Current Y13 applying to uni - tougher this year because of those missing out in the year above???

[buffbuff2020]

Spent the evening with a family whose son is about to start uni. Son claims that around 30% of his (private school) peers did not secure places at uni - or were asked to defer. All top grade predicted pupils. Does this mean that my poor son (target ABB) is going to be facing particularly stiff competiton this year??

He's applying to do History&Arabic at Manchester (his top choice if he gets offer) or alternatively Middle Eastern studies.

Have absolutely no idea how popular these courses are, and it seems really hard to find out!! Would love some inside info!!!

Short answer yes, just as this batch suffered from over hang of last year. If exams go ahead things might be smoother for new year 13 but I suspect that having been bitten twice, the universities will be cautious about offering levels this year again.

The effect may not be quite so bad at the ABB point though

You can find lots of info about applicant to offer rates on some uni websites but also by mining freedom of information requests on the whatdotheyknow website, or even by posing a question on there yourself. Also can go there to find out how many of next year’s places for a given subject have been given to deferrals, although not worth asking until the end of the month at the very earliest. But sadly historic info is less useful than it used to be, in these tricky times.

I think it will definitely be more difficult, we know quite a few deferring until next year and Durham (for example) have been offering £5000 for deferral in popular subjects.

However, I think your ds' degree choice may stand him in good stead (with the Arabic). Someone may come along and correct me, but we were told by my ds' school that adding a language, particularly a less widely spoken one, to a popular course lowers the offer level.

Yes, that's what I was thinking, that the ABB cohort might fare better.

I will do some research as suggested - thank you!

@Vargas

I think it will definitely be more difficult, we know quite a few deferring until next year and Durham (for example) have been offering £5000 for deferral in popular subjects.

However, I think your ds' degree choice may stand him in good stead (with the Arabic). Someone may come along and correct me, but we were told by my ds' school that adding a language, particularly a less widely spoken one, to a popular course lowers the offer level.

Ah great, that's really good to hear. I was thinking the same, that languages seem to be less popular so fingers crossed. He desperately wants to do History and Arabic, not many places offer it. The only other one we could find was SOAS, and he wasn't keen on applying there

In a word...yes. My son has AAB and is struggling this year. Its ridiculous, honestly!! The impact of COVID on these kids is utterly hideous. Be prepared to fight like an alley cat for them, is my advice.

As mentioned by vargas, some universities are offering financial incentives to students who defer. The university of Leeds is offering £10,000 to law and business students if they defer. So some courses at some universities are oversubscribed and it’s likely to have a knock on effect for another couple of years.

@TeeBee

In a word...yes. My son has AAB and is struggling this year. Its ridiculous, honestly!! The impact of COVID on these kids is utterly hideous. Be prepared to fight like an alley cat for them, is my advice.

So he should be in uni now but didn't get a place? Do you mind if I ask which course? Is he going through clearing?

Feel terrible for this generation, they're being robbed of the best time of their lives.

Oh, much more complicated. Should be in, got the grades with an appeal because their college had completely screwed them over but UCAS sent the appeal through late so lost his place anyway. I'm currently taking the world to bloody court!!

It was the same for this year's A level cohort too. People weren't getting as many offers as usual because universities were still dealing with the additional overspill from the teacher-assessed year before.

My daughter was offered (and accepted) a deferral offer from Leeds this year of £10,000 plus a year's free accommodation when she now starts in Autumn 2022. This will undoubtedly affect numbers for 2022 entry.

We decided to encourage our daughter (and our son, who is doing A levels this year) not to feel sorry for themselves and how 'unfair' it all is. Everyone has been affected by the pandemic and it has been really hard for young people (we have four aged 14-23). It isn't fair, but we felt that encouraging resilience and adaptability is a much better approach than dwelling on the unfairness.

There will be places available for 2022 entry, but you are right it will be competitive. Another option would be to wait until he's got the grades adn tehn go through clearing, or apply for 2023 entry.

Many decent universities didn't even open clearing this year because they had no spaces left at all due to deferrals from the previous year. So don't rely on clearing.

And you also need to consider lost future income if encouraging them to apply in later years.

And yes, adding a language is a fabulous kicker to his chances

Not only was there a lack of clearing places, the biggest problem was lack of adjustment places and with the high grades and them having grades in hand it makes sense for those interested in universities ranking to withdraw this years application if they have better than expected results. I could definitely see this the case in private schools. Why settle for top 20 when you can get into a top 10 or even top 5. Luckily your DS is in a niche course so should be alright with chosen course.

I hope so. This is more stressful than when I was applying myself more than 20 years ago! I just hope the offers/rejections come through quickly so we're not having too many sleepless nights.

Anyone have any experience of how quick responses cone through from unis if you apply by end of September?

Unfortunately the responses are very varied. DS is doing Geography and Bristol came through super quickly, but we had to wait until well into the New year for Durham, which is where he is ultimately going.

I agree though that having Arabic in the mix will greatly improve his chances of securing offers.

This has been very reassuring and helpful, thanks all.
Personal statement has gone to tutor for checking. Hopefully he'll be done quick and we can submit very soon. I just want it in now! also going to send a separate PS to manchester covering the Arabic aspect

Why might the ABB cohort fare better?

My daughter applied for medicine. Didn't get an interview. Then her school shafted her and gave her AAB so she couldn't take a year out as no way she'd get a place with those grades (crazy!!). We appealed to exam board who bumped her to AAA, but too late to sit UCAT so she again couldn't take a year out and reapply. Exam board said school were unreasonable in their assessment of her. She's now got a place in clearing for biomed and will try and get into medicine as a graduate. She's been fantastic throughout this. She's upset, but realises she's just been really unlucky. I'm really proud of her.
When I was applying to uni you could get into medicine with CCC!!

My OH is a snr academic at a RG uni, he is dealing with this.

Many courses are overfilled due to many more students fulfilling offers than expected. The uni is legally obligated to accommodate them, so is having to flex to take them in. They won't want to risk underfilling courses next year, so he thinks the knock on won't be as bad as might be feared. 2 of ours are Y13 btw so he has skin in the game!

There will be trouble spots and outliers, of course, but your kid's subject choice isn't one of the crazy areas so hopefully won't be one of those.

It looks like some of the SOAS Arabic courses are in clearing this year (ones teamed with History of Art, World Philosophies) so that could be a fallback?

Also, it would be an extra year but have you considered Arabic and History at Edinburgh? If you’re not a Scottish resident (ie you’re fee paying) then you may have a good chance of an offer due to the cap on Scottish student numbers.

Do you think this will have a knock on effect on unis such as Liverpool John Moore’s and Leicester De Montford? Or is it more those wanting Russell Group unis deciding to defer their entries?

This year has been really different depending on a university’s position. Many “lower ranking” universities are seeing very low student numbers owing in which will have an impact on courses they can offer in the future. Their budgets tend to be incredibly tight. The big names in that group e.g. NTU, DMU will always take as many as they possibly can and that tends to hit places like Staffs.

We appealed to exam board who bumped her to AAA, but too late to sit UCAT so she again couldn't take a year out and reapply.

UCAT registration deadline is next Wednesday. Last test date is the following Wednesday.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne

We appealed to exam board who bumped her to AAA, but too late to sit UCAT so she again couldn't take a year out and reapply.

UCAT registration deadline is next Wednesday. Last test date is the following Wednesday.

She would have needed time to revise and prep for it. She didn't ace it last time, so would need to prep differently. We only found out a week ago that her grade had changed

It will be tough for those (inc DS2) starting this year as so many students have achieved their offers which then have to be honoured by unis. Hence £££ offers to defer (but only for a few courses to be fair).

DS will have a packed-out year, esp as some have deferred from last year's shitshow. Next year will be much more normal if you ask me.

Interestingly, DD who is starting year 3 at non RG uni got an offer of uni accommodation at £70 a week (normally more than £100) including a £400 bus pass. So I infer that they at least are not overfull of students this year. There is a real dichotomy which is not great.