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.

My 2 are younger so we have this stress to come in a few years but my heart aches for your DC who are disappointed. Takes me right back to getting my results. My friend was the star of the 6th form. Predicted AAA. Got BCD. Distraught as she missed her first choice where her boyfriend was going. Her dream was to be an author and be with him. She genuinely felt her dream was over at 18. Leap forward to now and she's a successful novelist (and happily married to someone she met all those years ago at the university which accepted her). I know it feels like the end of the world for them but I do believe they will all get where they plan in life in the end, perhaps just by an unexpected route. Good luck to anyone still waiting.
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Yes DS was also consistently an A star in Psychology. Had a tutor (due to no teacher) who is an AQA examiner and said he was one of the best students she’d ever had and was easily an A star. He ended up with an A, 2 marks off an A star. Hopefully we are getting it looked at but it’s so unfair.

@Karwomannghia my daughter didn't find out her EPQ score until results day.
She bucked the trend seen by many on here by doing better than predicted on her A levels (though I think her History teacher was always a harsh marker, predicting a B, and she got 196/200 in the end). Another teacher predicted a B too until right before UCAS deadline (she did not apply for uni this year), and she also got an A star in that, well above the boundary mark. Though for her (current) direction grades are not that important (good portfolio required), it does underline the ridiculousness of applying with unknown (and often incorrect) grades. Applying with grades in hand removes the agonising stress so many go through! She is doing an Art Foundation course this year so will do UCAS for September 24 entry.
@SlightlyJaded my stepson started dating his girlfriend at 16. He then took a gap year and went to Manchester. She didn't take a gap year and went to Bristol.
They got married at 28 and welcomed a 👶 last year!

@mrsconradfisher might be worth checking out the info re: accommodation deposits at Birmingham.

DD had Birmingham as her insurance and we were told very clearly (and I think it was on the website too) that if you pay a deposit for accommodation and then choose not to take up the room, you won’t get your deposit back UNLESS you withdraw from the university altogether in which case you WILL get your deposit back. (ie. If you withdraw from accommodation offer but still take up your Uni place, you lose your deposit, but if you withdraw from Birmingham altogether you get your deposit back)

DD is waiting on an Irish offer so had considered going ahead with accommodation registration with her UCAS offer just in case the Irish offer didn’t come through and we had looked very closely at the different unis and what their policies were.

In the end she’s decided she is confident enough in her grades to not bother with accommodation in England.

Definitely worth looking at - we’re all shelling out so much money right now that you don’t need to be losing an additional £400 unnecessarily!

Hi @Mac0505 you sound very unhappy and I am sorry your son is so distressed. With his current grades - Cc? Is it possible for him to do a foundation course at University? It sounds like he has other strengths he can demonstrate to support an application. Check out Surrey University and I am sure others will have some suggestions. Good luck.

@Mac0505 try ARU foundation courses. Sure others have suggestions. Architecture I think son's interest...

Ah thank you, that’s helpful. I just knew it said you could cancel within 7 days of choosing.
Tbh at this moment in time I just need him to make an actual decision, it’s been very stressful!

@mrsconradfisher it definitely IS stressful, and I’m not sure our young people really appreciate how stressful it is for us parents! These threads are full of wonderful, engaged, determined, motivated young people who will go very far in life, but they are still teenagers and my goodness are they infuriating at times!

DD is struggling a little with the anticlimax of post-results day. She got brilliant grades but without a firm offer from her first choice course until next week, she’s in a bit of a lull. All her friends are making specific and detailed plans and she’s just in a holding pattern for the next 10 days. She’s back to being a grumpy so and so, and I am trying very hard to not (metaphorically) shake her and tell her to wake up to the great future ahead of her!

Hi @NotDonna it seems so harsh to lose the Bath place with same Tariff points and an A* in the main subject.
Is your dd taking up the York offer?

@DinkyDaisy & @KittyMcKitty yes she’s going to York thank you both for asking and remembering. She’s fine but I’m secretly gutted (albeit disclosing to you guys). I need to take her lead & move on!

I absolutely loved York city. We walked the wall and had dinner at the rather impressive Pizza Express there. At lunch we enjoyed Sandwitches (not a spelling mistake) café. The Bells of York Minster rang as day after open day was the Queen's funeral. Very impressive.
A friend of my ds happily at York doing a history degree.

Well, after a stressful few days with dd getting lower than expected results, going through clearing and being accepted onto a course she was really excited about at her first choice uni. only then for a ucas glitch and possible wrong instructions from admissions leading to looking as if she had declined the course. She has finally had it all confirmed this afternoon. Her accommodation is all still in place too.

thank goodness, we can all sleep tonight.

good luck to all those still in limbo. Such a stressful process!

Oh good news @OhhelpicantthinkofanameI remythe stress of declining her place as instructed then the name change! Glad it's sorted.

So....DD will not be swayed by the brilian UEA offer and wants to go to MMU. There's literally not a bed in the whole city by the looks of things. Unless you want to pay £450 p/w.... right, sure....

CAN SOMETHING PLEASE BE EASY!!!???!!!

I"m so worried that we won't find accom and she'll get the offer from Beckett and that will swing her. I have nothing against Leeds Beckett but she'd be going for all the wrong reasons.

Still.... GCSE results to look forward to on Thursday ... :)

At this point @SlightlyJaded I'd be leaving it up to her. She will find somewhere, it will be fine in the end, but given she's been so clear that MMU is where she's going she now needs to own that decision, for better or worse.

You must be pulling your hair out @SlightlyJadedThe UEA is a brilliant offer but if she’s set her heart on MMU then I’m not sure what you can do. I thought one of the brilliant things about Hull University is they guarantee accommodation with their clearing offers. Would she not look at that? Very close to Leeds. I know UEA is great but I also understand why students may feel a bit out of the Manchester/Leeds/Birmingham/Newcastle loop a lot of their friends will be in.

@SlightlyJaded

its a shame she doesn’t want to consider UEA, but you probably need to leave it up to her now. I feel the frustration though, it’s hard to sit by and let them make what seems like the wrong decision.

It gets to a point where any decision is better than no decision, and she has had a choice and has now made it. And MMU might be a great choice! Accommodation - ugh.

@SlightlyJaded have been following the story and I think nows the time to maybe do a cash flow forecast so she understands clearly what she is going to fund and how much you can fund. you are right about accom costs. they are a major part of the whole going to uni experience. these 18 year olds are adults and we need to sit down with them and have adult conversations about money instead of them always thinking that the bank of mum and dad will come to the rescue. Once you have gone through all the financials then you will have to leave her to it I am afraid as hard as this is. because if you try to sway her towards another course, she does it and hates it, then it will be your fault. You couldnt have helped and supported her any more than you have but now its down to her. FWIW I too would be worried about the whole "being near to friends/boyfriend" The idea of Uni is that you get to reinvent yourself to start again and make new and very different friends in an environment where everyone is on the same footing. if she misses out on this experience it would be a real shame. Good luck to you both. you deserve things to go your way now.

Thank you all

You are spot on that I want her to have a fresh start. UEA offered everything and more. It even guaranteed nice accommodation, on campus, reasonably priced. It was literally a godsend, but she can't see it.

I can't do any more now other than support her and pick up a bit of accomodation admin if necessary. There is literally fuck all left. Nothing. On various waiting lists so I'm sure something will materialise, but could have done with ONE easy ride.

Financially - to give her credit, she is pretty good. She knows we aren't minted. She has had a part time job for nearly two years and is grateful for anything I pay for. I will have to pick up a fairy heft accomodation bill regardless (not eligible for much in way of maintenance loan) and she knows she will have to get a pt job up in Manch.

I just want that nailed. Pros and Cons aside, we just both need certainty now.

I would definitely want the accommodation locked down as it's such a gnawing worry but she'll just have to wear it if she insists on MMU. You did so well to get her that UEA offer @SlightlyJaded and I think eventually she will realise that. But we were all 18 once and have to live with the decisions we made.

I'd just put it on the backburner whilst she tries to sort it out. She sounds very sensible and knows what her budget for accommodation is.

Oh good grief @SlightlyJaded is there no chance of her at least having a conversation with UEA, or has that ship sailed? AFAIK they offer all first year students rooms on campus. Manchester is notoriously hard for clearing accommodation. I have no idea what the situation is like in Leeds. Might be worth having a look just in case it’s just as bad.

@SlightlyJaded poor you. You may want to mention to her that clearing students from both MU and MMU ended up in Bolton, Liverpool and Preston last year. I live in one and DS is a student in another. I belive uni did pay for there travel or give a donation but unsurprisingly the ones in his private halls in Liverpool dropped out . Manchester is very short of accommodation she maybe lucky but no guarantees

Sorry @SlightlyJaded crossed post. I’ve just read your update. You’ve been brilliant and can do no more.

The elephant in the room is that if she doesn't find accom in Manchester, she will almost certainly turn her attention to Leeds Beckett. Her boyfriend already has accomodation there.

This would be the worst reason to pick a Uni and much as I like him, the wrong choice for sure. So I really REALLY want to nail it before that thought pops in to her head .