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.

No worries. If he's not waiting on a uni place, he has got time to think about the papers. The college may be keen to review them- I know we are sending some off at work. It might help him to know others are in the same boat?

Try phoning them you never know. DS got a B in his degree subject choice (needed 3 As) and Exeter still confirmed. It’s an odd year I think

DS got DEE - not bad when he did absolutely no work! He found out earlier this week he has a place on his dream apprenticeship to be a mechanic so his results didn't really matter but at least he has 3 A levels to put on his CV.

twin nieces planning to take a gap year travelling together have gone from predicting As to Bs and Cs. College told both to cancel gap year and get into this years clearing incase of any readjustment next year. This may not be the best year for deferring

Is anyone trying to adjust upwards through clearing? DS contemplating Durham but it was never in the mix so he knows nothing about it.

It was very subdued at Ds's school. Lots of kids who expected A's getting B's. Thankfully DS has been offered his first choice of Exeter but he's disappointed in his grades after being predicted A/A* for the last 2 years.

It's an expensive plan B. He is having a year out. It was his intention to work a ski season abroad and then do camp America but he has put very little effort into this and I have refused to do it for him. In fairness to him, he has only just turned 18 so has not been able to apply for a visa for NZ and Canada.

DS didn't do so well in one of his subjects unfortunately and so got insurance. But seems happy. Had to nag him to start sorting out accommodation before going out with mates! His university starts beginning of September so not long to get sorted

DS is going to Durham, he thinks they probably don't do clearing, but worth checking. Are grades much better than expected?

What is he hoping to study?

Dd got into her first choice but devastated by her results. She got bbc instead of AAB. She couldn’t have worked any harder. I’m so proud of her but it’s so hard to see her devastation.

He has three A stars. Durham have said they have space and he meets the requirements. International relations.

A mixed bag it seems. My daughter was predicted A star BB for most of lower sixth then A star A B, which would have been on her UCAS application and she would have missed out applying to the best courses. So once sense very nice 'surprise' getting all A stars (I'm not surprised). Really think applying after results makes much more sense. But hey ho, it's the system we have. I hope all those in clearing get good news.

Here you all are! Just got back in and 312 posts already!

Going to go back and read from start before commenting.

AQA Physics mums from previous threads, how did your DC do in the end?

DD really struggled with Physics from day 1 but school were very dismissive about her concerns and basically said it was too late to swap subjects when she asked mid-way through Y12 (I wish we had pushed harder on it in hindsight). DD also hampered by not also taking A-level Maths (she openly accepts this now and I bite my tongue on the "I told you sos" 😂). We engaged a tutor from summer Y12 and he worked wonders getting her up from Us and Es to Cs and the occasional B and really helped build up her (non existent) confidence in the subject. She also worked extremely hard herself and did every past paper and every practice question she could lay her hands on.

Then the exams happened... and as we all know AQA Physics was absolutely traumatising. DD (not prone to drama) was beside herself after paper 1 and then completely resigned to failure after paper 3.

We were therefore delighted and frankly gob-smacked when she got a B today with what equates to about 44%. An A was just 51% which shows how utterly ridiculously hard the exams were!!! Although I'm of course thrilled and relieved for DD, I'm still so, so cross with AQA for treating the students this way and making the exams so unnecessarily difficult and putting the young people through so much distress as a result - grrrrrr!!!!

small city (very small!), collegette system so like Oxford & Cambridge everyone is a member of a college where everyone (I assume that's still the case) lives in first year, and many in their final year too. I think all the colleges have a bar and social / sport clubs etc and you used to have a non-academic tutor who covered wellfare. If he wants the big city lifestyle and night clubs etc then he'd probably hate it!

DS is planning to defer as he really hasn’t enjoyed 6th form, isn’t particularly academic and wants to get some work experience while he considers his route. He has a place for this year but could he lose his place for next year, even if uni agree to defer it?

If the uni agree to a deferred place, then he can't lose it. But the issue is that they don't have to agree to him deferring- he should probably try to speak to them about this ASAP, as they'd probably rather know today so they can fill "his" space for this year.

My DD is utterly distraught, even though she got AAB and has been accepted at York to do maths. She's particularly distraught that her boyfriend got 3 A stars and didn't do half as much work as her. She would so love to be the type who can get amazing grades without a lot of work, but she isn't, she gets where she is through sheer hard work, and I'm really proud of her for that. She told me to fuck off earlier though, so I've given up trying to talk to her.

Quite a number of subjects in Durham are available through Clearing.

History was available, but has just closed. So too has Economics. However, subject such as Geography, English are still open.

STEM subjects such as Maths, Physics, Engineering, Biological Sciences, etc. remain open.

My son was accepted onto a Master's Engineering course with grades a bit lower than his predictions. We were surprised and very relieved. As we couldn't get onto UCAS at first we'd had the grades before we knew whether he'd been accepted so we initially thought he wouldn't be.

My dd has found out she's 2 marks off an A star in Further Maths. Thing is she's exactly got her grades for first choice (A star A A) and is worried in case, in the unlikely event a remark moved her down to a B, she'd lose her uni place. Is that a possibility? Teacher has asked her to consent to getting the paper sent to college for them to look over which she has done but it's a bit of a dilemma.

If your child gets an odd result and they can’t understand why, my advice is to get the school to request each paper from the exam board (if they allow it) and if you think there’s a really obvious marking error put that paper in for a review. You should definitely be able to see the total marks for each paper sat to guide you today.

I got this advice from mumsnetters years ago so thought I would pass it on. DC went to a state school that was really positive in sending for reviews which we are pleased they did as both went up a grade. Some schools are more proactive than others. You have to pay for reviews but get your money back if the grade does change.

@Fifireee You seem to have a DD similar to mine!

Oh man, my heart goes out to the dc (and their parents) who have missed out on what they were hoping for. What a tough day, all my best wishes that things will work out for them.

Of course, congrats to all the people who are celebrating!

Dd is in the 'odd results' camp too. She has her place at Bristol, but English was an A when she expected B, and Music was B when she expected A. Can anyone confirm that Music has been especially harsh this year? Nobody in her group got more than a B, and all v good musicians.