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Higher education

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Original poster

Bristol "on hold"

19 replies

nipabc · 30/10/2021 12:58

Has anyone elses DC had this from Bristol please?
What does it mean & how long for.
Its for a popular course but does anyone know if they are doing for all courses? Thanks

OP posts:
Lucia574 · 30/10/2021 13:09

Bristol do this quite routinely. Don’t read anything into it. I’ve had students who were told this get offers a week later; others not until after the January UCAS deadline.

Chilldonaldchill · 30/10/2021 15:09

Yes DD had this last year (history). She got an offer around 10 days later if I remember rightly. The most popular uni destination from her school last year was Bristol and I understand most of them were put on hold for between a week and several months!

Lemonella · 17/12/2022 15:59

DC has applied early this year and just had nothing from Bristol - NOT put on hold like others are reporting to have been. Does this mean a rejection is likely?

Scoobyblue · 17/12/2022 18:19

My ds has applied this year and has been put on hold. Was about 10 days ago.

Lemonella · 17/12/2022 20:04

As far as I can tell, it means they have met the requirements for an offer. Hence wondering about those applications they have had for a while that they have not put on hold.

mumofthree22 · 17/12/2022 21:40

From experience for those that have applied to Bristol this year early entry (about 40 from DC school across various subjects ) - those that got an offer did so within 24-72 hours from ucas application being submitted but their predicted grades exceeded what was requested. Was definitely the fastest result for many. Those few that are waiting were either those whose predicted grade was either as required or just under. Seems as if they'll offer to rest depending on spaces available after Jan deadline.

timefortinsel · 18/12/2022 08:25

Thry seem to make very quick offers to very strong applicants and then put the next tranche 'on hold' to await more applications coming so that they have a wider field of comparison. Or, as people either firm Bristol or confirm as insurance, this gives them clarity as to how much space they have to make more offers. When Oxford and Cambridge offers come in, this will give them further clarity.

Lemonella · 18/12/2022 09:59

I don't understand why they would not send rejections though.

Featheryboa · 18/12/2022 10:12

Both of my dc applied to Bristol (2 years ago and this year) and both got this on hold message. Both did get offers . I think Bristol are slightly slower than some universities to put out offers but not hugely so.

ladywithnomanors · 18/12/2022 10:16

Ds has had an 'on hold' message a couple of days ago too. Bristol isn't in his top 2 though and he's had an offer from his 2nd choice so isnt worried.

timefortinsel · 18/12/2022 11:32

Lemonella · Today 09:59
"I don't understand why they would not send rejections though."

They don't want to reject students who meet the criteria. They are very much hoping to make them an offer and probably will. But the end of Jan is the 'equal consideration' deadline, so they will have applications rolling in right up until this date. Some may be stronger than those they are 'holding,' some will not be. But they can only give a proportion of the offers away at this point because they have only received a proportion of the applications at this point.

For instance, if a course is advertised as AAA and a student applied with those predicted grades, they will probably hold onto them to compare to the field of applications coming in. But a student applying with 4 A stars predicted or already achieved, as an example, would probably get an offer straight away because they know from past experience and algorithms that this type of candidate is the top x% of applicants for that course.

GMH1974 · 18/12/2022 16:23

@nipabc Which subject was it for? Good luck.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 20/12/2022 00:20

DS was on hold for ages for Bristol last year. He had offers from all his others including Cambridge and Imperial. I have no idea why they kept him on hold but as he wanted to get his firm and insurance decision made, HE rejected THEM in the end. He’s at Cambridge now and happy he’s there.

don’t know if Bristol somehow knew he would get Cambridge or Imperial so from their point of view it would be a wasted offer but he may well have put it as his insurance. He’s just lucky his plan worked out I guess.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 20/12/2022 00:26

Sorry that was in response to @timefortinsel ’s comment. DS was predicted 4 A stars . His extra curriculars were good. So no,,it didn’t mean an automatic offer for him.

when I say he rejected Bristol, I mean he put in his firm and insurance choices while still being “on hold” with Bristol. So he never got a final decision one way or the other from them. Would have been interested to know what they were going to do. He was a strong candidate, also had to turn down an offer of a President’s scholarship from Imperial, which I’m told is very prestigious. As a parent it doesn’t feel right when they do things like that! You just have to trust they know what they’re doing I suppose.

god it’s bringing back all the stress of last year. I feel for everyone!

mellicauli · 21/12/2022 23:45

My son did get a rejection from Bristol last year (3 A stars predicted). He waited from October til June and was rejected in the last week. We saw others on Student Room who waited that long, with similar predictions who did get an offer. So for Aerospace, it either came down to GSCE results (damn that 7 in German) or personal statements.

I advise you to just get on with your lives and concentrate on getting the grades. There's nothing you can do now and it might be a long wait.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 22/12/2022 19:26

So for Aerospace, it either came down to GSCE results (damn that 7 in German) or personal statements.

Aah, DS was applying for Aerospace when Bristol kept him waiting, @mellicauli I wonder if it WAS down to GCSE results? Pretty daft if it was as they were just teacher-assessed grades, and DS was irritated that he got a 7 in one of his, having never got a 7 all the way along. He didn't appeal it because it was his only 7 and he'd got what he wanted in everything else. Must just be a v popular course with very similar standards of applications, perhaps.

Xenia · 23/12/2022 18:32

Just wait it out. The three of mine who went to Bristol didn't have an "on hold". My twins had 4 As for AS levels when they applied (these days people don't do AS levels but I think it helped them having those grades already achieved).

Lemonella · 23/12/2022 20:19

Thanks. A slight relief to hear of someone who got in and wasn’t on hold. Predicted grades are higher than the ask but its law and not heard of any offers yet for law, just ‘on holds.’

mellicauli · 23/12/2022 22:15

CurlyhairedAssassin · 22/12/2022 19:26

So for Aerospace, it either came down to GSCE results (damn that 7 in German) or personal statements.

Aah, DS was applying for Aerospace when Bristol kept him waiting, @mellicauli I wonder if it WAS down to GCSE results? Pretty daft if it was as they were just teacher-assessed grades, and DS was irritated that he got a 7 in one of his, having never got a 7 all the way along. He didn't appeal it because it was his only 7 and he'd got what he wanted in everything else. Must just be a v popular course with very similar standards of applications, perhaps.

Unfortunately a 7 was probably quite justified for my son. He didn't do any work. He didn't really know his strudel from his sauerkraut.

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