Advice on Bath

[Cloudhopping]

My eldest dd is in yr 12 and wants to do psychology at university. She's interested in Bath as one of her choices but I've been told by 1 person (a friend) that she shouldn't waste her choice on Bath as it's so difficult to get in (think it's ranked 4th for psyche after Oxbridge and UCL). Her predicted grades so far are psychology (A) sociology (A star) and Geography (B). I know it's against her as she doesn't have a pure science in there but she does have a strong set of GCSE's (8 in maths, 7/8's in sciences, 7 in computer science) Is there any hope for Bath?

You can go on the UCAS website and see what grades Bath has accepted in the past for that course

@Cloudhopping , my dd is waiting for an offer from Bath with A star A A prediction and GCSE at 8 and 9's. At the moment we think she will be rejected.

Look at Warwick for A A B prediction.

Bath's psychology degree is a social science degree not a science degree so the absence of a science other than psychology is not likely to make any difference.

Bath have one of the more transparent admissions policies. For most of their courses if a student meets the entry requirements published on their website they will be made an offer. I can't say 100% for certain if that is true for psychology, it definetely isn't for regulated courses like Pharmacy, but for many of their courses it is.

If your dd really likes Bath, get them to have a poke around the university website, they do some really interesting summer courses.

Does it say she needs another science A level with her psychology A level? Are the requirements AAB? Is she doing core maths or an EPQ? as that can reduce the grade requirement. She will need a stellar personal statement as most departments state that they’re read.

@jgw1 , it's really competitive for psychology, they start offering to those with 4 x A star predictions and work their way through the applications. From what I can gather at the moment there will be a large number of applications with the same number of points for the grades and predictions my dd has, I don't know how they then select. She hasn't done an epq.

Roughly 2 in 5 students who apply to study psychology at Bath get an offer.

https://www.admissionreport.com/university-of-bath/bsc-psychology

There are much, much more competitive courses, but it does suggest that if a student does not meet the entry requirements, they are unlikely to be considered for long.

In trying to find reasons to give a student an offer Bath do read the personal statements and consider them carefully.

Your DD's starting point is to read carefully U of Bath's entry requirements for the relevant course. For 2024 entry, the standard offer is showing as Astar, A, A, ideally including 'numerical' and 'essay-based' A levels in the mix.

Psychology would be regarded as a numerical A level and Sociology an essay-based one by U of Bath. Geography is not listed as either type and so this may make her application weaker in relative terms, but that is not certain either way.

As NotDonna highlights, core maths or an EPQ at the appropriate grade can lead to a lower offer and/or better chance of getting an offer at all. Contextual offers are also available; again, U of Bath's website gives the details.

The key thing would be to boost the current predicted B in Geography to an A and to ensure her personal statement was a strong as possible.

I remember seeing, in previous years, threads on TheStudentRoom saying that even those meeting the standard criteria for psychology did not receive offers or were offered the course without the placement year instead of that with the placement year (which, for many who apply to U of Bath, is a key draw).

So, yes, it may be very competitive for 2024 entry and your DD would need to work as hard as she could to raise her predicted grades and to build up evidence of a genuine interest in the study of psychology so that could be included in her personal statement.

U of Bath is a very good university, for many subjects including psychology, but not all roads have to lead to Bath and there are many other great courses at other very good universities too; so that is something to think about as well.

My dd is in year 1 at Nottingham and applied to Bath with A star/A/A predictions. At GCSE she got four 9s and five 8s. She still hadn’t got an offer this time last year so she withdrew in the end so she could firm Notts and book accommodation. I can’t remember exactly when this was but I think accommodation opened in April.

With lower GCSEs and A Level predictions I think it would be a wasted choice for your daughter. Realistically she’d probably need to get up to A star/A star/A predictions.

If a university is suggesting that by firming them before the June deadline a student will get a better choice of accomodation then they are in breach of the UCAS terms and conditions and ought to be reported to UCAS and the Office for Students.

Thanks for all the replies. They're really helpful. It confirmed what I thought-that it may just be a little out of reach. She will have a strong personal statement but it sounds like it may not be enough. I did have a look on the student room forum as there are spreadsheets detailing predicted grades for those who've received offers this year and they are all A stars! As a poster said, not all roads lead to Bath though so I think I shall try and steer her to other choices.,

I think Liverpool is good for Psychology and it was where all DD’s friends who had B predictions went! Does she have any reason to get contextual offers (postcode/school etc)? Dd had a reduced offer of ABB from Nottingham due to our postcode (and despite being at an independent school for GCSEs and a grammar for A Level!). In the end she got A star/A/A but that was after a history remark. I sometimes wonder if she’d have lost her Nottingham place on results day if she hadn’t had the contextual, as the normal offer is AAA.

Crazycrofter she went to a bog standard state school and now the local 6th form but our postcode does not qualify for a contextual offer. Liverpool may be an option. The grades that are required nowadays seem so high! I went to a highly regarded grammar (30 odd years ago) and I only recall a handful of the brightest girls getting all A's (definitely not me) and they were the ones heading for Oxbridge. It was such a rare thing. Nowadays a B grade prediction is seen as a bit of a failure! Determined to not let her feel like that though but we need to be mindful of her choices.

Each university determines how to deal with context differently. It is hard to work out often whether or not someone might qualify, but I wouldn't say it was necessarily impossible that she does.

Bristol have a nice clear webpage about how they do it, but one can't reliably extrapolate from being eligble for theirs to being eligible for a different university.

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/

JGW1 thanks for that-it's really interesting. According to the Uni of Bristol website and their list of 'Aspiring schools' which qualify for contextual offers, both her previous school and current sixth form would qualify. Thanks so much for this valuable information.,

It’s worth checking each uni as they’re all different. Search contextual offer and the uni name and you should find it. Also, predicted grades may well go up between now and October. DD’s school came up with their UCAS predicted grades in Sept based on class work and exams in year 12. Some schools give higher grades for UCAS as they’re meant to be aspirational- so actual predicted grades could be AAB and UCAS could be A star A star A! It’s worth double checking what your school does.

Encourage her to visit 4 or so different locations for university, include cities and campus based and see which she prefers. Bath is lovely, I live near there and am about to drive over shortly but it comes with serious drawbacks, rental properties are scarce and expensive, traffic can be terrible, very hilly (perhaps good for keeping you fit) and the tourists, well they are everywhere, especially "posh" stag and hens ... then there's the price of beer, over a £1 a pint more than where I live not 20 miles away

I wouldn't give up just yet. Until your DD knows if she is contextual for them or how much emphasis they put on the personal statement etc. I have seen at least 1 A*AA offer. You cant just go on the spreadsheet - the official Bath 2023 forum page which is a trawl - but you can search specifically for Psychology - it is a better indicator.

Not a psychology expert but has she looked at degrees in/ featuring Social Psychology? I think York does one. Thsi is more sociology with psychology focused.

If the aim is to become a psychologist, then it is important to do a degree that is accredited to the BPS. A degree that is a subject with psychology is unlikely to be.

Yes, understood.

There are definitely soils psychology degrees. Will look for what you said.

Soils??? Social!

Just checked and UEA's courses are all BPS accredited.

I don't think that Nottingham does that - the issue is more that it is one of the universities (like LSE) where the system is 'choose and book', rather than 'submit preferences by deadline and we allocate later', and booking opens before the UCAS deadline for universities to respond to on-time applications. Of course, there are going to be plenty of people in a position to book at any point before then - those who applied with achieved grades earning them an early offer and those who applied the previous year for deferred entry - but not enough of them to mean that a guarantee of 'a' place in halls to current year, conditional firm applicants is invalidated, so probably not actually a breach...?