UCL offer - dd health problems

[ByGreatOliveHam]

Hello I posted this already but was told I would get more responses on this thread. Any advice would be much appreciated thank you

. DD has been having a lot of health issues since last year and struggling with mental health . She has an offer from UCL for start in 2026 but we’ve decided she is going to take 2 A levels this year and one next year due to her health and not being able to manage all in one go . She is very hard working and worried about losing her offer . Does anyone know if uni would allow this and still agree to keep her offer if we email them explaining the situation or agree to give an offer next ucas cycle. She dosent want to reapply and this would cause lots of distress.

If UCl have made an offer conditional upon getting three A level grades then they would be looking for them all to be achieved this year. Part of the offer is to show the ability to cope with the workload of three A levels - they would assume (possibly correctly) that if you have to take another year to complete the third A level then you would not be able to cope with the workload and pace of the degree course.

It would still be worthwhile speaking to them but the offer will be to achieve results this year and if you take just two A levels and the offer is for three then you won’t meet the offer.

I would email UCL now, before changing the A-level plan, and keep it very factual: the offer held, the health context, the proposed two-plus-one sitting, medical evidence available, and whether deferred entry or a fresh application would be considered. Also ask the school exams officer what mitigation evidence is already on record. Get the route in writing before she drops the third subject this year.

Yes you have a chance with good evidence... unis are falling over themselves especially to help with mental health issues and with other disabilities (and it qualifies as a disability if it lasts longer than 6 months)... My DC was given a contextual offer because of her health issues that was just 2 A levels at much lower grades for a very good uni (though they knew she was taking 3)- but had full support from school, appropriate letters/references and stellar GCSEs.

I agree with PP: universities are very helpful when prospective students have disabilities. But you do need to make plans in accordance with the university and not guess and hope for the best! You should email admissions ASAP outlining DD's health problems and suggested scenarios for a way forward, asking for UCL's opinion.

What course has DD had an offer for?

Thank you . The offer is for psychology. I will definitely email them and see what they say. Her school have said they are happy to write as well so hopefully this will help.

sorry to hear about your dc. I hope they are doing okay. That’s great they were given an offer . Can I ask which university this was for? Also which letters did you have - was this GP: doctors note or school letter. Thank you

No experience but from previous looking at these threads over the years it should be your DD contacting if possible rather than a parent.

do you know why this is? If she’s not well enough/in the right state to do it then surely I should be able to ask on her behalf.

OP and I have been corresponding.

DD was unable to complete a paper and she and OP have determined that it’s best not to do this A level this year. School sounds supportive and I agree this may be helpful.

We can only see what will happen. It is a sympathetic circumstance but I don’t think we can guess the outcome. Having a year to regain health and giving UCL a plan for that are both positive features.

I am contributing to this thread,as a former Russell Group admissions tutor, for MumsNetters who may be looking for help with similar circumstances.

Of course it’s natural to want to help your DC as much as possible under these circumstances. Nevertheless, whenever there is room for discretion in the outcome (and I don’t know how UCL will view this), the applicant’s perceived readiness for university is part of the weighing up. By all means help behind the scenes. But if you ring the university on DC’s behalf, it will send the wrong message.

Also, email (from DC) is best so that they have a record in case of a positive reply, and it is more convenient for the admissions team.

YP are so young, and so vulnerable. Best wishes to all of them.

The important thing is universities do try to be supportive but they can only do this when they are involved - and that involvement is much less successful when dealing with issues in retrospect. If you don’t get in touch beforehand but have an offer for three A levels and only get two, it will be a straightforward rejection. If you contact them now then you may have a chance of convincing them to let her attend without the offer grades if you provide adequate evidence.

It is the same once you start at university - if you simply fail to attend lectures you will likely be sent down. If you contact them because ill health or circumstances are preventing you attending then they will try hard to support you.

I think this is an example of a situation where a young person needs to write their own emails to the university but it is absolutely fine for parents to be in the wings helping draft those emails. There is a perfectly reasonable sort of handover period where DC need to be taught how to correspond with institutions and to defend their own interests and it is more than fine for parents to teach this.

On the previous threads it was that a parent is not applying to university, it is the young person themselves. The context is often in clearing or sorting out accommodation. If (a bit different than the OP) someone is asking about a change to an offer due to an illness and wants to continue and attend this coming year they will have to be able to deal with lots of information very shortly

A student could be pretty ill, but well enough to be taking decisions on whether to defer, in which may be able to communicate with support. Maybe well enough to take that decision but not communicate and deal with responses such as still being very affected by MH, so maybe it will be direct from parent
Then there are the critical times when it isn’t as much a choice as the person won’t be able to attend it so decision is out of their hands (receiving treatment for a serious illness and not dealing with their own affairs or going to take any exams this year)

The university cannot discuss the young person with another party, including parents.

My experience is that during admissions, when young people are still under 18 and not yet students at university, it is perfectly normal for parents to correspond with universities which can only, at that point in time, discuss principles: they do not have any information at all about the young person that the parent is not also party to.

This is true in an emergency of course, @Ceramiq . But admissions teams always notice when parents take on communications for DC.

Whenever there is a question about whether DC is ready, or likely to be ready, for university, it is noted whether they are able to manage their own communications. I do agree with you (and my ‘behind the scenes’ comment implied this) that parents may wish to help DC compose email.

It isn’t likely to be relevant if there is a clear policy covering the situation, but we - or at least I - don’t know what UCL will make of this.

I have plenty of examples of parents corresponding with universities re their minor children who are only in the applications phase and it doesn't seem to have affected whether or not they receive offers. Parents can have legitimate concerns and also information that children do not have. In particular, universities these days are pretty awful about foisting terrible and overpriced accommodation onto students and in my experience a sharply worded email from parents with detailed factual insider information about accommodation they wish to avoid for their children works wonders ;)

It depends on many factors. There can definitely be a reluctance to take on DC who sound vulnerable and are advocated for by their parents. Of course this is mainly is very competitive programmes.

@poetryandwineWould that not potentially fall under disability discrimination?

Sure, but vulnerability can be mitigated intelligently. A recent example I know of was a Jewish girl who ended up in a flat share with only Muslim students. This didn't work out well and an emergency solution had to be found a few weeks into the first term. I know parents who, on the back of this information, have requested a classic hall of residence for their child to avoid the impossible flat share scenario without informing their child.

I have a DC with a disability. I cannot simply speak on his behalf - he has to give organisations permission to speak to me on his behalf. He still has a right to privacy. I might not be able to share any information I don’t already know, but I would be able to share information my DC might not want them to know. And as soon as the university react to what I say, they have shared information I have no right to know.

And if their adult child did not want a classic hall of residence?

The child was a minor. The parents, understandably, didn't want their child to be the victim of religious bullying and discrimination in their accommodation in the first few weeks of university and didn't want to terrify their child either.

IME universities will be careful not to discriminate regarding explicit policies, but the grey area is very large.

More importantly, it is necessary to think about the student’s true interest. On Mitigating Circumstances panels the biggest mistakes we see students make are (a) letting health situations snowball and (b) declaring themselves better prematurely.
When the latter happens the problems usually resume, but worse.

When a problem (not emergency surgery or such) is so bad that it prevents a student from communicating with university in the Spring ir or Summer, it is often over optimistic to think that they will be ready to thrive in the Autumn. Similarly, when there is a health crisis in the midst of the UG career often the best thing is an interruption of studies for the purpose of regaining health. But many are loathe to consider this.

The alternative in both cases is limping along to a mediocre degree, or worse, and having a miserable time doing so. That’s a very poor use of tuition fees and not useful preparation for the future.

We would much rather a student take the time to get healthy and make the most of their university years.

Sure. This is quite different to a my context of dealing with admissions teams.

I agree that it's a different example but I have many others and my experience is that universities are pretty cautious when parents highlight possible vulnerabilities and understand that minor children are not always able to anticipate and articulate the possible pitfalls ahead of them when applying to university,