Scottish Exam Results 2020

[Lidlfix]

After hearing DD3's deep sigh and worried voice observe "this time in four weeks..." I feel it's acceptable to begin the 2020 thread.

Over the years Scotsnet regulars and visitors have given great support, advice and even (tales of blissfully unaware snoring DC) light hearted relief to each other over the years.

This year has been particularly fearful for us and our DC and I know how much I have appreciated results threads in previous years. As there are plenty of threads with political discussions and chances for posters to express concerns about what politicians/councils/ schools/ teachers are or aren't doing, can I gently ask that we keep this to topic?

I have DD3 waiting on 1 AH and 2 Highers for a conditional offer and DD4 waiting on 5 Highers - results depending she'd like to apply for Law for the end of S6.

It's always a few that ruin things for everyone. We've had our first positive in Stirling-shire for many many weeks.

I've been in a pub once so far but it's not really a pub I guess, more a restaurant with bar. It was all table service and pre booked with screens between the closer tables. Going back for DSs birthday on Sunday so looking forward to that, it is possible to do things properly and have places open and it's those types places that I imagine are highly pissed off at the moment. - sorry we are digressing again!

I don't think OP minds too much as long as we don't fight

@WaxOnFeckOff a friend and I were just saying the same thing yesterday, there should have been some form of moderation. You are not telling me in this digital age samples of folio work could not have been forwarded to some markers and or some prelim/ class tests scanned and uploaded to check the level and subsequent marking was correct?? Instead now poor teachers are having to gather evidence over and above the extra work involved in returning to school next week and poor pupils anxiously waiting to hear if they will get their grades.

From the UCAS Undergraduate Admissions Guide:
Applicants who use the review and appeals services have no guarantee their offers will remain open after 31 August.
Providers are obliged to wait for the result of a review and/or appeal before 31 August. Every effort should be made to accept these students, if possible.
Providers should make it clear to applicants what the chance of a place this cycle would be, if a successful review or appeal comes through.
Each awarding organisation has its own procedure and timetable for reviews and appeals – visit their websites for
details. .

The 'every effort should be made' bit indicates that it is not a foregone conclusion that the place will be available, but it is encouraging. Obviously, the university has to know that an appeal has been lodged.

(Re the date by which university offer conditions must be met, this year it has been put back to 7th September.
www.ucas.com/events/2020-entry-remaining-offer-conditions-must-be-met-374561).

I know friends son didn't have a good experience dealing with the Uni of his conditional offer, they seemed disinterested and said his offer might still be there if he has successful appeal, this is despite having the course in clearing. Luckily he now has another offer via clearing for somewhere he didn't have the requirements to apply to before but now does.

I wonder whether the lack of interest in Scottish university offer holders who have missed their grades is because Scottish universities would rather take in more English students, who pay more?
I have a DC who got an offer from an English university (a good one) and turned it down. The university has now written to say that they expect there to be places in Clearing and they'd like their offer-holders (who rejected the offer) to apply if they fail to get into their first choice and insurance choice.

@Moresandwiches I guess that might be a factor but not the only one, the other uni he applied to via clearing couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. Well actually not even clearing initially as he already had an unconditional from his 2nd choice that he didn't want to reject without an indication that he's be accepted into clearing course. Also a Scottish uni, just a bit down the league tables from his first choice.

I've just had a look at Heriot Watt's clearing and, unless I am understanding it wrong, there are no clearing places for Scottish students across science & engineering UNLESS they are from disadvantaged backgrounds. I realise this is down to funding etc but it's another example of the barriers a large swathe (ok, comfortably off) of Scottish students now face.

Sorry Lizzie I completely agree with positive discrimination. I work in a severely disadvantaged area and these pupils need to work far, far harder in far, far worse conditions for their results than MC students (inc my own DC).

I might be reading wrongly, but I don't think Lizzie was meaning that there shouldn't be places for disadvantaged DC, just that the limit that there is on places for Scottish students hampers their opportunity to go. So, if they are not from England or abroad and don't have any other factors regarding disability of disadvantaged school or postcode, there isn't a lot on clearing for them and that's obviously especially difficult this year with the exam fiasco.

@LizzieMacQueen where did you read this? Can you share a link? Thanks

Yes @WaxOnFeckOff is right @Puffalicious

I'm not saying they shouldn't get extra help but it would be nice if the numbers of all Scottish students accepted at uni weren't capped.

@hosnav I'll post a link in a moment.

I think universities severely limit the criteria from which they positively discriminate though.

I understand there has to be a cut off somewhere, but for the vast majority of Scottish children this positive discrimination is not available to them.

In previous years Edinburgh university only allowed clearing places to be available for Scottish applicants from the lowest simd only.

So you could argue our Scottish systems can work if you are in the 4% of all Scottish children who attend independent schools (2019, Scottish council for independent school) or you live in the most deprived postcodes of Scotland.

If this works.

read down a bit

It says other than textiles course and their associate programme, there's nothing for Scots students, other than those to whom the widening access applies.

The top Scottish unis will be those aspiring to pick up high paying English students.

Lizzie I see your point, it came across a little differently earlier.

Don't EU students pay (or not pay?) The same as Scottish students? Rather than the £9250 that, say, an applicant from England would pay, I mean. So it's not necessarily a higher funding thing?

EU student numbers are capped too though so im sure they wont have clearing places either.

They split the places into 3 categories. Scotland & EU, rUK, rest of the world.

EU stops being funded in the next year or so and therefore will join one of the other categories. My gut says we get more general overseas than EU students as EU are also capped and also not lucrative. The funding given (£1920?) is inadequate.

@ClerkMaxwell @MarchingFrogs my DDs 'Firm' choice declined her an hour after results. Her conditional offer was AAA and she got AAC. She has a mitigating circumstances appeal - the 'C' was in a 'crash' AH which one of the main reasons she took was so she could be in contention for this Uni. School is appealing as they estimated her a B. Later on Wednesday the Uni confirmed that her mitigating circumstances was 'pending review' even though track still says declined. Later her UCAS track record her insurance confirmed her offer on Wednesday. We are so confused - is her Firm choice even still a possibility? Can't speak to anyone at her 'Firm' choice Uni, all correspondence via email.

@yellowroses16, the possible combinations of responses from universities are listed on the UCAS site, but I think your DD's Track update just means that her insurance university will offer her a place - as opposed to, they wouldn't have her either - and the 'pending' situation with the firm choice university carries on independently of this. That is, if the firm eventually says no, she definitely has a place to go to at her insurance, but unles and until the firm confirms a no, it is still a possibility. If I were your DD, I would email the firm university to ask them to clarify, given the update re the insurance, but hopefully the two events are completely independent of each other.

Thanks @MarchingFrogs - will have a look at UCAS site. As soon as lockdown happened we knew this was likely. And in a class with pupils who had all attained an A in their Higher she was always going to be ranked at the bottom. She's got As in everything to date and does well in exams.

Anyway, advice to everyone is for their DC to avoid taking 'crash' subjects.

I know this thread is not really about university funding but I think it's important to point out that the number of Scottish students from non- disadvantaged postcodes is capped by the Scottish government.
So the lack of available places in Clearing is not a university decision, but one based on funding. If their Scottish funded places are all taken, they can only accept clearing applications from international students, the rest of the Uk (fee paying) or SIM D postcodes to widen access.

Oh well DS3s exams results are now the least of his worries, he got arrested this evening due to behaving anti socially after taking a hallucinogenic substance. Hes not done this before, not even got drunk as he doesn't get invited to parties...
Im worried about how hes going to react when the gravity of the situation sinks in...

Wbeezer I saw your other thread. Hope you are ok. Did his behaviour fall into one of these types of anti-social behaviour? Did thet make it clear what he was being arrested for?

"The police can take action about any antisocial behaviour which is a criminal offence. They can refer someone to the Procurator Fiscal who has:

attacked another person, causing physical and/or psychological damage
wilfully damaged someone else’s property
behaved in a threatening or abusive way in order to intimidate or frighten or cause harassment, alarm or distress intentionally, for example, by stalking you or writing anti-gay slogans on the wall outside your home. More about harassment
incited racial or religious hatred or violence."