A2 Results day support

[summerdip]

Results are looming. Beginning to feel the jitters!

Best of luck to all our DC

The thing that has struck me about reading all these threads is that from the anecdotal evidence from ds, many of his friends have got into their firm or insurance choices with grades a fair bit lower than their original offers. RG unis for popular courses, too. Doesn't make sense to me.

Apparently there is a marked demographic dip in 18 and 19 year olds this year plus 30,000 additional full-time university places on offer, which will explain some of it.

ChocolateWombat your comment about it not being worth doing a degree which requires EEE is a little harsh considering there are many students (my son included) out there doing just that.

I thought it was a bit harsh, too, ChocolateWombat. There is a lot of snobbery about both A level results and degree types out there, much of it unnecessary.
Sorry if I sounded like a was sniping at virelai - I didn't mean to, hadn't seen any stuff about AS and the title was about A2. I was just confused. Apologies.

Looks like DD will be going to Cardiff Met now with a complete change of degree. Coventry dragging their feet about releasing her now - won't confirm or deny a place, won't release her. A complaint has been made...

Congratulations to your dd on getting a place at Cardiff Met Cardibach. This system is completely new to me. My son, though he has been told through UCAS that he is going to be offered a place, hasn't yet heard from the uni in question. Apparently he needs to be given a number or something? Is this significant? eg we can't get on to student finance without it, or can it wait? I really don't know for sure. I'm glad we aren't involved with Coventry though, they sound particular difficult.

Mollie - we have a similar problem. DD is doing sciences and has had bad results for AS chemistry. She had A in GCSE and needs an A next year. She found the exams hard and didn't expect to do well, but her marks in Chemistry were D, U and then A for practical. I don't know if it's her lack of ability of if the exams or marking were extra hard this year.

Cardi - what was the actual offer made in comparison to her results? This could be the sticky point in relation to confirming/declining. In defense of Coventry, my DS made it his firm and all confirming/accommodation etc has been plain sailing. I have heard that a Durham are particularly bad for keeping people hanging if they are near misses

Hm cardibach... if she's asked to withdraw then they should just release her. Unless their team doing the UCAS data entry are completely overwhelmed, but even then they should just say so. (Of course she may be talking to someone who doesn't know what's going on.)

It's a bit rubbish if they're holding onto her while also in clearing. We're only holding onto (very very few) people while we wait to see if we lose people in adjustment, which would make more space on the course for them, and if they're already firm with us so have their insurance offer to go to. And when I say 'we' I actually mean central admissions, because I gave all my recommendations of who I wanted to accept on Monday.

There's a lot of faffing as well, with universities 'higher up' the stream decideding who they want which affects the insurance offer courses, which affects who they want etc etc. It's a shame tutors can't just phone each other and sort it all out directly!

Cardi, I'm furious for you about Coventry. They've known results since The weekend, and have plenty of time to make a decision. We'd made most of ours by end of Sunday. I just don't like the idea of keeping students hanging like that.

Cardiff is a brilliant place to live, and I hope your daughter will be really happy there.

Hello again. I am sorry if I offended anyone.
I was suggesting that people with EEE at AS should CONSIDER if continuing to A2 is the right thing. I do believe that there is no merit in taking A Levels or a degree course, just for the sake of having taken them. They need to have value and lead somewhere, otherwise the time might have been spent more productively. It is always good to know what A levels of different grades, or degrees of different subjects and from different institutions will and won't allow you to do......if you are happy with the doors the choices will open or close,that is fine. It is embarking on those courses without knowing the likely impact that seems to be the problem to me.
It is a highly competitive world and sometimes low A levels or a poorly regarded degree do not provide any real help in terms of getting a job and entering the world of work at a younger age, might be better.
At the end of the day, every family needs to make that judgement for themselves.....I was simply saying that it is good to consider IF it is right to continue to the next stage, rather than assuming it is ALWAYS the right thing to do.
I hope that all of the kids referred to on this thread find the right options for them and that what they choose to do, opens up future doors for them.

Agree that if the result seems a real anomaly and outside of the results achieved and predicted through the year, get a photocopy of the script (at AS - so teacher can look to see how marks have been awarded and if mean....can then ask for a remark.....if not mean, useful for learning how to improve)
Just be aware that remarks can result in marks and grades falling as well as rising and the remarked result is what will count. Therefore, often useful for those on the boundary of a higher grade and more dangerous for those on the boundary of the grade below.
Sometimes there are clear anomalies....the person due to get A* who gets an E on a paper and felt it went really well. A quick remark is definitely worth it and can happen quickly if you pay the premium price. There are LOADS of errors in marking unfortunately....pages missed out, adding up errors and simply rogue markers who are inconsistent in how they mark or too mean (people don't complain about the overly generous, strangely) so it can be worth it.
Candidates themselves who are realistic about their own abilities and chances often know if their marks are wildly out of kilter with what they should have got. However, there are also weaker candidates who think they are far better than they are and don't seem to recognise that what they achieve is actually broadly in line with what they have achieved through the year and probably deserve.
If in doubt for AS, get a copy of script before asking for a remark. The urgency is not there as it is for A2 and you don't risk a down grade as with an immediate remark.
Oh and if getting the script, be sure to tick the box for a PHOTOCOPY....if you ask for the original, it clearly can't then be remarked.

I comforted a girl who hadn't got the results she needed and was crying outside my tube station yesterday morning. I really hope she is feeling better now and gets the uni place she wanted.

How nice of you trapper. Yes, we must not take the grades all too seriously- life goes on and is full of twists and turns.

Still feel a little glum myself - have no idea how grades will fair when going through UCAS and will their be a population dip next year.

cticketballs - she didn't get the offer, we don't dispute that, but she expected to be treated fairly and given a place because she had good enough results for them or rejected because they didn't think they were good enough...They still hadn't made a decision by 3 this afternoon when we finally managed to get them to release her for clearing. She got nowhere with this, it was only when first her father then I (when they still didn't move) rang and were fierce with them. It's inexcusable that they leave kids hanging like that.
She has had an email from Cardiff Met now giving her a place although it is not yet confirmed on UCAS Track. She has applied for accommodation, and I have altered her Student Finance application - her original choice was NHS funded, so we had to apply for different grants etc.

Cardibach....that is horrid.
Higher Ed is so clearly a market now isn't it! People are buying and selling places on courses and the currency is the grades the candidates offer. The Unis look like they are holding on for a candidate who can offer higher grades, but that doesn't help your DD who isn't free to get into the market place with what she has. I saw an advert online by Nottingham Trent saying 'Have you got better grades than you expected, come here'. They are all trying to fill their courses with the best candidates they can attract, which is horrid for the people left hanging.
It is still only Friday afternoon, so although this probably feels like it has gone on for weeks, at least it is sorted before the weekend.

Interesting to hear that there's a population dip in this cohort. I was always under the impression that it was a bit higher, but maybe it's a localised thing. I had ds in August 1996, and when I first went to see the midwife when I found out I was pregnant, she joked that they'd be needing bunk beds in the delivery suites as, due to a pill scare October/November/December '95, there was a bit of a rush of (unplanned) pregnancies. It was also a real headache getting into primary/secondary schools and the catchment areas were really squeezed for this year group and the subsequent one.

Ditto Clam. Ds1 was born in June 96 and the maternity unit at the hospital was so full they had opened an emergency extension to the ward and still had women queuing to get into the delivery rooms. I spent a few days in hospital, before and after the birth, and it was packed. 18 months later, I went into the same hospital to have ds2. There was one woman there the night I went in who left the following lunchtime, and when I left the next day, one woman had just been admitted in labour, otherwise I had the place entirely to myself!

And yes, the baby boom of summer 96 was down to a pill scare 9 months earlier. I suppose the rest of that academic year must have been really really quiet.

Good for Cardiff Met, Cardi. Seems appalling behaviour by Coventry, particularly as they have known the results for some time.

My beautiful niece got her A2 results today which were three A*s. We are SO proud of her for getting these scores.

Her lovely younger brother got his AS results and got two A*s, two As and a B. We are very proud of him too.

My brother is just glad the exams are over and warned me I'll not like the exam stress when my DC take there exams (luckily I have a few years to prepare as they are 9, 7 and DTs are 4!!)

Well done to everyone's DC.

Aubreye; sorry to burst your bubble but A* is not awarded at AS level.......

You may not get A at AS level but you know what the equivalent is, so that will be what aubreye* means.......

Much easier to say 'A*' than 'an A with over 90 UMS equivalent'...... No bubble needed bursting......

"Much easier to say 'A*' than 'an A with over 90 UMS equivalent'...... No bubble needed bursting......"

Or you could just say an A. Which is what it is.

True hak but why does a bubble need bursting? What does it matter? Let the poster have her moment of pride in her nephews achievements.

Agree - why be mean-spirited and burst someone's bubble?

Because other people will read this and think that you can get A*s at GCSE level, and wonder why they, or their offspring didn't.