Will your DC be going back to their first choice uni as a result of CAGs?

[Boredbumhead]

We've spent all week clearing. We're all exhausted. We are a mid ranking University and are now worried that the caps have been lifted the first choice Universities will be poaching the students back or the students will be releasing and changing uni. Will your DC be sticking with their clearing place, or going back to the UCAS system and trying to get their original place back?

dd2 is sticking with her insurance choice, initially devastated with the results on the 13th, got given an A, B, C instead of A, A, B lostbout on her firm choice of leeds for law. Now going to the university of Strathclyde and excited by the course offered.
Leeds said they would honour her place but she would need to defer until next year, didnt bother ringing her insurance Newcastle.
Now happy and wanting to get on with this next chapter in her life.

should say clearing choice not insurance on first line

@Nothingoriginalhere that's great to hear. We have been really proactive in treating our students really well so I hope they feel loyal to us and stay with us now. They government don't realise the stress and distress they've caused admissions tutors as well as students. (or perhaps they don't care?)

I absolutely cannot believe that Gavin Williamson and the ofqual guy still have jobs!!
An absolute shambles

I know. I am literally sitting here in shock tonight, drinking my tea.

We've had 5 hrs of clearing briefings this week and every day a radical u turn in some element. I'm glad they saw the light but it has been so badly managed. We had to look on twitter to find out how UCAS would be managing the CAGs

Thats appalling, I work in the NHS and its so similar recently, so many changes every day.
You all have my sympathy and I hope.you know that we all accept this is a government failure and could have been managed so differently.

@Nothingoriginalhere thank you and same here. We all appreciate your work in the NHS despite the impossible conditions this government is creating.

Dd2 is inclined to stick with her clearing choice because they were helpful.

DS is sticking with his second choice.
Mostly because, the night before results day, the 1st choice added a Foundation Year to his course, and his 2nd choice removed the Foundation Year. Both changed the offer to Unconditional, so it was easy for him to switch courses and get the course he wanted, but at the University he'd only put second due to the Foundation Year and lower grade offer.

I absolutely cannot believe that Gavin Williamson and the ofqual guy still have jobs!
An absolute shambles

Totally agree. I teach at a 'top 10' and a talk our VC did earlier this week gave us the latest figures re acceptances, Clearing, and post-U turn. We are trying hard, to stay within Government-imposed caps, our capacity to teach well, and accommodate students, and honour all our offers. But the Med school has a very specific limit. And we pride ourselves on being both teaching intensive and research intensive.

The best thing Gavin Williamson should do, next time he gets interviewed on television or radio, and evades answering every single question is simply to 'fess up, and resign.

Be assured, those of us in universities are trying hard to be fair and transparent in the midst of this shambles.

Had Durham offer
Missed Durham offer
Accepted York (insurance)
Grades increased
Durham reofferred but with a different college/accom/conditions.
Durham coming across as rude and actually quite arrogant. I appreciate non of this is their fault, but it isnt DS's either.
York very helpful and very supportive.
In the meantime he has also been offerred his dream apprenticeship, so he is going with that.
It's been a trying week.
I feel so sorry for this years A level students.

My year 13 dc isn’t going to uni, but most of his friends seem to be sticking with the original uni. Some were offered the first choice, despite not getting the required grades.

We’ve found York very helpful and supportive too Serin. It was DDs insurance - she has the grades for first choice as a result of CAGs but is sticking with York I think. I really feel for uni admissions at the moment. What a mess.

@boredbumhead and @italianhat - so interesting to hear your experiences from different segments of the university market.

Not sure which group of institutions I feel most sorry for - top tier who having tried to make fair decisions on where to accept offer holders with sub par moderated grades and used clearing who are now swamped, with no idea where to put everyone and facing carnage for 2021 starters; middle rankers who must have seen so much movement and might now lose a lot of good candidates they were responsive to and will now have to repeat the whole process in clearing ; or bottom tier who will presumably in some cases be facing financial disaster as their candidates in turn move up a tier.

But most of all, selfishly, I feel sorry for pupils going into year 13!

DD's first choice offered on AAB but said they would hold her place whilst she appealed the ABB initially awarded. Her excellent Russell Group insurance, which also wanted AAB offered her a place last Thursday. She was initially gutted but is now sticking with the insurance even though CAGs were AAB. In fact, she is very excited and we all feel it is the right place for her.

The only fly in the ointment now is that she cannot speak to anyone about accommodation as they appear to have shut their accommodation section down. Just WHY??????

ItalianHat - aren't you down on numbers with international students for your med school?

@PavlovianPooch some universities have closed their accommodation temporarily while they sort out this mess! Because they’re going through students manually for the most part now they don’t want to make accommodation a massive first come first serve and end up being unfair.

Don't forget accommodation offices might also be trying to put students on the same course together for bubble reasons.

Just wanted to say to nothingoriginalhere great choice of uni. Very well regarded for many courses. And Glasgow is a great city to study in! Wishing your DC all the best.

I feel your pain (I work in school admissions)
My ds has been impacted horribly by this, low grades awarded last Thursday, then the u turn, then discovering those grades were actually his CAG!! This is a young man thought worthy of holding an offer for York. Thankfully he had an unconditional insurance due to sitting an external scholarahip exam where he scored very highly.
No right to appeal means no change in the very low grades, despite everybody chirping about he didn't deserve them and the triple lock would have raised them.
Now waiting on York to see if they will reconsider, I somehow doubt it , but they have certainly been amazingly kind and considerate in a week that has destroyed ds dream through no fault of his own.

3 of DS’s mates had York as Insurance. ALL of them are sticking with York, despite their CAGs now being good enough for their Firm, largely because York were so lovely and proactive on results day! Anyone here from York - give your admissions staff a massive box of chocs!

My son missed out on his firm and insurance. He accepted a place at Swansea through clearing. He now has his CAGs of AAB. He has far more options now but will almost certainly stick with Swansea because they have been so helpful and supportive. As I said on another thread - I cannot fault them. At an incredibly difficult time they ensured that my son felt like an individual who mattered. His firm choice (RG) were impossible to contact and it was soul destroying!

DD woke on Thursday to BBB and a n unsuccessful from Birmingham for Psychology AAB and congratulations from Southampton ABB. She declined Southampton as only wanted to to Birmingham so was going to sit the exams. Now she has AAB so has the entry requirements for her firm so have emailed Birmingham and waiting to hear. She had deferred entry anyway so no huge hurry but we are still v keen to get it sorted.

@Nothingoriginalhere I think by going to Strathclyde your DD will be studying Scots law rather than the law of England and Wales? Is she aware of the future implications of this?

All of DD's friends have stayed with their insurance or clearing offers.
One considered it but could only be offered deferred entry which they didn't want to take up.

Re accommodation: we had the same issue with not being able to get answers from the university regarding halls. Website said they were busy, oversubscribed and in.y a small number of flats remaining. There was a waiting list and people would be contacted as and when, but may not be until into,September.

So we gave up and looked at private student flats. Most of the good ones were going quick so we've actually booked one now - room in a flat of 4, but part of a block of several flats. Mix of 1st to 3rd years. We think there.l be at least one other first year in DD's flay as the other room also went the day we got DD's. So most likely a clearing or insurance student. DD's now joined a snap,chat group for the n;pick and started chatting to people. Hopefully she'll find some from her actual flat as well before she goes. We actually booked the room without viewing as we just wanted to secure one. Seen photos and will go next weekend to have a look, but signed up now anyway.