Ill health in Y13 and applying to uni

[OhBeAFineGuyKissMe]

Just wanted some advice about applying to uni with ongoing ill health. DD has missed a LOT of school, pretty much off since Feb half term and, while getting better, is still not up to a full week.

DD is adamant about not repeating the year so we are looking at other options to make an informed decision.

Originally doing 4 Alevels (including further maths). Dropped down to 3 but one subject has a large coursework element that is making it very difficult.

Has anyone any experience of applying with only 2 Alevels and exceptional circumstances? How did they get on? Did they go straight into year 1 or do a foundation year?

(This parenting lark is very stressful!)

Not really enough info provided to advise.
what subjects are they currently doing? What are the predicted grades? What university course are they interested in?

if their poor health is likely to continue a good option to get into a better Uni could be a year off to recuperate, then an access course.

This is a difficult one, OP. For DD and your family above all, but also for the universities.

First, it is worth investigating the possibility of submitting for Mitigating Circumstances on the A Level with all the coursework. This will require proper documentation. An experienced referee should know how to discuss this in the PS.

From the university perspective, the problem with two A Levels is that DD isn’t providing evidence of being robust enough to complete Year 1. If her illness is inherently time limited - eg a series of surgeries she is finishing up before uni - this is less of a concern than if it is ongoing.

Some universities go by UCAS tariff points rather than grades, which would solve the problem, but these might not be the ones she is interested in. There are some fabulous, world ranked programmes at these unis however. If a programme at a tariff-based institution appeals, that could be a clean answer to the dilemma.

Best wishes to your DD

I know you said she is adamant about not redoing a year at school, but if her health continues to improve it might be the best option to do so. Further education is funded for three years, so it won't cost you anything, whereas if your DD wants to start at foundation level she will need four years of student finance instaed of three.

It isn't a failure to redo a year of 6th form. I know several young people who have done so and they have all been very successful. Loads of student take a gap year and if your DD went to university there will be lots of students the same age as her in her first year.

OP,

I was rushed earlier and eluded two things. Mitigating Circumstances for A Levels is a formal procedure: you need to look that up. If DD seeks Mit Circs because of the coursework element and ill health, an experienced referee should know how to discuss this.

But I agree with @RampantIvy that regaining her health and doing things right is ultimately the best path forward for DD. One reason is that otherwise the ill heath msy risk carrying over into university. It can quickly become worse there. Sadly we see a lot of this in Mitigating Circumstances psnels. These students may scrape through but they cannot be said to thrive.

It depends, OP.

The university that I work at sets three A-levels as a general entry tariff. Then each subject has their own grade requirements.

Your daughter would get rejected from the university I work at with only two A-levels and directed to the foundation year. Her on-going ill-health wouldn't be taken into consideration as a contextual issue.

Her best bet is to repeat the year.

If DD absolutely won’t repeat the year, a Foundation Year might be a good solution. They can often offer more flexibilty. She can email the admissions officers directly about her situation.

Goodness me, this is almost exactly the situation I was in when I took my A-Levels, except it happened towards the end of my final year. I was off from February to end of May. I was also doing 4 A-Levels, one of which was Further Maths, and one with a large coursework element.

What I did was drop down to AS Level Further Maths and dropped the coursework-heavy subject entirely (Business Studies). I took the other 2 A-Levels as planned and did OK (A, B and C in the Further Maths).

I had to take a further year out for 2 more operations and recovery time, so I withdrew my UCAS application and applied with my ABC in the next academic year, explaining my performance and year out on the UCAS form. I received 2 unconditional offers and accepted the one with whom I eventually did my degree.

Best of luck to your family, I hope it all works out. In my experience, admissions staff were sympathetic and maybe a little impressed that I'd pushed on and mostly completed my A-Levels.

Thanks all.

Subjects are maths,physics and computer science (with course work). Wants to study engineering.

Grades before being ill were As or Bs with Astar in CS.

Now? Who knows!

My preference is to repeat the year but, at the moment, not an option for DD. Hence, I wants as much info as possible to be able to lay everything out so good decision can be made.

Diagnosis is CFS post viral so again anyone’s guess when she will be fully recovered. Already missed 3 days this term.

I am almost hoping the school say she has to drop down a year! Only so much I can do at the moment.

My advice would be: her health is the most important thing. It’s easy to make CFS worse from stress and overwork. It’s also easy to panic and worry about falling out of pace with friends. But actually many people start uni and then change course or change unis or drop out for a bit and go back. Or go straight into work and do a degree later. There isn’t some race that needs to keep up with.

I would take her A levels and then see how her health is doing. Uni with health problems is not fun.

I would even consider doing 1 A level at a time in order to give herself the best chance of the highest grades.

You have my sympathy. DD has CFS.

Oh, this is a tough one. The good news is that CS A level not actually required for CS at uni. But this is your DD’s great strength, before she fell ill. It is a shame to lose it.

CFS is awful. My main concern has become that there is no assurance DD will be healthy a year from now, and admissions tutors will pick up on this from dropping FM and potentially CS. That is actually the right decision for DD. Truly, health is the most important thing.

With A,B in Maths and Physics (either order) DD could almost surely gain admission to a CS Foundation Year. But at my place, for example, that will be a STEM FY. Even allowing for electives and the fact that she may underperform at A levels, she will likely be taking some core courses she will find repetitive. Not the worst thing in the world, but not great.

Best for DD: restarting Y12 now. Second best: dropping CS and applying for a FY. Third option: applying for a tariff based entry (lower level programmes). CS is very competitive.

Poor lass, this just sucks

She is upto date with maths and physics, dropping FM meant that she was level with regular maths. Physics she has done online using UPLearn the modules she missed.

She wants to do engineering.

Oh, for Engineering an FY with two A levels would be perfect

It's worth checking the entry requirements for various foundation years. For example, University of Southampton requires ABB for their Engineering/Physics/Maths foundation year... but "Applicants who are taking all the A-level or equivalent subjects required for entry to their chosen degree, will not normally be offered a place on our Foundation Year. "

Basically, the foundation year is for bright students who chose the wrong subjects and want to change their pathway.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/foundation-years/engineering-physics-maths-geophysics.page#entryrequirements%0AA__