Insurance higher grades than firm?

[Grassgarden]

We're nearly at the deadline and DS is really struggling with this.

DS has his heart set on a course with entry requirements BBB.

He is predicted AAB and has applied to some AAB courses but is struggling at the moment.

For his final choice he could put a uni with ABB requirement, but that takes much lower.

If he ended up putting his choices as university 1 firm (BBB) and university 2 insurance (ABB), would university 2 still consider him if he slips grades?

I know it's unpredictable what they do year on year, so my question is about the process really.

@Grassgarden QMUL is RG but a lower ranking RG. However it’s ranked much higher than Kingston for Mechanical engineering which is allied to robotics. I would strongly suggest visiting both and having a good look at facilities and “feel” of each. He clearly has a liking for Sheffield so do either of these compare? QMUL would be 4 years of course. I think you said you were near Kingston, so would that be important? As a former technology uni, I’m amazed Brunel has not got this course. It has a strand of AI but not Robotics.

Yes I checked Brunel and was disappointed to see it wasn't there

Please help me under how this works. If your dd misses her grades and takes a gap year what happens then? Does she have to redo her a-levels in hopes if a better grade or does she apply the following year to unis with lower grade requirements?

Wow. Do you mind telling us what subject?

Oh boy do I know your pain of Neurodiverse exam results.

I thought you could only apply to foundation if you had the wrong subjects or some other reason not including just having low grades.

It seems to vary from place to place

Ultra competitive Foundation year can be for those with very high grades but a subject missing, but for others dc just need what is asked for, eg BBB in the required subjects.

Then go for the 2 courses at Sheffield he likes, ignore clearing and if necessary really with grades in hand.

If he hasn't got any lower offers than BBB, it does no harm to put the ABB one down as insurance. It might turn out to be useful. For instance, if he got ABC, and the BBB place had more people achieved their offer than they wanted, they might turn him down. If the ABB place is under numbers, they might be quite happy to take ABC. If they're enough under numbers, they might take lower.

I'm surprised no one suggested Sheffield Hallam. They have AI & robotics for BBC. That way he could have some certainty of probably going to Sheffield, even if the uni may be still uncertain.

This is a sensible strategy where offers are flexible. The ABB is a Sheffield Engineering degree programme. Those are known for their quality and my guess is that there is little flex.

OP can resolve this - or may have done so already - to a reasonable degree of certainty, though not a guarantee by looking up the achieved grades of recent entering cohorts on the programme via UCAS or the Complete University Guide.

Sheffield Hallam would be a possibility but we started looking at similar unis around London. Depends if he’s ok with SH and not Sheffield. Depends on the staying around London thoughts too. However the non RG might have more flexibility as suggested above.

Honestly @Tizerorfizz, I can't thank you enough for your kindness and support on this thread. I really am grateful

DS has submitted with the two Sheffield courses and is going to add the other three next week.

I wish he wasn't leaving it quite so late, I really do, it is stressful for him.

@Grassgarden I hope he gets positive outcomes! Then the big decision might come. Which one to firm?

As an aside I didn’t mention earlier, a professor from Sheffield used to comment on the robots in Robot Wars. We loved that programme.

Ha I remember that programme! Brilliant

Does he specifically want to be in the city of Sheffield though? Or is it that he likes the specific uni

It's the course and the facilities. Tbh they do seem to be streets ahead