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

@KevinDeBrioche - she didn't go to sixth form - we only have crap colleges nearby and no I've literally just heard of them.

Currently travelling/working in Europe. Def not getting any hopes up - I'm just trying to formulate a realistic plan.
Thanks for all comments and advice.

Is it University of Manchester she wants to go to or Manchester Met?

My DS missed his offer by a massive amount (140 points required he got 24) his firm choice was in clearing for the degree and degree with foundation year.
After much discussion with the admissions department they confirmed his place on the foundation year.
I would suggest that if her firm choice wanted her and was in clearing they would have found a way.
edited for spelling

DC is doing EPQs with a private tutor to get the necessary points to join the police. She hasn't said DC needs to be linked to a sixth form and has helped numerous kids over the years.

Manchester met btw - 16 points short. Thanks for all comments.

@OpalSquid - she didn't apply to the place she really wants (don't ask!): got a firm offer from 2nd choice. It's been an almighty balls up from start to finish.

My daughter's going to Aberystwyth!! French and International Relations. She loved the modules they were offering.

@SocksFlyingEverywhere I very much agree with your comment. DD could probably have got into a higher ranking uni after Results Day when grade requirements were dropping all over the place. But she's much better off being somewhere with other people who have the same grades rather than being the poor relation only there because the uni is desperate for the numbers!

So she didn't actually apply to MMU? Did she try them in clearing? Or just accept her insurance? Do you know what they were offering in clearing?

16 points is two grades. That's not a massive miss at all. And if it's from their standard offer it could well have been accepted in clearing.

I thought she'd applied to MCR who'd offered AAA and she'd got CCC. MMU 2 grades less is quite a different story.

They also offer foundation year from 72 points.

It depends on why someone got low grades. If it's due to exam underperformance, uni can be much better as the year is graded across coursework and exams. A-levels are tougher in the sense that to get an A you need to not drop marks in the exam.
Many people who scraped through exams do fine at uni

What went on during the discussions. They decided to accept your ds on the foundation course yes? What did he say that made them want him ?

@SocksFlyingEverywhere - hmm she's actually really bright and gets great marks for course work - which most degrees she's interested in are. Just not good at exams like lots of kids. Alevels just don't work for everyone but I think for my dd(and lots of others) the more coursework the better.

Manchester Met is a completely different proposition to Manchester uni, so you can ignore pretty much anything I said and probably several other posters as well. Are you prepared to say what actual A-level grades your daughter received? It looks like Manchester met needs 104 points which is the equivalent of BCC. If your daughter is short by 16 points then she probably got something more like CCD, which is really not a million miles off.

I don't understand though why the university didn't offer her the opportunity to do a foundation year in politics or why that wasn't an option that she pursued? Was she aware that a foundation year was a possibility?

Based on what you have said so far, I don't know if there is any point in her studying another A-level as it does seem as if she should have been offered the course in clearing or a foundation year already and if she wasn't then there must be some other reason behind this? What subjects did she study?

Oh OK @Billyandharry it was Manchester Met. Well ignore the comments saying it won't take UCAS points - ppl thought you meant Manchester and AAA.

Where was the offer she made? What grades did she actually get? Can you check with Man Met what they would want for next year - and yes, maybe a foundation year?

We should be better advised as dc who are bright but poor at exams are better off doing alternatives like BTechs. But this isn't something that was ever mentioned to us

I don’t actually know, I heard the initial phone call where he gave his reasons for failing, and explained how he thought despite this he had shown aptitude through his volunteering. They invited him to come in it is about 20 miles from home so an easy drive, I obviously didn’t go into the building so don’t know what he said but he spoke with them for about 30 minutes - he said it was like an interview and an exam at the same time. Then they told him to wait a few days for a decision it was a long wait, he actually enrolled to resit year 13 before they got back to him and said yes.

Hi poster, my daughter is in the very same situation, didn’t get the ucas points that she will need to get into uni easily next year after her gap year. She needed ABB I think it is to study psychology but she got CCC, we are in the process of having a remark as she was one mark off a B.

We are going to go along to all the open days and see what they say. When we went to Bristol open day last year they did say if she didn’t make the grades they will take into consideration that she took science A levels which are more difficult. So hoping that will help. Also looking at the clearing grades this year it seems our daughters still stand a chance of getting in.

My school put everyone in for general studies A level without any prep to just give it a shot and boost points. Some unis accepted it, some didn't.

@90yomakeuproom - the last students to be taught General Studies began in 2017 and the A level was scrapped in 2019. Apparently just 40 people sat it in 2019 by which time all the RG universities had stopped accepting it anyway.

Oh bloody hell. Make me feel old why don't you 🤣🫣