Trying to understand clearing - grades seem so low for Exeter

[Revengeofthepangolins]

DS2 is year 12 so am browsing clearing to try to get some context for next year and to help him chose his UCAS 5.

Exeter asks for AAA for both English and Liberal Arts, but seems to have them in clearing now for ABC and BBC respectively (even lower for internationals). That seems a really surprisingly lower tarrif. Is that normal? And does it suggest that if their offer holders achieve these grades, Exeter will still accept them?

Course requirements do drop for clearing although that is a substantial drop, it’s not unheard of.

I would be cautious about making decisions about which unis to pick based on clearing - the number of 18 year olds is only going to increase over the next few means so the landscape could well not be comparable.

Your DC should select courses which interest them, at universities they’d be happy to go to, at a range of offer grades appropriate to them (usually one slightly over, two or three at the level they expect to achieve, one lower for insurance).

Probably. And probably. DD got her uni place through clearing, the ‘usual’ offer on the uni website was AAB IIRC, her clearing offer was BCC. The following year I looked out of interest and it was CCD for the same course. This was Eng lit btw tho not at Exeter. Friend of DDs got acceptance on UCAS for his course, went to collect results thinking “I’ve got ABB (or whatever the offer was) and actually got much lower grades – but the uni messaged to say it had accepted them all as no one had got the required grades!

It can vary tho obvs – a popular course or a popular uni will either have a high clearing offer or no offer. York IIRC when I called on clearing day was offering AAA for Eng lit – I’m thinking, if you had got AAA you are unlikely to be spending this day on the phone! Basically what is happening this year is not much indicator of next year. Lboro had BBB for Eng lit in DD’s year; two years later the uni had nothing at all in clearing (admittedly a TAG year but still).

Agree btw that clearing offers are not a good way to choose a course if that is what you are thinkign OP.

Check whether the vacancies are actually at Exeter or at their campus in Cornwall which often require lower grades

Thank you all

@Revengeofthepangolins I don’t think my DDs even looked at clearing before choosing! DD1 did MFL and they certainly reduce what’s required in clearing at many unis! It’s supply and demand. So always look at standard offers when selecting. Don’t assume a lower offer from clearing is going to happen.

English is less popular than it was. 10-15 years ago it became difficult for excellent candidates to get an offer at all. One of DDs friends didn’t - academic scholar. Cambridge reject and everywhere else rejected including a couple of fairly humble (and more than realistic) RGs. Clearing offer from another decent RG was accepted. Then in 2013 the cap on uni places was lifted so offers were more predictable.

Moving on to now: quite a few Dc are not seeing English as sufficiently job oriented. It’s way down the grad earnings scales. Maybe attracts fewer international students too. So I think some Dc are looking at what they consider to be more lucrative degrees and making alternative choices eg law.

Plus I too would caution that this clearing offer is for the Cornwall campus. Exeter itself is more sought after.

@Revengeofthepangolins this thread on the student room website, regarding Exeter's low clearing offers, is probably worth a read. There's some feedback from one of their admissions team explaining their rationale behind it.

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7371005

I can understand ABC but BBC seems low for Exeter although I believe Penryn campus in Cornwall tends to take lower grades.

My DD is at Exeter and whilst her course required AAA she knows of a few with contextual offers up to ABC. I think much lower then surely the student would find the course too challenging especially if they need a 2:1 for a year abroad or work placement.

Student room link v interesting, thank you

and the places are on the Streatham campus, which I believe is the main one?

Yes it is.

B in English is ok to read English. They won’t be challenged beyond what they can do as long as they write essays well and do the reading. This isn’t Oxbridge! A mark or two off an A doesn’t make you poor at uni. The grades required do show they need more students so have widened the net. They obviously think a B in English is just fine.

DD has insured Exeter for MFL. Her offer is AAB but the same course is in clearing at BCC! (Streatham campus - the main one).

If you look on Discover Uni it shows you the average UCAS points on entry by uni & course. We could see that Exeter had previously accepted with lower points so this helped DD make her decision (she liked the campus & course which was her main criteria though).

Lots of MFL courses take lower! Unless you really bomb out and don’t want Oxbridge (or a couple of others) you may well be ok. MFL is not very competitive at most unis.

I disagree with others. Looking at clearing offers is really useful. It’s a good way to see what grades each uni really takes students with. Some universities are unlikely to accept anyone that misses their typical offer by more than a grade or two. Some unis have typical offers for courses of AAA and regularly end up in clearing at BCC (so 5 grades lower than their offers). If someone gets an offer AAA from one of the latter unis then knowing that they actually take far lower grades than the offer is useful when deciding whether it might be a good insurance option for example.

Knowing that not all AAA or ABB offers are equal is important information.

@Takoneko

Looking at clearing offers is really useful. It’s a good way to see what grades each uni really takes students with

Not really. Just because Exeter has subjects in Clearing with lower criteria, e.g. ACC for Maths vs. their typical offer of AAA, doesn't actually mean there'll be people attending the course with those grades.

For example, if they only have 10 clearing places for Maths, and the first 10 who get in touch have grades of AAB, they're going to take them.

I meant to add - the uniguide website has data for each course/university showing typical grades/subjects of students attending. I'd use this as a reference over clearing vacancy lists

My daughter went to Penryn Campus for a Falmouth Uni Open Day and we weren't sure where to go, so I stuck my head around a door and asked is this the building for Falmouth Uni Open Day and the receptionist said "No, this is Exeter". I thought she'd gone barmy!!!

@lastdayatschool if they thought they could fill their places with ABB then they wouldn’t go into clearing at ACC.

Clearing grades are the best indicator for finding out what grades a uni is actually happy to settle for for a specific course. Is it perfect? No. But it will be a better indication than the typical offer published on their website. The typical offer gives an indication of what grades you need to be predicted, clearing gives a better idea of the grades you need to achieve.

That is quite the assumption as to what is or isn’t required or whether students will be challenged…

@Takoneko

clearing gives a better idea of the grades you need to achieve

No - that would only be true if a course had unlimited places.

I can see that exeter has listed clearing grades required but I can’t see the same clearing grades for other universities (ie, York and Bath plus many others). How do you find them please?

Clearing isn’t useful for planning places to apply for a few reasons:

• universities could change their strategy the next year (fairly common)
• external factors mean unis go up or down in popularity (good marketing, cost of living, bad press)
• population growth or change can impact on places available in main cycle and clearing

@ShanghaiDiva If Exeter are ok with lower grades they do expect students to
be fine! Define “challenging ”? Some texts are not very challenging. Oxbridge is challenging due to volume and short terms. I still don’t see why someone just below an A wouldn’t be competent. I suspect they are or the number of 2:2 degrees snd lower would be high. They are not.

Not all unis will list these publicly, they don't have to. And they may not be sure of the grades they want, yet.

Unis get to see the A-level grades around a week before students, so by the time Results Day come they will know how many places they have on which courses, and can set Clearing grades accordingly. It's more surprising when they do publicise grades early than when they don't!

My issue is not what Exeter thinks, but rather you presenting yourself as some kind of ‘expert’ in this area. Do you have a degree in English? Do you know what material is studied as part of the course? If the answer to these questions is no, why are you stating that some texts are not very challenging?