When will Universities get A Level results this year?

[purplepatricia]

I'm sorry, I know this question is asked every year.. will it be Thursday 10th?

Thank you

Chatting to a friend who works in 6th form and she said sometimes students turn up on results day having seen on their UCAS before results day that the university has accepted them but not knowing what grades they have got. Is that common?

They won't have seen it on UCAS: those decisions don't become visible until results day. They might have seen it on universities' applicant portals, in which case the university has breached the UCAS embargo and will be in big trouble.

my [dd] got a congratulatory email from her uni the night before. She assumed it was a mistake but it wasn't.

Again, this would have been a breach of the embargo. If this is happening a lot we'll end up with exam boards' refusing to give UCAS and universities early access to results.

This isn’t great advice from the school. We other posters have mentioned, the insurance place may have been allocated and also results day is the worst day to try and contact university admissions. I’d strongly recommend that rather than wait for results day she thinks carefully over the weekend and if she really does want her insurance choice, call them on Monday and ask if they are willing to let her put them as firm.

Thank you Joan.

Anxious couple of weeks for us mums whilst we wait for decisions.

Thank you Joan for taking the time to explain this. I hope all goes smoothly at your end in the lead up to results. I keep telling myself what will be will be and that it will all work out - fingers crossed for all dc over the next two weeks.

Thanks @NoNotHimTheOtherOne
That means I can tell ds that the absence of an email the night before means nothing!

I think this happens a lot because UCAS updates at 8am and schools very often open a bit later for DC to collect results. I think it was 0900 for DS's school, so he knew he was in before actually finding out his grades.

Oh sorry, I didn't read properly - they shouldn't find out anything before results day, but often UCAS updates or an email from the university comes before finding out results from school on the day itself.

Thank you for replies re knowing earlier than the school ~ that makes sense and I’m glad I didn’t say anything to DD!

Sorry for late response. Currently driving across Europe back to the UK!

Unfortunately, if any applicant received an email from a uni congratulating them on their place the night before results, or anytime before 08:00 on results day, then they shouldn't have done! That's breaching the results embargo for A level results. This may not apply if the applicant took the IB or other international quals, but good practice is not to communicate anything at all until after the embargo ends.

It is quite common, however, for applicants to find that they've got a place on the morning of results day. For example, they could check UCAS Track at 08:01am and see that they're 'unconditional firm' at one of their choices, even though schools might not open until later for collection of results.

@stilldumdedumming - about clearing grades: very much depends on the policies of individual universities. I guess some might accept lower grades than advertised for courses in Clearing. If an individual has a strong application (as I mentioned in a previous post, above) with content relevant to the course in question, then that would put them in a strong position. You can but ask, and we can only say no!

We know how stressful this time is to our applicants. We always try and make it all run as smooth possible. I remind my team that we're dealing with young people at an important point in their lives, and not just a clutch of UCAS numbers. Rejecting people is hard, but hearing relief in voices when you make them a verbal offer during Clearing is just amazing!

@JoanThursday hi Joan

Do universities work over the weekend to conform decisions or do some take say as late in Weds to make a decision for firm choices?

My eldest’s place last year showed as being confirmed at 0930 on Saturday morning.

Thanks

@Thefatbutteredpig - again, all unis will carve it up differently. However, yes, we work over this forthcoming weekend.

In our place, the Central admissions team work out who has automatically met the terms if their offer on sat/Sun, then those of us in departments (like me) work on mon / Tues to revisit near misses , those with mit circs etc.

So, yes, if you saw a decision date that fell at the weekend then that's very likely.

Some can leave it very late. Every year, I'm drumming my fingers waiting for firm unis to make their decision where we are the insurance choice. I can see decisions made on the providers' portal ('weblink') in the ucas website.

In the main, decisions are made by end of the day on Wednesday, so applicants can view these on Thurs. Sometimes, they can fall over into Thursday but it's rare (oxbridge usually!).

Good luck to everyone waiting results! 🤞

Former (academic) Admissions tutor here - I'mm still involved in interviewing & assessing applicants - everything @JoanThursday says is pretty accurate. Brilliant posts!

It may feel very stressed & panicky, but the best advice is to breathe, take some time, don't make flash decisions. There really is time to sleep on things, and think about your alternatives, if you aren't confirmed in your first choice.

If a student has been rejected from their firm or insurance choice is it still worth them contacting the Universities. Also, would they need to ring an admissions team number or a subject dept number ?

Don't bother contacting any university before 8am on results day. They will not be able to do or tell you anything (see @JoanThursday's posts). But if the applicant's place is confirmed, it will come up on UCAS tracking.

If an applicant is rejected by both Firm and Insurance place, then that's a cue for entering Clearing.

First stop would probably be to look again at the other choices made waaay back in October/January, and see whether those university courses are in Clearing.

After that, there are ways of searching for course areas/disciplines in Clearing.

Or, time for the applicant to have a think about retakes, a gap year, whatever.

My advice is - don't rush this. Don't take any place just to take a place. Better to take a year out and have a think.

But if an applicant is rejected by F & I places, it's probably not going to be worth it to contact those universities.

Academics spend the time between results released to us, and results days for pupils, looking closely at those who haven't made our offers. If we reject at that point, there's a good reason, and individual Admissions Tutors will have considered applicants carefully (and been grilled about rejections if a course needs to keep up numbers).

If an applicant has shown a commitment to us (made us their firm choice) then we want to see if it's at all possible to confirm their offer; sometimes we can relax an offer. Sometimes, we can't.

Thanks FarEast, very helpful.

Entirely in agreement with @FarEast!

And solidarity to you, @FarEast, if you're working the confirmation and clearing period. All good fun but, by 'eck, the chilled white wine at the end of the week is absolute nectar ..... 😁

Not this year @JoanThursday although I have a full slate of Saturday Open days ... I'm just mopping up marking from 2022-23. And people think academics have these long summer holidays ...

Oof. I hear you. Some of my academic colleagues are in a very similar position with marking. (And, yes, what long holiday?! 😬)

Did unis get numerical scores for each subject yesterday, or just grades?

i.e. is it worth a student contacting their firm/insurance if they missed one grade by only a mark or two - or would universities already know this and have taken it into consideration?

Thanks!

@ThrowingMuse (good name!) - we only see the alpha grades, so wouldn't know how far away it is from the grade above.

All unis are different, but I think it's worth the call - we can only say no. Rather than calling the Clearing hotlines, the applicant should call the Department's admissions team if there is one, or the number on the course pages. Be prepared to follow up the call with an email and attach the transcript showing the numerical marks. This should come from the applicant, using the same email address as on the ucas application.

Hope this helps!

Very helpful - thanks @JoanThursday !

Thank you.

@JoanThursday and @FarEast this is all so helpful and strangely comforting at this time.

Can I ask when is clearing updated with course places/accepted grades. Is it through the few days before results day as decisions are made on near misses or would it only happen on Thursday morning.

I have trawled through Clearing but want to know whether to keep checking before results day for movement or to leave it till Thursday morning.

This is all so informative!
Can I ask a slightly different question: if you have applied for a deferred place and find on Thursday that you have just missed your grades, is it worth calling your offer uni or is there nothing they can do, and you will just have to reapply next year? I have a feeling DD may be in this position; according to the official advice there is nothing you can do because it isn't possible to go into clearing, but I just wondered - obviously don't want to miss any the opportunities!