Do extenuating circumstances always get looked at on a UCAS application?

[Lightstoasteraction]

DC is in Y12 and doing well. They had a significant operation in Y11 which caused them to miss many weeks of school. They were previously an 8/9 student but unsurprisingly they did not achieve these grades last summer. I know there is a section in the new UCAS format specifically for issues like this. Do these actually get considered? I know this is an impossible question, but how much 'credit' might you expect?

Former Russell Group STEM admissions tutor here. We are a very competitive School: our typical A level offer is higher than AAA. However we do not consider GCSE grades except to insure that the University’s basic literacy and numeracy requirements are met. I believe we are typical of the RG; however Oxford and a few other RG unis may consider GCSEs.

As a separate issue, a member of our Admissions Team has always highlighted special circumstances mentioned by either the applicant or the referee on the UCAS application. These are always taken under advisement. Again I believe we are typical on that (although for the reasons stated above, we ourselves would be unlikely to delve into Y11 special circs).

Thanks for the reply. So you would not particularly take the circs into consideration because you are not overly interested in the gcse results snyway. ( They have 7 or higher in core subjects).

In most cases gcse results are largely irrelevant to university applications. There are some places who use them but in most cases GCSEs are just a stepping stone to sixth form as long as you have the basic essentials.