University offer combinations - advice needed

[Sickdog]

Hi

I applied for University 30 years ago so my knowledge is out of date!

I'm trying to work out what type of offer my DD is likely to receive given her particular circumstances. In brief, DD already holds 1 A level and is in year 13 taking one CTec and 2 additional A levels. She has checked that all the Universities she applies for will accept the Ctec in place of one A level.

When she applies will the offer be on the basis of the existing A level and two additional qualifications out of the 3 she's taking? If so, will the Uni make the offer in the alternative depending upon whether it's a combination of A levels or CTec plus two A levels?

So for example, typical offer may be AAA. DD already has one grade A.

Is the offer likely to be D(Ctec) AA or AAA in the alternative? Not sure if Universities make offer variations in these terms or not. Just to confuse myself further, I've been wondering whether the offer will actually just stipulate 2 grades (ie AA or DA) bearing in mind she already has one A.

Any thoughts would be welcome!

Honestly, whatever offer she gets, she should clarify exactly what they want. It's very common I'm afraid for someone to miss that she already has an A in hand, and make an offer that isn't possible!

That's said what she should be offered is something along the lines of '2 x As or equivalent' (as she already has one A), or 'one A level A and either a further A level A or Camb Tech D'.

It is also possible that her existing A level is ignored in preference for 3 taken at the same time.

As I say - check!

I've

I can't help with the specific qualifications you're talking about but I'm in Scotland where students apply to uni in final year of school with their Highers already in hand.

If they don't have the required grades already the offer will be conditional and will ONLY stipulate what they need to achieve this year.

So for example if the required grades are AABB at Higher and they have ABBB the offer will be conditional on the Advanced Highers. So it will stipulate BB at advanced higher and doesn't mention previous qualifications.

And just be aware universities often ask for higher grades if taken over more than one sitting.

It depends on the university and the course. A lot of courses specify that they want all the level 3 qualifications taken at the same time. I'm not familiar with Ctecs. Are they a replacement for BTecs?

Thanks for the replies.

@RampantIvy the Ctec is basically a Btec provided by the Cambridge exam board.

I have worried a bit about DD taking the level 3 qualifications in more than one sitting. She's found that 2 Universities specify all level 3 qualifications must be taken at the same time. All the other Universities DD is interested in are silent on the subject. Would be therefore be fair to assume that she won't be rejected on that basis alone by the other Universities?

Why not contact admissions at the universities who are silent on this? If the courses need bums on seats, they may well be flexible. If they are competitive courses then they can be more prescriptive. So nothing lost by asking.

Is the grade in hand relevant to the course she will be applying for? Or are the 3 current qualifications more relevant?

I would contact the admissions departments for the courses she is interested in and ask them. It can't do any harm.

If the Uni is silent on the "in one sitting " point it means that a conditional offer can usually include the grade in hand. However once she has made her choices a quick phone call to admissions wouldn't hurt and they are friendly and helpful.