2021 applicants unconditional offer suggestions

[NotBabiesForLong]

DD is stressed. Covid, isolation uncertainty etc are all adding to the pressure and so would love to put down at least one uni where she would have a good chance at receiving an unconditional offer as a way of relieving pressure.

Her predictions are A*AB. (Bus, hist, maths) to study acc/fin/mgmt type.

Current thought is York St J.

Any other suggestions?

Many thanks.

The previous “conditional unconditional” offers have been banned by OfS until September 2021. Most universities are looking at their offer making strategies at the moment but would say with those predicted grades she’d be better choosing the courses she likes best and going into clearing if it goes wrong. For many universities, business type courses are where they will over recruit to balance poor numbers in other subjects as the courses are popular and relatively cheap to teach.

Do you think there will be any difference between her putting her application in now or waiting until the deadline?

I agree she will be fine in clearing. She will be fine whatever, but her current stress levels are not good, hence why if one unconditional offer came through I think she could just relax (a little)

York St J is way too below her capabilities though. She should be fine with an ABB type uni.

www.whatuni.com/degree-courses/search?subject=business&location-type=countryside,town,big-city,seaside&score=0,144&pageno=2 This shows the courses available at her grade predictions

Are there any other criteria? Royal Holloway has a good established reputation for those subjects and her grades should exceed their typical offer. Given the number of students who are reapplying from 2020 I suspect any unconditionals will be limited to those with grades in hand.

UEA?
www.uea.ac.uk/course-finder?primaryFilter=Undergraduate&page=1&secondaryFilter=&yearFilter=2021&departmentFilter=&organisationFilter=&query=Business

Head of Sixth here. Please don’t encourage your child with those predicted grades to target an unconditional offer from a university that has entry requirements of under a 100 tariff points and a minimum of 3 c grades at GCSEs - she is really selling herself short. Plus, this year they are not meant to make those kind of unconditional offers so she still may not get one.

We recommend students go for a mix of aspirational, likely to get or back-up courses, and few students go lower than ABB - BBB with her grades.

Yes, it will make things easier for her this year, but paying £30k and then becoming less competitive when applying for jobs, further study and/or grad schemes post-university more stressful so she is not helping herself longterm.

And finally, I would usually tell students it makes a difference when they apply, but actually this is very rarely true, and a lot of top-end places like LSE don’t make any offers until they’ve had all applications, but this year it is perhaps likely to be true due to the high numbers of students who have deferred and dropped out/are replying.

Such a tough time to be a teenager - good luck to her x

She can do much better than York SJ with those grades. Please discourage this.

For accounting, the YSJ course give majority exemptions from ACCA. So at the end of the degree she would be almost qualified.

I understand YSJ is low tier, but once qualified as ACCA would this really matter?

Don’t be tempted by unconditional offers.

The research says that students don’t work as hard their A-levels, and then do not have the work ethic at uni. They leave with a mediocre degree, backed up by mediocre A-levels.

@NotBabiesForLong

For accounting, the YSJ course give majority exemptions from ACCA. So at the end of the degree she would be almost qualified.

I understand YSJ is low tier, but once qualified as ACCA would this really matter?

I don't think this is exclusive to that course. What if she does not pass all the relevant modules and you still need relevant work experience to qualify. Alternatively the big firms offer degree apprenticeships.

The OfS has pretty much banned unconditional offers so even applying to YSJ she won't get one so it defeats the object. She can do way better that that.

If she wants a bit of security aim to firm one around her grade range, and insure another one or two grades under that, that also offers a foundation year.

LIZS that is a very valid point.

DD is diligent. But does suffer with anxiety. This is something we have to find methods to manage which allow her to then perform her best.

OFS - the degree with foundation backup is a good option.

She can submit her application with those choices she's sure of and add the others ( up to five in total obviously) at any time until the deadline. Maybe it would be reassuring to her to get an offer or two under her belt?
With those predicted grades, and given that she can only firm one and insure one, I can't see the point of choosing a much lower offer; she surely won't agree to go there simply because they've offered low? Might be worth looking somewhere like Strathclyde that has a good reputation but offer a tad lower than others. There are reasons for that though- four year course and many students are local to the university so might not suit everyone

Just seen your updates. Perhaps think of universities within two hours of home. Might make all the difference regarding reassurance and opportunities to visit

To my surprise, my DC got one for Leicester Uni, last year, applying with a strong personal statement and predictions higher than course requirements. Not for accountancy though.

I wonder if Nott uni ever give unconditionals?

@NotBabiesForLong

I wonder if Nott uni ever give unconditionals?

As several people have pointed out the OfS has banned the practice. So it's irrelevant whether Notts ever did.

Titchy, from what I read i thought they had banned the practice of "unconditional conditionals".

Head of Sixth here. Please don’t encourage your child with those predicted grades to target an unconditional offer from a university that has entry requirements of under a 100 tariff points and a minimum of 3 c grades at GCSEs - she is really selling herself short. Plus, this year they are not meant to make those kind of unconditional offers so she still may not get one.

I agree. York St John languishes at position 103 in the complete University Guide. Your DD is capable of going to a much more highly regarded university.

After the fiasco of unconditional offers a couple of years ago Nottingham said that they were no longer going to offer unconditional offers.

OP my son has predicted grades of ABB and he's not looking at York St J, although it did come up on our radar as York is on his list.

Your dd shouldn't be looking at anything looking for less than BBB although it's worth knowing who might be an option in clearing (eg for ds' course Leicester had places in clearing for CCC despite asking for ABB at application stage).

If York Uni does the course she wants I would apply there (despite them deciding that covid is more risky than fire, idiots).

Students who enter the accountancy profession with exemptions from all of the ACCA Fundamentsls papers tend to struggle horrendously with the Professional stage. The difference between York and YSJ is similar to the difference between say Southampton & Solent Uni, Bristol & UWE. Most unconditionals offers also only stand if you make them your firm choice. She is underselling herself and would undoubtedly regret it.

Thank you for all of the good advice.

Somehow I need to help her with her MH to get through this. Perpetual lock down with limited and inconsistent is not helping the stress levels. And that is not the best mindset to approach exams. (Whoch may not eventually happen, who know ???) This thing is taking its toll on everybody.

Nottingham university definitely used to give them - but only for some subjects. One of my elder daughters had one.

Both my daughters applied to Nottingham and Birmingham. The one doing an arts subject received unconditional offers from both. The one doing a science subject received conditional offers from both.

She can do much better than York SJ with those grades. Please discourage this

This made me laugh DD applied for 5 unis including York Sj, but had to do interviews > She had the top marks for her course and got offers from the other 4, including the top uni in the country for her course but York St John turned her down