University applications for September 2025 - let's go!

[hornetgirl]

Hello to all you on the forum.

Having gone through this all in 2022/23 with my eldest ( just completing year 1 Southampton), I am back again with my daughter - just finishing year 12.

She is looking at Vet med or vet nursing

We have been to several open days: RVC, Chester, Nottingham Trent, Bristol and we have Surrey this Saturday and Nottingham in 2 weeks.

What a stressful process this is even for a second time mum (and expensive on the travel and hotel stays!)

What are you doing with your year 12s so far?

Yes he didn’t like the course or campus at Bath (I would have but there we are!).
Will have to check out Southampton.
Hoping we’re not leaving it all in a rush for September now. And hoping the range of choices is realistic. DS is prepared to work hard for good grades but there are so many other things you can’t control…

@5237red Is there a drop on o/s students next year. Do you have any info on it please?

I asked too quickly. Theres lots on Google.

@MotherOfCatBoy the issue for that course is that everywhere is asking for the same grades and very few go into clearing. Think I'm more stressed than ds though!

I’m keeping an eye on this year’s clearing places for maths and I’m so surprised at how many are available. Does anyone know if that’s typical? Some very good unis on the list. Do they give any flexibility on the offer for clearing or do you need to achieve the offer as listed in the prospectus? Thanks

@Justlurkingmostly , at the moment uni's are hoping to pick up students with IB results, late applicants etc with the published grades via Clearing.
It's a long game.

Ahh ok many thanks. This is our first time through the system. Good to know.

Yes, I was surprised that Clearing opened on 5th July, I thought WTH? Presumably you need your results in hand to use it?

Yes because IB results came
out on the 6th July.

So does that give IB students an advantage over A level students i.e. if they don't have the right grades they can snap up clearing places before them?

at the moment uni's are hoping to pick up students with IB results, late applicants etc with the published grades via Clearing.
It's a long game.

Actually you've probably already answered my question! Looking at Clearing on UCAS the required grades look the same so currently places will only accept candidates with those grades, no negotiation. Presumably that only happens after A level results come out and unis etc know how many places they need to fill.

@Sweetpeasaremadeforbees , yes so if you got your IB results on Sat and you missed your offer, the unis will often say you have to wait until 15th Aug to find out if they will accept you with lower IB results. The unis need to see the A level results and how hard the exam
Boards have allocated grades to know how many of their offers are going to be accepted by A level students. For example last year the exam boards returned to a "hard" 2019 allocation of grades so the unis had to be more lenient with their acceptance levels, this feeds into clearing post 15 Aug.

Thank you, that makes sense.

We're totally new to this as neither myself or husband went to uni. Daughter is planning a dance degree and luckily one of the best courses is at university of lincoln. Daughter is torn between commuting ( about an hour ) or going into halls. Pros and cons to both options.

Can I check how you see which courses are in clearing? Do you need a UCAS log in for the accurate list. DC is n year 12 but it would be good to get an idea of which courses are recruitng.

On open days, we also really liked Sheffield, both the subject talks and the campus. Also Bristol, York and Cambridge have also been good. Bath was the least popular so far with DV, which surprised me as I thought that would have been a good choice.
We have been rating the Gaza protesters and Sheffield's also came up high with some impressive dedication to chalk messages.

I had a nose last night and could look at clearing courses without having to log in etc. Was quite interesting. Can select by Course, Uni etc. If anyone is desperate to go to Exeter there seem to be lots of spaces on the Archeological courses!

Great thank you - is that on UCAS itself?
I would quite like to do Archeology at Exeter - perhaps if I get lucky on premium bonds next month!

@Justlurkingmostly my ds looked at maths clearing last summer. Durham was in clearing for maths but he didn’t get a place despite A stars in maths and econ and B in further maths. Also A in further subject. Just FYI.

Ouch. Ok gtk thank you. Hope your DS ended up with a good option with those excellent results.

Where can you see the clearing places already?

I just googled clearing places 2024 and they came up — I didn’t go on ucas or unifrog or anything.

Posting on here too. Good luck to everyone on here! :)

DC has 9 A* at GCSE (40/60 9s and 8s), plays competitive sports and is keen on economics having studied Physics, Maths and History. Predicted Astar, Astar, A with likely A in EPQ (know it doesn't count!) with some relevant work experience and super curriculars.

She feels she is not of the sufficient academic level for Oxford and suffers a bit from low esteem in this respect, probably partly due to having some real whizz kids in her year.

I know the entry is to a large degree dependent on the actual grades (guess GCSEs) and entry test.

If she suddenly decides she wants to apply, how much time did successful applicants on here spend on prepping for the TSA Part 1 ONLY (and how difficult is it compared with other, similar tests)?

Update, after my DD has been to Surrey, Nottingham, Bristol, RVC, Chester and Nottingham Trent Vet med and vet nursing open days she has decided that she is going to go for vet nursing.

She is not highly academic and left school to avoid doing A levels; and whilst she is likely to get straight distinction in her BTEC, the reality is that she would have to spend the first 3 years at university basically doing book work (foundation year - Biology/chemistry/maths, years 1&2 anatomy, physiology, pathology) before she got to handle and look after the animals.

Overall she is a practical girl and wants to be hands on as soon as possible so I feel she has made the right choice. We have one more open day to go to at Hartpury in September, then we will put in the UCAS form!

Have you looked at Wirral? It's south near Chelmsford.

Sorry writtle