A Levels 2023 - Results Day & Beyond: Part 2

[SlightlyJaded]

The previous post is filling up and as i seem to be one of the few still in limbo, I thought I'd start a new thread.

A place to discuss 2023 A level results and navigate our way through clearing/frustrations/questions and anything else.

Previous thread here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4873934-a-levels-2023-results-day-and-beyond?page=10&reply=128536278

Waiting till the old thread fills up before we hop over here.

Thank you so much for your replies, I thought we totally missed the boat re clearing.
I must admit I've been feeling incredibly guilty about my lack of support, but I've just been feeling so ill :(

she wants to study Psychology, she really has a natural gift for it.

Goldsmiths still showing as open for Psychology in clearing from its website, but best to get on the phone first thing tomorrow if she's interested.

With Psychology, the main thing is that the course is accredited by the British Psychological Society. If this is the case with the place she's been offered at your local uni, she could be just as happy there.

@Skule thank you. I actually think she would.
I think my judgements a bit clouded. My DH family are very academic and upset with her results and the fact she won't be going to Kings 😡

@Ruth222 such a shame when family can’t be supportive - it sounds like you’ve all been through a lot, and it’s a real credit to you both that she’s got her grades and you’re supporting her with this next stage.

As the other poster said, I would encourage her to reach out to Goldsmiths. QMUL also has places slightly above her grades, but by this point as someone else said, they may well flex more for someone really interested in the course.

And yes perhaps good to check the accreditation of the local uni, as it would be a shame to prematurely close doors etc.

Thanks everyone

I hope your DH has had words with his family @Ruth222 . My ds got BBB as well - against a prediction of A*BC. If anyone had said anything other than 'that's amazing, well done you'. I would have had very strong words to say about it!

My sister went to Goldsmiths and loved it. Well done again to your DD, I hope she has a great time wherever she ends up.

@Ruth222

The other thing to consider is that it’s a fairly important part of the uni experience to live away from home. The one of my friends who flailed at uni was the one who stayed at home, in London. From that point of view either Goldsmiths or QMUL might be better for your DD in the long run. Obviously she wouldn’t get accommodation this year but she could plan for the second year.

Came on to say Goldsmiths as well. They are asking for BBB - how very fortunate!

Do you want to say what your local is that you are considering?

We went to Goldsmiths for offer holders day. It was so lovely. Really good vibe and there were lots of psychology students. (Not ds' subject tho so I can't be more help than that). He would have been happy there. It's quite alternative I would say. Lots of arty people.

@tribpot it's very complicated

Our local one is University of Hertfordshire, I think if she went there she could rent somewhere near and come home at weekends.
I do think it will be good for her to go away but I'm not going to push her. She has a lot of freedom here and she also has a good part time job

@moshmoshi friend of Dd's went to Canterbury and liked it so much she has stayed there. Msin downside I think was the hike for her parents from the Midlabds.

UWE also good and very sporty. Strong strong American football ethos and also good for athletics - recall seeing quite a few UWE vests at BUCS athletics this year.

@clary thanks UWE seems to be his favourite on paper out of the limited choice he has. Fingers crossed he gets accepted on a foundation year somewhere he’s happy with.

He’s reluctant to have to consider plan C which is an access course in sept 24 at our very small (but good) local FE college. I can see his POV as by then the majority of his friends will be first or second year uni or getting on with jobs and he’d be stuck in our small boring town. Access makes sense financially but not in any other way to him.

Back to uni visits this autumn!

Good luck @moshmoshi & @Ruth222 have everything crossed for both of your teens.

How are things with your dd @NotDonna?
I feel for her missing Bath with same entry Tariff points and an A star in her main subject. Is she excited about York now though?

Ah @DinkyDaisy thank you for asking! She’s ok actually. Obviously disappointed and hard not to be when 90% of her friends missed grades quite significantly and still got first choice. But Bath was always a stretch- she was thrilled to receive both offers (she applied to 2 very similar Bath courses). I think it’s 3rd/4th ish in the complete uni league tables for her course and will have been competitive. Plus it won uni of the year and probs became even more popular. She did really, really, really want it though and worked her backside off. But however good you are there are always people better. Whilst she’s brushed herself down and now focussed on York, I’m sad for her. Trying not be and I do need to get over it. I’m surprised how invested I was too! I stumbled upon another MN thread talking about Bath accom and did for a second think ‘oh that could have been DD’.

She’s had emails from York confirming accom (none of her 7 choices, but she doesn’t care). It’s bothering me though as it’s not on their website. She’s a disability so they’ve invited her up for a 2 day workshop next week. Bit of a trek for one night but she’s keen to go. And good on them for providing something! She’ll be much further away, which I’m a teeny bit anxious about. She’s not!

How about you?

@NotDonna Ds lucky. Bang on offer of AAB. He had been predicted Astar, A, B and still stinging about drop on the A star (near boundary). However, he has got what he wanted so doesn't want to rock the boat.
He has deferred so not looking at accommodation yet. That joy is to come alongside finance. He is working for a year.

Good for him to get work experience. Absolutely crucial I think. I’m not going to hang in about Bath but the main reason DD lived the course was because it had 2 6 month placements rather than a year so can gain two very different work opportunities. They were also bolted in with no 3 year/no placement as an option. You have to do the 4 yrs and thus have to find work.

It is hard when mind set on something. Ds had Surrey as his Insurance. However, after loving Surrey his mind became set on Bath and I know would have found it hard to flip back to insurance choice.
You become invested...
However, York city is lovely...

Can anyone advise on what type of laptop would be best for English Literature. Surrey University if that makes any difference.
She has an ipad and iphone so wondering whether to stretch to an apple mac so they can all synch or if a windows laptop is needed for software etc.? Thanks.

From what I can tell, @Neversaygoodbye most students seem to use their iPad (or as I like to say 'or other tablet device' as we are Android people) and take notes with an Apple pencil ('or other stylus' like the Samsung s-pen). This was the advice we got at the Offer Holder's Day and is what my nephews at uni do. She might want to try initially getting by with the iPad and a separate keyboard so she can type essays and whatnot. The university will have PCs the students can use.

I would guess the uni is likely to be quite Microsoft/Windows based like schools tend to be, but you can run Microsoft 365 and all the apps on a Macbook, the only issue I have found on occasion has been Microsoft Teams. I wouldn't spring for a Macbook just because she has an iPad, though. Yes she can take notes using Apple apps which then aren't easily available on a Windows machine but there are plenty of note-taking apps which sync between Apple and Windows.

We are taking a bit of a 'wait and see' approach. DS has a Samsung tablet and separate keyboard for lectures and labs. He is taking an old Windows laptop of mine which is incredibly heavy, so won't be leaving his bedroom. We will wait to see what other tech he might need, like a laptop that's portable enough to go to the lab.

Remark unfortunately not successful so off to insurance he goes. He's happy with the course there and paid deposit for the accommodation whilst he's away so guess he's at least organised, and hopefully happy he's confirmed somewhere now, even if it wasn't quite where he wanted.....all for the loss of 2 marks though!

@Darkbutstarrynight - sorry to hear about the 2 marks - it’s so bloody random sometimes, but at least you can move forward now in the knowledge that you did all you could. The son of a friend of mine missed out on his LSE place by one grade, went to his insurance, had a fabulous time, got a First and did his masters at the LSE.

Thanks @tribpot i think we're going to go for a windows laptop. She asked some other English Lit students and considering there will be a fair bit of essay writing to do thought something more substantial would be better than just her ipad, although she may continue to use that in lectures for note taking.

@Cafeconleche That sounds reassuring as he's already said that's his plan :)

Ds remark was successful. Sorry to hear others weren't and I feel bad for other kids going through this.

We've informed the uni but it's Friday afternoon and now we'll be waiting all weekend to see if they'll accept him.

If anyone is in the know, could you let me know if ucas automatically gets updated or dies the uni require proof?