Contextual offer for ill health

[VorpalSword]

Has anyone had any experience of getting a contextual offer due to chronic ill health?

My DS had a sudden onset of a debilitating condition that meant he has missed a lot of school. He has repeated year 12 and is currently on a staggered return in year 13, currently up to 3 days a week with the hope that he will be consistently full time by Christmas.

The courses he is applying to have foundation years (mech eng) so we are trying to figure out when to put the regular entry and the foundation course down for the same uni.

He has such a tough time the last 18 months and is very keen to just get on with the next stage so definitely putting in his application this year and if he has to take another year at uni then so be it.

Contextual offers are institution dependent usually. Some will but it depends on the condition and you would likely have to give details. I assume it isn't classed as a disability?

If you can contact admissions from the courses they would give you more details. You may need supporting information from the school or college. They could also advise on which course to target with or without foundation as there will be a specific amount they will offer for a contextual (say 2 grades lower than standard).

Meant to add,
Sorry your son has had a difficult time, hope things improve. I agree sometimes it's best to get on to the next thing asap and not worry if it takes longer or the plan is a bit different.

Thanks, interesting point about disability. It is chronic, ongoing and has a significant impact in his life and ability to do things. He is getting better with medication but might never be pain free - we will just have to wait and see.

We have supporting evidence and his neurologist has given a statement to the school

I would definitely email admissions for the courses he is seriously considering and see what they say. You might need to say what his predictions are to get some good tailored advice. It's likely the unis would class this as a disability (this is also at their discretion) by the sounds of it.
Emails look better if they are from him (even if you assist with drafting).
Wishing him lots of luck.

He was on Astar AA before but now BBC but I don’t know what he will actually get. If he get that he has quite a few options though not he universities he was originally thinking about. Particularly if he gets a contextual offer.

I will get him to email his top choices. should the school contact the admission department officially to explain the situation?

Sorry about your son's health. DD didn't have health problems but her brother and I did and for that the school put the circumstances in their reference and also the universities have something like an extenuating circumstances form each which school/ you can fill in for each university applied for, DDs firm asked for evidence and that's helpful to send in anyway and suspect the process might be similar for your son. In DDs case it didn't get lower offers but if she had gone down they would likely have been more flexible, hopefully your son will get lower offers but even if not should help, it should be classed as a disability. I think it's worth discussing with his school and either school or him / you contacting the relevant admissions departments to see what exactly is best to do. I would maybe phone them.

It will likely be this definition of disability so as long as it's more than 12 months which it has been will be classified as a disability. https://www.gov.uk/definition-of-disability-under-equality-act-2010

He should speak to the admissions tutor. Those pg might yet be enough for entry and not worth doubling up options unnecessarily. In practice if you miss grades they may offer Foundation year anyway.

If his condition causes issues around exam time it maybe worth seeing via your school's exams officer if you can apply for special consideration re exams. It's JCQ who set the rules for that and guide is online but does need to be around exam time. Other thing is if any adjustments would help his condition I think it's the senco that can get those but you need to apply early.

You’d need to speak to each institution individually. As some do give contextual offers based on disability, others give extra consideration or support…it’ll really vary. Same with foundation. My institution would want you to apply for both, as places on foundation are limited for us, but the institution up the road would consider anyone on the 3 year who missed grades on results day for the foundation automatically and give them a changed course offer if they met the foundation reqs.

once your son has his five choices he should get in touch with the disability team at each to discuss support.

I am so sorry about your DS’ condition, OP.

You have good advice above. I would just add that he, like all students, should be in an initial and ongoing position to thrive. If his condition compromises his learning during A levels, even if he scrapes the necessary grades, an FY sounds like a great idea: there is no substitute for being truly, deeply prepared and the confidence that engenders.

Similarly although I would not want DS to lower his sights unnecessarily, I hope he will give some thought to whether universities can work with his needs as he makes his UCAS selections. Best wishes to him

I could have written ths. My son is exactly in the same position and also applying for uni this year. It's incredibly stressful and very unfair. Best of luck for your son x

Hi, one of DC's choices has. There standard offer is BBB and they got offered CCC, one grade was dropped down because of their EPQ and the other two due to health reasons.
Another of their choices has given them an unconditional offer, though I do not know if their health issues had any affect on this being given.

I have been looking into this for my daughter - one uni I spoke to said she won't be offered a lower grade - but if she completed the form and didn't make the grades - if they then had spaces she would probably be considered above someone who had the same grades as her but no extenuating circumstances.

Another uni's website says they will consider extenuating circumstances when they make offers.

I’m finding the same. Some take it into consideration and some me don’t. Makes life very complicated. Swansea have been the nicest to deal with.

My DD had massive problems with a painful condition in Year 13 that seriously impacted her A levels and needed a gap year for operations etc. She emailed a number of admissions tutors to explain she had lower than expected grades as a result of this - coupled with a great email from the HoD of the subject she wanted to study to verify this. Three RG admissions tutors came back to uge her very strongly to apply to them (and 2 made unconditional offers within a week of her UCAS form going in). She found that admissions tutors are pretty understanding that things can o wrong and that A levels aren't always a level playing field if some students are struggling with major medical or personal issues. What she learned was that you need to contact an academic who is an admissions tutor and not just a general uni admissions department as the latter are basically "computer says no" (Bristol and Birmingham being stand out examples of the latter.)

Adding that Nottingham Durham and Holloway were especially nice to deal with.

I’m glad you had a positive experience and I hope you daughter is fulling back to health now.

Swansea have been really nice to email - definitely high up the list as a result.

I would definitely do the extra year. He might get in with lower grades but it's the kind of course which leads on from the A-levels and he would essentially be starting behind and trying to catch up. For a chronic, on-going condition that's setting him up to fail.

If he was doing something from scratch, where only potential mattered, it would be different, but any maths and science based degree will just mean he has to both catch up and keep up simultaneously.

I have both been the student returning with a chronic condition and now a lecturer dealing with students in that position. He'll be much happier and more confident starting slowly, whether he's 18 or 20 when he really starts is a lot less important than starting in a good place.

Good luck to your DS, I hope he feels better soon and finds a good university fit.

My son is in similar situation. He has been diagnosed with chronic condition last year ( not as severe as the above) and didn't disclose his condition to the university yet as he didn't know he should. He is still waiting for one offer from quite a competitive course. Being now a lecturer, in your opinion disclosing the condition to Uni BEFORE receiving the offer - would disadvantage him in getting a place or not?

Not a lecturer but do work at a university. It will not disadvantage him to disclose but unless it is a uni with a policy to, for example, give a reduced offer for disability, it will not advantage him either.

he should contact his other four to disclose we discuss support, as it may impact his firm and insurance choice if one is much better than another!