Is it getting impossible for Scottish kids to get into Scottish uni's

[dumdededdumdum]

Please tell me it isn't so. Hearing Strathclyde business school is 5A's in first sitting these days. What are your experiences? Don't know what to advise my child for their choices as the entry requirements seem so high.

So in a FOI request to the universities would
you just ask for the total number of

2023
Scottish non widening
Scottish widening and
Non Scottish places offered?

And predicted places for the same in 2024?

Those responses should take around 2 months?

Also- do you think 2022 was a bad comparison year as the Scottish and English results were inflated due to the covid marks uplift? Or that's irrelevant?

It is possible to not have a lot of money and still give your DC lots of moral support
Help to support children from deprived areas is a good thing
Particularly given the huge amount of help DC get in the ‘leafy suburbs’ most seem to have tutors eg
In no way iis it a level playing field

More info on the inflated grades would be interesting
Lots if parental input again favouring middle class chilldren

@Motheranddaughter of course that's possible and of course opportunities never really are given on a level playing field in any environment or circumstances. Richer, stabler, cleverer, healthier, able bodied and more attractive people will always have more options. None of these factors determine moral capability.

I would argue this situation will worsen and will further hinder the ability to help less fortunate in Scotland due to creating a brain drain of talent over time.

Dd and her friend applied to 5 uni's for primary teaching. The day after they were offered Dundee the other unis rejected them. That was 2018.

Ds started uni this year, he's done the college route and gone into 3rd year. He had a condition which he exceeded and was changed to unconditional within hours of his result. But his is a niche course, which was linked into the college course and only starts at 3rd year.

My DC are still at Primary so Uni is a LONG way off, but I'm just pondering what checks are done on the home address for extra "postcode points". Is there anything stopping parents buying a flat in a deprived area for S6?

Not condoning this behaviour BTW just wondering if they do similar checks to P1 admission.

We have young DS's but put it this way they both have a uni fund and yes we live in Scotland.

I used to work in a university actually compiling the stats and working with widening participation schemes and they were offered extra advice/support because of a higher drop out rate. Absolutely there should be WP but it also needs to be proportional. Otherwise parents work the system with buying properties etc and we have seen it before! It is a scale and encorportates other aspects but it is a risk if unis are prioritising all spaces for WP for scottish students

I'm not surprised people would go to lengths like that but it stinks.

I do think a message of 5A's first go is really tough. And even then for courses that are "prestigious because so sought after by non Scottish money", perfection might not be enough. Where does that leave our kids?

I don't think we should be fooled into thinking this is kid from 3/4 bed house in spam valley/ aka leafy suburb, versus a kid on the widening participation scheme situation.

This is either an ideology for voting purposes or more woeful incompetence and not reading the globalised market.

It worries me more that standards in school exams gotten so low that 5a's is normal now. It's ridiculous. I went to a private school with s high standard and 5As was still quite rare. The exams are so easy to pas they are worthless anywhere else but Scotland and they can't get into Scottish uni's.

SNP have realised they can't afford to keep. Uni free forever. So this is a s easy way of ousting people. Middle class kids will suffer. They'll be driven to other parts of the U.K. but won't get in. I suspect private schools will switch to A levels.

Have you sat an exam recently? Exams aren't easy to pass and certainly not easy to get an A. Don't devalue the hard work of students achieving 5 As.
The candidates I have getting an A now are of the same standard as the ones who got an A when I started teaching a million years ago

Any scheme WP scheme needs to be more refined than a brutal postcode.

No offence but strathclyde is probably the best for business in Scotland and one of the best in the uk. You seem to expect them to have lower entry requirements based on your personal perception. But objectively you would expect them to be very competitive.

The number of Scottish places are capped so the competition is between Scottish students. And yes, those with “flags” do have an advantage. Some courses only had kids with a flag last year.

So while it might be more pc to say that it’s nothing to do with giving prefential treatment to students with flags, in reality this will lower the chances of those who don’t have flags.

That’s been the case for decades though. Many universities focus on attracting international students to pay the bills.

Yeah, it's one of the top for Business, hence the high requirements.

@Suevineer I'm not expecting anything. Im noticing as this is my first child applying, the crazy high entry requirement inflation and I'm criticising the lack of transparency of Scottish places for Scottish students due to the cap.

I think it also narrows horizons. All things being equal fee wise would give DC much more choice of university options and courses instead of feeling compelled to only consider Scottish unis because of the fees. This situation also increases the competition for "home" places.

@MistressIggi sorry, I disagree. Just look at entry requirements. I studied a sairly standard degree at a good but not Russel grroup uni. The entry requirement was ABBBB o now it's AAAAB. There is no way I'd have gotten in if it was that! Either the Scottish education system had become so 'outstanding' that a all can expect almost 5As or standards have dropped. Looking at the dismal amount of schools that actually manage to get kids to actually pass Five highers, I can't see that it's the education system.

You didn't need to be that clever to do my English degree! The cohort was mixed and we all got fairly similar higher results. It wasn't the 5As crowd. Now everyone is the 5As crowd. The A lever requirement is only BBB. A lot lower!! Three B's at a level is pretty achievable. This implies 4As is actually equivalent of 3Bs. Not fooling anyone.

Just seems to me that the whole thing is being pushed to let disadvantaged in. Which is a valid response but not the right way of doing it. It is probably still hard to get an A if you are in a sink school but certainly not elsewhere

Very very rough calculation for Edinburgh business school - looks like 11% offers Scottish kids and we don't know the % of WA kids.

At my old school 70% of highers are now achieved at an A. That's rediculous! It used to be that 70% were passed!

I think the 11% offers rate is more the issue. Kids are under more pressure now to perform.

However maybe older teachers could say if they think grade inflation is a thing.

Grade inflation is a "thing" at university level too. On the day I graduated with my BA there were about 2 people in the whole ceremony getting a first. I would say 95% of graduates were 2/1 or 2/2, 4.5% thirds, 0.5% getting a first.

Good job they usually are then. From the Edinburgh University website: 'the factors we take into account for widening access offers include:

• your postcode and the level of deprivation in your area
• the level of educational attainment at your school or college
• whether you are care experienced
• whether you are a refugee or asylum seeker'

It also talks about the support, financial and otherwise, available to WP students.

Dd's BF got an unconditional from Glasgow 6 years ago with 5A's.
Dd did an HNC and then HND , also had mix of Nat 5s, Highers and an advanced Higher, she's also a care meaver
She was offered a scholarship to St Andrews, but turned it down for Glasgow.
Bf just graduated (comp sci), Dd just started second year in Micro biology.
They're both very bright, but Dd obviously had obstacles to overcome.

You mean, charge the full 9K, paid via students loans like the rest of the UK, which Scottish students can already access anyway?
Or make it free for everyone across the UK (which is impossible).

Do people know how the student loan works?