Taking A level exams in October AND Going to Uni 2020 - is this possible?

[loveyouradvice]

If you need to take say one or two of your three A levels in October, it counts as part of your 2020 A level exam - and it is only a "resit" if you have to take in summer 2021. Presumably this means if you get the right grades, you have then met your university 2020 offer?

What happens next? Do you go late ie in January? or do they accept you the following autumn with the offer they made for your 2020 A levels?

So for example - say you have been offered AAA, which was eminently achievable as you had been predicted A*AA in October of year 13 - but with significant illness before Christmas and during the spring term (including during Mocks), you had work to catch up on over the Easter holidays. Your teachers told you this was very achievable, and shouldn't be a problem.

But then Covid! So no Easter holidays work or exams....So teachers unlikely to be able to give you these grades as the evidence is missing, in spite of the fact they expected you (probably) to achieve them.

So lets imagine you need to resit two in October to get the grades: with six or so weeks between 13 August results and the exams, this should be doable.

What does the Uni do? What are your options?

Thanks to anyone who has an idea - I've seen very little about this anywhere!!

If the uni has a January intake (rare)
you could start then, otherwise you'd have to reapply for next year.

I would be surprised if unis would hold a place for 2029 pending the results of autumn exams. In normal times, if you were having a remark, you have to go for the priority service as most unis only reconsider if the mark comes back by the end of August.

For the autumn exams, when are the results due? If they take the same time to mark as usual, I’d assume sometime in December. So your dc would have missed a while term.

I don’t want to be negative but I think you’ve got to assume that if they don’t get the place they want on August results day, they will be looking at a year’s delay.

Yes December I think... a year's delay isn't too bad - but will they have to honour their offer? Or will she have to reapply - adding to the stress and uncertainty.

Technically she will have made the grades offered in the year they were offered - but will they treat it as such? She won't have asked for a deferral but will have had to take one because of Covid.

So confusing!

@loveyouradvice

They won't have to honour the offer as the terms are that they have to meet any requirements by August 31st this year I m afraid.

Agree - she'd have to reapply I'm afraid. Same situation applies when someone doesn't meet their offer, get the paper remarked. If the remark comes back late, even though it may mean the applicant now meets the offer, the uni doesn't have to accept them.

Surely the school can apply for special circumstances due to major illness, as the mocks now feed into the grades for this year i would think the exam board might do it, it would be worth a try.
I would speak to head of year or exam officer at the school and take some medical evidence like hospital letters or letter from gp and demand they at least apply - Then at least theres a chance she wont need to resit.

i think pp is correct tho, they need to meet conditions by end of august, you could also speak to the uni and explain the circumstances and see if they would be willing to accept a lower grade with medical proof; some might do it and possibly worth a try but i would speak to them after you get the grades as by that point you will know how far of she was and they will have spaces where other students didn't make grades either so will want to fill empty spaces. especially if they know her performance is usually good.

Options will be to see if the university will still accept her on the course, or to go through clearing to see if she can be accepted into another course, or to defer a year.

Sitting an exam inOctober to be accepted into that year’s intake will be hard for your daughter who will have missed a key term, and hard for the university who will not wanting hold open a place (and potentially miss out on funding) on the off chance. Also tricky for accommodation.

They won't have to honour the offer as the terms are that they have to meet any requirements by August 31st this year I m afraid.

That date is September 7th this year.

UCAS's position is that students who get the required grades from autumn exams will have met the conditions of their 2020 offers. I know my university is intending to adhere to that and confirm places for 2021 entry for applicants who meet the conditions of their 2020 offers too late to join in September/October. I don't for one second assume it's the only one.

Given all the current fuss arising from education ministers' delayed realisation that Ofqual's procedure for awarding grades in the summer is likely to reinforce disadvantage, there might also be an additional half-baked appeals procedure put in place that won't have any chance of making decisions before the autumn term starts. Universities that refuse to honour outcomes of appeals or results from the autumn exams will find themselves paying an awful lot of money to lawyers (and public relations consultants) to defend their decisions.

As has been said upthread no because you need to meet offer conditions by the end of August so they would have no obligation to accept her.

Some universities have a January intake but it’s quite rare.

She would have to reapply.

Really interesting SirTobyBelch.... that was what I was thinking.... Lots of legal fees/court cases given they are 2020 results so crossing my fingers that other unis will follow your lead when they realise what they would be doing.... Getting the grades and deferring until 2021 is MUCH less stressful than having to wait to perhaps May to know if you have an offer.

I have heard that many unis will automatically make an offer in the same terms as the 2020 one if you need to take exams. However many are apparently going to be flexible so if they allow your place for 2020 on dropped grades they do not have to allow you in for 2021 with dropped grades - you would need to meet the original offer. So beware of taking Autumn exams if for pride or to boost employment prospects.

As university terms start in October and most are running on-line lectures for at least the first term, I think it could work for many who get a dropped grade or two and get accepted the opportunity to start Uni and retake an A level or 2 in October. They could enhance their grades for eg post graduate schemes. After all, you can't loose out if you do worse in the October exams than the calculated grades as the higher one will count.

Great thinking guys - thank you!

Glad UCAs so clear

Wondering if anyone knows more about the October exams? Precious little being said about them....

Knows what though? Is there anything specific you want to know?

..... but OP, the centre assessed grade should not just be based on the mocks, but on the teachers' assessment of what your DD would have got if the exams had gone ahead, based on all evidence available to them. The school can not tell you what grades they proposed, but you may be able to get some guidance from them on how much DD should be preparing for exams,

The A level "resits" will be 5/10 to 23/10. All subjects should be available if requested.