Son (18) Distraught Over Results

[annelovesthebeach1975]

Hello everyone! I have been a longtime lurker of mumsnet for years now but today I have felt the need to finally make an account and post here, as my house has been plunged into chaos by the dreaded A Level results day. As the title says, my son has been absolutely distraught all day over the fact that his a level results were not what he wanted, and he got rejected by his dream uni, Newcastle University, and also his insurance choice, Birmingham. Although he only wanted to go to Newcastle so he doesn't really care about that. He received BCD although his predicted was AAB so obviously everyone was quite disappointed, but my son has taken it absolutely horrifically and it is breaking my heart. For some backstory, from when my son started lower sixth, his teachers helped students start looking for unis and courses during free periods at least once a week. From when my son began researching unis, he's only ever wanted to go to Newcastle University. When we went to the open day last year after he got his conditional offer he was hooked even further. He even knew what accomodation he wanted. He's a smart boy so I wasnt too worried about him getting in. However, after some of his exams he seemed quite unsure of himself, saying he didn't feel like he did a good job. I assumed this was just him overthinking it but now I believe the fact he didn't actually sit his GCSEs because of covid has had a negative effect on him since these were his first 'real exams.' He has been on the phone to clearing all day basically pleading for a biomed place at Newcastle and he has emailed them directly as well, although biomed and many other science courses are not clearing and his grades are much lower than the entry requirements so it has made things very difficult. I am putting on a brave face for him but on the inside I am heartbroken. This summer all he has talked about is what he's going to do when he goes to Newcastle, how excited he is, and how he's so excited for freshers week in newcastle. His eyes are red raw from crying in his room between contacting Newcastle over and over. He is not usually an emotional lad so this is very upsetting for me. I have contacted his sixth form for advice and they basically told me there is basically no chance he will find a biomed place at Newcastle with his grades, which were a shock to his teachers as they all thought he would breeze through his exams. It is looking like he will have to resit his a levels which while it is not the end of the world, it feels like it for my son when all his mates got into their unis, some Newcastle, and will be starting there next month. I am just looking for any advice on how to comfort him because I want him to know that I am there for him, and if there's any way I can get him a place at Newcastle on a science course that is biomed or similar.

I've not read the whole thread but just seen some people talking about biomedical science - with that I would probably say with his grades resit and try again (and also get him to look at Nottingham uni as well - access to queens med is one of the big pluses for that and it has AstraZeneca in the city and good connections one of my nieces went there)

He may feel he is staying behind while others are at uni but when you get there people are of all ages, some for the same reason, others because they have taken a gap year or deferred.

How about proposing this - he goes get a job to earn some money, works his ass off for resits in Feb. (im assuming they still do that) it will also mean he has to learn to self study which will actually set him up better for Uni, and he can maybe use some of his job money to get some tutoring (if it means that much he will)

then potentially after feb he has 6 months - he can either continue to work and have a decent summer, or even then spend the next 6 months doing a mini gap year. Potentially gets to uni in far better place than otherwise would

I was determined to go to Oxford but didn't get in first time, so did resits and got in the following year. Enjoyed my extra year off too. It was untraumatic and worth it.

1. Don't minimize by saying it will all be OK etc. (it WILL all be OK, but he won't see that yet). Instead, affirm how disappointed he is and how stressful clearing is and give hugs/ snacks/ tissues.
2. See if there is anything practical you can do.... His course is not possible, but is there another course at Newcastle he would consider trying if he can get onto it?
3. When he is ready, start thinkng of other possibilities..... A year out, a different uni, retakes etc.
4. Keep reminding him that he is more than his results. Yes, his friends might have succeeded, but he got reasonable grades too - just not quite what he hoped for.
5. It feels terrible now, but he is sooo young. I have a 50 Yr old friend starting her PGCE this year. He is right at the start of it all and there is time for him to make a whole load of deviations and twists and turns and successes and surprises yet. Sometimes what we map out in detail is not as good as what we unexpectedly end up with.

Former biomedical scientist here….going from what a previous poster said you can’t actually qualify as a biomedical scientist and work as one (NHS or otherwise) if the degree isn’t accredited.

a previous posted has pointed out that the biomed degree isn’t accredited at Newcastle uni- so he would need to do top up courses after to register with the HCPC and be a qualified biomedical scientist. In my opinion and probably besides the point most people that do the biomed degree do it because they didn’t get good enough grades to do medicine. no one really wants to go into this career. I was a biomedical scientist for 10 years ( nhs and private) and the pay isn’t great neither is it rewarding. - it’s almost like factory work . Most people I worked with felt the same.

my advice to your son is to evaluate what he wants to do with his life- everything happens for a reason, this definitely isn’t the end of the world although it might feel like it is. I would recommend you son does some volunteer work at an NHS lab to get a taster of what it’s like and see if it’s truly what he wants.

feel free to pm me . Best of luck x

10 years ago my boyfriend did the same. Had his heart set on somewhere, messed up his exams and had to resit. Like pp he actually got a lot out of his year off, went and did some travelling, saved money. Got the grades he needed and ended up going to a different uni in the end (arguably a better one).

This will pass. I'd reassure him that covid has been an absolute fucker for most students. I hate the term unprecedented but it is and even without it, its not unusual for bright kids to not perform well on exam day. Now he knows what to expect he'll be much better prepared.

I'm so sorry for your son and for you. It's heartbreaking.

Maybe the best thing you can now do is give him framework/plan of attack and move him on from the disappointment. He is still only 18 and probably needs a parent to take a bit of control. If it were me I'd

1. call the Biomed dept at Newcastle myself tomorrow and ask for their advice - can they suggest a clearing course he could do for a year and then transfer? or would they value resits?
2. call Newcastle admission team and ask them the same for their perspective
3. talk to your son and decide whether it is the uni or the course he likes. If it is the uni start looking for any course that fits. If it is the course then see if there are any biomedical courses anywhere that might take him. After a year he could transfer to Newcastle (but by then he might want to stay were he is).

Then lay out his options clearly.

Just for some perspective. My goddaughter didn't get a place for medicine and was devastated. She ended up going to Cardiff through clearing and starting a biology course. The next year she reapplied (with the year at Cardiff under her belt) and got into medicine. She has just graduated amongst the top 15% of doctors in the country. So sometimes you just have to find a roundabout route to get somewhere. Good luck.

Please do not call the university on his behalf. Help him make a script / rehearse the conversation / be there in the room with him if he wants but he has to make the calls himself. It will not help his case to have his mum calling for him.

@annelovesthebeach1975
A couple of ideas
He goes to Newcastle to do a HNC/D or foundation year then goes to a degree course next year

Or clearing

I'm so sorry he must be absolutely gutted 😞 bless him but although he'll feel awful today - hopefully he will get something 🍀

Jonathan Ive - Apple's chief design officer - went to Newcastle Poly. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jony_Ive

If he thinks he may wish to work in the NHS, he should look at this list and make sure he selects a university that does an approved course. www.hcpc-uk.org/education/approved-programmes/approved-programmes-results/?Professions=270450001&ProviderQueryString=&IntakeModes=Open&Page=1

Newcastle entry is tough. AAB which must be biology and chemistry plus another in maths or a science.

It doesn't matter what the third A level is @Cervinia. DD had geography as her third subject.

This is a tough degree, which is why the entry requirements are AAB. When DD applied in 2018 it was AAA (to include biology or chemistry) or AAB (if you had both biology and chemistry).

Also not read the whole thread, but presumably he has got the breakdown of his marks and looked at the grade boundaries for each of his subjects, to see whether it may be worth asking for a priority review of any of the papers (the school should have provided details of each exam board's post-results services)? If any were Edexcel, the exams officer can download copies of the marked papers first.

(Please no-one scream if this was thrashed out on page 7 or whatever).

To be honest, the grades are far enough off that a review is unlikely to help.

Has he requested a copy of his exam scripts to see if he can see what went wrong?

It's possibly too late now but Newcastle did do summer schools and lower admissions grade for attendees (I don't know if they still do) my dd was estimated ABB which was Newcastles minimum, but because she attended a two summer school in August they reduced it to BBB. She got BBC and she still got in.

Dd year was 2018

So kids with money to attend a summer school get lower grades? Surely that’s not widening participation? Unless they are hand picked from sink schools snd on fsm of course! University entrance is such a mess now.

University entrance is such a mess now.

I agree. I have read a lot of heartbreaking posts on WIWIKAU. I really think that having unrealistic predicted grades just to get an offer doesn't help. DD's teachers were spot on with hers, and generally quite strict with not giving out unrealistic predicted grades to the rest of her cohort.

@TizerorFizz paid summer schools don't get you lower offers. Ones run by Sutton Trust or WP teams do. To be eligible for these you have to come from a lower income home or have some other disadvantage. If you complete the summer school you get that contextual offer. It's to give students an idea of what Uni is as most will be first generation applicants, so it takes the fear away.

So kids with money to attend a summer school get lower grades? Surely that’s not widening participation? Unless they are hand picked from sink schools snd on fsm of course! University entrance is such a mess now.

You might be jumping to conclusions here. The Sutton Trust runs a lot of summer schools that are hosted by particular universities. These are specifically targeted at students from disadvantaged backgrounds and are free for the participants (because the Sutton Trust pays for them). The way the lower-grades offers usually work is that the students who attended the summer school must have met Sutton Trust widening-participation criteria and demonstrated appropriate engagement in the summer school. Some universities will run summer schools themselves on a similar basis, and the Medical Schools Council runs them on a regional basis in particular medical schools (funded by Health Education England).

I can't think of any examples where universities would give lower-grade offers to students who had participated in activities that they had to pay for, although obviously I don't know everything that goes on in every university.

I really think that having unrealistic predicted grades just to get an offer doesn't help

Were they necessarily unrealistic though? This cohort hasn't sat any official exams before and these are the first set of exams sat where the cohort has missed out on so much education.

No. The PARTNERS programme at Newcastle which can lead to a lower contextual offer has really clear eligibility criteria aimed at widening access. You can read the whole list here www.ncl.ac.uk/partners/how-to-apply/eligibility/full-eligibility-criteria/. It includes home postcode, school, ethnic groups, disabilities, care leavers, young carers, refugees, etc.

Sorry @mumsneedwine - didn't see your post before I posted mine.

Newcastle has no places left in clearing now but he wouldn’t get on to any course at Newcastle with the D grade. Definitely worth looking at Northumbria if he is fixed on Newcastle as a city and he would get on to a foundation year with those grades. It would give him another year to decide exactly what he wants to do. Biomed doesn’t lead to really good jobs as someone up thread said and he maybe needs to rethink what the best course may be.

If you go on the Northumbria clearing page and type in biology to the search, there are quite a few courses still available. Both campuses (Newcastle and Northumbria) are in the city centre and so are a lot of the halls.

Just a couple of other points re previous posts here:

1. Many universities/courses, particularly those with high entry requirements, don't look at UCAS tariff points, so trying to pick up extra points rather than repeating A-Levels isn't necessarily going to help this particular student.

2. Biomedical sciences is a bit of a peculiar course. As a PP said, many biomed sci courses have a lot of students who have made unsuccessful medicine applications and hope to apply for medicine again as graduates. (This isn't a great idea, but it's up to them.) If someone actually wants to be an NHS biomedical scientist they should really do an IBMS-accredited degree, which many at Russell-Group universities aren't. If they want to work in lab-based research, there are likely to be better options than biomedical sciences.

3. It's always risky to have your heart set on a single university. I acknowledge that teenage boys might not talk much about why they are so set on a particular place, but schools/colleges should try hard to get them to look a bit more broadly and have a plan B. It will still be very disappointing when plan A doesn't come off, but if there's no plan B it's utterly devastating. It can be very difficult for parents to support teenagers in this position if they don't really understand how university admissions works. And there's no particular reason why anyone who doesn't work in education would know how university admissions works. There are other great student cities apart from Newcastle, but if he's only looked at all the great things about Newcastle and doesn't know any of the great things about other cities the loss of the Newcastle place is going to be really upsetting.

4. The rational approach to this situation is to take a year out with the intention of resitting A-Levels and spend some time thoroughly researching his options. However, very few of us are rational. Because of the constant demands of A-Levels, too many students spend too little time actually finding out what being at university involves, what different courses cover, how universities select students, etc. Having a gap year does allow some time for this, although it probably has to be done without guidance from teachers. Talking to friends who are at university will be helpful, but it's also likely to make him very jealous.