Too late to flag possible extenuating/mitigating circs?

[InternetPortal]

DD(18) has offer for Oxford for maths-based subject. Did the MAT exam and a number of interviews in December and got an offer of AAA, which she "should" have achieved pretty easily (As in pretty much everything throughout 6th form).

However... she has OCD and, more recently, an eating disorder, which I'd thought was under control (in therapy for OCD and related stuff for a couple of years now). She's just told me it flared right up before the exams, and she couldn't concentrate as a result. I didn't realise :(. She's better again now, and it's only since feeling better that she realised how much she was impaired by it during A levels. She had blood tests and a referral to mental health services for eating related issues back in March/April, and also saw the GP a couple of times around then, so GP aware. Is there any point now in telling this to anyone, in case it's affected her results? I realise we are late on this, but hadn't quite realised the impact. TIA.

@Flyswats perhaps not. But given OPs daughter will either achieved the grades (in which case she will get in) or won't, in which case her circumstances may be relevant to a borderline decision. I assume Oxford is the same as other universities in that a decision is made by the relevant admissions officer and ruling yourself out by not making them aware of relevant considerations would seem to be an own goal.

As I said earlier

"Maths is one of the least forgiving subjects entry wise. You need to get the grades required, they won't be flexible."

It can’t hurt to tell Oxford although I think realistically it’s too late to take it into account. I work at a RG and we certainly wouldn’t except anything this late. So it’s a case of being realistic about what telling them would achieve

Personally even if she gets in I would discourage her going to such a pressurised university.

How did her MAT go? Most students who plan to study Maths at UG level would be capable of achieving Astar in Maths & FM, especially Maths, because UG level will be much more challenging.

If would be disappointing to miss an Oxford offer but it's unlikely, unless she didn't finish the paper?? Doesn't sound like that, more that she is now having a major wobble of confidence, which is fairly common. It's just the wait period between exams and results day and your mind goes into overdrive

What is her insurance?

^ this. I was there in the 90s, too many of the girls were anorexic

I would hesitate to send a child who already has issues into such a pressured environment

My daughter ended up in hospital with dog le pneumonia during her a levels, she had sat 3 and they only have her an extra 2/3 points. It was pointless.

However, her chosen uni really wanted her so they gave her a foundation year. Not ideal, not what she wanted, but it worked and she's now doing her degree.

So contact Oxford. However, are you sure the time is right for uni? I work in uni wellbeing and it's difficult for the most mentally strong students at a uni with a work load not at all like Oxford. Never mind the being away from home for the first time etc

Double pneumonia ffs

@InternetPortal The university might care but might not accept it. Often extenuating circumstances are personal illness or disability, being a young carer, being in care, bereavement, lower socio-economic background (they use postcode of home and school to see how many people go to uni, poverty stats etc) - if these are on the UCAS form when applying often those students can get a contextual offer - lower than normal entry requirements. Main point - each university decides their own criteria for contextual offers and Disrupted Studies (being lenient on results day) - so one uni might consider something and say if they miss the grades they'll consider accepting them still due to extenuating circumstances and others may not. Up to each admissions department.

Also whst subject was it for? If its not a subject he needs a particular grade in, they may be willing to be lenient e.g if she needs AAB but has to have an A in English then if the OCD had a massive impact they may be nicer.

But I'd check with Oxford on the website and maybe call. The school should have mentioned it on her application where they write 1. A reference from school and 2. A box with any extenuating circumstances - they should have mentioned OCD and ED only if it had an impact on school during 6th for and if it had an impact on exams.

It also wouldn't qualify for special consideration by exam boards or JCQ as that is for things which happen during the exam e.g minimal disruption get 1%, depending on sickness (chronic or sudden) 2-3% (if they sat the paper and weren't in hospital). The OCD has PP have mentioned wasn't flared by extenuating circumstances just exams. So it likely won't qualify.

I disagree - we have a lot of OCD in our family (including me) and unfortunately my daughter has very severe OCD. I spoke in person to several unis (mostly russell group) and basically not only was their response ... its illegal to discriminate against what is a seen as a disability... they said there are lots of kids with OCD in unis. The russell group uni we chose is bending over backwards to offer help for my daughter and they suggested some support (she also has some long-term illnesses as well as OCD, Autism and ADHD) such providing a small fridge in her room (so she doesn't have to worry about sharing a fridge with other students), and also the uni is considering paying the difference for her to have an ensuite because she needs her own bathroom due to her OCD.

The message I get is its better to ask for the support before uni starts so things can be put in place ... might be harder after uni starts.

If I am honest I have actually been pleasantly surprised at the extent of support available to my daughter - I was worried unis would say she is too complicated to accommodate. I also realised that as a society it makes sense to support people with disabilities through uni, as they are then more likely to have careers where they can support themselves ... rather than not being able to do certain entry level jobs and claiming disability benefit for their entire lives.

re the extenuating circumstances - its very much "did an existing condition get worse during exams" or "did something new get diagnosed" etc - so absolutely you should be looking at the unis which are her firm and insurance choices and filling in extenuating circumstances forms - my daughter's uni deadline is july 31. Sorry you are too late for the board deadlines.

re exam stress .... I did a GCSE 'for fun' a few years ago (I already have undergrad and post-grad degrees just in another country) and I was given extra time to help with my exams linked to my OCD and poor working memory. They also gave me my own exam room by myself.

Has your daughter applied for the student disability benefit? She might be eligible for mentoring support or a computer - worth just completing the form which can be found on her student finance portal.

I agree with you, university disability services are amazing they do learning support plans, extra time etc. But in terms of actually lowering grade offers, it's very dependant on each university - every uni has different criteria for contextual and lower offers (even when letting them know on UCAS form and inital application). Some will only consider it on results day if you miss the offer by 1 or 2 grades. Good point about applying for DSA - it's a very good grant, she can get a mentor, software perhaps etc. But for extenuating circumstances for universities they can be very different from uni to uni, OP should definitely still bring it up and contact them but it's up to them.

Ds school told us to apply for special circumstances as he was very unwell so I applied I think in august as he wasn't diagnosed until the end of July. I'm pretty sure it was applied as there was asterisks next to each grade on the results sheet.

Are you sure that was special consideration? As you wouldn't be the one to apply, it would be the school's exam office and for A-levels the marking and grades are done by pretty early on in August because they need to be sent to universities a few days in advance of results day which is pretty early in August as well.

I agree with this. It’s incredibly tough. I have a dd at Oxford and the pressure is huge, it’s a very stressful environment, full of high achievers who tend to be fairly anxious people anyway. Seeing them all at exam time, everyone is highly stressed and exhausted. I would be really concerned that if exams trigger your dds OCD then she would really struggle emotionally at Oxford.

I’m only this far reading through, but I was thinking this from the outset and found it strange it took this long for someone to mention it.
I imagine Oxford uni is a highly stressful pressure situation, at 18 I wouldn’t have thought her MH would be up to it. She’s obvo bright enough. But as a parent I might actually be hoping she doesn’t pass to buy her another year older first!

@TheLivelyViper yes sorry I didn't apply I gave the evidence to the school so they must have done the rest.
I can't remember exactly the date as it was quite a few years ago now, but the diagnosis came in July so it was either the end of July or August that I would have given the school the letters.
At the time he was sitting the exams he was undergoing all the medical tests, and so had the illness at the time of the exams.
I wasn't given confirmation that extenuating circumstances was awarded but the results sheet had asterisks next to her grades so I assumed so. I have no idea how much was given.

Hello. Just wanted to thank you all for the input. As it turned out, DD got more than what was need for the offer, so no issue. Appreciated the advice, so thank you very much.