5. If Track is reading unsuccessful and you have your results which are consistent with this outcome but you are requesting a priority re-mark and/or your school is lodging an appeal, then you should also get in touch. The policy on re-marks is that we offer a guarantee of 2019 entry if the re-mark result reaches us by 31st August. After that date, we will use our best efforts to ensure 2019 entry. Notifying us of the details of your re-mark and keeping us updated makes it more likely that if a re-mark comes through after 31st August and results in conditions being met we can still offer 2019 entry.

We have gone into some detail about missing results and missed offers because these are the more complicated scenarios. We don't want to add to your stress unnecessarily - you are in fact unlikely to need the above information but it is here if you do.

We will now say something about what is the most likely outcome: Track reads confirmed. The information pack we send out includes some actions that you need to complete pre-arrival. If for any reason you are away from your home address and/or out of email contact (or you have changed your email account), you will need to arrange to have the information sent on to you. Finally, note also that our Accommodation Manager will be emailing you as well to sort out first year accommodation: you will be offered a choice of room bands and the quicker you respond the sooner you will get an allocated room.

Lastly, UCAS have broadcast the fact that Track updates at 8am on Thursday 15th. In the past, students used to stay up all night and go crazy around midnight - by all means do this if you like but there will definitely be no action before 8am. Its a big day so we would try and get some sleep in your position. Our results came in via the post (hard to believe, we know!) and we were at work. A call from home was received by reception. Someone shouted across the office: "Your mother's on the line and says she has two envelopes addressed to you - what would you like her to do?". Those were the days...

All the best for results day.

BrasenoseAdmissions

On the subject of AS tariff points vs the value of an A level, under the modular system, the AS component was worth 50% of the whole A level. They have now been unoccupied and the AS is a stand alone qualification worth +/÷ 40% of a full A level, as the quoted table actually shows. 20 points for an A at AS, 48 points for an A at A level.

Thank you Hoghyhni for reposting the 2019 advice from Brasenose. That’s very helpful.

...and I just misspelled your user name. Apologies.

It gave me a bit more confidence that a) we'll know one way or the other on Thursday morning and b) they won't just have an in or out pile, but will look at each one if they need to.

IIRC Track updated earlier than 8am last year.

I hate to add fuel to a fire but there may still be results showing as "Q" rather than a grade letter when you get results. This means there is a query pending but the school will be aware of this and will hopefully give information at the same time as the results. Just in case someone gets this happen. If school hasn't said why ask asap.

Also exam boards are aiming to deal with all of these by Thursday