How flexible are universities if your grades miss the offer slightly?

[MediumHigh]

Are universities really strict with the entry requirements for degree courses if you don't quite get your predicted grades?
If the entry requirements were ABB and you got A*BC would they make allowances or would they just say no?
Or does it vary?

I’m so sorry to hear this is your experience.

we often won’t take a candidate in clearing with a D in the profile, but in these sorts of circumstances we’d offer additional flexibility. I’m horrified that colleagues at those universities did not.

I hope your DD found a course which was a good fit for her, somewhere more understanding

I am so sorry and saddened to read this @Fractala

So sad that your DD had to go through this. I do hope she is doing better now.

I wanted to agree with @AelinAG that you would hope that the uni would offer some flexibility.

I guess in the unis' slight defence (or at least to explain) our experience of clearing was pretty much that we were talking to someone working to a script, with no flexibility at all, rather than someone from a dept with some discretion (DD was one grade below the clearing offer in one possible uni and it was just a flat "no").

But if you actually spoke to the unis' dept staff then that seems appalling, I agree.

Hello, @Fractala -

I wish to echo the sentiments expressed by @AelinAG and @clary for your DD’s situation. I too am so sorry.

ds was predicted BBB and actually did really badly and got BCD.
They offered him a place.
This was the only course he had had an interview for, and they were more interested in the student than just results.
it was also a year when everyone's grades dropped, so no-one got what was expected, and loads of people got offers with lower grades.

It is just so hard to say. No-one can tell you really

Similar to comment above, a friend of DS was offered a place with BDE instead of BCC, where he also submitted a portfolio. It was not a high tier uni though.
He was offered the place the next day (nerve wracking but fine), so not automatically given the place.

Whether they accept him or not will in some respects be down to other DCs results. If insufficient meet the required grade, they will probably take lower to fill the course. They have info on what they look at on the web site. It’s impossible to judge fine art at Edinburgh vs Chemical engineering at Sheffield! Chalk and cheese. Also, @MediumHigh I assume he has an insurance choice. Would that be possible?

I know someone who failed to get into Oxford because they were just 2 points below the offer.

@bruffin Me too! There are not many who get in with a dropped grade at Oxford. Like everywhere they offer more than the places they have available.

What do you mean by two points tho? Two grades? I don’t think you can drop as little as two UCAS points in A level grades? Two grades at Oxford I would deffo expect a no (so AAA not Astar Astar A).

I mean if for example they needed to score 80 for an A , they got 78! This is just an example as i cant remember her offer.but AA A instead of AAA . I think they made her wait for a couple of days while they had a think about it.

TBF she was very happy where she ended up and seems to have a good career

DS friend dropped a "*" and Manchester made him wait 4 days for a decision but they accepted him.

Ah I see, @bruffin yes it’s frustrating to be just below a boundary. Good that she was happy with where she went.

Looking at the updated UCAS data, I can see that some have lower historical offers than last year. Still hard to know how much of the that is contextual offers. It seems around 25% of places go to contextual applicants (just based on an internet search so could be entirely wrong). For Durham, it now says 32% of applicants were offered a place with AAB for an AstarAA course. If we include the 5% of applicants with even lower grades who are not counted in the data, that suggests to me that it has to include some non contextual places too with such grades which is reassuring. Saying that, DC is working really hard and acing all the mini mocks and NEAs so it's possible he will even exceed his PGs.

Thank you all for your kind words.

The call centre staff said no, went to speak to academic staff on the course(s) given the appalling stuff DD had been through, who came back with "no" from both institutions.

I remember thinking "surely they'll still let her in?" given what'd happened - I remember saying we had medical records to prove it!

I would like to say DD is doing better now but she's not. She never got over the shame of not getting into Bristol or York. (Not that she should be ashamed!) She got Clearing offers from other RG / Redbrick unis, good ones, and did enroll in one, but her heart really was set on Bristol so she dropped out and is now NEET.

Of course there was never anything about the situation for DD to be ashamed of. How awful for her and for your family.

I hope DD will recover and find her path in life, whether that is retaking A levels or something else.

Ah @Fractala I am so sorry. I thought maybe you had had a similar clearing exp to us (and many) but if you actually spoke to the departments, that is truly unfeeling. My biggest sympathies to your DD and I agree with @poetryandwine – I really hope she is able to recover and find her path. She will need time for sure but she should never feel ashamed. It sounds as though she worked really hard and deserved much better. I hope she finds it.

Sorry, @Fractala , I was a bit rushed earlier. @clary wrote more eloquently so again I will simply second her sentiment.

Very best wishes to your DD.

BTW, if it appears that this awful situation may affect her academic future and if we may be able to help, please come back to MumsNet.

Thank you very much indeed.

I still feel absolute blinding fury at the injustice of it all; she was doing A-Levels in one year (in a new setting, due to bullying) and was still predicted AAA; so she was clearly so able.

From my understanding (not that I come from an academic background) the universities bank on a certain % of students not meeting the grades, and if they let everyone in they'd be over-crowded. But I have a friend who's DD got into Cambridge with AAC. She was predicted 3 A's but they let her go anyway. I don't understand the system at all.

Thank you again and yes I think I will make a new post.

I've said that Bristol didn't deserve her, if that's how they are going to behave. But she just feels wretched 😔

I'm so sorry for what your daughter went through, and it's awful no allowance was made.

Did school intervene on her behalf? I really feel they should have applied for extenuating circumstances (or whatever the proper term is) at the first possible opportunity, way ahead of results day.

@Fractala It would be a tiny tiny number who get to Cambridge with AAC. That’s simply not relevant. I think most universities take mitigating circumstances into account and I believe Bristol does too. Not sure who you spoke to but this should have been flagged with them prior to results day. Did her school help?

@MeetMeOnTheCorner why is it not relevant when this thread is literally about people's kids missing the grades on their offers and still getting or not getting into their chosen university?
This is what happened to my friend's daughter. If anyone's interested it was to do classics.

@patioh I honestly don't know, probably the school could of done way more ahead of results day and so should have I but it didn't occur to me at the time, I don't know how the UCAS process works and I basically ended up having a nervous breakdown after it happened, got signed off sick, etc.
And was just kind of plodding along trying to be supportive. It genuinely didn't occur to me at the time to contact Bristol and explain but I do live with the regret of this every day and feel like I could of done more for her. I feel so guilty that I didn't do this 😭

There were loads of RG courses that have headline offers of ABB that were in clearing at BCC last summer. Aside from the most prestigious unis and courses, they just want bums on seats these days (or money in the bank).

Even the most prestigious universities need sufficient home and international students (aka bums on seats) to make the economics work. It just happens that there are sufficient interested students with the highest grades to fill those seats.

None of it is your fault

Depends on the university. In my DC year Durham did not accept anyone who missed grades