Year out and one grade down

[sandalsinthebin]

DD is taking a year out working and looking to apply to uni for Sept 2022. Majority of the courses she is interested in want BBC - she has BBD (D in Maths). Results from internal tests / teacher assessment in 2021. Really good set of GCSE results all 8s and 7s. Any advice on the best way to approach this / chances of her getting in. She's considering calling the departments directly to ask whether it's worth applying. For context she's interested in courses at the new unis, because her grades aren't good enough for Russell Group. She really doesn't want to do a resit. Any other ways to boost her application? Thanks in advance

Just apply. BBC type institutions would almost certainly offer a BBD applicant.

A lot of the newer universities make their offers against UCAS points. BBD gives her 104 points.

WhatUni is a useful tool to see where she can apply to with those grades.

The other option is to do a foundation year.

If it’s likely to be points based then look if they will include points from other qualifications eg music or dance exams.

What about the epq? That can boost points especially as it is worth half an a level.

The University of Kent often accept people with lower than published grades. DD has friends who went there with CCD and ADE for BBC/BCC courses. (This was pre-covid)

Most take lower grades, significantly lower than published. Dd got onto a course designated abb with bbd!

Just apply to where she actually want to go, one or two inspirational 2 just above and a banker.

Depends on the course. Don't get too hung up by RG. Try a couple above bbd standard offer(esp if went to Clearing this year)and a few on it.

DS took three years out and successfully applied to AAB courses (and even one AAA) with ABC grades in hand. He's doing well.

Are her Bs related to the subjects she wants? Doing a maths degree with a D would sound inadvisable.

Depends what degree she is looking at. Is it a science based one where maths would be relevant?

The unknown this year is how many places have already been allocated on courses to students who have deferred entry from the last two years. Unis may be less willing to accept lower grades if they have less places to fill, and the unknown factor of whether exams will happen this year.

There is certainly no harm in contacting the admissions teams of the places she is interested in.

To be clear, some universities have declared how many deferred places they are holding against the maximum places offered. Mostly where it’s hugely competitive. But at least decisions can be made with all the info available. One suspects non RG won’t be holding so many. In the circumstances though, at least one that’s aspirational might not be wasted!

Thanks for some great advice. She's feeling more positive knowing that she has more choices than she had thought. She's definitely not doing Maths (hated maths A level). Her Bs are in Economics and English, so pretty varied.

What courses is she applying for? That will make a difference.

Business would be a good shout at a uni with industry links. That won’t require stellar maths. But employment prospects are good.

She's looking at more career-focussed courses. She would like to get into Project Management eventually, so looking at that type of course ( Business / Management / Property, etc). She's considered apprenticeships but now decided she definitely wants to go to uni. @TizerorFizz that's a great point about the university industry links, I'll tell her to check that out.

Just apply

Most Unis take lower grades than they say, so always try

My DS got in this year with 2 grades below official required grades

Might be worth looking at UWE University of the West of England - based in Bristol). They do lots of courses in commercial management, property development etc and have great industry links. I think they all have an optional year out. They also do a foundation year if grades aren't quite high enough to go straight to degree.

Maybe also don't apply to all 5 choices and put a couple of her favoured places in first to see how the land lies. Then if she gets offers she may want to try a couple of higher level ones.

Remember if she gets no offers she can still use Extra and Clearing in the same way as others.

Business management and Economics at Kent or Business and Management studies at Sussex both have a year in industry and have accepted students with BCC. We have family friends whose DDs are doing their year in industry at the moment. One is working for Renault and the other Siemens. Hopefully, both will lead to jobs after the final year.

@SeasonFinale

Maybe also don't apply to all 5 choices and put a couple of her favoured places in first to see how the land lies. Then if she gets offers she may want to try a couple of higher level ones.

Remember if she gets no offers she can still use Extra and Clearing in the same way as others.

I didn't realise that she could do this! That's a great idea. I thought all 5 had to be done at once.

Thanks for the specific uni / course suggestions they're much appreciated

If she looks at Business, she would need to have some idea about what type of project she wants to manage. Engineering and building projects wouldn’t be suitable but working on the finance side would. Many of the former polytechnics are in cities so I would extend her search to include Nottingham Trent, Oxford Brooks, Manchester Met, John Moores and Sheffield Hallam as well as UWE. There are others I’ve left out in Birmingham, Leeds and the NE. Depends where she wants to be.

Yes if she puts one choice only she pays a reduced fee. If she puts 2 in as she applies that is the maximum fee and she can add another 3 choices at any time direct on UCAS. she needs to put them in before the Janhary deadline date of she wants then to receive equal consideration but she can add them later too.

@TizerorFizz

To be clear, some universities have declared how many deferred places they are holding against the maximum places offered. Mostly where it’s hugely competitive. But at least decisions can be made with all the info available. One suspects non RG won’t be holding so many. In the circumstances though, at least one that’s aspirational might not be wasted!

I’m interested in this please. Which universities have declared this do you have a link?

Thanks for all the info and advice. DD is feeling a lot more positive about her prospects!