Missed Durham offer - is it worth calling?

[RightWhoWantsABoiledEgg]

DD had a deferred offer at Durham for English. Offer was AA plus A star in English. Results were AAB, but importantly, she didnt get an A star in English Lit and Durham offer was lost.

There were reasons for this slightly lower performance (although not the B and we may ask for a remark). She was poorly for 2/3 of the exams for one subject (GP visit and medication confirms this) - had an A star for the first paper and As for the ones where she was poorly. Special consideration was meant to be requested, but don’t know if it was done.

More importantly, for English, there was an issue with the biggest mark question on one of the papers. The school does a very unusual combination of books, that very few schools opt for, for the comparative paper. In the exam, the big mark question had no relevant theme to compare the books by. All students were confused and said they’d had to wing it. School never reached out about it. Either the school messed up and missed a theme, or the exam board messed up in failing to ensure a theme that was relevant to this combination was included. An A in these circumstances seems pretty decent.

This is by way of asking if it is worth her calling Durham up to discuss and explain? Will they even entertain excuses and discuss a deferred offer? As the school hasn’t ever addressed the question issue (it is a very high performing grammar school so may not want to appear lacking), should she approach the school first to ascertain if they would support what she is saying about the problem with the question?

She worked so hard and feels like she has failed. She could resit and is considering this, but would Durham even consider her next year as she has failed to meet their standard once already?

I don't know about any of this but I do know your daughter is a clever young adult with fabulous results.

Life chucks us lemons at times but there are always other options when we don't manage to meet the height of hurdles.

I wish her well. If it were me, I'd resit, not for Durham but for myself. The tenacity might help.

A funny story. My son got a C grade GCSE Maths. I know he's better than that, so encouraged him to resit at college alongside his course. He is now the proud owner of 3 grade C Maths GCSEs! He has a job working with Maths, so it hasn't been a bar to that and he has a funny story to share when working with Maths graduates.

Good luck to your clever daughter. She'll find a route through this.

It won’t hurt to call, unless they reject verbally which can be extra crushing. DD called to change her course, one person said no, a few hours later she called again and it was yes.

Calling cant harm but I think it sounds like a long shot. Is her heart set in Durham? She has good grades so persumably other unis are an option.

Id call but be clear with some bullet points what to ask.

I absolutely wouldn't resit the year. She has fab results and if she goes to a different uni she will still do very well. It will be such a waste of a year to resit and also be at school when her friends are at uni.

Also speak to her school. They should have someone around to advise.

What's her back up offer? Is that worth looking at? Or other unis.

I would call. There is no harm in discussing future options and seeking advice if there isn't another University that appeals as much to her. It's clearing at the moment so they'll be completely set up for discussing results and ways forward. Medical reasons aren't excuses they're mitigating circumstances and should be therefore considered as such and if your DD is ok with it maybe mentioned in the discussions.

It’s worth a call. I went to Durham- years ago obviously- and it’s a wonderful place but there were many downsides to it too. Small place, very homogenous student crowd, full of upper middle class rugby boys who are incredibly arrogant with a very misogynistic culture.

What is the situation with the insurance choice? Where is that?

what is the situation these days with clearing? In the old days I believe it was- and I don’t say this to be rude- the less prestigious universities only, but I believe even russell groups have spaces in clearing now. This means she could still have a challenging course at a prestigious university.

Thank you for your responses and kindness. I agree that her results are great (way better than either of her parents managed!!), but when they come with a rejection, I can understand why it to may feel like failure. I’m sure this will lessen over time, but I am behind her resitting to prove to herself that the last 2 years of coursework, exams etc. were correct.

Her back up offer has confirmed her place, but her heart was firmly set on Durham, I think. She is a young 18 and is quite emotional, so calling wouldn’t be an easy thing for her to do. I’d love to do it for her, but realise she has to do this herself, if at all.

One other thing, her submitted extended essay/coursework was reduced by 2 marks in moderation. This reduction was applied to the whole class. I think the school are challenging this, but it really hasn’t helped!

You might as well call.

Definitely don’t resit. Friends son just got his result after resitting- exactly the same result.

If she’s young a year out may be good for her then she can reapply next year with her great results

I very much doubt they will accept her for that course on the basis of what you've said. At my university we say that if you have mitigating circumstances then you should appeal the grade and come back to us if it gets changed. We wouldn't just take your word for it.

However they may have another, similar course with slightly lower requirements, or have other useful advice.

Ludocris makes a good point. It used to be that joint honours sometimes had lower requirements. No idea id that’s still true. Did you say she wanted to do English literature? I may have imagined that but can she edge her way in on a joint honours in, say English lit with history (or something related to her other a levels) and then after first year, tweak the modules so she is majority or all her fave subject?

There are so many universities that she can go to with those grades. I changed what subject I wanted to study ( was torn between two anyway) when my results were different to my expectation and it worked out so much better for me at a different uni.

Phone and explain. If you requested the school to submit mitigating circumstances at the time if the exams then mention this (but assumedly this would have been factored into the mark already). If she had other offers that she didn’t accept bit can now also be contacted. Plus clearing. I really wouldn’t set my heart only on Durham, or resit. She has good enough grades to get into equally solid universities. They may also have some dual degree courses still with English Lit that are less over subscribed that she might consider, and that take into account her other As.

Have sent you a DM

Anecdotally dds lovely friend got AAA dropped a star🙄 and also turned down for eng lit. Dd and many others also applied for popular and demanding courses but dropped a grade or two and yet they all got in. Dont know what is going on with eng lit this year.

Her back up is RHBNC. Her Durham and RHBNC offers were for 2025 start, so she was always taking a year out (she has some difficult food issues to address before leaving home), so resitting wouldn’t have a massive impact. Also, she was hoping to just resit the exams, not the whole year. we haven’t spoken to the school about this, so I don’t know if that’s allowed.

Durham seemed a perfect fit for her, although I’ve heard before that it’s small (I think this would suit her) and is the default for those who missed out on Oxbridge (so lots of public school).

I think I’ll encourage her to talk to the school on Monday. She did speak to the HoY on results day, to discuss whether requesting re-marks was an option, but the teacher gave her a different child’s results breakdown by paper (one of which was a C) and told her it was pointless (making her more upset!). It wasn’t until we looked at the published grade boundaries and her marks later, that we discovered this error.

Dear @RightWhoWantsABoiledEgg I would give it an go just so that you know you have done all you can. But, our experience has not been great. Our DC got AAA and needed Astar AA. Mitigating factors why they didn’t get the Astar. Also very close to the Astar boundary on two subjects. We have called, school have written. Failed to get anywhere with Durham.

We have gone for a remark on one set of papers. TBH we’re clutching at straws. School have advised that even if we did get the Astra boundary DC might only be offered a place for 2025 entry.

Often depends on the courses and the uni. My uni it was the higher of the two sets of entry requirements, so I did Eng. Lit with something else and needed to meet the requirements for my other subject which were a lot higher.

I really do wish her well, but I’d prepare her that the call is unlikely to change anything. If the whole class has been marked down in moderation then I suspect it’s a school issue - they’ve been too lenient in the marking and given her class a bit of false hope. The uni are likely to say any good cause or exceptional circumstances should have been accounted for by the exam board, but you never know unless you call!

Completely understand that right now she feels crushed and you want to do anything you can to help, but I’d let her know in advance this is a “just in case” call and a chance to chat other options with them. There might be a related course accepting applications through clearing they can talk her through if Durham is more important than a straight Eng. Lit. degree. Then at least she’ll be in control of deciding whether subject or location matter most to her.

Best of luck to you both!!

RHBNC is a really good university and a degree from them will carry a lot of weight. Your daughter should think very seriously about taking the place there.

Oh gosh Violasrule, that is pretty brutal (and disrespectful). Your poor DC. Is this for this year? Which subject? I know Durham is massively oversubscribed (although they did go into Clearing this year for the first time for some subjects), but to ignore completely is pretty awful.

It’s traditionally a very oversubscribed course in most unis. Not sure if it’s because it’s something more familiar than a lot of other English related courses? But they typically have a LOT more applications so can be picky on who to admit and look for reasons to get the class size to their limit.

Honestly I’d make a massive fuss of her amazing success, as a way to model appreciating all the hard work and efforts that went into something, even if the ‘ideal’ outcome wasn’t achieved. Back up options are a really important part of life and it’s great to convey this message. I’d be worried that calling Durham and waiting a call back only to be told ‘no’ would be stressful and derail the celebration you should all be having 💐.

Did she get an A or B for English? I'd honestly advise her to go to a university that isn't renowned for its upper class lad culture.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8713083/amp/Posh-lads-Durham-University-planned-competition-sex-poorest-girl-campus.html

I haven’t heard good things about Durham either very cliquey

You mention issues around food and i dont want to make assumptions but if she is in anyway vulnerable mental health wise I would give Durham a miss.

But I will say this js just my opinion from my friends DDs experience. Have you looked into their pastoral care and satisfied yourself Durham would be an appropriate fit? If so has she considered which college as I understand this can make a big difference as well.