Southampton publishes Clearing grade requirements

[HPFA]

I think this is the first time I've seen an RG Uni publishing Clearing grade requirements before Results Day.

It's not for all courses but a lot of popular subjects nonetheless

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/clearing/course-vacancies?subject=All+Subjects&filter=&studentType=uk&availableOnly=true

Not sure what it means for those students holding offers at Southampton - does it indicate how far they can drop grades and still get in?

But is that a new thing - surely the IB results always come out around this time. Whereas op is suggesting first time they have seen RG doing it…or is that they have never had to do it before because they had the applicants they needed?

I definitely don't remember seeing RG unis posting required grades this early before now.

Certainly Nottingham and Liverpool didn't - there was a lot of discussion when Nottingham posted a couple of days before results because their offers were so low.

It's quite possible that on Results Day these offers will be lowered again - Nottingham was offering courses at CCC last year.

Durham also took some students with lower grades last year. You would probably need to restrict yourself to Oxbridge and LSE to find unis that didn't. Some will advertise their unfilled places in clearing and other unis will maybe have made more offers or accepted students with reduced grades behind the scenes. If you look at the UCAS page for the uni/course in question you can see the lowest grades that were accepted. Furthermore the Russell group unis in clearing are only there for certain courses.

It is also worth remembering that more people were awarded top grades at A level in the covid years whereas last year the grading went back to the pre covid grade boundaries so it was harder to get top grades. The other reason that unis are not filling all their places at the published grades is the fall in international students.

My DD has firmed with Southampton for midwifery and the clearing offer is the same as what she's been given.

I expect midwifery is more competitive at Southampton as it is a known quantity there.

There's plenty of better known Neuroscience courses around the country, so Southampton are dropping the grades for it, in order to attract more potential students.

Yes that's true but there's potentially another issue of someone getting the grades then ending up on a course with people with significantly lower grades who struggle through it. Maybe it's not as much of an issue at uni as they just have to go to lectures and seminars.

DC was told at a Nottingham (hums) course talk that they 'try hard to take everyone who wants to come, so don't worry too much'. It was off-putting tbh. They didn't apply there.

We've just checked Nottingham, which was her second favourite but had asked for the same grades as Soton so she put Brookes down as her insurance instead. They are being very lenient. Asked for ABB but now will accept in clearing: BBC (or ACC or ABD or ABE or ACD). Quite reassuring as we really can't tell how well the A levels went!

Wow, Southampton is asking for the same grades (BBC) as they offered me for the same subject in 1982!

We looked at this on Monday as my dd did the IB, she achieved her subject requirement but is a couple of points off what she needs.

The course at Leeds that my dd applied for is in clearing and we were really surprised. She still prefers her first choice so we are having a couple of papers remarked (on the advice from the school) as she was on the boundary for both so they give the lower points.

I think Nottingham has had some bad press and then dropped a bit in the rankings. I know one girl who has it as an insurance place, but my own DC didn't apply there.

Can I ask for some advice? Ds has grades in hand and accepted an offer at UEA, but now doesn't want to go there. He's banking on being able to 'trade up' in clearing, but as he wants to do PPE/Politics and Economics it's not a done deal (the Economics element makes those courses more popular).

Southampton have P&E in clearing at his grades, but they also ask for 8/9 at GCSE Maths if no A Level Maths; ds only has a 6. Nottingham has P&E but the grades are too high currently - although they went down to BBC last year, so it's possible they will drop on results day and he'd have a chance. He'd really like to do PPE at Loughborough but whether that will drop to his grades on results day is also questionable.

Should he now reject his UEA offer since he's adamant he's not going there? I suppose it will probably come back in clearing anyway, if he changes his mind. And is it worth applying for the P&E course at Southampton in clearing now, even though he doesn't have the GCSE grade? Or will they not offer at this point, because they're waiting for better qualified candidates on results day?

And if he does reject UEA now and manage to secure a clearing offer before results day, is he tied to that? Or could he also try Loughborough if they popped up on results day?

@titchy how would you view someone applying through clearing now (ie making a positive application because they really want to go there) vs on results day?

Nottingham was in clearing with much lower grades in many subjects last year but much nearer A level results day not this early.
I’d guess it’s an attempt to to trade off reputation - parents of a certain age looking at clearing will nudge towards Nottingham - that’s always been decent give them a ring. They are also a uni that attracts more private school students (around 18%) so makes sense to go after students after IB results.

It would probably be worth his ringing Southampton for a chat - they'll be less busy than before Results Day so there would be time to explore the options.

It might be worth considering why your DD "only" got a 6 in Maths - if that was at the top of his expectations it would be worth considering how he'd get on in a course that often would require an A-Level and is asking for a significantly higher grade at GCSE.

No shade on getting a 6 in Maths - that's what DD got and I got a C in O-Level back in the day. Decent grades. But both of us would likely struggle on an Economics course.

This is probably why places like Aber and Essex have gone into Early Clearing for a few years now - to those of us in our fifties (ahem11) these older unis still look "better" than post 92s - unfair as that is.

If your child has an offer for Nottingham they may well offer lower grades before results day.
Dd1 applied for a course asking for AAA.
They offered AAB then later offered ABB for her to firm them.
She wanted to go there so it worked out.

Does that mean you now may be enrolled with lesser grades as well?

Thanks, I'll suggest he rings them - I expect they'd want to discuss the Maths content too. It's a long story, but I've no concerns about his core ability in Maths, his grade doesn't really reflect that - but we've discussed him needing to refresh his knowledge and catch up on the grade 8-9 GCSE content, which at the time he decided not to bother with. It was useful at the recent Loughborough open day to discuss lack of Maths A Level with a couple of students who also didn't have it - but Loughborough only ask for a 6 at GCSE.

As an '80's economics grad, do look very carefully at the syllabus/course outline for each of the Unis; they are/were very different. Despite many non-maths options I would estimate that at least 1/3 of my course involved maths/stats/econometrics (and was very different to what I had studied at A level - double maths). Without a strong grounding in maths I would have struggled to make sense of it all.

Other Unis were more wordy.

I think Nottingham dropped applications last year after that awful attack on those poor students (and non-students).

Apparently, applications were ip again this year.

We looked round Southampton Uni, but I don't think it made it onto DD's UCAS form.

DD's preferred course typically offers AAB, but is in clearing as "BBC" for UK students, with a masters at BBB.

That seems quite a drop to my mind (but it might turn out to be useful in our case).

Keele Uni here showing admirable honesty about the grades it will take - DDE in almost all courses.

https://www.keele.ac.uk/clearing/current-vacancies/

People really want to be midwives and physiotherapists though! No DDE for those courses!

But again, 2026 courses showing something completely different, eg, BBC for History. What's the point - nothing is going to change so much in the next year that will make this viable.

That’s shockingly low at Keele.

I work with a good number of Soton grads with degrees in either economics or accounting & finance, so slightly different to your mix. They are very numerate grads. Soton has a strong reputation for STEM and this is likely to be reflected in the content. I agree that he should take a closer look at the modules.

DD reached peak maths in her PPE degree (not at Soton) at the end of her first year. I think many would find even the basic economics modules challenging without understanding the A level content, even if maths A level is not required.

As for Southampton, I've not met a Soton grad yet who hasn't enjoyed their time there. I think it's unpopular on MN as it's not a pretty city! It doesn't have a cathedral, castle or nice restaurant for graduation and it was bombed flat in WW2!

Former RG STEM admissions tutor here. My School has a very high offer and hasn’t been in Clearing for a while.

So many good posts above that I will beg forgiveness for failing to cite individuals below.

This is absolutely about bums on seats and it is a double edged sword. Marvellous when you can trade up, or to prevent being victimised by ‘a stinker of a maths paper’ (great phrase).

Otherwise I do urge ruthless honesty when using Clearing, for reasons PP have alluded to. Some candidates who are well prepared for their exams do fail to show their true colours for reasons that won’t recur. These are the ones who can benefit from trading up.

Those without great study habits or who have worked hard for their results should be more cautious for different reasons. A few do turn over a new leaf at uni, which is very gratifying to watch, but they are a minority. And those who worked hard but didn’t make the grades are better off in a programme designed for them. Why bump along at the bottom of your cohort when you could thrive elsewhere, with appropriate teaching?

There are many excellent, suitable degree programmes around the UK. I always enjoy learning about them on this Board.

Case in point: PP said that Liverpool Maths is accepting BBC in Clearing. The difference between grades A and B in Maths AL is huge and the pedagogy at Liverpool Maths will be designed for grade A students. I honestly wouldn’t want DC there as a grade B student.

I agree with statements that the whole thing is a mess.