Uni unrealistic offer? Why wouldn't they just decline?

[jollyhollidays]

This is all new to us, DH & I didn't go to Uni.

DD has been offered a place at a Uni conditional on a grade which she says she won't get.

She hasn't been told her predicted grades, but her tutor has sent the reference to the Unis (it's a non standard course she's doing, that doesn't have UCAS points automatically)

Do Unis offer higher than predicted grades? Wouldn't they just decline and then you apply through clearing?

Thanks for the help

No if the course has entry requirements at a certain level then anyone can still apply (but must expect to get an offer at that level) should the university decide to offer.

If she does not know her predicted grades how does she not know that her school have actually predicted the offer grades? Her school may not know the entry requirements for each and every institution and each and every course. They would rely on the student doing appropriate research especially if not a regular UCAS application.

If it is an undersubscribed university maybe they will drop their requirements on the day and she might get in. There are a whole number of reasons why they may have made the offer or why she may get in.

But I am puzzled why she app

It depends on the course, OP.

What course has she applied for and where?

I am admissions lead for an under-subscribed course. We make offers to students who are predicted grades lower than our standard tariff. The intention is that they will surprise themselves and actually achieve their offer, or they will come close to their offer and we'll accept them anyway.

We can only make adjusted/lower offers to students from specific areas (called low participation neighbourhoods). The rest of the applicants get offers at our standard tariff points.

Was the typical offer her aspirational grades ie. what she might achieve on a really good day? If she has others she can go for a more comfortable one as her firm or firm this one if she wants to go there more and hope they still let her in of she slightly misses on results day with a lower insurance offer. There is a guide which gives the actual entrance grades for previous years.

What is the reasoning behind not letting students know what grades they will be / have been predicted? Does she not even have info regarding her 'working at' grades?

Most schools give the students their predicted grades to allow them to make an informed choice re what represents a sensible spread of applications, where there are differences in entry requirements.

Sorry, trying to be vague and failing miserably!

She's doing an apprenticeship, so it's not the traditional A levels route, it's a specific vocational qualification and the degree is in the same specific subject. She won't know her grades until the apprenticeship is finished this summer, but I'm assuming they can still predict at this stage. She's adamant she'll only get a pass, so we were quite surprised that this particular uni offered conditional on a merit as she feels that she won't get that.

She has had two other offers, one unconditional and one conditional on a pass though so it's not the end of the world!

Thank you for your help!

If you can share the subject we can have a stab at how Lilly it is to be oversubscribed (nursing for example is super competitive at the moment)

But generally for undersubscribed courses they will accept student who miss their offers by 1-2 grades sometimes more.

See if you can find out what offers they were making in clearing last year and that will give you the best indicator.

*likely not Lilly!

Well, what they are saying is that, if you are capable of getting the merit, then we think you will cope with our course and we'd love to see you, however if you aren't able to achieve that merit, then you would struggle to keep up with our course, so we aren't going to offer a place.

For many, that is an incentive, to get their heads down and do whatever it takes to get to that grade.

She can put the ‘merit’ university down as her firm, just in case she does better than she thinks and the ‘pass’ or unconditional as her insurance, as a back up. Most students firm a slightly aspirational university and insure a more realistic option.
Some students actually apply for a university with grade requirements above their predicted, thinking there’s a slight chance they can pull it off in exams. They then have their predicted (or slightly lower) as their insurance. Plenty of universities still make offers above predicted. Some students prefer doing this than going through adjustment.