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.

3As and a B. So ds hasn't got in. He's gutted.

Declined his insurance.

Been very quiet, but has gone to the pub.

So hard, such fantastic results, but just not good enough. What a horrible lesson.

He missed the last 5 questions on maths paper 1 and he's paid for it. 7 marks off the A he needed, but this grade boundary combined with missing out on 36 marks means he's got a B. The A in maths was a hard line.

Dd met her firmed offer of AAA to study Msci Natural sciences at Bath, but was far short of her 4xA predicted grades

She was two marks off a B for one and four marks off a B for the other - so we'll get these remarked, but even BBD is miles from anything we'd expected.

Fucking hell.

She is crying snotty tears and saying things like 'who did I think i was putting a RG for my Insurance?" :(

But the thing is, she absolutely should have. GCSE's all 8s and 9s (albeit Covid marking) and mocks and predicteds all A* / A with one B in her mock which was nearly an A. My point is - it can happen.

I might actually start a thread to update with what happens for anyone else who finds themselves in these shoes next year.

DD was in this position last year although for medical reasons. Uni s actually don't seem to mind resits (maybe the very top ones) as they often think that it shows a bit of grit and dedication to do a resit. She had a chat with an admissions tutor for a course in clearing that afternoon who was sympathetic and said he'd offer her a place if she applied for the following year (she had to take a year out for surgery). She decided to do an epq in the subject with a low mark (which was the one she wanted to study) then emailed subject admissions tutors at a number of unis and explained and got 3 RG unconditional offers. (And today got her A in her EPQ confirmed).

My DS got his grades needed today but I do think they underestimated the effect of dare I say, Covid.
No proper exams sat since their year 6 SATS. Starting A levels without even having finished the GCSE syllabus, lots of catching up to do, teachers off sick with COVID and still having to isolate.
I understand the need to get back to pre pandemic levels but this cohort are the only one who were in an exam year (10-13) when COVID kicked off for whom significant concessions at this stage haven't been made.
How someone can get 86% in a Chemistry exam this year and that not be an A star seems bonkers to me.

@SlightlyJaded - so sorry for your DD. I hope she can work something out.

Can you just ask for a re-Mark based on being so close to the next grade boundary. I’m asking because DD is 2 marks off a B for one subject so wondering if it’s worth a shot?

DD school have suggested appeal/remark as boundary was so close. We will do it but even with a grade bump, we are miles away from expectations and predictions. It's brutal.

Oh slightlyjaded your poor girl. This cohort have been so badly let down and so badly treated. I'm so sorry. It's so bloody unfair.

cptartapp although this is little comfort particularly to those whose results have completely thrown them, it is the same situation for everyone. so it actually doesnt matter how hard the exam is or what the numerical number of marks is. because the grade boundaries adjust so that the same percentage get an A star etc. in this case this year its the same percentage as in 2019.

However, some kids have undoubtedly been hit harder by covid pandemic than others. There is no consideration given to this in an exam based system and there should be. There are lots and lots of options out there including resits and I hope people who are feeling desperate are able to explore these. Just so sad and sorry for those who didnt make it.

So DD got her BCU paramedic science acceptance email at 7.45. She needed BBB, she actually got ABD. She said biology was killer! (that was the D)

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.*

@mummymeister For me as a teacher (state) the issue with predicted grades for UCAS is that they are never really intended to be totally accurate. At work, I'm told to predict for a "best day/realistic-optimistic" scenario, which I'm not against, but it doesn't reflect reality. If you take a student who's got As and Bs all year, then it's not unrealistic they could get an A- if they have a really bad day (some do) then they might end up with a C. But I'll put the A down for UCAS.

We know our students are competing with students from other schools who are predicting for them in a similar way. If we went totally realistic, we'd disadvantage our students. We also have a local(ish) med school who says students don't get interviews without an A prediction, and that puts a lot of pressure on us. I've definitely given out A predictions in the past which I felt were a real stretch, if the student otherwise had strong GCSEs and a good UCAT. I've made it clear to everyone I believe the prediction is a stretch, but I'm doing it to give them a chance at that med school. Maybe it's the wrong thing to do, but there's often a lot of parental pressure and pressure from above me.

We also know so many students get in having missed their offer that it really is better just to get them the offer in the first place.

The whole system is a bit of a mess, really, but it should be made clear to everyone when predictions are made that it's an optimistic prediction, rather than a realistic idea of what I think they will actually get. I use reports (which my students will get twice in Y13) to report what I think they will actually get- and obviously I talk to my students all the time about their grades.

I do think this year it's clear in some subjects there has been a wider spread of ability than before, which is maybe throwing up some unusual results.

@SlightlyJaded Just read your update. Your poor DD. I'm so so sorry. Sending you lots of gin.

Sadly it is a true reflection of his work effort of last 2 years - most evenings spent lying on bed with barely any work. This is certainly not an injustice - so frustrated with him but have spelled it out clearly

We were lucky that DD had an email confirming that she had her firm university place before she got her results as they were worse than most of the people who’ve tanked on here. So she went in with the knowledge that what happened she was in.

She was predicted bbc but got nowhere near. I’m just grateful that she had an epq in the bag as I think that made the difference and she chosen a less popular university for a common course.

She also first choice accommodation and her flat confirmed. She’s over the moon but now at a loose end.

In what world is 3 x As and 1 x B not an achievement? What was wrong with his insurance? Has he been a little hasty?

I agree @standys Absolute madness.

Well done to her for getting in, it must have been a great EPQ.

Maybe a nice lunch out with mates to celebrate?

Once again, this years results have been affected by a number of different factors. To those who didn't get the right results the first piece of advice is DO NOT PANIC. There are lots of options available and often picking up the phone to a college or university can be the answer. Universities and Colleges need to fill their places so are as keen as the student to make this happen. Parents out there - do not make the call on behalf of DC. They need to do it themselves.

Ahhh so sorry to read some of these disappointing results.

@SlightlyJaded oh I feel for your DD. My DD had RG firm and insurance and missed her grades for both. What subject was your DD looking for? Could she retake? That is such a huge drop that a retake might be worth looking at?

Sorry mean to also tag in @HenleyHen and @Dontsayanything - so sorry to read that your DC didn't get what they hoped for. What is the plan now?

DS refuses to look at Clearing and doesn’t want to go somewhere else and resit himself next year - madness in school’s view. Hasn’t had front to ask for money to go out with friends tonight - probably too embarrassed to go. But he’s sat on his bed for last 2 years so should be comfortable there

Oh, I agree. But he had an amazing offer. Degree fully funded plus a salary. Nothing, in his mind, compares.

@mummymeister have to agree about not having exams previously. Hence my earlier comment about the people in government at the time. After all, in an exam hall it is probably the most socially distanced place most children ever are in.

In my opinion the whole thing has been a shambles.

England decided to return to 2019, and make exams (and I quote) “as if the pandemic hadn’t happened”. Meanwhile Wales and NI stuck to last years marking and methods.

Surprise surprise pupils from England got far fewer top grades than Wales and NI.
Meanwhile, universities clearly didn’t read the memo, and made offers that were much higher than many students are achieving, and are now accepting students on far lower grades than originally offered. I imagine they won’t know what to do next year - offer high or low?!

It seems to be acknowledged by experts that England got it wrong, and that it was too soon to pretend things were back to normal. But that’s no consolation to the kids who were meant to get As and ended up with Cs.

It’s a mess.

Except there's often 100+ of them in there and there was the issue of whole groups of students needing to self isolate if one tested positive. That summer we had lots of students missing weeks of school due to isolation. I don't know how exams could have run effectively.

I do think this year's students should have been given some sort of cushion/support to reflect that situation, though- as in Wales and NI.