A levels 2023 - Results day and beyond

[HereWeGo2023]

Hi all. I thought I’d make a new thread as the countdown one is filling up.
Results day is here and I’m sure we will all value each others support, today and for the next stage of their journeys.

Thank you!

I think Warwick have been clear. It's Bristol who are playing silly buggers. Hmm.

@SlightlyJaded I just wanted to second @Thefatbutteredpig and say it might be worth giving UEA a call - their clearing lines are open today

My DS is going to be doing human geography and the clearing places we looked at were Kent, Gloucester, Swansea. All looked really nice.

@Piggywaspushed I understand. What I meant was that if Warwick (for example) has 1 September as its longstop date for confirmations, it might be fair to infer that Bristol’s date and reasons will be similar.

@SlightlyJaded sorry, crossed post. That’s simply appalling re MMU! Jesus wept. A few years ago my DS turned down his history place at Manchester University for UEA and has not looked back. He’s just landed in the States for a study year abroad at a top US university. His flat mate of the past few years got into UEA through clearing and said the people on the end of the line had been compassionate and understanding (for a change!) The Environmental Studies department has a world-class reputation and has been at the cutting edge of climate change. Seriously, give them a call - at this stage you have nothing to lose.

The problem with this will be finding an exam centre to allow her to resit the exams- fewer and fewer are accepting truly private candidates. There are online courses you could pay for which involve tuition, and would probably be cheaper than employing a good 1:1 tutor all year.

However, the issue with resitting at a college is if they don't use the same exam board, she'll be at a pretty major disadvantage.

Have a look at Lincoln @Slightlyjaded as well, it's worth a look and has loads of accommodation so that shouldn't be a worry either. I hope you're dd has better luck finding something today 😊

Good point!

@SlightlyJaded I second what @Cafeconleche has said.

Uea is a hidden gem.

The sports facilities on site are top notch, the campus is homely and safe and they guarantee accommodation which is ensuite and reasonably priced.

Dont know where about in the UK you are, but London is 1.5h on the train.

We are in the NW and I plan on meeting dd in London for shopping and food!

I hope she gets something soon x

*your

Can anyone ask remarking for A-Level papers? How many marks are realistically expected to be revised?

Mine needs 1 mark for Bio A, 3 for ChemA, and 8 for mathsA. He will definitely do for Bio and Chem. But, if maths grade could move up, that could put him in a stronger position in the future in the long term.

Remarking actually reviews whether a mark scheme was fairly applied rather than looking for missing points or simple examiner disagreement. Maths remarks often aren't successful, sorry to say , although they will check examiner has correctly applied markscheme for method.

Hull, UEA, Lincoln all great. Hull's campus is lovely and accommodation is brand new and cheap, relatively. It is really underrated.

@SlightlyJaded I've been following this thread although my youngest DS is now going into 3rd year uni. My middle DS had to go through clearing in 2019 as he didn't meet his firm or insurance and ended up at UEA - we all think in the long run it was a better fit for him at UEA and he did brilliantly. Graduated with a 1st in economics even though covid hit 6 months after he started and it then affected the uni experience right up to the end of his degree. It's a lovely uni.

I think the chances of a maths paper moving up 8 marks is very unlikely unless a mistake has been made.

It's worth bearing in mind these are reviews of marking, not straight remarks- so the person checking would have to essentially find 8 major mistakes on the paper. In an essay subject, one mistake could, theoretically, change your grade by 8 marks, but that's far more unlikely in the sciences.

Don't forget, grades can go down, as well- if they've made that many mistakes, he'd be just as likely to lose some marks too.

I'm looking at this thread simply out of interest (I have a niece who more than met her offer for Birmingham on Thursday) - I wanted to throw in another positive for UEA as a great university (I've had, when I was a teacher and headteacher, a lot of students go there and love it and my ex had a fantastic time there, albeit decades ago!) AND a fantastic city.

@SlightlyJaded when you rang MMU did you.ask whether there wsd a chance the offer won't be honoured? We had to wait half a day for UCAS to update but DD was told.by both people she talked to when chasing not to worry that her offer was 100% guaranteed ad they could see it on their system?.

@Travelban I insisted on speaking to a supervisor this morning who told me that the offer was in the system. I made her repeat DDs grades back to me so that they couldn't pretend at a later date that they had misunderstood them. I also noted her name. She said that as far as she was concerned, the Hub was a formality and I specifically asked her whether DD's place was secure above and beyond someone applying through clearing today with higher grades and she said something like "it's first come first served and your DD is in the system". Not a straight 'Yes' but an indicative "yes". A week though... A fecking week! So it's impossible to go to a plan B in the 48 hour window you get between an email offer and the time you have to update the Hub. DD has got herself in an MMU headspace so probably wouldn't want to take it off the hub in favour of another verbal/email offer until she knew one way or the other. Even if the Uni was potentially better. And I get that. The ground keeps shifting and she is just desperate for certainty.

I am trying to push DD into calling UEA as lots of people have suggested it. The problem I have is really her headspace as above. The week wait for MMU to confirm is really stagnating her emotionally. Also they seem to be looking for ABB at UEA.... I am going to see if she will call to at least find out whether they would consider her - at least then we will all know. Ditto Hull.

I've paid for the Geog remark and requested sight of the rest of them - just so she can have closure on 'what went wrong'. I'll keep posting and updating. Your support has been incredible ♥️

Hope everyone is ok. I’ve got no skin in the game this year but wanted to say that 5 years on things can look very different. DS did not get his first choice. Turns out the second choice was a much better option and he graduated this year M Eng with a year in industry first class honours and already had a graduate engineer’s post, one of 2 successful applicants out of 500.

Don’t panic - things will probably work out fine.

Hi all. I’ve just checked in before I go out the door for a few days and can see the thread is filling up.
if anyone else would like to create a new thread and link it here that would be great.

I feel for you, it is such a rubbish system. Of course you are bound to wonder if they are delaying so that they can take the students with the best grades, regardless of what they say - but you have done absolutely everything that you could.
My apologies but I've not read the whole thread, have you and DD considered deferring for a year? Then you will have the re-marks if you need them and she could up her grade (I think it was Chemistry?) and have more choice of courses.

I think this comment is a bit unhelpful TBH. I have done Oxbridge admissions for close to 20 years now and I have never seen so many candidates miss out on their grades as I have this year. In my subject we did end up accepting most of them even if they didn't quite make the grades (especially if they were only one grade off).

I would argue that this year, the results have been exceptionally low, and the gap between predicted and received grades has been exceptionally high.

thanks @angela99999 She really doesn't want to defer. She has had a bit of a shitty time of friendship groups, and had decided (even before results) that she wanted a gap year to be a joyous thing that she could plan for with new friends and go travelling. She is also mentally and emotionally ready to spend time away from home and in the right. mindset to study.

Also, I'm not sure it would help her secure anything better? Unless she does a crammer - which again - she would struggle with (HUGE sigh of relief at never having to do certain subjects again) she will still have the same grades a year down the line - and grade boundaries could be different again with even more students getting A and A*....

I don't know. I can't force her and she definitely doesn't want to - even if it is the best idea. Fuck fuck fuck, this is shit.

Why do they insist on keeping you waiting? Are they hanging on in case someone with three A stars decided to apply or more likely an international student with higher fees wants a place. These youngsters are under so much stress as it is. Every hour that goes past the accommodation availability is reducing and/or becoming more expensive.
I am glad i am almost past the stage of having a DC at university (although at the stage of not knowing if youngest DC can properly move on to next year of study as no exams marked).
Has had accomodation problems in the past - got into first choice with guaranteed accommodation but heard nothing from accommodation office until two days before start.

I worked in a RG university, not directly concerned with undergrad admissions but covering a phone over a mealtime, and had an admissions tutor from Cambridge call me about his daughter who had marginally missed her grades for her Cambridge place and pleading with me for one of ours. We didn't normally go into clearing and had absolutely no places. He was distraught.
Obviously institutions make more offers than they have places, as not everybody makes their grades. This is a strange year, normally courses with high offers don't need to offer many extra places initially as their target students are very bright with very high forecasts and relatively few fail to get them. I don't think that this is true this year. It would be interesting to know how many high offer courses are having to drop their grade requirements or if they have had their usual proportion achieve their offer.