University choices - the best of the 'rest'

[SlightlyJaded]

I was on the A level results thread last year and anyone who was on it will have seen our experience. DD predicted all As was completely blindsided by terrible results. We were all shocked as was her school. As a result, she missed her first choice and her insurance choice - it was bloody awful and clearing was a very much a scramble. She is ok-ish now, but still hurting and feeling the fallout...

DS is in his A level year now and we've done a few Uni tours and he is trying to get focussed on his UCAS, finishing his personal statement and whatnot. But having witnessed what his sister went through, he is wondering about going for a much 'easier' insurance option than she did. Her choices needed AAA (first) and AAB (insurance) and he is now saying he doesn't want to be aspirational at all with his insurance as he'd rather know he had something if he fucks up.

I don't think he will fuck up, but I sort of get his logic. He is leaning towards a solid/Russell Group first choice that will need AAA/AAB and then one of the city 'second' tier options: MMU / Nottingham Trent / Leeds Beckett etc. He is keen to do Northern City but not wedded to it.

Is this a silly idea? From experience, he would be more likely to get one of these in clearing I think so maybe should stick with more aspirational for insurance? But again, he doesn't like uncertainty so I get where he is coming from.

His predicted grades are still moving a bit but broadly AAB - possibly ABB. He is smart but not A A A* academic.

I want to advise him well but just not sure. And if anyone has good experience/recommendations of that second tier, I'd love to hear them? I don't mean the non-RG ones that everyone knows are amazing: St Andrews etc, more the genuinely 'lesser regarded' ones that are still pretty good.

Thank you!

Liverpool want ABB for History or BBB with an A in EPQ.

Royal Holloway

You are correct -- it was American History that was CCC at Notts - as DS was convinced he had bombed.

Yes put Liverpool/Cardiff/Notts as insurance and then you are ahead of the clearing queue.

I wish it was three options

Aspirational
Hopeful
Insurance

That would be ideal and take so much pressure off students and the horror of clearing.

Have you checked the UCAS tool which gives an indication of getting accepted with certain grades? e.g. Birmingham offer AAB lowest accepted BBB. What about Warwick? Accommodation is often attached to the university so having firm as e.g. Birmingham and insurance as Aston wouldn't necessarily help. Some places guarantee accommufir clearing student and I know of someone this year who got in on insurance offer who chise their room before someone who had the same uni as Firm.

Yes, if he’d be happy with Liverpool or Nottingham, and why wouldn’t he, maybe have Durham/Warwick as aspirationals?

For a history and politics insurance choice, I would strongly recommend Hull.

It is very well-regarded for politics, and has a long-standing internship placement in Westminster (one of my friends did it back in the day).
Very achievable grade offer (BBC), so a proper insurance choice - and there is the foundation year option for total certainty. Yes, you could probably get in on clearing, but your DS sounds like he wants to know where he is going.

It’s a cheap city to live in, it’s not the trendiest place but it has its own charm.

Hull is a brilliant university. It makes no sense to me that people overlook it.

We only approach the top universities and not always the degrees you would assume Banks are looking for. I go for engineering grads over Economics for example…

In that case you are almost certainly missing a trick @Zizanna. The automotive and motorsport engineering courses at Oxford Brookes are legendary in the industry and any graduate who has studied one of them (and got a good degree) is going to be at least on a par with engineering graduates from Exeter, Durham and possibly even Bath.

If your company knew this, they might be encouraged to dig a little deeper and equip themselves with a greater knowledge of the subject. But maybe they just don't really care that much.

The Oxford Brookes course wants BBC compared to Bath wanting A*AA. The Oxford Brookes course may be great but if employers want the brightest people they’re going to go straight to Bath. I’m not saying that’s right but that’s how it works for some recruiters I guess.

@MothBat Yes - been looking at it today (I think). By 'tool' do you mean the bit where you click on the Uni, then the course, then scroll down and see this? This example is Keele...

Would you mind linking the page on ucas that shows lowest grade accepted

That's the one. Hadn't read the whole thread so wasn't sure if it had already been mentioned. If you view his aspirational predicted grades as matching the uni aspirational standard offer grades, then advice is often two aspirational, two realistic and one safe.

So what? All that tells you is that they got better A level grades. It doesn't tell you anything at all about the quality of the course, or of the teaching, or of the quality of the graduates at the end of their 4 years. Many, many industries and professions do not look at A level results when they are recruiting graduates –nor do most universities if you are applying for a Masters, incidentally, which tells you all you need to know about how relevant they consider A level grades.

Bath is, of course, superb. But so is Brookes in this particular area. Employers who are recruiting engineers should know this; if they don't, well then those doing the recruitment probably aren't terribly good.

@angstypant it wasn't a page specifically. Search the Uni, then search courses, click on the course and then scroll to the bottom of the info. It's there.

Can someone confirm that those much lower grades are made during clearing? If for example, DS put Newcastle ABB but got BBC - would they first go to clearing to try and find people who got BBB even though DS put it as his first choice?

You need As for Warwick or A stars but yes accommodation is good

It tells you that Bath students got fantastic A level results which is an indicator of intellectual excellence.

You can get into most of the 'rest' through clearing.

What were his gcses like? Is he likely to get 3 x As?

Omg, can mumsnet stop with this a candidate with BBC at Oxford brookes is just as sought after as one with A star AA from Bath! It's just not true! And it's awful to teach kids that it is.

No I don't think he is. His gcse grades were broadly 7s and 8s. He is a BBB student IMO. ABB? maybe.... But certainly, on a bad day, there is a possibility of a BBC or even a BCC type outcome. I feel mean saying that because his current prediction is AAB and he may surprise us all, but after DD last year, we are both feeling very cautious.

Mainly 8s and 7s at GCSE is brilliant.

Look ultimately they should choose a course that inspires them in a uni location where they will be happy. Ds who graduated from Nottingham Trent has got through the civil service fast track, his choice of uni has not had a detrimental effect at all. I know people who went to non RG universities and who got jobs via PWC graduate system. We need them to love where they go.

😂😂No, it really isn't. It's an indicator that you did well in your A levels, that's about it.

His gcse grades were broadly 7s and 8s.

A few years you would have been saying As and Astars for similar grades on easier exams. I know how you feel though, DD1 got very similar results and was really disappointed to not get any 9s, particularly when she was predicted quite a few. She's just started Y12 so we don't have predicted grades for A level yet but having seen her cousin (predicted AAA) crash and burn last year and end up with much lower grades I think we're very aware that an insurance offer is important. The Scottish system is much easier because you apply with your results in hand.

If both candidates were applying for a job or internship straight after school, you would be correct. But for candidates who are applying after graduation, you are not.

Why do you think employers care what A level grades a candidate got once he or she has a degree? In a lot of cases, they don't. And in other cases, knowledgeable recruiters will know which courses are highly regarded even if the university in question is not overall. The automotive and motorsport engineering courses at Oxford Brookes fall into this category.