Change of heart - But Insurance with higher grades than Firm

[Tarjet]

DS had two contenders for his uni choices - both Russell Group. One top 10 for his subject the other top 20. The higher ranked uni was spectacularly unhelpful with some issues (DS is a disabled student) and the lower ranked one felt the better fit.

The grades for lower ranked are ABB (contextual) and the higher is A star, AA (non contextual) and DS put the lower offer for his firm (a mistake in hindsight I think).

Anyway, since he submitted his UCAS the lower ranked uni has had some ‘serious financial problems’ and has slipped 20 places in the rankings. Complaints that I have heard about are they are letting go a lot of experienced lecturers and the teaching quality has dropped.

DS now wanting to go to his other choice (grades permitting) and we are unsure of the process. If he gets the grades on Thursday for his now higher ranked choice, do we have to call them to see if they will take him? Can this be done beforehand? Is it worth calling before results day?

He would need to talk to other unis once he has his grades to get any offers. This would include his reserve choice as that place would be released if the firm choice accept him.

Once he has the offers in writing, he would decline his firm (now confirmed) choice, enter clearing and put in the course that he now wants to do.

There is currently an embargo in place so unis cannot talk to you about the applications they currently have, but you can pre-register with them for clearing. The embargo lifts at 8am on Thursday, clearing starts pretty much immediately but course codes cannot be entered until that afternoon.

I hope that makes sense!

Just to back up QueenOfLouisiana, if he meets the conditions for his firm choice and then declines that offer, he automatically also declines his insurance offer. So he absolutely must talk to his insurance choice on Thursday to find out whether they would accept him through Clearing before doing anything on UCAS.

Thank you both!

Just to remind you that his current first choice had much better disability support. League table places are pointless if the support isn't in place to enable him to succeed. Also the other one could also drop 20 places next year. All unis are in pretty severe financial difficulty right now, and NSS scores (the major thing that changes each year that affects rankings), could well plummet next year across the board.

The higher ranked uni has to have spaces to consider your ds, not all uni's enter into clearing.

Hi, OP -

The whole thing is very distressing, but I would back up @titchy and ask how good your facts are about DS’ Firm university?

Never mind the drop in rankings: rankings are volatile. Can you confirm that experienced lecturers have been let go? Was it voluntary or involuntary? (Makes a difference to morale and says something about the financial picture). Are enough lecturers left to offer a good selection of course units to your DS’ cohort?

I agree with the facts presented in the first two answers, so if things are really bad DS knows what to do. However the values that made the Firm uni a better choice may still be in place, even if capacity has lessened. This balance could be delicate to assess.

Best wishes to DS