How do you increase UCas points?

[Billyandharry]

My dd didn't get great Alevel grades. She has one uni offer (that she doesn't really want). She's accepted and deferred the offer but is hoping to apply to her chosen uni through clearing next yr.
Can she do an online Alevel or As level to increase her UCAS points? Anyone any experience of this? Thanks

What does she want to study?

Yeh what does she want to study and where? Some unis accept UCAS points, some don’t. There are various things you can adduce I gather (first aid course, lifeguard training, music grades) but you would need to check they will actually help and get her a better offer. How many more points would she need?

Politics in Mcr. Thanks for replying

Can she do an EPQ? Not sure if it's worth UCAS points but some unis lower their offer.

I would get her to ask the admissions tutor for specific advice and follow that.

@Tigertiger23 - just googled epq seems they need to be linked to a vith form . Thanks tho I'd never heard of this

@delayrepayagain yes probably good advice. It's bloody stressful and she worked so damn hard. Just not good in exams :(

Not all unis accept A-levels from more than one sitting so she absolutely must speak to the admissions department for the specific course in which she is interested. There's no point haring off doing an additional A-level or music grades or whatever if they are not ultimately going to help her. How much did she miss her offer by – a little or a lot?

I doubt Manchester would make a tariff offer, it would be a grade offer, so no point scrabbling round trying to find random UCAS points. Resitting might be an option, but she'd need to check if Mcr will accept resits.

Good points .thanku. missed by a lot but clearing places seem to be much lower so there's still hope.

Manchester or Manchester met.

If she missed by a lot, and they didn't make an offer despite that, it's not likely she could change their minds unless she resits all three as I said - and Mcr may not accept resits. They certainly won't accept extra bits and bobs that happen to have ucas points.

Applying to Mcr would also mean she'd have to give up the offer she has.

I strongly suggest she accepts that Mcr ain't going to happen - at least at UG, and to adjust to the offer she has.

Unfortunately, if she missed her offer by a lot, that course was in clearing and they wanted her, they would have made her an offer based on those lower grades? Did she actually meet the grades for clearing if you say that they were a lot lower? I don't think politics at Manchester, very popular course in a hugely popular RG university, is necessarily going to accept her even with an additional A level.

I would worry a bit about sending her to a Uni where she only just made the entrance criteria. I had two friends who got in on minimum grades and they both dropped out with severe depression. I got in on maximum grades and did well, but I was absolutely knackered at the end.

Was she not advised on EPQ during sixth form? Is she eligible for contextual offers?

Retakes might be her only option if she's set on one course and doesn't currently have the grades.

Maybe she could try doing an access course or foundation year, then? Unis don't have to accept any particular student, so if a student had e.g. 6 A-levels at grade D, the uni doesn't have to accept them on a points based offer. Some unis will specify how many qualifications the points need to come from etc.

Manchester Uni seem to imply they specifically want 3 A-levels on their website, so doing additional qualifications may not be helpful.

I do appreciate how tough terminal exams are for some students, but I think you need to look at an alternative plan rather than doing other random qualifications in the hope they will be accepted.

If she's a weaker student, then the sixth form may have discouraged an EPQ- students can focus on it to the detriment of their other qualifications. Also, not all schools offer EPQ.

I've just had a quick look actually, there isn't a straight politics degree at Manchester which I could see, it's in combination with various other subjects but at least one of those combinations only accept A levels from one sitting, I didn't check all of them. They're also pretty clear about the entry requirements for each of the individual courses, they don't accept AS levels, there are various other combinations of subjects or A-levels in a native language which are subject to special conditions. I'm not sure if your daughter has already checked all of this out herself, but if you are doing the research on her behalf or trying to think of things to suggest to her, please don't build up her hopes about getting in as it does look like one of the more difficult universities with stricter entry requirements for that course.

Look at Aberystwyth. Fantastic politics department and more generous with offers.

Will be better to take the other offer now (not deferred) and transfer to Manchester after year 1

Can someone explain - how does lifeguard training get UCAS points?

NPLQ will give 8 UCAS points this year. If you apply to unis that give general points offers it’s a good way of boosting points

I don't see why, if they wouldn't accept her in clearing this year, they would do next year?

It sounds like maybe she's a little bit in denial?

She could attend the place she has a firm offer from and go onto Manchester for post grad, if she does well enough in undergrad.

That's not guaranteed, Manchester is under no obligation to accept transfer students from another university. Also, she's already deferred the offer, it may well be too late to start this year, some unis are already back in class. OP, what is she planning on doing with her gap year?