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Original poster

A levels 2023 - Results day and beyond

1000 replies

HereWeGo2023 · 17/08/2023 06:47

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
balzamico · 17/08/2023 12:07

Dd delighted with A star, AA and off to 1st choice uni.
Was predicted 3x A star but thought was going to miss her offer with a B so much joy.

Seems to be a few people getting let in with slightly lower grades and only one shocker among her cohort. Hopefully he'll get his paper checked

Fifireee · 17/08/2023 12:08

@standys You’re absolutely right. She seems a little better. I’ve told her we need to look forward and she is going to have an amazing time at uni. I’ve read her the whole thread and I think she has taken comfort from all the other people who have missed on expected grades. This has been a hard year.
These pandemic kids are amazing.

JudgeJ · 17/08/2023 12:08

Fifipop185 · 17/08/2023 10:48

This day brings back lots of painful memories. For anyone who has a DC that hasn't got the grades they wanted /needed / deserved today, please know that they will be ok, things always work out somehow.

My DD fell out of A levels badly in 2021 and was totally lost.

She took a level 2 apprenticeship in a trade which she smashed, and now works for them full time earning a decent wage and is halfway to having a deposit to buy an apartment.

She initially thought that the apprenticeship would be rubbish and very low level, but she was so wrong. It was the best thing she could have done, it built her confidence and taught her about the trade plus life and the big wife world which no uni course could do.

Sending hugs to anyone that needs one today.

Well done to your daughter! More students should be considering apprenticeships instead of some of the university courses that do nothing for them except leave them with an ocean of debt.

Guinefort · 17/08/2023 12:11

@tribpot so similar! Well done to your DS! DD also got just shy of an A in mocks, and at that point (in early Jan) felt that an A could really be within reach if the stars aligned and the wind blew in the right direction on the day of the exams. Which of course it did not 😂.

DD so relieved with her B, but at the same time a tiny bit wistful thinking about the grade she could have received if she had only listened to advice and taken a different subject.

GMH1974 · 17/08/2023 12:12

Mine needed A*AA and was taken on AAB

moshmoshi · 17/08/2023 12:12

poetryandwine · 17/08/2023 11:42

@moshmoshi (and others) if a DC hasn’t got a decision yet, the School or unit of admission has been thinking about them for almost a week now. These cases are really difficult. We know how much your DC wants to come, but we also know it is wrong to admit them if they aren’t likely to thrive on their chosen course. Exam data is the main hard evidence we have about that.

Firm applicants with grades XYZ will be admitted before Clearing applicants with grades XYZ. If your DC has something important or useful to communicate to the School or has a genuine question, it is fine to contact the Admissions Team. Email is much better than a phone call this week and next. A phone call either results in a quick negative or sets up an email. It doesn’t matter who the email is sent to - an admin is fine as they pass messages to the Admissions Tutors in a rota.

But there isn’t a point to pleading. A brief mention of one’s continued enthusiasm for the place in an email question about the timeline for a decision is fine. Anything that could be construed as asking for a favour insults the integrity of tutors putting huge effort into making fair decisions. I don’t mean to direct that comment at any reader but you might be surprised at what some young people write or say! And these interactions really should be led by the young - coaching is obviously fine.

It’s been very difficult for this group, doing A levels with no experience of GCSEs. Best wishes to them.

Thanks for this, I can def see your point about how tutors may be thinking about who will be successful in the degree course and basing decisions on that. I do think DS will be successful- it is paramedic science and a lot of it is modular which suits DS’s way of learning. He has lots of relevant experience and is totally set on the career. He also really wants a gap year so no point in clearing and he will not even consider resits at the moment. He really should have done a BTEC but was convinced about the A level route at the time. I might encourage him to send an email if he hasn’t heard anything by tomorrow.

Maybe he should think about two years out- an access course this year, apply again and defer and start in 2025? Or foundation year in 2024- though I can only find two that link directly into a paramedic degree. Or an EMT job and progress that way? He is keen on the uni experience so hadn’t really considered progressing through apprenticeships.

MumblesParty · 17/08/2023 12:14

Khara · 17/08/2023 11:37

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.

DS got ABB, and is 2 and 4 marks off an A in the B subjects. He’s a bit disappointed but still buzzing to have got his first choice university. I asked if he wanted them remarked but he says not. Partly because of the risk of the mark going down, but also because it’s just more waiting and uncertainty, and it’s not necessary. He’s got his place, by the time he’s got a degree it’ll be irrelevant whether he got A or B at A level I think.

Foxesandsquirrels · 17/08/2023 12:18

@Netcam That's incredible! Well done to you both.

HenleyHen · 17/08/2023 12:20

Had disastrous results this morning from DS - needed and predicted AAB and got BEE! Both first and insurance disappeared straightaway! DS refusing to look at Clearing and thinks he can resit Maths (E) in his spare time whilst working!! At our wits end

Dontsayanything · 17/08/2023 12:21

Mine was predicted three A’s.
Got BDD
am numb

Foxesandsquirrels · 17/08/2023 12:24

@HenleyHen @Dontsayanything I'm so so sorry.

tribpot · 17/08/2023 12:25

@HenleyHen and @Dontsayanything so sorry. This is such a hard day.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 17/08/2023 12:25

HenleyHen · 17/08/2023 12:20

Had disastrous results this morning from DS - needed and predicted AAB and got BEE! Both first and insurance disappeared straightaway! DS refusing to look at Clearing and thinks he can resit Maths (E) in his spare time whilst working!! At our wits end

It's not impossible to resit an A-level while working part time. It can be difficult and have expenses involved, but his school/college may also be willing to let him sit the exam there, which would help.

I think if he's not keen on the idea of clearing, I wouldn't push him in that direction- no point getting to uni, then wanting to drop out a few months in because he isn't happy.

He's obviously had a really disappointing day, so I'd go with his plan for now, and then maybe look at the practicalities together over the next week or so?

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 17/08/2023 12:26

Dontsayanything · 17/08/2023 12:21

Mine was predicted three A’s.
Got BDD
am numb

So sorry to read this, have they got any ideas about a plan B?

MumblesParty · 17/08/2023 12:29

Katbum · 17/08/2023 12:04

I work at a uni - we all need to fill places as less applicants this year and grades lower than expected across the country

Show quote history

I thought they were huge numbers of applicants this year, as it’s a large cohort, and also people deferred from last year

mizu · 17/08/2023 12:32

Ok all good here now. DD1 got AAA and A* got EPQ. She's going to Edinburgh to do Arabic and Politics Grin

mummymeister · 17/08/2023 12:32

I have no skin in this game as mine are all at Uni/just finished. I am really wondering why so many young people predicted the top grades didnt just miss out by one or two marks but one or two grades. Is this because the teachers predictions about the grades that they would get were wildly wrong or was it the exams themselves. Having seen and read plenty on the teacher predicted grades which saw so many more predicting A/A* (almost 50% 2 years ago according to the graphs) I do wonder if there is a private/state school divide here too and that many who have missed their predicted wildly are at private/grammar schools and not state.

Our experience previously was that the remarking of one paper was a waste of time. it detracted from my DC's excitement about being offered their insurance place and made the whole experience feel like they had under achieved when in fact they hadnt. they missed their first offer by one UCAS point in one subject. I wish in hindsight we had not made such a fuss about it as they thought we felt let down. they went to their insurance uni and absolutely loved it having a far better experience than we imagined and graduating with a first masters. With one of our DC they did an extra year at school to do a different a level (health issues) so sat 2 at the end of yr 13 and then did a new to them A level in year 14. the school were really helpful and supportive and this and it was easily doable. For them already having 2 results in the bag made the year 14 a lot less stressful and easier so please dont discount doing this. they might have a very positive experience.

The young people who havent faired so well over the years are those that didnt get the expected grades, decided to do a panic deferral with no real plan of what to do next. Apart from a couple of exceptions many of these have just sorted drifted and not reached anything like their potential in my view.

As I said above just my opinion based on kids out the other side. also remember they can start a course and if its not right then they can apply to the same uni to swop. I was amazed at how many in each of my childrens cohorts did this.

Londonwriter · 17/08/2023 12:34

Popping onto the thread to say that I've just been interviewing a biotech RNA therapeutics company for work (I'm a business journalist), and they say that they are - as are other people in their industry - going around today trying to recruit technical apprentices straight out of A-levels.

So, that's definitely an alternative path to university, which my interviewee says is not highlighted enough. It's a very exciting, fast-growing area to build a career and she says day release for a degree is definitely an option as part of that. Maybe contact the BioIndustry Association if that sounds like something that would interest a DC on here.

SlightlyJaded · 17/08/2023 12:38

Devastation here.

DD predicted A* AA and got.... wait for it...
CCD

We are both shell shocked. She said she found the exams easier than mocks (where she got AAB) and was feeling ok about today.

Missed her firm
Missed her insurance
And not even eligible for most of the clearing options.

Her head of year is as baffled as us. It's an actual nightmare. She can't even think straight as never in her worst moments had she considered results like these. I don't know how to console her at all.

tribpot · 17/08/2023 12:38

That's good intel @Londonwriter

SB1971 · 17/08/2023 12:39

Congratulations to all so far if they are happy and hugs to those who aren’t.
Would you believe DD STILL doesn’t have her results….
Cant collect in person and no-one was answering the phone-eventually got through and someone can see the results but now has to download them and send within the hour….

tribpot · 17/08/2023 12:39

Cross posted with you @SlightlyJaded God I'm so sorry.

SB1971 · 17/08/2023 12:40

SlightlyJaded · 17/08/2023 12:38

Devastation here.

DD predicted A* AA and got.... wait for it...
CCD

We are both shell shocked. She said she found the exams easier than mocks (where she got AAB) and was feeling ok about today.

Missed her firm
Missed her insurance
And not even eligible for most of the clearing options.

Her head of year is as baffled as us. It's an actual nightmare. She can't even think straight as never in her worst moments had she considered results like these. I don't know how to console her at all.

Really sorry-that is rubbish news for you all

Foxesandsquirrels · 17/08/2023 12:42

@SlightlyJaded Flippin heck that's heartbreaking. I'm so sorry. What on earth, why are there so many stories like this?

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