Oxbridge 2020 (thread 10) - the path to the first term (just one slight hurdle to clear first)

[DadDadDad]

For better or worse, there is a bit of a bond of mutual experience between parents whose DC go through the Oxbridge application process. Thank you for your companionship so far - and thank you to others who started the earlier threads in this series.

This thread should take us to the start of the first term (whatever form that takes). All welcome here, but for many of us hopefully this will be the place for practical support as we help prepare these peculiar* young adults to spread their wings.

But the first item on the agenda appears to be the small matter of judgement...

*or for those who chose Oxford, very peculiar.

Cambridge is the answer.

The problem was that different schools had different internal dates for submission of NEAs. Many had finished and many told not to bother to finish. Some had been marked and some not. But all were told that they would not be externally moderated. Schools would have made their own decision as to whether they fed into CAGS depending on what stage they were at.

Even within the school there can be differences between departments as to how they treat mocks. Our Maths department certainly won't be expecting anyone to use their mock grades whereas others might

DS’s school have contacted them and said they will release their centre assessed grades and rankings to anyone who requests them after results day.

He doesn’t know any of his mock results as he did them the week that school closed. Doesn’t know his coursework mark either. A* for EPQ but don’t know if Oxford care about that. So not sure if this news will work in his favour or not. Can’t imagine Gavin will allow the 12% increase in A level grades across the board that non-moderated CAG would entail.

I’m really hoping that Oxford/Cambridge are reading the absolute chaos of confusion and deciding to rely on their own internal judgements ( already made) and not the mockery that results have now become

Checking in. DS mostly appears pretty cool and remarked that Maths students and CS students will be soon studying the algorithm in years to come. After today's news it will be Politics, Psychology, Sociology, History and Education students too. I seriously feel I'm going mad (though that could be lack of sleep!) Can't imagine how teachers and admissions tutors feel. Tomorrow will be interesting.

I reckon English literature students will be studying it too. On the grounds that it's a complete farce.

Can't sleep. DD wrote off two of her mocks because she had already got tickets for a West end musical the night before ... organised by school before year 13 mocks were arranged. We decided she'd been working so hard that she deserved a treat. Never occurred to anyone that decision might come to affect her university place

Can’t sleep either. Just can’t believe they are moving the goal posts – again! – to an even more unreliable option. These poor kids.

Lots of our friends keep trying to reassure us and mention that many international students won’t be able to make it so there will be more leeway with admissions. But does anyone think that will be the case in reality? Surely if you have an Oxbridge offer and you’re from the US or Finland or China, you’ll be doing whatever you can to get your student visa and get on that plane?

@DadDadDad - I can't match your statistical insight and general mathmoness but I am happy to explain that a Frappuccino is an overpriced, grown up milk shake from a well known coffee chain. If you send me your address and bank details I will order one for you now.

No question left unanswered on this thread.

Agree @LadyMond0green - There are students on D1's offer holder WhatsApp groups from the US and China, definitely coming (already fulfilled their offers). Her college also said they'd had no requests for deferral.

Dd went to a pal's last night for a group sleepover/drinks/hangout thingie which was a good way of taking her mind off the impending results (although no doubt it's all they talked about). They are supposed to go into school today to drop off text books so no doubt they will encounter some 6th form staff and discuss matters.

She did get mock results of two of her subjects but not the third, manily because of the NEAs. Like others, she never did get to find out how she did (and in fact we emailed the HoD just before the end of term enquiring) since there was no way of independently getting the NEAs moderated. So she's in the dark about that one.

Wiliiamson's announcement will probably work for her, since her school marks mock exams very accurately, but in other schools, especially where they are taken earlier, they mark them more rigorously. Conversely there are schools where the marking process takes account of future progress (ie post mock to exam) and factors this in.

Anyway we are nearly there folks. Best of luck all. .

Morning! Only one “sleep” to go. I think about the meticulous planning DD put into her application and then I think about what happened yesterday. It is mockery. See what I did there?

Sorry, I'm new to the thread at a very late stage.

My daughter had her Oxford interview (for a subject she's never studied before) and her A level mock exams in the same week.

Since achieving the grades for Oxford would have been "academic" (ha ha) if she hadn't first achieved the offer of a place, you can guess which one she put the effort into. She's now facing being penalised because she took the trouble to create a workable strategy.

I cannot believe this is how the process is ending. Someone should have reminded the Education Secretary not to leave all his work til the day before...

“Time and the hour runs through the roughest day” ...

Our school is another one which always marks grades savagely. The mock grades also don't factor in coursework at all (DD had a coursework component for at least two of her subjects, completed prior to the mocks, full marks for both). This is seriously chaotic.

Morning all. In twenty-four hours we will know.

I am logging in to wish all our children the very best of luck for tomorrow. Also to remind people that Oxford (I don’t know about Cambridge) have form for making their own judgements and not trusting external exams.

When I got my Oxford place it was through the fabled entrance exam (November of year 13), followed by interview (December), followed by unconditional (actually EE) offer before Christmas. This removed all pressure for A levels of course. I was one of the last years to take this route and they stopped it for the (hmm...thinking) 1996 entrants.

What I am trying to say is that Oxford trust their own assessments, which as we all know are extensive and thorough. It has never been harder to get an offer and every single offer-holder has been scrutinised and personally chosen.

Universities know that this year’s A levels are not worth the paper they’re written on. I think we have every reason to feel positive about tomorrow. Whatever grades some computer sticks by our children’s names, Oxford did their homework months ago and found them worthy.

Good luck everyone and let’s try not to worry.

Using mocks is irrational in the legal sense and arbitrary. Somewhere in the past Ofqual debate will be statements about how mock grades cannot be used - they are too uncertain. Sooner or later, following likely judicial review they will acknowledge that CAG is their best and least biased measure. So eventually it will be the higher of - CAG, mock, written exam, algorithm. The governments bungling is leading to more grade inflation than if it was just CAG/written...

I wonder what the Education Secretary’s excuse was about what happened to his homework on grading. Dog ate it? School bully took it and left it at Barnard Castle?

Morning, everyone.

@hobbema - yes, I see what you did there. I love a good pun / play on words.

@sandybayley - thanks for the frappucino explanation; doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

@FalsePerceptions - what subject is your DD's offer for?

I'm working today. I hope I can focus.

Welcome @FalsePerceptions - nice to have you on board. If DS1 was frazzled yesterday he is even more frazzled this morning. I came downstairs at 8am to find him making himself egg fried rice. What lunacy! I tried to turn R4 off as it was making him really cross but that just made him crosser.

It's going to be a very long day.

I woke up to a sobbing DD1 here - said she just wishes she could have done an exam or at least done her mocks so she’d have an idea of what was in store

Her birthday is the 18th so I’ve been trying to distract with planning for that. Luckily she’s socialising a lot so that’s keeping her busy, it just seems to be early (for a teen) mornings where she starts getting worked up.

Sorry to hear that, Roise. When schools closed and exams were cancelled back in March, one of my first thoughts was this is going to be bad for the mental health of a lot of teenagers. I don't think knee-jerk announcements from the government are helping.

Let's just hope tomorrow brings some relief.

Thanks for the kind welcome!

@DadDadDad - it's Experimental Psychology.

@Flyonawalk your post at 8:17 is so calming and very nicely put - thank you for posting that.

And absolutely yes re the mental health aspect of all of this. Did anyone really think that changing the rules the day before what is probably, for most of them, the most stressful moment of their lives so far, would actually help to keep them calm?

Totally agree about the effect on mental health. DD (tiny subject at Cambridge) can be pretty fragile at the best of times, hence our questioning whether Cambridge is really right for her, but this uncertainty has not been great for her, to say the least.

She doesn't really want to go to her insurance choice, so if she doesn't get her grades I think she will want to retake in October. Except that she has completely gone off the boil with regard to her A level subjects, as her degree subject is only loosely related. And as for mocks, she had a meltdown and did no revision, and ended up with A star A B - a long way off her A star A star A offer.

I guess what I am saying is that I am not sure she, or indeed I, can handle October retakes or a complete reapplication for another subject and university, or indeed a gap year when there are no jobs and little opportunity to travel (she does really want a gap year though). This really has been an almighty mess.

One of DD'S friend has her 18th tomorrow. They are going out tonight & hoping she doesn't get ID checked. Told DD to keep a very clear head.

www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/aug/12/uk-coronavirus-live-confusion-a-level-grades-england-scotland-covid-19-latest-updates

Teachers picking apart the idea of using mocks. (There's a post there at 10:15, that nails it).

I’ve always been lucky that DDs have had very robust mental health previously - but the trauma we experienced over Christmas really damaged and undermined that, at a terrible time for all three of them (A levels/GCSEs/sports funding pressure). It almost makes it harder to deal with that they were rarely anxious/stressed before - it’s been a shock to the household.

I’m just grateful she didn’t do the mocks and tank them, as I’m sure would have been the case in the circumstances. While it’s stressful having no frame - it would be far more stressful with a DDD frame or similar...

DD’s happy with her insurance but it’s Hull University which is very good for languages, but a little below the other places she applied for academically.

@somethingforyou I think if in doubt a gap year is always a good call really, especially in this climate. Better than rushing into an insurance (or even firm) that she’s shaky on with fragile mental health. I hope your DD is okay in these next few days. Those mock results are really very impressive (I know DD1 would kill for them!) so she’s obviously very capable...