University Offers Coming In 23/4 - part 2!

[WombatChocolate]

Following on from the old thread which was getting full….come and share the highs and lows of the journey that is A Levels and UCAS!

DS also has an offer from York. He has his EPQ result in hand (an A). He asked at open day and York said that they don't reduce their offer for the EPQ but do take it into account when deciding whether to take a student if they've missed their grades for the offer they hold.

I think Keele and Bath are the only two that have actively reduced their offer for DS's EPQ result out of the ones we've applied to.

That's interesting. Thank you! Ds went to Exeter and got one grade below his offer, but they still accepted him (also an A at epq), so possibly a similar setup

Anyone else read this? Pretty jaw dropping - about entry schemes that offer one year pre-degree courses (£20-25k) to overseas students with far lower entry requirements than UK students - in some cases aimed at students who haven't even got to A level standard. Exeter, Bristol and Durham.

Cash for courses: top universities recruit foreign students on low grades

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c19d0459-e4dd-4380-98b1-1765db01aac2?shareToken=90eaedcc9e2a244282eedca67ee3468b

Nothing new there. Many international students won’t have done A levels anyway and the foundation year also develops their English to the required level.

they have foundation years for UK students with lower grade requirements too.

The article is a little misleading as these courses are widely advertised and not so undercover as suggested. They serve the same purpose as foundation courses for home students which are also a lot lower in grade requirements. I know personally of two students who have been on these courses and they are expensive and extremely rigorous academically. Educational Recruiters are very popular overseas and always have been starting from Primary boarding upwards so also nothing new there.

I think many people will find this unpalatable and not in the spirit of what foundation courses are perceived to be intended for.

I knew theses courses existed. What I didn't know was how common they were as the entry route for overseas students (one university mentions their accounting for 30% of its intake), that students could start at 16/17 and that the entry requirements were as low as is claimed here.

@Angrymum22 you just made me laugh out loud with your comment about 17 yr olds not knowing what they want for dinner, so true!!!!! DD changed her mind on the course in September which is why we're in the position of only seeing 2 of her choices before applications went in. Glad to see the love for Cardiff, we love it and have friends there so really hoping that DD likes it when we go next month 😍

Hmm. Having read the article it is clear that the routes they are talking about are not the usual foundation ones anyway - a special first year international course which progresses straight to the normal second year but with low grades for entry. It is a bit enraging

Without these overseas students paying a lot of money there wouldn’t be a university course for the home students to attend. This is what happens when you decide that 50% of home students will go to university but cap the fees they pay at a lower level than it costs to educate them. And I don’t think it’s morally right but I can understand why it happens.

DS has 3 of his school friends in Cardiff who started in 2023 and another 3 from the year above. In fact when we visited Cardiff in October one of them spotted him on Snapchat and sent a message.
My Dniece is also at Cardiff, she graduates this yr but is planning to stay on to do MSc.
I have everything crossed that he gets an offer, since this is his first choice. Having done a bit of research, even though he doesn’t have the grades they advertise, his school felt that his uni choices were realistic. It is fairly common knowledge that the advertised grades are inflated to attract the best students. Universities are like private schools, reputation is everything and they rely massively on private funding from research. The Unis that attract the funding also attract the best post grads and teaching staff. Or rather the talent attracts the money ( my DSis is ex researcher and is a useful source of info from the inside)
Interestingly, Durham, Exeter and Bath don’t make the top 10. In fact Exeter ranks alongside Cardiff. Manchester and Birmingham are top 10. It’s worth looking at the QS rankings to see just where the money is going. It’s no surprise that the applications for Manchester this year are very high.

This is a very helpful alternative take on the Times article I posted about earlier: wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/the-sunday-times-on-international-foundation-years/

I wish I'd read it before posting here, apologies for falling for essentially a clickbaity headline.

My daughter is entering uni on a foundation year. (Not international.). Essentially she took her A levels 3 years ago but now has decided to have a career chsnge and although she got excellent grades A & Astar - she doesn’t have the pre requisite science subject so the foundation year will teach her the science she needs.

@WobblyLondoner Not sure you have to feel too shamefaced wobbly. All the points in that article about foundations courses being good rescue routes into tertiary Ed for students who haven't had opportunities to achieve to their potential, or for people who had some sort of crisis during A levels which impaired their chances etc are good ones. But the international students coming in on overseas foundation courses are generally not disadvantaged or recovering from barriers - it is a completely different situation. So this article is as sensational and simplistic as the Times one - possibly more so.

But it is indeed important that discussion of this issue doesn't taint the excellent work done by normal foundation programmes.

We just got an offer from Newcastle today. I’m excited but DD says it’s full of “posh party people” she’s holding out for Leeds. Is that really the reputation of Newcastle now?

There are definitely lots of those people at Newcastle my bff's dd is there and was pretty nonplussed by them. However I'd say there are also a lot of them at Leeds too - that's the party uni du jour. Obviously there are plenty of "normal" students too at both. Let your dd decide which one she prefers once (hopefully) all the offers are in.

Yay, DC had just had offer for economics / finance from Exeter. Just waiting on Leeds which has said won’t be out until later in March. Part of me hoping he doesn’t firm Exeter after offers day visit as it’s a long way from home

@Tealfish fantastic news for your DS!

@TabMcTat is that a recent thing? I never associated Newcastle with the rich kids!

My son went to Exeter. It was a long way from home!! For reasons not to do with Exeter ( I don't want to put you off!), he left after his first year and changed course as well.
I thought it was lovely - both the city and the university

Congratulations @tealfish ds.
In our house ds1 has 2 of 5, ds 3 4 of 5 and dd 2 no news after finishing her interviews but not expecting to hear until the end of feb at the earliest.

We've applied for Art, and the long awaited UCAS submission this week has swiftly resulted in a zillion slightly-different portfolio and / or interview requests. I knew they were coming but that's the next few weekends and days-off accounted for 🤯
A levels were done last year but it's like going through all the angst all over again and no certainty of a place anywhere.

Leeds is just the same, maybe even more so (more Londoners, anyway).

Anyone else here have a DC waiting on LSE? They seem even slower than usual judging by the spreadsheet on tsr 😔.

@Cremebrulee45 Yes, we are! What subject are you waiting for?

Is it just me or has the offer activity dried up over the equal consideration deadline? Wish things would get moving again!