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 Your dd sounds amazing.

Well done @SlightlyJaded!

I'm laughing in an old-lady way at the idea of Vanbrugh being catered. When I was at York decades ago, Vanbrugh was the social hub of campus and anyone who was anyone went there for lunch. The canteen food was famously entirely brown and orange (beans, chips, pasties, breaded fish). The decor was also entirely brown and orange. I'm sure it's entirely changed now!

So pleased for you and DD @SlightlyJaded. I've been following along with many others.
I have to say what frustrates me so much about the UK system is how much the trying to sort out University places takes away from the achievement of passing the A levels. They are frigging hard exams and any grade is a massive achievement and yet our system ends up leading to so much disappointment on the day rather than celebration.

There must be an old Vanbrugh and a new one... Ds and I must have looked at old Vanbrugh halls. They were very worn looking...
They were incorporated in a building with food area. I remember being slightly shocked at contrast between that accommodation and newer styles at York.

Been following this thread, so pleased for you and your daughter @SlightlyJaded . Manchester is a great city to be a student. Good luck to everyone else still trying to sort things out.

Yep @DinkyDaisy York accommodation in the late 80s was er very basic. My block (now part of James college I think) is still there and still horrid 😂 We didn't care though. Hope she has a fab time!

I was an 80s student at a different University and room not great. Old Vanbrugh rooms give it a run for it's money though! I guess nothing a bright duvet can't fix!

Haha yes we were also a bit shocked at some of the accommodation at York, luckily she's in a newer bit that's nicer (I should think so for how much is costing 😵‍💫)

@Cwalks BSc Business with yr in industry (they do a BA too). She got Derwent catered ensuite which wasn’t one of her 7 preferences. She actually chose shared bath & self catered. But it’s insurance so she’d have been down the list. She doesn’t care but will have much less spending. She’ll aim to get a job though. More importantly I’m hoping she does actually get a year in industry. The course at Bath had the 2x 6 month placements bolted in, whereas if they don’t find a placement they just do the 3 year degree at York, which isn’t ideal.

DDs York accom isn’t on their website. Accom have confirmed it does exist despite there being zero listing for Band 2, ensuite, catered.

They’ve contacted her about her disability and invited her up for a 2 day workshop so maybe she can ask to see the room then and at least have an idea of what’s there.

@stilldumdedumming Similar situation for our ds. He won’t be stocking up on scatter cushions anytime soon! Off to London on the train too.

@FriendlyLaundryMonster I have a dd who took everything and more so it's quite amusing to see the difference. Ds is a massive poetry nerd and I wondered if he wanted to take some books from home. But no, he has his favourites saved or he can read online. We've now reached a stage where I keep offering him a photo of his mum 😁. It will be interesting to see if it changes. Ds left school due to illness at 14 and it was patchy for years before - it will be a bit of a shock to be around so many people his age.

What a relief for you OP! So glad it has finally fallen into place for you and your dd.

Dd1 went to York at Vanbrugh and had a lovely time. Nice accommodation blocks with huge shared kitchens really well organised for sharing (one wall cupboard, one base cupboard and one drawer each. One shelf each in the fridge) and a nice room with a huge desk and a tiny en suite. Leafy area with lots of greenery and rabbits and geese everywhere.

Dd2 wanted nothing like that and wanted city life her accommodation is in White Rose view and is v swish looking. Smaller room but a small double bed. And shared spaces on site inc gym, cinema room, karaoke room and others. It looks amazing and she is already making connections with people on the chat site who are moving in on the same day. 16th Sept is the big day for her.

@stilldumdedumming All the best to your ds. He sounds lovely. Ds won't want to take a lot of room decor stuff, but he is joking about taking 3 guitars!

@FriendlyLaundryMonster oh actually my ds is taking his best mic and home recording kit! All the best to yours too.

Yes that's the one she's staying in-the kitchen is massive! The ensuite is literally tiny but hey ho! She loved the feel of the campus when we visited.

I haven't posted yet, but have been following this thread and the other.

I tried to remove the quote, but I can't seem to - I am in my phone.

In any case, DD actually had the opposite reaction, though - so many of her friends still got their offers despite dropping grades, I don't think she'd even consider a uni in the city where her choices were. Too painful.

She is sorted with an option she's pleased with, but we haven't entirely given up the idea of one A level resit to change the balance of the results she's had and given what she's hoping to do in her career. There may be a way you do it that isn't too disruptive to her first year.

It's hard to know how much to pursue the re-arks, debriefs etc. We were led by the school on the re-marks. DD says she would have always wondered too. Tricky because it keeps everyone invested. Will have to draw a line at some point.

Hugs to everyone here.

Oh the quote is gone!

I'm so delighted @SlightlyJaded , I hope your DD had a great time celebrating with her friends - they sound very lovely and wise.
DS here is off to Leeds, - not heard re accommodation but I don't think it's such a worry in Leeds, at least I hope it's not!
Also have GCSEs results tomorrow, so fingers crossed for those now - it's been quite the summer ...

Good luck to all those receiving GCSE results tomorrow - I think we will see a similar pattern of higher grade boundaries but with less devastating consequences. Such as shame that our YP have been political pawns caught up in the government's agenda

So pleased for your daughter that she’s navigated her way through a really stressful time and come out with a solution that works well.

I think there must be something wrong with me because I am having a really bad day so I have come back here to the nice people.

I sort of know why I feel like I do, but I think I just need some reassurance.

Yesterday I felt such massive relief. Like a weight had been lifted. After all the crushing disappointment of results day, the rallying by DD for 48 hours straight with clearing, the offers, the offers that didn't materialise, the meltdown on the Sunday, the endless texts from 'friends' about what could have gone wrong, the complete shut down of DD to the point where she couldn't talk about it, and then the sort of half-hearted decision and accommodation nightmare, it was hard not to feel elated that it was all sorted.

Now that the adrenalin has worn off, I am secretly (but not to you lot) so sad and disappointed that she didn't go for UEA. I know it's not my decision and at no point did I push her or belittle her choice of MMJ , but deep down I know that UEA was by far the better Uni and offer. She was not in any fit state to make a 'good decision' or even listen to advice and even if we had the time to drive the three hours or so (which I would have done) she was not in any kind of head-space to even consider it. Her boyfriend being where he is has played a large part in this, but mostly her being so low and broken meant she couldn't find the 'sliver lining' and I feel sad for her that she has let a real chance slip.

I'll get over it in time, and I'm sorry to have gone from feeling such joy to a bit despondent but I don't quite know how to let it go. I actually feel frustrated ad tearful. Is that weird? Am I over-invested?

It may be that she would have been miserable there being so far from her BF but first year has so much time off, I can't imagine that they would have been together than much less than they will be now. it's still a train ride....

Can anyone tell me something nice about MMU or her decision to make me feel better? Needy

I mean this very gently but UEA was the best Uni for you - MMU is the best for her..

I know a couple of students who were expected to get top results - didn’t - went to MMU through clearing and excelled. I know someone who left a top flight RG and reapplied to MMU and excelled.

It is her choice - for whatever reason. It’s a great Uni and the halls are in a really good city centre location. In her 2nd year she will live in Fallowfield or Withington which are full of students from MMU and UoM. It has amazing bars and clubs, galleries, parks etc. She will thrive I’m sure. In the unlikely event that she doesn’t she will know that she had agency in making her decisions.

you’ve had a very stressful unexpected week. It will be ok. It will be more then OK. It will be great 😊

Can't help on the specifics @SlightlyJaded but please cut yourself some slack. You've just been through a genuinely stressy and upsetting few days - maybe you're having an entirely understandable mini-collapse now that the adrenaline has left your system! My DS's results day went off fine and I've still found I've barely been able to work, sleep or concentrate over the last week - I think maybe we underestimate what a big day it is, and how we go straight from results to thinking about them leaving home.

I think a) you feel what you feel and that is valid. You had high hopes based on lots of good evidence and now you're looking at an outcome that isn't what you wanted, or what you feel she deserves. You're entitled to be disappointed and pissed off after fighting so hard for a good outcome for her (so long as she doesn't know you're disappointed, which I'm sure you're taking care of).

And b) it's a long life and she's a clever, resilient and resourceful young woman with a fearsome mum. Nothing that happens in the next year or three will have a bigger impact than those fundamental facts. You and she have already aced this.

@SlightlyJaded

My kids would hate to feel relatively cut off from others at UEA. The transport links are so much better from Manchester. It’s a big buzzing city, a million times different to how it was thirty years ago. It’s diverse, cosmopolitan with a very friendly vibe.

(Help, my formatting has gone weird) It will be a great place for you to visit.

I can see your daughter thriving there.

Remember, until a few days ago, UEA was not even on your radar!

You are exhausted and want the best for your daughter. But there is a big world away from UEA and she will be just fine!!