How do I work out which UK universities do English with Spanish and accept AAB?

[safetymatches]

I mean, how do I start narrowing things down?

I got told the other day that my education must be lacking because I used “cos” in a post rather than “because”

Imagine, people using abbreviations. Shocking! 😀

Wow! What's happened here!
Anyway I am super grateful for all your thoughtful responses and will consider everything that's been said.
DD doesn't really know what type of uni she wants. She's shy and quiet, definitely not the party type.

OP I'd book a few open days in that case at a few completely different Unis, loads in Sept/Oct/Nov.

We visited Lancaster last week (for the 2nd time) because DD wants to do something similar to your DC, it's her favourite so far and I think they want AAB.

My cousin went to Lancaster to do languages and he absolutely loved it.

English lit, or language? Some places offer both.

I was going to suggest Manchester but with your update, maybe not.

Ahhh @RenoDakota @Sweetpeasaremadeforbees @SheilaFentiman @Withless thanks for your support and lovely comments :) I do try to be helpful for sure.

@PoodlesForeverLove all I was trying to say (without being a brat, not that I am sure what that involves) was that if the OP goes off google searches, they may not be reliable for this kind of thing. At least one uni on your list (Plymouth) doesn't seem to offer MFL as it goes. I'm not blaming you. And in fact I ate my words and agreed that the UCAS search liked by a PP was a really good place to start. It lists 28 unis that offer this combo, or something like it, so that's really helpful, I think.

@safetymatches I think if she is not a party type, campus unis in smaller places like Lancaster, Stirling, St Andrews or Warwick, or unis known for being supportive like Swansea or Leicester, may be good places to look at. But she should consider all options – I wouldn't dismiss Nottingham for example just bc you are not a party type – there are all kinds of people at any university.

Swansea struck me as very cuddly when DD and I looked round. Plus that beach...

My DD also not a party girl - we’ve looked at St Andrews (may be AAA for Spanish and English though) and also Lancaster, Warwick, Durham (also AAA). UEA in Norwich possibly a good one too? I know the English dept is well regarded, and they do MFL, smaller town, and looks like a lovely place to study. Or Exeter? Smaller city, good uni, nice location.

@Misfitkickedoutonthestreet doesn't look as tho you can combine English with Spanish at UEA, sadly, as it would be a good shout.

It's offered at Exeter tho even tho the specific course does not appear in that UCAS search! maybe bc it is for MFL not specifically Spanish (but Spanish is one MFL offered).

I'm just going to mention that combined honours can mean that the student is restricted in the modules they can choose from each course. One of mine was perturbed to find that it meant not being able to take, I think, creative writing (for English) or linguistics (for the MFL).

Okay so with all the info you lovely lot have given me, and focusing on her predicted AAB, I have narrowed it down to Lancaster, Birmingham, Warwick and Leeds. Thoughts?

I'm really sorry but i would give your child the long list and get them to do the narrowing down.

I am just helping out to narrow things down a bit because of her anxiety levels, or she'll shut down completely. She's got a mental block with her personal statement and she needs to focus on that right now.

All great unis.

Different experiences tho - Leeds and Brum are big big cities, Lancaster and Warwick lovely campuses near a smaller place. Well worth looking at a range of course.

I might add in Leicester – DD found it very supportive and it might be a good bet for a lower offer.

Actually @clary, Leicester sounds great! Would it be a mistake to achieve AAB but select a university that requires ABB?

I mean not if you felt it would be the best fit, no. I know a student with AAAstar who is at Swansea on a course asking ABB IIRC but they are loving it.

Whatuni website does this - you can enter subject then expected grades and you can then sort by high to low grades (as obviously the “lower” ranked universities will accept AAB even if they’re usual offer is CCC (for example)

is she year 13? You might want to visit some of those - my dd for example really hated Warwick. Ugly and too modern. I agree with her!

and yes you’ll need an ABB on there (or even BBB if you can find one she likes) in case she doesn’t get the predicted grades. General advice seems to have one aspirational choice, a couple at target, and a couple below. Covers all bases! Then wait till the offers come in and narrow down.

It's also worth remembering (but don't rely on it because I think that this year was a bit odd) that Lancaster amongst many others had courses in clearing this year asking for BBB or even BBC for courses originally requiring AAB.