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.

@SlightlyJaded for sure the degree gods will be kind. My DD did worse than expected in A levels and went to a different uni but found the style of teaching, or the assessment (no exams) or even just the chance to focus on her beloved Eng Lit (for A level she freely admits spending more time on French than the other two together) so much of a positive thing that she left with a great degree and a final-year prize. Best best wishes to your DD.

@troppibambini6 we are on the same position with DS. Predicted 3 A’s, got 3 C’s. Firm and insurance rejection and then clearing was an utter chaotic nightmare. The whole experience has been awful.

Are things a lot better with your DD now? DS is resigned to the situ and the uni / course he got on to, but I can’t say we are excitedly preparing. More like exhaustedly scraping things together!

@Lemons1571 I'm sorry you had to go through all this too....
dd is feeling much better now and I know once she gets there she will be fine and I've come to terms with it too.
I haven't bought anything yet. We are going on Thursday and I'm hoping to get everything in one go.

@Lemons1571 and @troppibambini6

It's really hard to have to watch them 'settle' - especially when everyone around them is off to First Choice or Insurance Uni. DD still isn't over excited and burst into tears yesterday. She is still gutted. She is worried about going alone. Worried about hating it. Worried about not making friends. But mostly she is ashamed and embarrassed about where she is going and that is SO HARD.

I keep telling her that a degree is a degree and only the stuffiest, most corporate companies will be snobby enough to care where she got it, and that anyway, MMU is perfectly respectable, but she does feel like she's failed before she has started.

I truly think though, that once she is there and making friends with other MMU people, she will feel better. There will be people there that chose to be there and she will hopefully start to see it as more of a positive outcome. But you have my full sympathies.

@troppibambini6 The 'big shop' has helped her focus on something - we have eight Ikea bags full of stuff and I definitely over-spent to compensate. I've also put together a surprise 'Welcome Pack' if anyone wants to do that.

Welcome Pack:
Peppermint Tea (her favourite)
Love Heart sweets (her favourite)
University Planner and Diary
Berocca
Hangover Sachets
Baby succulent plant
BRAVE Keyring (basically a silver keyring telling her she is brave and amazing)
Student Cook Book
2 x Face Masks
Fairlight/String/Peg photo hanger and I got 20 photos printed of family/friends/boyfriend/DDog
Cute Stationery Desk organiser set with pretty pens/scissors/post its / tape etc
Cards against Humanity game

The best piece of advice we were given once by DC doctor (has ADHD) is life is not a race. It is so easy to feel battered by others whose children seem to sail through. I could have written these updates 9 years ago with my eldest- they went through clearing to NTU. They are now in the final year of doctorate studies at a RG university.

Oh @SlightlyJaded your poor dd. That's welcome pack sounds brilliant!
Does she like to go out? I could ask dd to come up with a list of good places to go out in Manchester for her and maybe some of the places in the northern quarter that are cool too.
Maybe a mancs inside mini guide to Manchester?

@troppibambini6 Yes she's an Out out kind of girl. Would LOVE that, thank you!

Have to admit I also had a mixed experience using the WIWIKAU group. I found that those who were offered their first or insurance choice only had to click accept and they were done!

The parents then turned their attention towards people like us who were desperately battling the clearing system, and were insistent on “helpful” suggestions of where our DS should go instead. One mother who’s DS got his firm offer at a RG uni, was insistent that my DS should apply to a certain other uni (which had poor reviews and loads of places on clearing). When I replied that DS wasn’t keen she was professionally offended, called me a snob and said I was completely wrong as her cousins friends dogs breeder* had had a marvellous time there. It came across as so condescending, as if they thought they were being helpful by finding us some left overs that no one else wanted.

God awful experience. Hope we never have to go through it again (though I guess I would at least be prepared for what was entailed)

‘* can’t remember the actual relationship but it was very distant!

@SlightlyJaded please reassure her MMU is a fantastic uni and certainly in the NW very well thought of by, students , parents and employers. I'm encouraging dd to look at it for 2025!

The things about MMU @SlightlyJaded is that there may be a slightly different crowd to what she’s used to. The young women I know who go there or who want to go are all highly talented and ambitious creative types. They are no less intelligent than your Dd’s friends who are going to Leeds etc. They are just on a different path. A lot of them have worked tooth and nail to get into MMU. There won’t be a huge amount of conversation about where they didn’t get into. If your dd wants to be life long friends with the future senior fashion buyer at the high street shops she gets her clothes from, she’s in the right place. This may sound like a massive generalisation but that’s my experience of these students. They are an ambitious, interesting crowd.

Thank you for that @LaDeeDa123 I know you are right. I did tell her that it will be a lot of art/fashion/architecture students and then she got worried that she would be considered boring because she is doing Human Geog, so I haven't talked to her too much more about that, but I have reminded her that there will be lots of people who chose to be there and who will be interesting and driven.

She doesn’t sound boring at all @SlightlyJaded She’ll be fine.

As you remember my son is going g to MMU too. He’s just been out into a closed Facebook group with the people on his halls floor. He’s happy as he’s been chatting to a couple of like minded lads in nearby rooms . So it’s eases his mind abit. Is there anything like that for your daughter? X

@Szboox She isn't on FB. Only Insta and Snap. I suggested that she made a profile but she said it would be embarrassing as she would have no FB friends. Are there any insta or Snap groups do you know?

Oh I’m not sure. My son was a bit reluctant as he’s not really into Facebook and doesn’t have many friends on there, but I sent him the link from the email and he went for it. There is an Instagram page , but nothing on it really

She could make a FB profile and add everyone she knows - they would accept and she would have lots of friends. My dd did exactly that in the same situation.

Oh bless you all. I'm going to try and persuade her in the morning. Perhaps she'll find your DS on there @Szboox :)

I think you should have a link for a closed facebook account from the accommodation team? My son’s is through Starrez housing. His was in the email. My son is very social! Did she get her freshers band thing?
when are you off? We are going next Saturday morning x

@SlightlyJaded leave it with me she's working tonight but will get her on the case!

@Szboox Yep also Sat morning. She is also quite social once she gets going. Loves going out, but is feeling incredibly shy and overwhelmed by the idea of being away from home and knowing zero people.

Her housing is through IQ - I think they do have a Facebook group.

@troppibambini6 Amazing, thank you!

Bless her. I feel for her so much. See if you can push the Facebook thing for her. My son doesn’t know anyone, but chatting with a couple of like minded boys has definitely given him a boost. I think they are on snap with each other now. They aren’t using the Facebook group.

My daughter is on the FB page for her accomodation. After initially linking up on FB one girl in her flat of 9 has now set up a snapchat group, 7 out of the 9 are in it so it is worth joining FB as a way of introduction.

@SlightlyJaded
Her are some ideas from dd (typed by her!!)

Cheap Drinks-
The Courtyard -lively student bar full of uni and alevel students, busy all nights of week
Joshua Brooks- sports bar, opposite one of the busiest clubs in town Factory so always good for pre drinks, turns into a club later on too
The freemount- big pub with outside terrace, live music on and lively most nights of the week (not as cheap as the others but worth a mention)
There's also an abundance of Wetherspoons across town so you won't have to go far for a cheap round

Clubs-
Factory and 42s probably the two busiest on a weekend, factory has three floors of pop, indie and house music and 42s is more indie but verrrry cheap (£1 shots and £2.20 vodka mixers)
GAY VILLAGE- great late night spot, massive street of loads of gay bars with pop/house/RnB music, lots of live music from drag queens too, most bars open till 6am, some of the funniest nights I've been out on.

Slightly more classy nights-
Revs de Cuba/Albert Schloss- more expensive drinks but great cocktails, good live music at both and a big dancefloor in Revs which is always full on the weekend. Albert Schloss has a disco loo which is always an experience after four shots
Northern Quarter- nice afternoon/early evening drink spots and majority turn into clubs later ie. Lost Cat, Day and Night Cafe
The Peaky Blinders Bar- again massive dancefloor, good indie tunes and good for a boogie or drinks with mates

Activities
Junkyard golf- drunk crazy golf
Lane 7- massive arcade and bowling as well, nice cocktails. NQ64 also a similar concept to this and there's a few of those about Manchester.
Shopping along market street and oldham street- generally more chain stores on market street and the Arndale shopping centre, some nice independent thrift and vintage clothes shops on Oldham street (blue rinse and cow definitely worth a mention)
Afflecks Palace- massive building with loads of independent retailers selling all sorts from clothes, posters, even tarot card readings

Live Music/Gigs
The Ritz- sometimes has club nights on but always good bands on
Victoria Warehouse- venue near old Trafford, fave gig spot as it's a great view wherever you're stood and tickets are usually cheap

Restaurants-
Ramona- top scran with good music and dance scene at night, it's basically big outdoor covered terrace with loads of heaters and an indoor bar selling every flavour of margarita you can think of
Mackie Mayor- old renovated warehouse full of loads of independent food stalls, stuff like burgers, ramen, tacos, stir fry's-really nice food
Evuna- best tapas I've ever had, Spanish owned and the staff are lovely plus there's a few sites over Manchester so not hard to find
Rudy's Pizza- the nicest Italian pizza you will ever eat, cheap for the size of the food you get

Hope that helps!

Just thought I’d update if anyone is interested. DS got AAB with the B being very unexpected in OCR PE. He’s taken a Gap year to try and apply to Loughborough again next year with grades in the hope of getting in this time.
Its taken a long time to sort out but school sent 2 PE papers and 1 Psychology paper to be reviewed on Friday. We are quietly hopeful for Psychology as he only needed 2 marks for an A star but PE was a complete long shot as he needed 6 marks for an A. 6th form advised to only send the paper with the lowest mark but we decided to try 2 papers as DS was confident it hadn’t been marked correctly on 2 questions.

I got a very excited phone call this afternoon at work saying it’s been reviewed and he got 6 extra marks. 2 were from the marks not being added up correctly and 4 were from the mark scheme not being followed (his paper was full of “Too Vague” comments.

So his grade has been adjusted from a B to an A which he absolutely deserved.

It hasn’t solved the problem as Loughborough want A star AA but we are half way there at least. I’m so proud of him for persevering as he believed he was right and the questions had been marked wrong.

well done him! 6 marks is a LOT!